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Author Topic: Terrible service at Schneider  (Read 6275 times)

Graham Mitchell

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Terrible service at Schneider
« on: August 19, 2007, 11:29:28 am »

I sent a faulty Rollei 40mm (Schneider) lens to Schneider around 6 months ago to have it repaired. Their offer was that I could either accept their quote or just pay return shipping.

They sent back a quote of 800 euros, but there was no information about what that amount was for.

(Clearly if you take your car to a mechanic and he tells you that it will cost $1000 to fix the car, you still need to know what the provided service and parts will be before you can decide whether the quote is reasonable. If you merely need a new fuel filter, the price is excessive, but if you need an engine rebuild, it is a good price.)

So I asked and asked about what I would be paying for, and didn't get an answer until a few days ago.

Now they are telling me that "Because we had some expenses for shipments to Braunschweig and two hours labour time for research of the lens/shutter combination we have to charge 80,-€ to 100,- € to cope our (self)cost."

That was not the agreement.

More shockingly: "Please find your decision before September 10th, otherwise we will close this business transaction and destroy lens/shutter."

I just don't want to deal with Schneider again, and want my lens back without paying for their costs which I didn't agree to! Frankly there are other places I could send my lens and the service could only be better.

I'm pretty sure that destruction of the lens would be illegal.

Does anyone have any advice or contacts at Schneider?
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pixjohn

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2007, 01:44:31 pm »

I would just pay with a credit card, then dispute the charge. Make sure to keep all the emails . It sounds more like black mail then anything. Even though I still buy schneider lenses, I  also have a little distrust of them. I had a lens returned to the factory from Schneider in the USA for repair. They over charged me and the lenses was still bad. Big waste of $350. What really made me mad the lenses had a lifetime warranty they would not honor. The glass cement had come lose and the glass was not focusing.
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psp

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2007, 01:57:53 pm »

EilsbergerU@schneiderkreuznach.com

Try Ulrich Eilsberger at Schneider.
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thsinar

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2007, 04:28:23 pm »

Dear Foto_z,

yes, Mr. Ulrich Eilsberger is a trustful person and I would definitively contact him: you can mention my name and Sinar.

Hope all will be solved and that this was just a dream.

Kind regards,
Thierry



Quote
I sent a faulty Rollei 40mm (Schneider) lens to Schneider around 6 months ago to have it repaired. Their offer was that I could either accept their quote or just pay return shipping.

They sent back a quote of 800 euros, but there was no information about what that amount was for.

(Clearly if you take your car to a mechanic and he tells you that it will cost $1000 to fix the car, you still need to know what the provided service and parts will be before you can decide whether the quote is reasonable. If you merely need a new fuel filter, the price is excessive, but if you need an engine rebuild, it is a good price.)

So I asked and asked about what I would be paying for, and didn't get an answer until a few days ago.

Now they are telling me that "Because we had some expenses for shipments to Braunschweig and two hours labour time for research of the lens/shutter combination we have to charge 80,-€ to 100,- € to cope our (self)cost."

That was not the agreement.

More shockingly: "Please find your decision before September 10th, otherwise we will close this business transaction and destroy lens/shutter."

I just don't want to deal with Schneider again, and want my lens back without paying for their costs which I didn't agree to! Frankly there are other places I could send my lens and the service could only be better.

I'm pretty sure that destruction of the lens would be illegal.

Does anyone have any advice or contacts at Schneider?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=134128\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
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Thierry Hagenauer
thasia_cn@yahoo.com

Bernd B.

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2007, 04:23:29 pm »

I can tell you horror stories I have experienced with amost ervery camera maker.
Here´s the last one (mid 2006):
I have an good mechanic, who can even make spare parts for Hasselblad shutters. The one thing he fails is to clean a lens. So I sent my CF 150 I bought in 1988 to Zeiss in Oberkochen for cleaning. The lens is overall in almost new condition, but there was some dust in it reducing the contrast as soon as you took a picture against the light. A got an offer over EUR 1000,-: shutter out of tolerance. Must be replaced. I called them and was told the exposure times were not ecaxt. I said I don´t mind, I just want the lens to be cleaned. I got the lens back some time later: perfectly clean, EUR 195,-. I was happy. Some time later I got a job for a financial magazine for a portrait in square format. A good occasion for me to leave my Pentax 67 at home and use my Hasselblad. The light in the old beer brewing hall was very dark, so I asked the pretty famous beer brewer not to move. The guy was 63 years old, old scool, and managed the job very well. Some hours after giving the films to the lab the staff called me: there is something wrong with your films. They were all streaked. I took me long to understand what happened: the shutter hadn`t closed after the 2 second "B" exposure. With times from 1/500 to 1 sec. the shutter is closed automatically. With "B" taking the finger off the release will activate another little twist of the steering coupler to close the shutter again. The shutter of my lens didn`t close again. The helping shutter of the ELX will not snap back after the exposure (that´s different from a 500CM and 501 CM). Instead the motor would wind the film with both shutters open. They are finally closed at the end of the cycle when the lens shutter is cocked again. I almost lost my reputation with my client, but managed to retouch the streaks in a one day session. Afterwards I brought the lens to my old mechanic: the shutter had been reassembled the wrong way after cleaning. But he told me it is in perfect condition, no need to replace it.
I just bought my first digital back now, and guess what I will do next month: send my 60 and my 80 to Zeiss for a clean up.
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Graham Mitchell

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2007, 11:21:48 am »

Quote
EilsbergerU@schneiderkreuznach.com

Try Ulrich Eilsberger at Schneider.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=134157\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

It was he who wrote me the email about destroying the lens.

Even though I am legally in the right, I have no practical choice but to accept their blackmail and avoid ever using them again.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2007, 11:22:21 am by foto-z »
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Bernd B.

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2007, 05:50:10 pm »

Quote
It was he who wrote me the email about destroying the lens.

Even though I am legally in the right, I have no practical choice but to accept their blackmail and avoid ever using them again.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=137891\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hmm, in Germany it is legal to charge something for making a cost estimation, for a job, or for a repair. If I bring my Nikon to the service they check it and work out a detailed calculation. If I want to get my camera back unrepaired, I`ll have to pay something for the check, because it often takes them a while. You could take their (valuable) diagnosis and let someone else repair it cheaper. That might be the reason. But usually they tell you in detail what will have to be repaired. You can then discuss with them, if  you want to have the slightly faulty shutter replaced or not (like in my example). Just asking für 1000 USD and not saying what it´s for is not fair. That´s probably the bigger problem here. That sounds indeed like blackmail.

The fees for a cost estimation are usually fixed. That means, no matter whether you refuse a 100EUR repair or a 1000 EUR repair, the fee should be the same and should be written on the form for the repair assignment. There should be no "we charge a little more because we had some more effort or expenses". EUR 100 is a lot for that. I`ve heard of fees between 35 and 70 EUR.

Photographers do of course never charge anything for for such calculations. Most of my colleques including myself wrote three times as many cost estimations than they had jobs in their life. You had the right to charge something for it, but it would mean the client never calls you again.
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nik

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2007, 08:02:33 pm »

I recently sent my Zeiss 120CFi to Carl Zeiss in Germany for a repair estimate. They came back with €1374. I said no as I paid less than that for the lens second hand. They then said that I have to pay €26 for the estimate and then promptly shipped the lens back to me (which I'm paying for as well).

I don't have a problem paying for this as it seems reasonable and their service was swift and professional.

I suggest you find someone else to repair the lens, 9 times out of 10 it's a lot cheaper. That's what I'm doing.

Best of luck

-Nik



The fees for a cost estimation are usually fixed. That means, no matter whether you refuse a 100EUR repair or a 1000 EUR repair, the fee should be the same and should be written on the form for the repair assignment. There should be no "we charge a little more because we had some more effort or expenses". EUR 100 is a lot for that. I`ve heard of fees between 35 and 70 EUR.
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Bernd B.

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2007, 04:38:52 am »

Quote
I recently sent my Zeiss 120CFi to Carl Zeiss in Germany for a repair estimate. They came back with €1374. I said no as I paid less than that for the lens second hand. They then said that I have to pay €26 for the estimate and then promptly shipped the lens back to me (which I'm paying for as well).
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=137965\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

What was defective?
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nik

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2007, 11:36:57 am »

The shutter needs to be replaced for €960. The rest is labor.

-N


Quote
What was defective?
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nik

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Terrible service at Schneider
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2007, 04:33:28 am »

I sent the lens back to San Francisco where I bought it and had it repaired, the winder mechanism needed replacing, apparently the shutter was fine.

Repair time, less than 2hrs. Total price? $150 US.

Someone at Zeiss needs their head checked.

-Nik


Quote
The shutter needs to be replaced for €960. The rest is labor.

-N
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