Reading mode: Light Dark

Repair estimate for K10D...WOW

Status
Not open for further replies.
Go to last post
R

rondeann

Senior Member
Messages
3,765
Reaction score
96
Location
Tulsa, OK, US
Sent my K10D in for a misaligned viewfinder (been like that since it was new) and general checkup and cleaning. Would you believe $275. I think I'll use it like it is.
--
You pay for what you get but you don't necessarily get what you pay for
 
Man, why do they fix one misaligned viewfinder for free and then ream the customer on another one?

Mine is in for exactly that problem right now and I haven't heard back yet...

--

K10D, Sig 17-70, DA 55-300, FA 50/1.4 "Billy Bass", M 400/5.6 "the Great Truncheon"
 
Let Pentax know this is a common problem and they have fixed the manufacturing defect for free on other units even out of warranty. Ask for a supervisor...

IMO from what I have read, I own the GX10 but have read all the posts on tilted viewfinders or mirror boxes as well and know Pentax has been taking care of some.

At least after pushing say you will go half, pay for the tuning and cleanup and have Pentax pay for the defect. I think that would be fair and worth it.
--
jamesm007,
http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z77/jamesm700/
 
I've used the K10D for almost 2 years like it is and I already bought a K20D so I think I'll just take it back and keep it as a backup but you can bet I'll not wait so long to send the K20D in if necessary.
--
You pay for what you get but you don't necessarily get what you pay for
 
$287 to fix the viewfinder, a known factory defect! I'll try hassling them some more.

--

K10D, Sig 17-70, DA 55-300, FA 50/1.4 "Billy Bass", M 400/5.6 "the Great Truncheon"
 
paulkienitz said:
$287 to fix the viewfinder, a known factory defect! I'll try
hassling them some more.
Click to expand...
They have not replied to my further hassling. I hope my camera doesn't stay there for an extra week or two due to some clown not answering the mail.
 
rondeann said:
Sent my K10D in for a misaligned viewfinder (been like that since it
was new) and general checkup and cleaning. Would you believe $275.
I think I'll use it like it is.
Click to expand...
I'd mention that it's a factory defect, a well known one too and ask if they'll go part way to fixing it on grounds of customer loyalty -- if they refuse then just say that you can't see any reason to replace it with another pentax and mumble about Nikon D700s, Olympus superior QC and canons great customer service (regardless as to how good or bad it maybe ;-) .......

It's one thing trying to squeeze a free repair of a worn out camera from them BUT when its a sloppy construction issue like viewfinder tilt they ought to do the right thing and fix it even if you did leave it too late !!

It wouldn't work with Canon, Nikon or Sony as they couldn't care less if you bought another £500 camera not but Pentax are likelt to be the next DSLR maker to go under so they'll want all the customers they can get

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
Mine's off for a service assessment tomorrow with my 18-55 and FA50 to Mississauga, ON... It's one of the very 1st K10'd and has always sucked with my FA50 unless I manually focus. Let's see what they find and report back on (crossing my fingers for a goodwill fix, but it was bought Dec/06... can always hope!)
--
Rich Little (aka Getmoresoon)
 
...after more than a week of them NOT REPLYING to queries, I finally talked to someone at Pentax repair, and they not only denied that viewfinder tilt was a known defect of the K10D, they actually claimed that there are no known defects of any kind in any Pentax camera!

I refused the estimate, and at least managed to guilt the person on the phone into kicking it up to a supervisor before sending the camera back. But I've been cameraless now for most of a month. (And blu-ray-playerless for even longer -- another tale of warranty woe.)

--

K10D, Sig 17-70, DA 55-300, FA 50/1.4 "Billy Bass", M 400/5.6 "the Great Truncheon"
 
They fixed mine for free last month and it was a couple of months out of warranty. Maybe the economy is biting and they need more revenue?

--
Mike

There are holes in the sky
Where the rain gets in,
But they're ever so small
That's why rain is thin. ....... Spike Milligan
 
Stringmike said:
They fixed mine for free last month and it was a couple of months out
of warranty. Maybe the economy is biting and they need more revenue?
Click to expand...
the best way to get that is through customer loyalty - rather than screw someone for a repair bill for a manufacturing fault (regardless of warranty status), treat them well and they'll buy more pentax kit instead of driving them into the arms of Canon, Nikon or Sony

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
paulkienitz said:
...after more than a week of them NOT REPLYING to queries, I finally
talked to someone at Pentax repair, and they not only denied that
viewfinder tilt was a known defect of the K10D, they actually claimed
that there are no known defects of any kind in any Pentax camera!
Click to expand...
I've got a list comments from over 100 discrete K10D owners who have suffered the same problem if you need some ammo. My faulty K10D was sent to Pentax service three times and finally replaced, I was without it for over 100 days in total and it cost me over $75 in shipping.

--
Rob

 
This is the Pentax approach to CRM customer relationship management!!
They know nothing at first,but they are willing to charge you for everything.

They know nothing about Firmware update (1.3 crippled version is all they give us), AF is the best..of course they can always charge you for an 'update' if you send it back, etc..

I had to pay for 50euros for sensor cleaning:

When I received the serviced K10d, 4 weeks later, I had to blow away HAIR (from the service guy obviously) that was left ON the sensor...PENTAX SERVICE ROCKS (hair)!!!

I tell my friends, its wise to stay away from Pentax (dead slow and inaccurate AF, ancient SDM technology, crippled firmware, DA* zooms QC fiasco, lack of system and upgrade path etc..)

Cheers!
Samven
distudio said:
paulkienitz said:
...after more than a week of them NOT REPLYING to queries, I finally
talked to someone at Pentax repair, and they not only denied that
viewfinder tilt was a known defect of the K10D, they actually claimed
that there are no known defects of any kind in any Pentax camera!
Click to expand...
I've got a list comments from over 100 discrete K10D owners who have
suffered the same problem if you need some ammo. My faulty K10D was
sent to Pentax service three times and finally replaced, I was
without it for over 100 days in total and it cost me over $75 in
shipping.

--
Rob
Click to expand...
--
-Nikon FA, 50:1.4
-Pentax K10d, DA21, DA40, A 50:1.7, 55:1.2, 18-200, 28mm Sigma
-Lumix LX3
'The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote'
 
OMG! That's seriously crazy! I am so glad my autofocus broke BEFORE the GD warranty period was up--one MONTH before--phew! They replaced the whole autofocus and went over the whole camera with a fine tooth comb and it came back looking and feeling BRAND NEW. I wonder how much you could sell your camera for and then get the K20 or something? Sorry to hear about the price--that sucks. . . Cindy
--
My PPG-- http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/cynthiafarr-weinfeld
http://www.cindysphotoquest.blogspot.com
My photo site: http://www.cfwphotography.smugmug.com
 
Alrighty! Soooo. My serviced K10D arrived at my house this afternoon. Let's summarize the process.
  • Contacted Pentax Canada by email to ask if I should send my K10D to a Pentax Authorized repair center or Pentax main center in Mississauga, Ontario. They advise to send to Mississauga.
  • Camera is signed for by Pentax staffer January 8th.
  • I receive emailed Estimate Jan 20th! (Ok, I was a little shocked at how long this took). Estimate was for "77777 Digital Miscellaneous" & "0076830 1-B52 Mirror Seat Assembly". Cost?: Parts $31.78 CAD, Labour $240 CAD, Shipping $10. Total cost with Canadian taxes was $318.41! Ouch!
  • Called main office Jan 21st. Spoke to a nice bubbly lady in the Imaging dept, who l mentioned to that since the Mirror Assembly is a known common problem in the K10D. And ploitely asked if there was any room for a goodwill adjustment. Since my camera was only a couple months over, after she consulted with someone, a few minutes later they authorized 25% goodwill discount (shows on the invoice as "AC1118") New total after taxes is $241.63 CAD. While I really hoped Pentax Canada would swallow the whole cost, I didn't mind too much as I did wait until the dang camera was out of the warranty period.
  • I was told the camera would be finished Feb 4th. Another 2 weeks eh? :-(
  • Feb 4th rolls by, and no camera, no emails. Hm. Ok I'm patient. Email Pentax Canada Feb 5th and again Feb 9th, to no avail. Pickup my phone Feb 10th and call them up again. Got a different lady this time (seems the nice lady I spoke with originally was no longer with the company - Pentax head office... ever hear of checking departed frontline staff email for important correspondence??).
  • Anyway, this new lady advises me that YAY! my camera had shipped UPS standard to me on Feb 9th. It arrives today, Feb 11th.
  • So.. the end result? I sent K10D, FA50 and DA18-55. All 3 units came back to me LOOKING LIKE NEW. I mean POLISHED, spotless! (How the heck do they do that?!)
  • Service Invoice shows sub-parts of the Mirror Seat Assembly work:
A31 C0 Adjust Screw (3)
A104 Mount Ring (1)
A403-0000D Certification Seal (1)
L2 Fresnel Lens (1)
  • When I power on, K10D is all back to factory defaults. So I poke through the menus to reset stuff to my norms. Firmware is Version 1.30, just like it left me. (Anyone wanna tell me how to check the Hardware revision?)
  • OK, off to the testing... my FA50. I've NEVER liked my FA50. It has NEVER been reliable or accurate on this K10D. Familiar story for lots of people. Now? Dead on accurate. Point at a calibration sheet (or reasonable facsimile thereof, and right on the money. Holy smoke, it's NEVER worked so well! Again, this is a familiar story for anyone who's sent their K10D in for this service. I'm VERY happy.
So yeah it cost a chunk of change... and really I had to think a little about the "should I just buy another body?" question. But another body might also have been out of alignment. Overall, I think it was worth the service cost. Lessons learned too: it never hurts to ask for a discount. That, and if you think you've a problem, don't wait.. send it in for service BEFORE the warranty ends :-S.

--
Rich Little (aka Getmoresoon)
 
getmoresoon said:
Holy smoke, it's NEVER worked so well! Again, this is a familiar story for anyone > who's sent their K10D in for this service. I'm VERY happy.
Click to expand...
Glad it turned out good. Kinda amazing how much performance we where losing (us with the bad AF K10/GX10s) its like your using a whole different camera. Kinda sad though that many did not get this performance and moved on to other brands. I did not know my AF was so bad, I sent in my GX10 because it died. If you don't know how good it should be, you dont send it in, because you dont know you have a problem.

But your good to go, kinda makes it hard to justify upgrading when you have a good K10D, its still a tough camera anyway you want to look at it. IMO

--
jamesm007, WSSA member 266PX
http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z77/jamesm700/
 
rondeann said:
Sent my K10D in for a misaligned viewfinder (been like that since it
was new) and general checkup and cleaning. Would you believe $275.
I think I'll use it like it is.
--
You pay for what you get but you don't necessarily get what you pay for
Click to expand...
Actually, that is right in the ballpark for most entry and mid level DSLR repair.

Don't feel bad about that price . . . it is not a ripoff.

That being said, I need to take my *ist DS to the Pentax USA repair center for some warranty work (just bought it last summer) as the sensor seems to have a couple of dead pixels.

Luckily for me . . . the Pentax repair center is about three miles from my house!

--
J. D.
Colorful Colorado



Remember . . . always keep your receipt, the box, and everything that came in it!
 
There seems to be no consistency about what they charge $200+ for and what they charge next to nothing for.

Heck, a couple years ago I sent a Pentax PZ1 film body in for repair after an accident at a football game because the shutter was completely shredded, the mirror wouldn't operate correctly, and the viewfinder was filthy. Pentax charged me only $80 for those major repairs and a cleaning.
 
this will achieve squat. Stick to the facts of a known problem and others have received free service out of warranty. No one likes subtle or not too subtle threats these days. Cowboy mentality just doesn't work.
Adam-T said:
Adam-T said:
Sent my K10D in for a misaligned viewfinder (been like that since it
was new) and general checkup and cleaning. Would you believe $275.
I think I'll use it like it is.
Click to expand...
I'd mention that it's a factory defect, a well known one too and ask
if they'll go part way to fixing it on grounds of customer loyalty --
if they refuse then just say that you can't see any reason to replace
it with another pentax and mumble about Nikon D700s, Olympus superior
QC and canons great customer service (regardless as to how good or
bad it maybe ;-) .......
It's one thing trying to squeeze a free repair of a worn out camera
from them BUT when its a sloppy construction issue like viewfinder
tilt they ought to do the right thing and fix it even if you did
leave it too late !!
It wouldn't work with Canon, Nikon or Sony as they couldn't care less
if you bought another £500 camera not but Pentax are likelt to be the
next DSLR maker to go under so they'll want all the customers they
can get

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

Click to expand...
--



'Photography is not like painting,' Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. 'There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,'
http://www.dhaphotography.com/index.html
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top