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Panasonic Repair makes Nikon repair look good...

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Ednaz

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My two month old G2 stopped working a few weeks ago - when I shot, I'd get a black image (as in blank image) that had all the exif info but no light captured. Based on talking with tech support, which diagnosed it as a failed sensor, I sent it off to Panny Repair in McAllen TX on August 6.

Heard nothing so I called.

First, they tried to tell me that they hadn't received it, no record of the camera. I gave them the tracking number and had them look it up while I was on the phone... it was received and signed for on the 13th in the early morning. Oops.

So then they told me that the way their system works, there would be no record of the camera until it had been evaluated and was assigned a work order number.

For your reference, I was told that their procedure is this: if a camera is sent in for repair, there's a 10 working day "evaluation" period before the generate a work order number. They can not tell me when I will get my camera back until they have evaluated it for 10 working days and have assigned a work order number. When I asked whether we're talking days, weeks or months, they said ... it depends... When I pointed out that we were now at 10 working days, they said, well, sometimes it takes a week or more longer to get the evaluation done.

I suggested to them that since they were going to have my camera for at least one full month of my 12 month warranty, they should give me a 13 month warranty to compensate, give me that month of coverage back. That wasn't received well... but when they couldn't tell me if I was looking at days, weeks, or months for repair, I'm pretty grumpy. I paid for the camera, but we're on track for them having it more days than I had it.

Nikon repair is terrible at getting your camera into their web-based status system, they do it once a week, and sometimes you get your camera BACK from them before you can see the status message that tells you when you'll get it back. But I've never had a camera with them for more than a week (plus shipping), whether warranty repair or damage repair, and I'm not a member of NPS, just a schlub like anyone else. People grumble about the status reporting problem, but as long as the camera's back fast, it's just something to grumble about.

If your Panny breaks, be prepared to wait... and be ready to help them find your camera.
 
Well, my experience is a little different from yours.

First, it was a compact p&s that was broken (though at the time the TZ3 costed about $450-500USD).
Second, I live in Canada so repairs was done in Canada.
Third, it wasn't a warranty fix as the damage was not covered.

But as for getting my TZ3 fixed, what happened was that I personally took the camera in (wasn't far) to the repair shop. I left it there for them to evaluate. The next day they gave an estimate. Took another day for parts to come in and one day to fix so a total of three business days from the time I took it in and went to pick it up.

Again, this isn't warranty work so things may go a bit faster, plus maybe repairs in Canada are just done faster. Who knows. In any case it wasn't a painful experience at all for me (except in the wallet).

Sorry to hear your troubles, I would hate to be in that situation. Good luck in getting it back soon.
Ednaz said:
My two month old G2 stopped working a few weeks ago - when I shot, I'd get a black image (as in blank image) that had all the exif info but no light captured. Based on talking with tech support, which diagnosed it as a failed sensor, I sent it off to Panny Repair in McAllen TX on August 6.

Heard nothing so I called.

First, they tried to tell me that they hadn't received it, no record of the camera. I gave them the tracking number and had them look it up while I was on the phone... it was received and signed for on the 13th in the early morning. Oops.

So then they told me that the way their system works, there would be no record of the camera until it had been evaluated and was assigned a work order number.

For your reference, I was told that their procedure is this: if a camera is sent in for repair, there's a 10 working day "evaluation" period before the generate a work order number. They can not tell me when I will get my camera back until they have evaluated it for 10 working days and have assigned a work order number. When I asked whether we're talking days, weeks or months, they said ... it depends... When I pointed out that we were now at 10 working days, they said, well, sometimes it takes a week or more longer to get the evaluation done.

I suggested to them that since they were going to have my camera for at least one full month of my 12 month warranty, they should give me a 13 month warranty to compensate, give me that month of coverage back. That wasn't received well... but when they couldn't tell me if I was looking at days, weeks, or months for repair, I'm pretty grumpy. I paid for the camera, but we're on track for them having it more days than I had it.

Nikon repair is terrible at getting your camera into their web-based status system, they do it once a week, and sometimes you get your camera BACK from them before you can see the status message that tells you when you'll get it back. But I've never had a camera with them for more than a week (plus shipping), whether warranty repair or damage repair, and I'm not a member of NPS, just a schlub like anyone else. People grumble about the status reporting problem, but as long as the camera's back fast, it's just something to grumble about.

If your Panny breaks, be prepared to wait... and be ready to help them find your camera.
Click to expand...
--
Hubert

My cameras: GF1, TZ3, recently fixed (I think) Minolta Hi-Matic 7s, broken Konica Auto S2(couldn't fix, who the heck GLUES screws in??), K1000 and my wife's old K110D



http://www.flickr.com/photos/peppermonkey/
 
I have dealt with Canon repair for 2 different cameras, one under warrantee the other not. In both cases I received an evaluation no more than a day after they received the camera. I authorized the one that had to be paid with a credit card. The cameras were returned within a week. Very impressive service; not so impressive price
 
My experience with Panasonic Canada is completely different. After one of my GH1's lug fell, in november 2009, I've sent the camera to be repared in Ontario. If my memory serves, it was sent through FedEx a Friday and the camera was back to me (repared, of course) the next Tuesday or Wednesday. No charge since it was covered by the International warranty (it has been bought in UK).
 
in singapore, i recently sent my 10 month old 14-45mm lens to have its rubber zoom ring replaced. i went there on a weekday and was the only other customer there, with the other customer returning a cooker pot and microwave.

service was okay. the counter girl said she had to check with the technicians first. technician said i was the first one to have this problem in singapore. nonetheless, he said he'd change it for me, but only this once. and since i'm the first in singapore to ever report this problem, he has to order it for me. delivery was gonna take 2-3 weeks.

but at least its going to be fixed. for free. but he was adamant that i need to find my receipt, even though the warranty card was stamped and dated by the retailer where i bought the camera. he said if i dont have it (which i dont), i have to go down to my retailer to get another receipt.

in today's online storage and digital age where u submit warranty online n stuff, dun think its really necessary to have receipts, but what to do.

ok short point of my rant is, they are a stickler for hard copy receipts in singapore. but they are generally fast to call and update you with quotes etc.
 
jay Goldman said:
I have dealt with Canon repair for 2 different cameras, one under warrantee the other not. In both cases I received an evaluation no more than a day after they received the camera. I authorized the one that had to be paid with a credit card. The cameras were returned within a week. Very impressive service; not so impressive price
Click to expand...
. . . I called them after the mirror came loose on my 5D and they sent me a free shipping label. I got it back from them in about a week after I sent it to them. They also cleaned the sensor and gave me a shutter count, all for free. This was remarkable because the camera was four years old and way past its original 12 month warranty.
 
I remember taking a laptop to IBM repair, and walked in as the only customer, with three people at the customer service desk. Ten minutes of hanging around, nothing happened, so I went up to one of them and she said, must take number or no service. Took a number from the number tag rack, and I actually heard one of the reps count to ten before calling my number.

I had good service from Nikon repair in Singapore, they re-set a lens element on a wide angle for me at no charge even though the lens was out of warranty and was a US purchase (brought over with me when we moved there.) Also turned around a mechanical problem in an F3 in a day when I had a failure just before a trip to Cambodia.

I think Panasonic is still a little too consumer product-ish...
 
Maybe the difference is if you pay out of pocket for a repair vs Panasonic paying for it. Maybe they figure they hold it for 366 days then say its out of warrantee and you get the camera back repaired the next day.
 
i dropped my 45mm macro lens and the AF stopped working
Pana asked me to send to Texas repair address in email; i did around mid June

A month went by I still didn't hear from Pana so called and they told me I sent to wrong address (????), they had to send it to Washington instead

another month has gone by and i called in every week, each time the rep would tell me they 've received the lens but had no update on the issue, so escalated the case

Here after 2 months plus, I still have not once heard from Pana and any report on the issue @#$$$%%%^&& , you fill in the blanks

Imagine if this were you bread and breakfast 20mm what would you do? the 45mm is a special lens but I wouldn't want to be deprived of it for 2 months !!!

I wish Pana would tell me something like can't repair, or too busy but silence still ...
what an ordeal ...
Morale of story: don't ever drop your Pana lenses/cameras!!!
You've been warned !
Cheers :-(
 
Panasonic seems determined to have as little human contact with its customers as possible. Having sent my camera to them August 6, and having gotten a no-status status last week, I called today. When the robo-answerer asked what I wanted, I said repair status... when it asked me what kind of camera and I selected the still camera option, it said it would transfer me.

It did.

To a line with a recording that says "this number is not in service." And that's that.

After being an idiot and repeating "representative" no matter what the robo-girl said, I got someone to transferred me to someone who transferred me to someone who transferred me to someone... I now have a work order number, and the info that the parts are on backorder and there's no prediction for when they'll have the repair parts. Once they get them, I'm told to expect two weeks for the work to be done.

When I pointed out that Panasonic will then have had my camera longer than I had it, and asked for a two month warranty extension to compensate for them consuming a large hunk of my warranty period, I was told that the repairs have a warranty of 60 days. Lovely.

I don't think I'll be buying any Panasonic products from here on... even my cable TV company, rated one of the worst service organizations in the US, does better than this.
 
Latest story - on September 2 they identified that I needed a part replaced. (Duh.) But, as the telephone rep told me with great seriousness, that part has to come from overseas, and it takes some time for parts to arrive from overseas. Uh, yeah, really? Wow, parts coming from other countries! Complex stuff!

Is that why the cameras are shipped overnight express to the US? Uh, well.

That story then became, well, we produce parts in batches, and we're waiting for that batch to be produced... then they'll ship us a batch of repair parts, and we'll fix your camera.

Zero idea of whether we're talking about days, weeks, or months.

I'm about to do the registered mail letter to their executives and board members thing that I've done from time to time.

This is stupid, really. If it's a bad sensor, their cost to repair will be more than to ship a new camera.
 
i've been told they will ship you a refurbished camera, not a new one :-(

as for my case, it's been 'escalated' again and every time they probe me for more info ...yet still no results ... the saga continues and 4 months are coming up soon :-(
 
I'm resorting to rattling all the social media about the problem. They are desperately trying to suppress peoples' complaints, but obviously they're having issues because they're just plain overwhelmed..
 
Ednaz said:
Latest story - on September 2 they identified that I needed a part replaced. (Duh.) But, as the telephone rep told me with great seriousness, that part has to come from overseas, and it takes some time for parts to arrive from overseas. Uh, yeah, really? Wow, parts coming from other countries! Complex stuff!

Is that why the cameras are shipped overnight express to the US? Uh, well.

That story then became, well, we produce parts in batches, and we're waiting for that batch to be produced... then they'll ship us a batch of repair parts, and we'll fix your camera.

Zero idea of whether we're talking about days, weeks, or months.

I'm about to do the registered mail letter to their executives and board members thing that I've done from time to time.

This is stupid, really. If it's a bad sensor, their cost to repair will be more than to ship a new camera.
Click to expand...
 
they finally shipped me a new lens overnight

i guess they sympathize with my patience and many calls during the last 3+ months
I'm a happy camper now but Pana's repair reputation is at stake
I like their gear but wish i don't have to send them in for repairs anytime soon
cheers,
 
I have had excellent results with Olympus service, so I have confidence to buy Olympus products.

When I bought LX3 a few years ago, I had been considering a Ricoh GRD but feared the lack of customer service and lots of complaints about quality control - so I bought LX3 instead. At that time, I had more confidence in panasonic in the US.

Now I am hearing lots of issues about Panasonic service. I have 25mm f1.4 lens that needs service for 2 years but I have never sent it in - my own experience on the phone with customer service has given me NO confidence that I would ever get the lens back again. Each of the people I have spoken to has firmly told me that Panasonic does not make any such lens so they can't possibly repair it.

Your story just confirms my fear of shipping off this expensive lens to never see it again. But it also does me no good to keep it when it doesn't focus properly. I want to get the 45 macro, but a lack of customer confidence over another $800 or $900 lens without appropriate warranty or repair service keeps me from buying it - I tell myself to wait for Olympus instead.

Panasonic - if you want to sell expensive gear, you have to instill confidence in your customers that the gear will have proper service available!

--
Roberto M.
 
I posted an experience with Panasonic repair last week.

You must call Panasonic Tech and keep pushing to get a supervisor on line, then convince the supervisor to get you a work order no. at Mcallen. The work order supervisor at McAllen(got the no from Panasonic Tech) is David and his direct no is 956 683 2954. He saved my butt. Got my 45 2.8 back two weeks after overnighting it to TX.
With Pan tech be persistant but courteous.
 
On my 14-140mm the zoom ring rubber got loose (heat, sweat). The lens came back after 5 working days, everything under warranty.

--
Thomas
 
Finally talked directly with McAllen two weeks ago. The guy there put me on hold twice with many apologies, and came back and explained that he was frankly embarrassed that this is going on so long, he found the part HAD arrived but nobody'd put the repair back in the queue. He'd put me on hold as he called around to put pressure on people about getting things moving. At last, a human, with human concerns!

All that said... still waiting. Still not even a date.

Borrowing some Oly gear and Sony gear over the next few weeks, both of them have a pro support program that guarantees faster turnaround if you shoot for money with their gear. Both also have way better speed and communication, which I think may be because they had to build good support to have a pro program. Whatever, as much as I love my GF1 and G2, and being a realist that things do break from time to time, I put a high value on service turnaround. Too bad - I think Panasonic has a good shot at getting the gear right for shooters, but only for shooters with the patience of Job.
 
If it takes this long, they should replace the camera with a new one and compensate you for the inconvenience...

Damien
Ednaz said:
Finally talked directly with McAllen two weeks ago. The guy there put me on hold twice with many apologies, and came back and explained that he was frankly embarrassed that this is going on so long, he found the part HAD arrived but nobody'd put the repair back in the queue. He'd put me on hold as he called around to put pressure on people about getting things moving. At last, a human, with human concerns!

All that said... still waiting. Still not even a date.

Borrowing some Oly gear and Sony gear over the next few weeks, both of them have a pro support program that guarantees faster turnaround if you shoot for money with their gear. Both also have way better speed and communication, which I think may be because they had to build good support to have a pro program. Whatever, as much as I love my GF1 and G2, and being a realist that things do break from time to time, I put a high value on service turnaround. Too bad - I think Panasonic has a good shot at getting the gear right for shooters, but only for shooters with the patience of Job.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilgy_no1
 
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