Repair failure...what would you do ?

<p>I've had a camera repaired (6x6)....and I was told 10 days. I've been patient and at this point is about a month. The camera was sent (out of the area) to be repaired....and I kept reminding them for appx 2 weeks...and kept visiting the shop. I've never came across such incompetency - first time I've experienced this kind of treatment. Just looking for options as to an angle of approach. Thanks.</p>

<p>Les</p>

 

<p>What camera model? If parts are scarce it could easily take weeks or months just to obtain parts. If the parts are unavailable the repair tech might need to modify parts from other cameras, or even fabricate them from scratch - also a time consuming process.</p>

<p>The problem is obviously that you haven't been informed about <em>why</em> there has been a delay. Maybe they don't dare to tell you at this point.</p>

<p>Lex is correct. One of my Nikon F2 bodies was in the shop for over three months before I came and picked it up. Their story was that they were trying to find parts (this was a Nikon authorized repair shop by the way). I was later told by another shop that the repair needed didn't require parts, just an adjustment. So my advice would be to pin down the people at your shop to find out what exactly entails the repair you are in for. Get a 2nd opinion if you deem it necessary. After having been burned on camera repairs several times already, I rate camera repair shops right up there with auto mechanics as far as competence and honesty are concerned.</p>

<p>Thanks for the answers. Apparently this guy in Calif has been doing this (repairs of this type) for a v. long time and he is even capable of creating his own parts. It's a pin in focusing knob (TLR) that needs replacement. Part of the problem is that the camera is over 1000 miles from here...and (yes) I'd be willing to send it to another place....so there is the conundrum.</p>

<p>Les</p>

<p>My question to them would be what would be <em>their</em> suggestion to resolve this situation as soon as possible, in a way that is satisfying you. Insist on a quick solution, in a calm way (getting angry really seldom works). Put the ball in their court - odds are the shop you're dealing with is about as disappointed as you, and (hopefully) embarrased too. So let's see what their suggestions are, maybe they have some good alternative solution you did not yet think of. Of course, it's always up to you to accept, or not.</p>

<p>These things take time. Be more patient. He is servicing many other cameras too. Forgive him his highly optomistic prediction... they rarely seem to get out of the shop that quickly if there is a repair to be made as opposed to a simple servicing. Also consider being a bit kinder in your terminology - incompetency is if the repair is done wrong; "in error" is when the prediction of repair time is wrong.</p>

<p>Sometimes the holidays can really mess up 'typical' repair time estimates.</p>

+1 on the use of words.<br>It's not (yet) a repair failure. It's a delay.

<p>You may have heard "10 days" but what they might have said or meant was very possibly "10 business days." And how long is "about a month"? 29 days? Three weeks? If California is "out of area," where are you located and how long did shipping to California take? I think Mark's point is the key -- we're just coming out of the holidays. If what the shop really mean was "10 business days once the camera gets to the guy doing the work" then you have to add on maybe a couple of days at each end for shipping, maybe as many as four more days if there was a weekend on either end, plus another four days considering the Christmas and New Year's were on Tuesdays this year and many businesses closed on the Mondays. If the repairman had to get parts, then he's up against all those factors himself. Should they have been clearer? Yes. But to me, dropping off a camera "almost" a month ago and not having it back yet doesnt' sound like anything to panic over. Not yet.</p>

<p>As a point of comparison, someone on another board is getting a TLR back from Fleenor after a CLA... and his turnaround time was 12 weeks.</p>

<p>Well, yes, I said it wrongly, their estimate was off. Maybe I should suggest that if this guy is so overwhelmed, why doesn't he send to the other repair guy (my alt choice), who is more conscientious. In any case, this type of stuff tends to stick to memory.</p>

<p>Les</p>

 

<p>Les - I always go to the guy with the better reputation and warranty. I do that with computers and servers. One of my key criteria for computers and servers: I can always go to my guy's office and strangle him if needed. I can't do that with HP, Dell, or someone 1000 miles away. Luckily, I've not needed any camera repairs.</p>

<p>Mark</p>

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