Totally agree. I have not had really bad experience at OSC yet, but perhaps I dun expect that much from them anyway and so just skim the surface most of the time. But really, customer service in Singapore SUCK overall....of course this is a gross generalization. And the reason why this happens is because most (average) Singaporeans have never been overseas and experienced good customer service. So they have not been exposed to how good they can be. I guess it is only a priviliged group like us who have gone overseas and because of our ability to buy stuff overseas, have been able to experience how good CS can be. If I were to hire a CS manager or director, I would make sure that he understand what good CS is. For that, it would be good if he had worked overseas, USA, in a CS role.
extremely unpleasant experience with Olympus Service Center
- Thread starter chianchiek
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chianchiek
New Member
The thing is that I'm not in SG, so I can't simply send the lens back again and collect it whenever it is done. I'd requested them to clean it slowly, then send it to Oly Beijing service center so that I can collect it, but they refused to do so and insisted to clean it for me overnight.
I agreed with jon_ajk, the front desk ppl was ok, the issue was pretty much not related to them, actually I felt bad for them when I was venting my anger to the tech ppl, as they were sitting beside the tech ppl.
Maybe my timing of sending the lens was closed to festive season, but then they had a total of 6 months to clean it properly, yet everything was done in last minute, and everytime I had to show them the problematic spots again and again, which they always showed a 'surprised' look because they 'couldn't' see it.
Yes, they offered to provide one more cleaning session, but after this incident, I worry that I'll be getting a deja vu...The offer is pretty much rubbish to me if the lens is handled by the same team of ppl. I'll try feedback to Oly Jap and hopefully receive some positive suggestion from them...
I agreed with jon_ajk, the front desk ppl was ok, the issue was pretty much not related to them, actually I felt bad for them when I was venting my anger to the tech ppl, as they were sitting beside the tech ppl.
Maybe my timing of sending the lens was closed to festive season, but then they had a total of 6 months to clean it properly, yet everything was done in last minute, and everytime I had to show them the problematic spots again and again, which they always showed a 'surprised' look because they 'couldn't' see it.
Yes, they offered to provide one more cleaning session, but after this incident, I worry that I'll be getting a deja vu...The offer is pretty much rubbish to me if the lens is handled by the same team of ppl. I'll try feedback to Oly Jap and hopefully receive some positive suggestion from them...
anyway,
in case people think I am actually supporting the oly service team in singapore, no. I found the service rather bad when I had to use them. When my E330 LCD died, I sent it in for servicing. The E330 came back with a MISALIGNED live view.... they did not even check the basic functions of the camera after changing the LCD... I had to go down a second time to get it fixed.
But I still think little specks in lens is nothing to be concerned about. If you cannot see it in the photos... it probably doesn't matter. The 10-20mm sigma lens I bought brand new has a speck in it. Most of my old zuikos I used to own like 50mm, 50-200mm all have specks in it. not fur lah... just dust specks when you view the lens against the light.
in case people think I am actually supporting the oly service team in singapore, no. I found the service rather bad when I had to use them. When my E330 LCD died, I sent it in for servicing. The E330 came back with a MISALIGNED live view.... they did not even check the basic functions of the camera after changing the LCD... I had to go down a second time to get it fixed.
But I still think little specks in lens is nothing to be concerned about. If you cannot see it in the photos... it probably doesn't matter. The 10-20mm sigma lens I bought brand new has a speck in it. Most of my old zuikos I used to own like 50mm, 50-200mm all have specks in it. not fur lah... just dust specks when you view the lens against the light.
Just recovered .... continued reading the post .......
FIVE MONTHS and did NOTHING and didn't even have the courtesy of informing you !?!
:hammer::hammer::hammer:
Kit
Senior Member
No problem but no amount of disagreement from anybody is going to change that. You open up something for cleaning, you get dust. Mind you, this problem does not only happen to Olympus. Take a real good look at the next NEW lens you buy. There will be dust.
Reminds me of another user's harrowing experience in servicing his 50-200 lens:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251484
I think he eventually found closure on his issue - I didn't reread the whole thread above but perhaps you could find out how he managed to sort it out in the end.
An excerpt from that thread to show that a dust may not be so minor:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2847355&postcount=122
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251484
I think he eventually found closure on his issue - I didn't reread the whole thread above but perhaps you could find out how he managed to sort it out in the end.
An excerpt from that thread to show that a dust may not be so minor:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2847355&postcount=122
Oh no... that nasty thread resurface again :bsmilie:
After sorting out the 50-200 (got a replacement), I tried to give Oly another shot with the E-510 and E-3 but the rubber grip that kept coming off the E-510 and the E-3's screwy HLD-4 gave me nightmares of more frequent visits to OSC.
I eventually found closure when I sold off all my Olympus gear and switched to a D3. Been shooting in nirvana since.
After sorting out the 50-200 (got a replacement), I tried to give Oly another shot with the E-510 and E-3 but the rubber grip that kept coming off the E-510 and the E-3's screwy HLD-4 gave me nightmares of more frequent visits to OSC.
I eventually found closure when I sold off all my Olympus gear and switched to a D3. Been shooting in nirvana since.
Different Olympus' offices offers different qualities of service, for instance here's a very good one that was posted on DPReview:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=28428579
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=28428579
Benares
Senior Member
I have got to agree totally that the local OSC folks are not doing a good job. Just before I had sent in my 510's viewfinder for servicing, I did not have the body heating up and draining a fresh battery dry issue after upgrading my firmware to 1.3. After I got my body back, it starts to exhibit the symptom in which some of the fellow CSers see after their manual firmware upgrade...
I really wonder what kind of ordeal our gears had to go through for each 'servicing'... Are the service crew trained/educated on how/when/where they should carry out such maintenance works really?
To TS, good luck with your escalation to Oly Jpn and do keep us posted on your concerns. All the best~
I really wonder what kind of ordeal our gears had to go through for each 'servicing'... Are the service crew trained/educated on how/when/where they should carry out such maintenance works really?
To TS, good luck with your escalation to Oly Jpn and do keep us posted on your concerns. All the best~
Should this be the exception or the norm?
Of course my example AND the example given by the opening poster are exceptions to the norm...a reasonable turnaround (not including shipping both ways) should be a week if they are capable of doing the repair, or three-four if it needs to be shipped to the head office or parts need to be ordered (provided there isn't already a backlog in orders for the part).
I say this having been a technician both dealing with Commodore repairing computers, and with many different companies (Sanyo, Sony, Fisher, Toshiba, Panasonic) repairing electronics (VCRs, audio equipment, etc.).
Now things do happen, delay in parts, something missed, etc. But when dealing with these issues you talk to the service managers, not the techs. If in this case the local office can't satisfy you, you should talk to the head office, "I've been without this lens for x months while Olympus Singapore tried to repair it. When I finally got it back at a cost of $$xxx.xx it wasn't fixed to my satisfaction. I do not wish to send it back to Olympus in Singapore because they're already had several attempts to repair the lens and it comes back worse. What can you do to rectify the situation?" Something along those lines.
Somehow I have a feeling that many company is operating at merely half the capacity during that period of time, don't know if it's true in OSC, at the same time many people sent their equipment for service, further delayed the repair time.
My lens was serviced in Apr done within a week, this, of course only apply to in-house service.
That mean the service time is inconsistent through out the year.
That "dereview" was posted in June, any idea the turnaround time in Dec :think:
My lens was serviced in Apr done within a week, this, of course only apply to in-house service.
That mean the service time is inconsistent through out the year.
That "dereview" was posted in June, any idea the turnaround time in Dec :think:
You missed the point. The service is totally unacceptable and the attitude unprofessional. In any case they agreed to clean but did not do a proper job, took more than normal time. And it was not free.
I almost bought a used E510 for a very good price. Am I glad I did not get into the Olympus system.
Sorry to disappoint you, but this is a story I've heard from all the major brands, including Canikon...there's no brand that's immune from bad service; it's not an Olympus only thing.
Anyway, you're the one who's missing out.
selamatlzh
Senior Member
I have never sent my equipment for servicing unless is necessary. i had my E300 for 3 years.
Pray that your equipment is in the right technician hand.
Not forgetting these people are not craftsman..... I hope you can tell the difference.....
Pray that your equipment is in the right technician hand.
Not forgetting these people are not craftsman..... I hope you can tell the difference.....
mskong
Member
ya...totally agree...
I believe anyone here do get bad experiences with customer service before...:devil:
it's time consuming and a waste of energy to get things done correctly.
I had been a faithful Oly user since the days of OM1, thats probably some twenty years. Then I bought the E500. It was good. But I had trouble getting myself enrolled in their free lesson that came with the camera, despite my calling them a few times. Of course I gave up in the end. Then I bought their SP350 compact as a back up. The battery sucked. Non of the batteries I tried lasted for more than 50 shots or so. I went back to them to register my displeasure. Some long bull stories later, I decided it was time to move on to better cameras. :thumbsd:
Kit
Senior Member
Read what I said carefully. I did not comment on the quality of service. Its just unrealistic to expect completely dustless lenses, before or after cleaning. Professional or not.
I forgot something else. The display of my SP350 kong off on me some time last year. I sent it for repair here in Sg, the guys at Oly Sg told me it would cost $180 to be repaired. Then I brought it to China. Oly China repaired it for RMB300 which is less than S$60 :thumbsup:
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