Camera Service Company Reviews (%countItem)
Camera Service Company Rating
Address: 2323 Cumberland Pkwy SE STE 102, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30339-4523
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Poor and incomplete repairs on Rolleiflex camera. Lies and excuses about repairs and delivery.
The week of July 4th 2017 I shipped a Rolleiflex camera to them that had a stuck shutter, stiff focus, fungus in the taking lens and debris, out of calibration meter, frame counter was stuck and film transport was rough. The camera had been sitting for 45 years or so and needed a through cleaning, lubrication and adjustments. When I initially called the company they said they were an authorized Rollei service center and would have no problems performing the service. They stated it would be about 2 weeks.
I received an estimated of $400 which is at the top of what it should cost. I approved it and waited 2 weeks and finally called them because I noticed my credit card had been charged the day I approved the estimate. I inquired if it had been completed and was told that the tech was on vacation but they would get it out the next week. No problem! I waited 2 more weeks and contacted them again and did receive a tracking number.
When the camera arrived the shutter and counter did work but nothing else had been touched and now my focusing hood was not working. On close inspection I discovered the camera had been partially disassembled but not reassembled properly. there were parts floating around inside the mirror box and the 45 years of accumulated dirt from sitting had not been cleaned from the mirror and viewing lens. I had to disassemble the upper part of the camera to fix the problem they made.
In addition the fungus hadn't been cleaned from the taking lens, the focus was not touched and the film transport hadn't been touched. Th meter had not been addressed either. Basically they did two things I asked and improperly reassembled the top of the camera.I was pretty upset being charged $400 for $160 worth of work and then having to fix their mistake. I contacted them and asked for a partial refund. The girl on the phone didn't want to do it and said to send it back and they'd make good on it. Reluctantly I sent it back with the promise they'd fix it and get it back quickly.
After one week, no camera, I contacted them and more excuses. End of second week, no camera and more excuses. I told them I wanted it back at the end of the following week or I would drive down and get it. I wanted it back fixed or not and if not with a refund. After week 3 I received it.
I tested the camera and it functioned properly but the transport is still rough. The stated it would need rebuilt.??? They failed to tighten retaining rings on the shutter release and flash sync. This is just sloppy work. Also they said the fungus couldn't be cleaned to because the lens cell was sealed. I checked with another service tech and found to this was totally false. The lens cell comes apart easily with a spanner wrench and is a 15 minute job to clean. I'm planning to clean it myself because they simply cn not be trusted.
Terrible customer service with lie after lie. Terrible camera service with incomplete and poorly performed repairs. Now I question whether the internal work was properly done or whether the minimum was done and improperly assembled.
They Can not be trusted.
My background, I'm a retired commercial photographer of fifty years and have felt with other professional service companies with no issues.
I feel they should refund 25% the fee for not completing the work, cleaning the debris and fungus out.
In response to the customers claim. The camera was sent here initially for a repair of the shutter, which the customer stated in their initial complaint. So, when the camera arrived here, the work that was done to the camera was to repair the shutter. When the customer received the camera back, he decided that because of the price he paid to have the shutter repaired, he should have a fully restored camera. The reason we call customers with an estimate for repairs is so that they have a right of refusal before we begin work. The cost was accepted for the work that was requested. Normally, our policy would be to reject a claim such as this. In this instance, however, we decided that we would do the work for the customer because he stated that he would be calling his credit card company to refute the charges, meaning my company would be out money and hours of work for the repair that had been done on the camera. After the customer received the camera back after the extra work we agreed to perform, we received an email from him (after his threatening, once again, to refute credit charges) stating that he was happy with the repair other than the fact that there was fungus inside two sealed elements. The email has been sent to the Revdex.com as evidence as well. This is not a repair that we can do. The fact that he simply asked someone else about a repair does not make the customer an expert on any sort of repair work. That goes for the customer's expected cost and expected hours of work in addition to his inability to repair cameras properly. Regarding the claims of lying about delivery dates. We state to every customer that we CANNOT guarantee any date of completion for cameras in the shop. We WILL NOT be issuing a refund of any sort to the customer.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
As per my request to CSC was for a full cleaning lube and adjustment of the camera. it was spelled out clearly in the letter accompanying the camera that the shutter was stuck, the focus still, the counter not working, fungus in the lens and haze. The camera as I requested needed a full service, cleaning, lubing and adjusting.
The price quoted was $399 which is in line for this kind of full service with other companies. *** who is regarded as the best of the best Rollei technicians and factory trained charges approximately $400 for a full cleaning, lube and adjusting of this camera. Shutter cleaning from *** is "The typical shutter overhaul on a Rolleiflex 2.8F is $159." as per his website.
"When I sent my Rollei 3.5F to *** last year, the costs were $134.00 for a shutter rebuild and $134.00 for a transport rebuild. At the same time I got a Maxwell screen upgrade and a discount for having it aligned/installed. The whole boat cost $470.00 which included insurance and shipping as the final cost.Feb 4, 2011
Current Rolleiflex CLA Cost? - Rangefinderforum.com
***
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As you can see from *** a shutter cal should have been around $159 and a full service around $400-470. If you need to contact him please do.
Unfortunately I didn't keep my initial letter but can provide a copy of the second requesting completion of the initially requested work.
As previously mentioned they did service the shutter and the transport, winding mechanism but failed to address any other issues that I requested like focus, meter, fungus in the lens and roughness in the winding mechanism.
Also the sloppy work not reassembling the camera properly and leaving springs that they removed allowing the to float around freely inside the mirror box. Also I recently discovered after approving the last repair that they did not tighten retaining rings that they removed to service the shutter. They would have eventually come lose and fallen off.
As to the fungus, I talked to another technician that is trusted and found that the lens is not molded and the lenses can easily be opened for cleaning.
If I only requested a service on the shutter why did they repair the wind and frame counter (not well done) and open up the mirror focusing box and not reassembled it properly. These two things are totally independent of the shutter and do not have to be touched to service the shutter. Why then did they do things they say were not requested???
As to my expertise, I've been in the business of commercial ***otogra***y for fifty years and used Rolleiflexes for much of that time. Ive had a number of reputable service companies work on my equipment and never had such sloppy work done. None have charged such excessive charges for such poor quality and incomplete work.
Please let me know if I can send the second letter.
Many thanks
As we said in our initial response, Our pricing is our pricing. What another shop charges has no bearing on what we charge. The customer was provided an estimate and had the right to refuse our cost of repair. If the customer wanted to have the work done at a "trusted" company, he should have sent his camera to the shop where he had work done previously. There will be no refund issued for these repairs from CSC.