Olympus Customer Service Experience

At the end of last year, the strap attachment on my nearly two-year old EM-5 failed. The camera dropped, I caught on to the strap, but not quickly enough to prevent the front element of the attached 40-150 pro lens touching the gravelly ground and getting a small chip.

I contacted Olympus Finland about it (I live in Finland, but the camera and lens were bought in the UK), and they told me to send it to their service centre in Portugal. Well, I did not do that immediately - I just didn't get around to it. And now in early April, I got back to Olympus, and finally sent them the lens and camera; DHL picked it up. By now, the 2-year warranty on the EM-5 had actually lapsed. And I had little hope of getting the camera (and more importantly the lens) repaired under warranty.

Well, a little under two weeks later, I just received a box with a lens that looks like new, a brand new hood, and a replaced EM-5. With a nice note and completely free of charge.

I was expecting to pay upwards of 400€ for the lens repair and I was contemplating selling my m43 kit afterwards. I am quite invested in m43 lenses and had been holding out for a replacement for my old EM-5, but the EM1-ii has not really convinced me. Now, if I wanted to sell my m43 gear, getting a lens and camera that look as good as new would actually make that switch a little easier. But I doubt that I would find this level of service anywhere else (I also had my 12-40 pro lens repaired by Olympus last year for a very reasonable cost, after I had damaged it myself). I'll probably wait a couple of weeks before making any decisions. But I think I might just give that EM1-ii another serious look.

I'm very happy that you had a great experience with customer service. It goes to show you that Olympus stands by their products and their customers.

Well done Olympus.

Wayne

We tend to only hear the bad experiences. Glad there are also good ones. It may be the luck of the draw, but at least there is hope.

I tend to always hold onto my camera or lens because I do not trust the strap lugs after hearing many reports of them falling out. Besides, my camera is 4 years old, so even when Olympus is helpful they would not likely cover this under warranty after 4 years.

For my own experience, it was initially frustrating as the customer service rep I spoke to wasn't fully informed when I sent my EM-1 in for what could be a tricky electronic malfunction. However, on my follow-up everything went well and all on warranty. Now, four months after the repair the camera is functioning well.