Now *this* is what engaging the customer meaningfully is about

Quote:

you may have seen my post on another forum so I won't recount my whole episode to get my spotted RX1 lens/sensor repaired/replaced. What I have not posted is I sent an email to Hirai-san, CEO of Sony, towards the tail end of my slowly addressed and frustrating experience with the repair center, and am aware of one other who did the same (they sent me a personal note requesting the email address). 
I have found out the RX1 is a personal project of Hirai-san, and due to our direct contact, Sony called me personally (and sent me a nice complimentary camera bag) and advised Sony corporate was taking direct steps to make the repair facility more responsive for the needs of RX1 owners.
Since my episode I have seen 1 other post elsewhere where an RX1 was sent in for repair and the individual was readily sent a replacement. Not sure if there is a connection but I feel confident Sony has taken notice of the need, particularly for their Flagship RX1. Not sure if this addresses your question, but I believe the necessary steps have been taken to address the repair service needs of RX1 owners.

Source: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1147292/110#11345232

I feel quite a bit warmer about Sony service for the RX1 all of a sudden.

But more than that, I'm impressed they have a CEO with some vision and willingness to take on the established view held by much of the industry not to mention some of the industry's consumers.

I'm speaking of the "it'll never sell if you make it" attitude.

At any rate it is nice to see the company is capable of listening. Not bad for a multi billion dollar, tens of thousands of employees, conglomerate.

RX1 looks more and more like a decent long term investment.  I doubt the rest of the industry can match Sony anytime soon, and with support like that, the high cost of the camera seems more and more justified.

A great PR effort on Sony's part. Kudos. Might just sell a few more cameras.

Some enlightened kings have been known to disguise themself as conmon people and go out and mingle with the population to find out what was really going on.  The common touch.  Glad to see it is alive and well.

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Tom Caldwell

This is very nice indeed and great to see Sony taking this approach, Fuji and Panasonic could do with some of that.

Ricoh however has been great at listening to customers and feedback and implemented a lot of the feedback received (full-press AF, double exposure mode, phase detection AF, fix the screen freeze and improve AF on the GXR A12 50mm module, allow to change Snap focus distance and so on) in their products either via firmware or in the new version if it was a hardware change. Ricoh has always been great about attending meetups organised by users and is also aware of blogs and forums.

Not sure how this will go with Pentax now on board though.

--
http://ricoh-gr-diary.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristiansorega/
http://jpgmag.com/people/Cristian

for the most part customer service representatives of large corporations remind me of robots. no wonder they are gradually being replaced by computers: "press 1, if your camera is not powering up, press 2 if you think we suck"

i had my share of borderline absurd email and phone exchanges with Ricoh service people. Finally i was able to talk to their manager who was exceptionally understanding and rational and very helpful. But you must understand: these people are told not to think but follow instructions and procedures: hardly different than any other government organization, or army etc. they are structured similarly as well. although with government organizations the absurdity is far reaching, and you need to try harder to find someone who makes sense.

Support and repair is considered a cost, so they do whatever they can to reduce costs and for some operators you see the impact at the customer interface staff level. Sad, really. Great support sells new product.

It'd be nice if they put as much effort into designing products that don't need support or repair.

Many large companies respond similarly from time to time. It's all a matter of the user happening upon the right contact at the right moment.

I've recently talked to a Robot repair specialist in Germany. He told me he can get any part for my camera's shutter new from the factory today, a complete overhaul to as new spec will be about $100. I find that remarkable and very encouraging, considering my camera was manufactured in 1941.

--
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com

Probably Entry Level jobs and they are rightly scared of engaging their
supervisors with too many questions, a bit like Walmart where Big Brother
is constantly watching.

i assume if a low level employee starts to replace cameras without giving much trouble he/she wouldn't last long! i can understand that...but angry and unhappy customers are also bad for business...especially in this age of internet. also, remember, all this unproductive communication is a huge cost for corporations: time is money too....

i don't want to get into details of my own hurdle, but in my case ricoh germany made several overseas phone call to convince me that my camera was perfectly fine, when it actually wasn't. they were being completely unreasonable, but the person i had to deal with was completely clueless (for example he was unaware of what a RAW file was) so it is more complicated than cost cutting measures. it is also just another form of giant bureaucracy, incompetence etc

I suppose the original point of this post on the Ricoh forum is that Sony is capable of really good customer relations, contrasted with Ricoh, which seems to have abandoned its customers entirely.   If that is the case, I completely agree.

As many of us have remarked ad nauseum, the problem with Ricoh is the total lack of new product information coming out of that company for a protracted period.  When we bought a "system" camera like the GXR, we reasonably expected that there will be regular additions and improvements--which is one of the benefits of buying into a system.  When the manufacturer unexpectedly stops developing new related products, stops improving the system, and stops even talking about its plans, then we customers naturally begin to wonder whether we have been deceived into buying into the system.

The issue is not, as some members of this Forum have asserted in defending Ricoh, that the GXR is still usable or a capable camera.  That is irrelevant.  The issue is, whether the GXR System is continuing to be developed or was suddenly, unexpectedly, and silently abandoned.  The situation is comparable to a hypothetical one in which Sony, the developer of the Nex camera, suddenly stopped making lenses and accessories and ceased improving the Nex body a relatively short time after the Nex first on the market, without any announcement or news.  I can just imagine the howls of protest--or maybe even the class action lawsuit in the U.S.

I agree that the Ricoh GXR is still more than serviceable---I still enjoy using  mine and it still is capable of producing lovely photos.  I could say the same about my decades old Leica M6, Rolleiflex, and Pentax LX.  I feel very let down by Ricoh for its lack of new GXR system product development and lack of communication about its future intentions.  If my system camera is an orphan, I am entitled at the very least to be told so I can begin the mourning process and move on.

If,  as one of you wrote, Ricoh listens to its customers and reads customer forums, then its total silence for so long is doubly strange.  The only conclusion one can logically reach (other than that Ricoh is ceasing business as a camera brand) is that Ricoh (as a camera company) has become so disorganized and perplexed about its own intentions, that it doesn't even know what it is going to do in the future, if anything.

In the context of the problems of the world, this is, of course, only a miniscule annoyance, a sort of itch actually, since I will soon remedy my desire for a more capable sensor and integrated viewfinder by looking at other camera companies' products.  I really enjoy, however, reading the interesting and mostly intellligent and inciteful banter among the stalwart veterans of this site, Tom, RRoute (don't know your first name), Mr. Stern, Godfrey, and many others from all over the world who take the time to good naturedly write often on this forum (and others I believe).  And I'm beginning to think of you as people I actually know and admire.  It's a lot of fun, if not always on the subject of a Ricoh equipment forum.  If only that I will miss reading your posts, I will really regret it if Ricoh does officially abandon the Ricoh brand camera business. I respond only occasionally, to let you know I am around.  Thank you all for your efforts

Best wishes,

Dennis

I've always appreciated your posts Dennis and look forward to more on whatever level of frequency you are comfortable with.

My reasons for posting the note on Sony are varied. Mostly I thought it was a positive story and thought others would appreciate reading about this owner's experience and the high level of visibility of this product within the ranks of a major industry player.

Responding to service complaints and actively addressing them for the RX1 may have a related benefit for their other product lines. Sony isn't always held up as having the best service organization, although based on the commentary regarding some of the other big names, perhaps Sony has nothing much to be ashamed about. If Sony's top management have heretofore not been aware of popular perceptions regarding service and support experienced by owners of their other products, more positive change may be a result. Time will tell there.

The direct involvement of the CEO of a major electronics conglomerate in the development of the RX1 - a full frame compact camera that is nearly what many, it seems, have been looking for - was interesting to me in a number of ways. I wonder how often a product that establishes a new class starts out as the pet project of the top leadership of a manufacturer. What was the CEO's motivation? Is the CEO a photographer? Is the CEO using this product to look at all their processes from start to finish to support to gain a deeper insight into how the company performs in each area? Or has the CEO also been longing for a camera similar to that which many of us loud mouth forum participants have been asking for and the time was right?

Whatever the motivation it does seem that the company will learn lessons from this release and hopefully will continue to improve itself, its processes, and the products it produces. They already take risks - I see this direct involvement from the top as making it more likely they'll continue to take new risks and hopefully in the compact arena.

Is there a take away related to Ricoh? Directly? No. They don't have anything new to talk about and aren't doing any talking.

I'd love to see Pentax Ricoh take some calculated but smart risks rather than plodding along a me-too product strategy. Maybe the involvement of Sony's CEO in an interesting new product will be inspirational to PRIC's top management.

Michael

actually that wasn't the point, as i understood it..but, heck why not, let's also turn this to another "where is my road map" thread...

Thank you Dennis, it is nice to know that the site is not populated by "pain in the proverbial" ranters and that someone actually enjoys wht is written (smile).

I will not use this as an excuse to write even longer posts (grin)

Here in Australia there is a small team supporting Ricoh and it must be an uphill battle for them, I have come to know the local manager and his service team has been very accommodating and useful on the few occassions when I need help.  Support is good here.

I don't think it is ethical to pump my contact for insider information.  Whatever Ricoh decides to release Ricoh will release and I respect this confidentiality.  Whatever new products I might speculate about is entirely the product of my own fertile imagination.

However despite being a self made apologist for Ricoh on what they might be doing and why, it is again pure imagination with a little help from my accounting background and what I might pick up in general news around the web.  I am as curious as anyone on this forum for news of what Ricoh might or might not have in store for us and just as disappointed as a result because there is none.

From my imagination only - I would be sure the Ricoh works are "doing things" even if it is not "making cameras" for the time being.  I have always been pretty sure that Ricoh made batches of product into stock and then sold the stock down, these batches might not all be camera products.  If they have sufficient stock for the time being and  had other orders on their mind they could well be otherwise occupied.  One thing we can all rest assured on is that the assembly line is unlikely to be mothballed and the staff sitting around the canteen having "a natter" and playing cards.

--
Tom Caldwell

Sure we can be sure of that.

What we cannot be sure about is whether they *own* the assembly line. For a maker producing only occasional new product releases, with limited world wide distribution, it would probably make the most sense to outsource this activity. A guess, of course.

But this thread isn't about what Ricoh is or isn't doing. We have several thousand of those already.

At the risk of further diverting from the purpose of my own thread, the following caught my eye and I feel strangely compelled to dive in.

Sure it is ethical. You are a customer and a prospective future customer of their new products, if they ever have any new products going forward. What is unethical about asking for information?

It may not be ethical for your contacts to tell you what they may know, if anything, but it certainly is not unethical to pose the question.

I am on another planet - I am sure everyone knows this already - I make an art form of not knowing then I can happy chatter away about any nonsense that I think of and do not need to keep confidential information to myself (which I would of course if it applied).  Not knowing makes me impervious to being the source of any leaks, not wangling unauthorised unguarded remarks from others in the know makes it more likely I will get to know public knowledge just as soon as it becomes public knowledge.

Years of being a professional has taught me not to be curious - if someone wants to tell me the inside story they will.  I only need to know what I need to know and no more.

However your words are well received and pertinent, it is just that I think that the Aussie distributors only get to know about what is really happening about 20 seconds ahead of the rest of the world in general.

I think it reasonable to say that the ditributors in Australia are alive and well and doing the best they could in the dearth of new models to sell.  Must check and see if they have nodded off ...

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Tom Caldwell

It does not matter in reality whether Ricoh have an assembly line of their own that is presently busy making something else or whether they contract out the assembly work.  When no current camera is being produced then there is no dead overhead cost incurred.  This is why I think that Ricoh runs "small model" manufacturing with low overheads.  If they are not producing cameras then the maintence costs might only be their R&D department that is designing and patenting devices to earn royalties or perhaps even make one day.  Possibly earning their keep.  Therefore Ricoh camera division might not actually be bleeding to death when not making new cameras.

I only based my supposition on an actual plant existing on the remark on one of the rumour sites months ago that Leica was getting Ricoh to do some part assembly work on the new typ240 at their "plant in China".  No  more.

Ricoh when making cameras can predict a margin and run a batch of stock to fill a gap in an assembly line routine.  If the assembly line is busy then they need just postpone making cameras until they have the time to do so.

Not much help to us heroes loyally chanting for some news.

Pentax on the other hand are different, a much bigger show (?) with regular production cycles of a variety of product. Presumably all bought with hard cash that had to come from somewhere.  Whereas the Ricoh camera can be categorised as a "hobby show" and cameras made or not made almost as an afterthought the Pentax outfit has to make cameras regularly and service the debt incurred.  My random thought that Ricoh Inc just throw in a designated amount of cash flow into their camera interests each year might mean that while they are propping up Pentax there is no spare cash in the budget to make new Ricoh cameras.  Only a thought.  No announcements surely mean that there is nothing to announce but it does not necessarily mean they have given up.

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Tom Caldwell

When my GXR had issues (while under warranty), Ricoh USA. (Criss Camera) authorized repair did a fine and fast job.  I was not happy because I was on vacation and at least had my GRDlll, and you know I learned how to make do with one FL and was very happy with the results....... To this day I am not sure if there was a defect, or if was something I may have done, all I know is that I was taken care of.  My only issue was that even then I did feel the 28mm was not on the money, not sharp.  They swore the lens was perfect, I will never know for sure.

No need to be unethical. A small squeeze would suffice.
Who knows. Perhaps they keep abreast of Ricoh news by following this forum?
I fear that something obvious may have been lost in this story. That Ricoh decided topurchase Pentax because it did not feel that it's own products had any longevity in a market converging around 4/3 and APC-C compacts. Survival rather than
synergy.