PentaxLife » Digital SLR cameras » Pentax Dishonours Warranty

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  1. nonfan
    Member

    I've had Pentax SLRs since 1967 when I bought a Spotmatic. Since then I have had K1000, ME, ME Super, K10D and now K20D. For all I have a range of lenses, and still use them all. In all these years no warranty claims were necessary, until the seal strip came out of the 16-50 2.8 zoom, and the autofocus failed. I was shocked when Pentax refused the warranty on the lens, claiming it had been dropped. When I asked for proof they sent a photo of the inside at the back, which clearly showed the problem: One mounting screw had been over-torqued, probably in manufacture, because the mount must be removed to see it. The screw fractured its mount, and slightly warped the lens case, causing the failure of both the seal and the autofocus. With the photo came a new claim, that the lens had been on the camera when it was dropped. Donkey-dust.
    Neither the lens nor camera has suffered any trauma, and there are no marks on either that would indicate abuse. There is only a severely overtightened screw inside the seven-month-old lens. I guess its time to move on to Nikon, with a much better engine, far less image noise and a warranty that can be trusted.
    PS I was also responsible for the purchase of more than 800 k1000s, MEs and ME Supers during the '70s and '80s while teaching a course in composition.

    Posted: 2010-09-07 20:11:09 #

  2. stevesemipro
    Member

    I just had trouble with Pentax customer service, too. I bought a K7, and loved it, but the Silkypix software didn't work. I talked to Matt at customer service and we troubleshot and discovered that the disk was the problem. He said he'd send a replacement. Months later, I still hadn't received the disk. I called and talked to Edward who made me do the same troubleshooting, and then said he would have a disk sent. Then, months later again, I called and talked to David, a manager. He said Pentax would not send me a disk and that I had to buy one. Now, as much as I liked the K7, I hate Pentax and I'll not buy any lenses for the kit. I'll sell it, I suppose, and move back to Nikon. I've spent probably ten hours on teh phone trying to right this. I haven't just lost the grand I spent on the kit, I've wasted time learning how to use K7 I bought but will not expand on because Pentax is a dishonest company that does not stand by its products or its word.

    Posted: 2011-02-24 03:53:08 #

  3. stevesemipro
    Member

    I just talked to Pentax again about the disk, and they said they'll send another one. I sure hope so. I don't want to have to ditch Pentax over a 25 dollar disk.

    Posted: 2011-02-25 21:53:24 #

  4. stevesemipro
    Member

    They sent the disk, after several months, at no charge. Everybody was civil. The software still doesn't work, but it's probably my machine like the techs had said before. I'm going to try a different raw software and be happy with my camera. Pentax finally did what they said they would.

    Posted: 2011-03-03 10:41:18 #

  5. RacerX69
    Member

    It really bites that you had to go through the trouble you did though, and then only to find that the software was likely not the problem.

    Posted: 2012-07-27 00:23:48 #

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