Essex Camera - no response to emails

<p>Hello,<br>

Anyone know what's up with Essex Camera? I've sent two estimate requests via their website, and no response in a week. I've checked my spam, nothing there. I've emailed Shi Kim, no response. <br>

<br />Thanks</p>

<p>This time of year, they may be closed for holiday.</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

Gosh, hadn't thought of that, thanks. </p>

<p>Chris, Three weeks ago I emailed Essex camera about sending in my Vitessa. I received no response and when I called, the phones did not work.(due to Hurricane Sandy). I received a response to my email a couple of weeks later from Shi Kim with an estimate, unfortunately I had already sent my camera to Kurts Camera in San Diego.</p>

<p> Appears the storm disrupted their utilitys for a while, so they may be a little backed up.</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

Not a surprise, thanks for the info, hope they didn't get devastated.<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Actually, Mr. Kim's shop was affected by Sandy and service has been disrupted ( for many businesses in the Meadowlands area). The Hackensack River tidal surge caused by the Hurricane wiped out power for weeks at the industrial park area where Essex Camera is located. <br>

Last I checked, the shop was undergoing some renovations.<br>

I will swing by this weekend to check on the progress ( I live but a stone's throw away ).</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you Gabor, it would be a shame if the storm put them out of business. They really do nice work.</p>

<p>They are alive and well, but their shop was flooded by Sandy. I dropped off a camera a couple of weeks ago and had it back in a week, but the phones and e-mail do not seem to be working very well. The had to move up to the second floor since the first floor of the building took on a few feet of water. Mr. Kim said they lost "many cameras."</p>

<p>Well, I will certainly continue to use Essex when I can contact them, but until then, this is my situation. I have a Canon FX, and I'd like to have the split-image screen either cleaned or replaced, depending on what it needs. Who would be your choice to send it to, in lieu of Mr. Kim and Essex? </p>

<p>I am glad to hear all this although I am not happy for their misfortunes. I have used their repair services for many years and hope to use them again in the future. I have a "new" Yashicamat (new to me) that looks brand new but the shutter is S-L-O-W. At my advanced age, I'm a bit slow myself. Great olde camera repair places are gems of great price.<br>

I don't collect old film cameras, I rescue them....</p>

<p>Usually you get a confirmation email, but they might not get back to you right away. If I remember correctly it took about about a weeks time or more for them to get back to me and they did it through the phone. One of the technicians willl call you with a quote, (if they are still in business). When/if they do call you make sure you ask for a contact number. The Communication with these guys is beyond aloof. </p>

<p>In my two interactions with them earlier this year, I emailed back and forth with Shi about "do you repair this type of camera" etc. before sending the jobs in. But after that, no further communication was e-mail. It's like you've sent your camera to 1986. They send repair quotes on dot matrix-printed forms (yes, really) by physical mail (yes, really), and want you to send back payment and a signature indicating consent to the repair, by (wait for it...) physical mail. So even before the hurricane, these were most assuredly <em>not </em>"track your camera's status by the minute and follow its path around our shop using GPS via our iPhone app" kind of guys. Brilliant repairpersons though. I think we can't be picky about their communication style given the ever-shrinking number of people on the planet who can repair Rolleiflexen, Vitessas, etc.<br>

<em>--Dave</em></p>