Initial reaction NOT favorable

I thought Olympus support was supposed to be better than this. Especially for their flagship. I might seriously have to reconsider the VERY large dollar investment I've made in Olympus gear.

I was finally able to send in my E-3 for Olympus to resolve the focus issues I've had since day one. The latest troubles are detailed here:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=31951724

When sending in the E-3 I had explicitly detailed the problems and even pointed to the thread here on DPREVIEW (which they acknowledged reading). I felt hopeful that they would offer to fix the camera even though it is officially 6 months out of warranty. I had even indicated on the return form that I was hoping the amount to "repair" the camera should be small or nothing at all.

The camera was delivered to their service location this morning according to UPS. Late this afternoon I received a call from Oly service. They asked why I thought the repair should be "free?" I told them why I thought the way I thought and asked if they knew what was wrong with it? They replied that they hadn't identified the root of the problem but it would cost $99.75 to fix! This struck me as rather odd that they could tell me it would cost essentially $100 to fix but they didn't know what was wrong! I decided to probe some more and asked if the problems I was experiencing could be caused by me abusing the camera in some way? They couldn't say. They just repeated that the return form that would come back with the camera would detail what they did to "fix" it.

So essentially they can't tell me what's wrong or how they'll fix it but they'll gladly charge me $100 to get my camera to hopefully be as good as it should have been when I first purchased it.

Seems pretty lame to me. Consider me an unhappy customer at the moment.

Bruce

I know you're frustrated with the response, but I can sort of understand their position. It's probably inefficient to do an analysis of what's wrong by the technicians, inform the service department, wait for a response, inform the technicians that it's OK to go ahead, and fix the camera. I think a lot of places simply have a fee schedule for the type of problem, charge that, and if you agree, just get the technicians to work on the camera only once. They'll take it apart, figure out what's wrong, and fix it. It may or may not be a $100 fix, it may be more, but it averages out. I don't think they should be blamed for charging for an out of warranty fix, especially if you had it since they one - since you had a whole 12 months to send it in.

Hey Bruce! If you're grumpy now, I don't want to be in the same room with you later on.

My E3 shutter died at 30,000 activations about 2 months outside warranty. It was a long and tedious process getting Olympus to share the costs of repair (a cost which was astronomical, I might add, and which would almost cover buying a new E420). All up, it took over a month to get the camera back, and I'm still waiting for them to fix the rubber grips which didn't survive being taken off and put back on.

In short, $100 and a guarantee is a complete bargain. Grab it!

PS When complaining that a pro camera shouldn't die at 30K and that the E3 was advertised as having 150K shutter life, the Olympus representative said "Who told you that?" as if I was making it up. Eeep!

I feel for you Bruce. Olympus claims no continuing problems with the viewfinder on the E-30, but they are willing to fix them. (???!) In your case, it's amazing that Olympus is willing to fix an unknown problem and they know exactly how much it will cost to do it.

Olympus is not a company worthy of our financial support at this time.

--
Regards,

Jim Pilcher
Colorado, USA

'It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see...' -- Henry David Thoreau

I won't be able to send it until July. But it will sure be interesting because back focusing problems is what I have (basically the same problem you have).

To be really honest, I am a bit bummed that Olympus didn't do an open statement and just recalled or offered to fix "at cost' those E-3's. After all this is their pro camera, pro-marketed, and if they taint their reputation there, there's quite the uphill battle to get it back.

--
Raist3d (Photographer & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

--
Hello Everyone

While it is known that some bodies from every brand has had known issues, it is always disappointing and frustrating when employees working only for the brand do not know the claims of their own company

I have had the same issue at 30,000 on my first E3 and am a little bit concerned with my second one which is approaching the same number

also can you tell me how do you know when you have front back focus issues on the E3 because I have noticed a lot of so-so focus with some lenses on AF which don't happen when I manual focus
could it be that ?
Thanks
H

Laszlo13 said:

I know you're frustrated with the response, but I can sort of
understand their position. It's probably inefficient to do an
analysis of what's wrong by the technicians, inform the service
department, wait for a response, inform the technicians that it's OK
to go ahead, and fix the camera. I think a lot of places simply have
a fee schedule for the type of problem, charge that, and if you
agree, just get the technicians to work on the camera only once.
They'll take it apart, figure out what's wrong, and fix it. It may
or may not be a $100 fix, it may be more, but it averages out. I
don't think they should be blamed for charging for an out of warranty
fix, especially if you had it since they one - since you had a whole
12 months to send it in.
--

Click to expand...

I can't really argue that they should fix it free of charge. What bothers me is that they told me the technician had looked at it and HE determined the cost would be $100. If that's the case then why couldn't HE determine what the fix would be?

The other thing that has me a bit on edge is that I specifically told them I wasn't going to be happy if all they do is a cursory clean/adjust service. I want a root cause for why this camera fails to deliver acceptable images. Then if they can tell me that the defect wasn't there from day one I'd be more than happy to accept full responsibility. Well, truth be told I already have since I agreed to the $100 charge already.

BTW, they are fully aware of this forum (and others) as they even sent me an email indicating to me that the best option after reviewing my analysis was to send the camera in. I also fully believe that they are aware there are others with E-3s that don't deliver accurate focus. This is one reason why I thought they should bear some of the repair cost even though mine is technically out of warranty.
--
Bruce

At least that's what they told me when I broke the LCD on my E520. No matter what was wrong it would cost the same amount--can't remember exactly but it was in the neighborhood, I think a little more than $100. They fixed my camera and had it back to me inside of 10 days which was over the Christmas holiday. Totally different situation, was my fault and it was clear what was wrong. (They couldn't send it back without fixing it either.) Just thought that might explain why they knew the cost ahead of time.
Jolene
--



My galleries-- http://www.zenfolio.com/jolieo

Bruce Spell said:

I can't really argue that they should fix it free of charge. What
bothers me is that they told me the technician had looked at it and
HE determined the cost would be $100. If that's the case then why
couldn't HE determine what the fix would be?

The other thing that has me a bit on edge is that I specifically told
them I wasn't going to be happy if all they do is a cursory
clean/adjust service. I want a root cause for why this camera fails
to deliver acceptable images. Then if they can tell me that the
defect wasn't there from day one I'd be more than happy to accept
full responsibility. Well, truth be told I already have since I
agreed to the $100 charge already.

BTW, they are fully aware of this forum (and others) as they even
sent me an email indicating to me that the best option after
reviewing my analysis was to send the camera in. I also fully
believe that they are aware there are others with E-3s that don't
deliver accurate focus. This is one reason why I thought they should
bear some of the repair cost even though mine is technically out of
warranty.

Click to expand...

thats interesting Bruce
its like there are 2 breeds of E3
you deal with Olympus America right ?

--
ʎǝlıɹ

plɹoʍ ǝɥʇ ɟo doʇ uo ǝɹɐ ǝʍ 'ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ uı

--
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so thats a nominal rate rather than full tilt Brian ?
--
ʎǝlıɹ

plɹoʍ ǝɥʇ ɟo doʇ uo ǝɹɐ ǝʍ 'ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ uı

point the camera for example say at someone's face. You focus on the nose and the camera locks focus a bit behind so the focus is on the eyes or ears. Focus on the eyes and the camera may focus on the ears or even a bit behind.

The wider the aperture of the lens (in particular the Panny-Leica F1.4)- the more prone my E-3 is to back focusing (pretty much 100% with that lens at that aperture).

With the 12-60 it's sometimes and a bit more subtle but you can see it. When it happens the subject is almost in focus but not quite. Could pass ok at say smaller print sizes and with a bit of selective sharpening.

--
Raist3d (Photographer & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

I have no idea, but it seems reasonable to me... a minimal admin/processing/carriege fee. I can't imagine any actual engineering labour being covered by $100

Cheers

Brian
--
Join our free worldwide support network here :
http://www.ukphotosafari.org/join-the-ukpsg/
UK, Peak District Local Olympus Safari Group : http://snipurl.com/bqtd7-ukpsg
Keep up with me here : http://twitter.com/alert_bri

I'll definitely be interested in your experience with Oly service, Ricardo. All I can do is HOPE that whatever they do fixes the problem. I'm so fed up with having to deal with this right now - not to mention the lost shots during once in a lifetime opportunities with this camera.

I may be overreacting right now but this whole thing has soured my zest for Olympus at the moment. I might not be their biggest customer but I sure as hell am not their smallest! If they aren't interested in keeping customers like me happy then why should I continue to use their products?
--
Bruce

Rriley said:

thats interesting Bruce
its like there are 2 breeds of E3
you deal with Olympus America right ?

Click to expand...

Actually, that's an interesting story. I started off (by mistake) sending an email to Oly Japan (I had opened their webpage by mistake). I followed that up with emails and phone calls to Olympus America. Ultimately I sent the camera to Olympus service on the west coast (Cyprus, Ca).
--
Bruce

Harold66 said:

also can you tell me how do you know when you have front back focus
issues on the E3 because I have noticed a lot of so-so focus with
some lenses on AF which don't happen when I manual focus
could it be that ?

Click to expand...

Take a look at this link:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=31951724

especially the images in the post named "test images" for examples of back focus with my E3.
--
Bruce

To use you're own choice of words. If the camera hasn't worked right since you bought it, who do you have to blame for having to pay for service 6 months past warranty.

Did you go to any primary or secondary school, or have any education that would make you understand the senselessness of your rant?

I would guess the $100 is to cover their labor to dig into your out of warranty camera and see what's wrong.

Why do people have such selfish self-entitled attitudes???? I'd underline SELFISH if I knew how to do it.

"Hi Honda dealership. You know that car i bought from you 42 months ago? Yeah, the one with the warranty that expired six months ago?

Well, ever since I drove it off the lot 3 and a half years ago, the engine doesn't accelerate too well. Could you take a look at it please?

What do you mean you're going to charge me to diagnose the problem. You should fix it for free because, well, it hasn't worked right since I bought it and I know for a fact that others have had the same problem"

Yep, still sounds so lame dude. Pay the money and get the camera fixed, or tell them to ship it back to you as is, it's your choice. Please don't whine about it here though.

I'm sorry, but let's be reasonable here. You yourself admit you're 6 months out of warantee but you expect them to fix it for free. You claim to have had these issues since day one, but couldn't be bothered to send it in earlier. Exactly how many stories like this do you think a service center gets? Almost nobody admits they did anything wrong. I'm not saying that you did, but they have all reason to treat such a claim with due scepticism, especially outside warantee. Consider that investigating a problem of this nature takes considerable time and thus money. Your expectation of having to pay little indicates to the service center that you may refuse to pay.

You expect them to take in your camera outside of warantee and promise to repair it for free without them knowing what the issue is and what caused it and then when they refuse to do so you get angry with them.

I'm sorry, but you're out of warantee. If you have an issue with Olympus about firmware 1.4 you should raise it with them and not the hapless technicians. If you have an issue with focussing on the E-3 in general then frankly you've had a long time to take this up with them inside the warantee period.
--
Mithandir,
Eternal Amateur
http://www.wizardtrails.com/

Mithandir said:

I'm sorry, but let's be reasonable here. You yourself admit you're 6
months out of warantee but you expect them to fix it for free. You
claim to have had these issues since day one, but couldn't be
bothered to send it in earlier.

Click to expand...

Lets just think about one thing here. There is a difference about a guarantee, where if something GOES wrong, then they will fix it free; as opposed to a design fault that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

What happens for example if you buy a camera and only shoot it with a fairly slow (in dof terms) kit lens, then just outside the warranty period, you buy the 14-35, 35-100 and 90-250 .... THEN notice that the occasional soft shots you've had from day one, all of a sudden turn into nearly every shot being unusable because of a focus error (that was in fact there from day one).