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RE: [OM] funky IS-10, redux

Subject: RE: [OM] funky IS-10, redux
From: "Smoliga.Nick" <SMOLIGA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 10:08:32 -0500
William,

They may be taking you, but then again, $35 to $40 an hour is the going rate
for a competent electro-mechanical technician at commercial operations in my
area. Labor alone would be about four hours for $150. This past January I
was faced with a OM1 problem in Ft. Myers, FL, a flopping mirror after a
two-foot fall to a wooden floor. An independent operation (Mark Vonder @
King's Pawn, phone 941.277.9199) repaired my camera for $85 on a 24-hour
turn around. That seems cheap and good to me. Since then I wondered if I'd
have done better to have waited until I got home, then gotten a "full
servicing" including new foam gaskets and mirror stop, shutter adjustment
(or at least checking) etc., for the $100 to $150 range.

At my work, my team is haggling with Sony over a digital camera (uses a
3.5-inch floppy disk) that has an erratic shutter button. It's still in
warranty, but they're balking at fixing this intermittent problem free, they
want $99. They also are balking at providing a swap for a new unit. The
camera is used to take about 100 photo's per week. So, Olympus' s diagnosis
and price seem about standard to me. That Sony digital is inferior to my old
Olympus OM1 plus a Vivitar 285 in typical low light indoor gatherings. The
Sony doesn't focus well in low light. It has a screen on the back instead of
a viewfinder. Do I use the Sony? Of course I do. For pasting photos into
computer-generated documents, it's the best our team has found so far.

Nick Smoliga
SvT TF12 - Investment Projects
1103 Avenue B
Arnold AFB, TN   37389-1400

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sommerwerck [SMTP:williams@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 1999 7:33 AM
> To:   olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject:      [OM] funky IS-10, redux
> 
> Well, I got my repair estimate from Olympus. They say my IS-10 needs a
> complete
> overhaul (!), for which they charge $150! Their basis for this estimate?
> "Sand
> damage" (that is, excessive dirt in the camera). But they didn't
> disassemble the
> camera to determine this -- they could tell just by opening the back and
> looking.
> 
> Uh-huh.
> 
> I take pretty good care of my equipment. This camera is only four years
> old, and
> I have _not_ subjected it to unusually damp or dirty conditions. Nor do I
> repeatedly turn the camera on and off (which would encourage dirt entry).
> Flaky
> autofocus is _not_ likely to be due to dirt, when everything else on the
> camera
> (seems to) work correctly. The camera almost certainly has an electrical
> problem, but since a four-year-old camera _might_ have seen a lot of use,
> they
> think they can get away with intimidating the customer.
> 
> I am more than ever convinced that Olympus's service techs are
> incompetent, and
> the management doesn't care about long-term customer satisfaction. As soon
> as I
> can find a spare hour, I will be writing a letter to Olympus USA. I never
> expected the IS-10 to last "forever," but a bit over four years of service
> from
> a $400 camera is _not_ my idea of a good deal.
> 
> 
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