My K20D has now been back at Pentax for rework for five weeks. The slow service is bad enough, but not being told what the problem is, or how long it will take, or aything at all about the status of my camers, is extremely frustrating. Even more frustrating than being told that the rework would be expedited and shouldn't take the normal 3-4 weeks, and then running past 5. The problems with the camera are annoying, but something I could have lived with if I had know that I'd be without my camera for a month and a half.
Although, as I joked about in the letter, if they are waiting so that they can replace the K20 with a K-7, I would certainly forgive them. I sent the following email on Tuesday, and still have not heard back. (a couple of previous exchanges are included for context) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Repair Inquiry: When I asked about sending my camera in for rework, I was told: Cameras sent in for rework like your K20D receive expedited service. It should not take the average 3-4 weeks to repair as it did the first time. Since it has been there for just shy of 5 weeks, I will agree that it was not the 3-4 weeks it took the first time. That, however, was not what I had hoped that you meant in the original statement. Can you enlighten me as to the problem? It was bad enough to drop my K20 two weeks after buying it, but the repair cost me about half of what I paid for it, and of the 3 months that I've owned it (I got it on 3 March) it has spent 9-10 weeks either at Pentax or in transit. It is ironic that I bought it when I gave up on a successor to the K20 coming out in the near future, and at this rate the K7 will be out before I get it back. Granted, if you were to replace it with a K7, I'd be willing to wait another few weeks, but somehow I don't expect that such upgrades are covered under the warranty repair policy. :) I realize that the problem it has with the SDHC card (which my K100 reads fine) could be a really tough one to solve. Being a EE (though I mostly do embedded firmware) I have tracked down a few intermittent and race condition hardware problems. I also realize that the fact that it is a rework that should be expedited could be lost, as the email from 5/29 says: I have just checked the status of your K20D and the repair has not been completed yet (05-29-09 ) so unfortunatly your camera can not be delivered to you in time for your week end plans. We ask that you allow 3-4 weeks for completion of repairs, although the repair time is usually less. I don't want to be a pain in the butt, however there have been several times that the improved performance of the K20 over my K100 would have come in very handy. If my camera isn't going to be returned quickly, I'd appreciate a quick note describing what the hangup is. Thanks, Larry Colen On Wed, May 13, 2009 at 11:34:00PM +0200, [email protected] wrote: > Dear Mr. Colen, > > Thank you for contacting Pentax. > > It can take a couple of days from receipt of the camera for it to be logged > in to the service system. I would suggest you check back with us on Friday > and it will probably be in the system. It wasn't logged in as of this > afternoon but should be in a day or so. Cameras sent in for rework like your > K20D receive expedited service. It should not take the average 3-4 weeks to > repair as it did the first time. > > If you are in need of further assistance, please respond to this email or > call our technical support center at 800-877-0155. > > If you would like to participate in our new Pentax Survey, please call > 1-800-350-3891. > > Sincerely, > Randall Schumacher > Pentax Imaging Technical Support > > Your Email: > You should have my camera at Pentax today. I sent it on Monday, UPS > second day. > > The mirror alignment issue seems to have resolved itself, maybe > something was caught on the back of it. > > I'm curious whether this is expected to be another several weeks > before you'll finish the repair? > > Larry > > On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 11:25:29PM +0200, [email protected] wrote: > > Dear Mr. Colen, > > > > Thank you for contacting Pentax. > > > > You have a one year warranty on the K20D camera dating from your repair. > > To address these issues with the depth of field switch and the the mirror > > we would need to get the camera back in the service department. You can > > choose to have us arrange for UPS to pick-up the camera and save you the > > shipping expense. This process can take a little longer to get the camera > > in the repair shop. The alternative is for you to send the camera back in > > yourself, directly to our service center as before. Let us know which you > > would prefer.> > > If you are in need of further assistance, please respond to this email or > > call our technical support center at 800-877-0155.> > > If you would like to participate in our new Pentax Survey, please call > > 1-800-350-3891.> > > Sincerely, > > Randall Schumacher > > Pentax Imaging Technical Support > > > > Your Email: > > I received my K20D back from repair a couple of weeks ago. Shortly > > thereafter I noticed that the Depth of Field switch on it wasn't > > working. > > > > Today, I noticed that the mirror seems to be misaligned: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/sets/72157617268833855/ > > > > I drew a cross on a piece of graph paper, centered it in the > > viewfinder, then drew in some marks to note the outlines of the > > viewfinder, and they are misaligned by about 3/4" out of 7", or close> to > > 10%. > > > > Are these things that will be covered under the warranty for the > > repair that was just done? Or would I be charged again for a second > > repair bill? > > > > If I'm charged again, what would it cost to R&R the on/off/DoF switch?> > > Also what would it cost to realign the mirror box? > > > > At a time when new K20Ds are down to $670, and I'm already $280 into > > repairs, if it's much more, I'd have been better off just buying > > another new one, or waiting for the K7 (or whatever it'll be called).> > > > > -- -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen [email protected] http://www.red4est.com/lrc ----- End forwarded message ----- -- The fastest way to get your question answered on the net is to post the wrong answer. Larry Colen [email protected] http://www.red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
