Neal Margolis
Active member
Two weeks ago, my wife and I arrived to Paris and discovered that our Minolta Dimage 7 was dead as a doornail. As described in the letter below, the problem was solved by amazingly responsive customer service.
My question: what's the best email address to send this letter to makes sure that Minolta management gets the message?
Here's the letter:
=============================
Dear Minolta Management,
This is a letter about Minolta's Dimage 7 Digital Camera and especially about Minolta's service. We hope you share it liberally around Minolta and, as appropriate, around the industry.
My wife and I bought a Dimage 7 about five weeks ago in the US, aimed at a trip to Paris. Prior to the trip, we worked through the basics of using the camera and were really looking forward to using it to record our trip. (We've owned several digital cameras including the Kodak DC260, Nikon Coolpix 880, Canon S100, and Canon Pro 90 IS.)
We arrived in Paris on the morning of October 20th, put a fresh set of batteries in and - the camera was dead as a doornail -- no readouts on the LCD -- nothing. Replaced with a new set of recharged batteries -- still dead. Used a fresh set of alkalines - nothing. Cleaned the battery contacts to no avail. After 2 days of mourning, frustration, and working with several forums on the net (chief among them being Digital Photography Review -- dpreview.com), we were given the phone number of Minolta France. Even though we had given up hope of using the camera, we called Minolta France - after leaving a "hot line" recorded message, we got a call back from Maurice Barrazza, Technical Director of Photo/Video, Minolta France SA. In a very straightforward manner, Maurice asked several questions including: Did the camera work back in the states? - Yes. Did we have the purchase documentation? - No.
We were quite willing to take the camera to Barrazza's office for possible repair, but he hesitated: his office was quite a distance form the city and was difficult to find. He asked if he could call us back. About 15 minutes later, Barrazza called back -- would it be acceptable to us if he drove to our hotel that evening and provide a replacement Dimage 7? No, we did not need the purchase information - Barrazza's main interest was in providing as high a level of service as he could. Was he serious?! I couldn't believe it! In most technical service situations I feel lucky if I'm put on hold for less than a half hour - never mind actually solving the problem. Here was a technical rep offering to drive for an hour to replace a non-working item at no cost. Unbelievable! No way!
But sure enough - at 6:00 that evening, we're shaking hands with Maurice in the lobby of our hotel. We sit down and we exchange cameras. I load the batteries in the replacement and it comes to life! We're back in business!
In the next 10 days the Dimage 7 worked flawlessly and is still a great piece of work. But frankly, I am much more impressed with Minolta, Minolta France, and especially with Maurice Barrazza and his unprecedented commitment to customer service. In our opinion, Barrazza has done more to represent Minolta as a trustworthy, customer-centered, service-oriented company than anything we can imagine. In this age, where the dollar comes first and trust in the market is a distant last, Barrazza has opened our eyes to the possibilities of responsible humanity in the business relationship. He has done a great job for humankind as well as for Minolta.
So thanks, Minolta, for helping to make Paris a great city to see and to record. And thanks again Maurice!
Sincerely,
Neal Margolis and Eva Tomlinson
My question: what's the best email address to send this letter to makes sure that Minolta management gets the message?
Here's the letter:
=============================
Dear Minolta Management,
This is a letter about Minolta's Dimage 7 Digital Camera and especially about Minolta's service. We hope you share it liberally around Minolta and, as appropriate, around the industry.
My wife and I bought a Dimage 7 about five weeks ago in the US, aimed at a trip to Paris. Prior to the trip, we worked through the basics of using the camera and were really looking forward to using it to record our trip. (We've owned several digital cameras including the Kodak DC260, Nikon Coolpix 880, Canon S100, and Canon Pro 90 IS.)
We arrived in Paris on the morning of October 20th, put a fresh set of batteries in and - the camera was dead as a doornail -- no readouts on the LCD -- nothing. Replaced with a new set of recharged batteries -- still dead. Used a fresh set of alkalines - nothing. Cleaned the battery contacts to no avail. After 2 days of mourning, frustration, and working with several forums on the net (chief among them being Digital Photography Review -- dpreview.com), we were given the phone number of Minolta France. Even though we had given up hope of using the camera, we called Minolta France - after leaving a "hot line" recorded message, we got a call back from Maurice Barrazza, Technical Director of Photo/Video, Minolta France SA. In a very straightforward manner, Maurice asked several questions including: Did the camera work back in the states? - Yes. Did we have the purchase documentation? - No.
We were quite willing to take the camera to Barrazza's office for possible repair, but he hesitated: his office was quite a distance form the city and was difficult to find. He asked if he could call us back. About 15 minutes later, Barrazza called back -- would it be acceptable to us if he drove to our hotel that evening and provide a replacement Dimage 7? No, we did not need the purchase information - Barrazza's main interest was in providing as high a level of service as he could. Was he serious?! I couldn't believe it! In most technical service situations I feel lucky if I'm put on hold for less than a half hour - never mind actually solving the problem. Here was a technical rep offering to drive for an hour to replace a non-working item at no cost. Unbelievable! No way!
But sure enough - at 6:00 that evening, we're shaking hands with Maurice in the lobby of our hotel. We sit down and we exchange cameras. I load the batteries in the replacement and it comes to life! We're back in business!
In the next 10 days the Dimage 7 worked flawlessly and is still a great piece of work. But frankly, I am much more impressed with Minolta, Minolta France, and especially with Maurice Barrazza and his unprecedented commitment to customer service. In our opinion, Barrazza has done more to represent Minolta as a trustworthy, customer-centered, service-oriented company than anything we can imagine. In this age, where the dollar comes first and trust in the market is a distant last, Barrazza has opened our eyes to the possibilities of responsible humanity in the business relationship. He has done a great job for humankind as well as for Minolta.
So thanks, Minolta, for helping to make Paris a great city to see and to record. And thanks again Maurice!
Sincerely,
Neal Margolis and Eva Tomlinson
