hasselblad service center at N.J.

[EinstStein]

My hasselblad digital back has fungus, need to replace the IR filter. It also has a problem with the clock and the battery since I bought this used back. Besides, a couple of contact pins between the back and the i-adapter have weak spring that a couple of pins may need to be pulled out whenever i switch the adapter (for Hasselblad H and Contax), otherwise the connections between the adapter and the back will have problems.

I send the back with the H adapter to Hasselblad service center. I got quick response saying only the IR filter can be repaired. anything else is not repairable and no guaranttee, "the back can not be hooked up to the computer".

I immediately thought the contact pin problem, i called HB, asking whether the back is functioning except the clock. The answers is yes. I reminded them about the contact pins, telling them with a little pull the pin can come out and it should be fine.

I am not sure whether they don't understand me or not willing to do it or simply not willing to explain that they did it and still wont help. The response is "only the filter can be repair nothing else is repairable". Sine the back is functioning almost perfect except the fungus and the clock, I am sure it can be hooked up to the computer once the conct pin is aken cared. I am vety frustrated with their response.

Is this the Hasselblad repair service your are aware of?

[chiek]

I agree with your opinion.
Almost all hasselblad a/s are not friendly to users.

I think hasselblad consider only new users, not support old users.

[bpepz]

My hasselblad digital back has fungus, need to replace the IR filter. It also has a problem with the clock and the battery since I bought this used back. Besides, a couple of contact pins between the back and the i-adapter have weak spring that a couple of pins may need to be pulled out whenever i switch the adapter (for Hasselblad H and Contax), otherwise the connections between the adapter and the back will have problems.

I send the back with the H adapter to Hasselblad service center. I got quick response saying only the IR filter can be repaired. anything else is not repairable and no guaranttee, "the back can not be hooked up to the computer".

I immediately thought the contact pin problem, i called HB, asking whether the back is functioning except the clock. The answers is yes. I reminded them about the contact pins, telling them with a little pull the pin can come out and it should be fine.

I am not sure whether they don't understand me or not willing to do it or simply not willing to explain that they did it and still wont help. The response is "only the filter can be repair nothing else is repairable". Sine the back is functioning almost perfect except the fungus and the clock, I am sure it can be hooked up to the computer once the conct pin is aken cared. I am vety frustrated with their response.

Is this the Hasselblad repair service your are aware of?

I have had a horrible experience almost every time I have to deal with them. My most recent experience was buying a used H3DII-39 from the Hasselblad CPO list. I had capture integration look over it for me, and they discovered there was a row of bad pixels that Hasselblad somehow missed. What should of been a simple fix, ended up taking over 4 and a half months to do. Hasseblad claimed it would only take a few weeks, but it took over a month and it finally got sent back, only to find they did not fix it. It had to be sent out again, and after another several months of delaying, they finally fixed it. Luckily, Capture Integration was able to negotiate a loaner for me, without that, I would of been camera less for a good part of the year.

[EinstStein]

I do not blame the whole Hasselblad. I am mainly frustrated about this communication, or lack of, of this experiences. I felt it is more like a team of low morale, whether it is just their N.J team is hard to tell.

I do felt some funny activity from Hasselblad, though, such as the Lunatic APS-C. I think Hasselblad had gone through some transformation since the H system, or since switching from Zeiss culture to Fujifilm culture.

[Joe Towner]

I need to send mine in, and repeated stories of bad/long service times scares the crap out of me.  I want Hasselblad to steal one of the managers from Canon's repair department and empower them to get things straight.  Even if it has to go back to Sweden, 2 weeks max turn around.  A Q/A person who receives the items, confers with the camera owner as to the services, verifies that they see the issue and then that same person signs off on the issues being fixed before being sent to a client. 

High end brands have no excuse to not kill you with customer service.

[EinstStein]

Buying a low end product, you pay for the the material.
Buying a high end product, you pay for the trust.

What is Hasselblad selling?

[BobDavid]

Hasselblad ain't what it used to be. I get the sense it's sort of like the Titanic. It will bump into an iceberg and sink.

[foto_man]

I'm having an issue with HB in NJ as well so I thought I'd share:

Hey Everyone,

I will like some advice & recommendations. I am looking for a repair technician for my Hasselblad 100mm CF lens.

Here's the backstory:

I was shooting about a month ago. I like to shoot a polaroid first to check my exposure. Well, the polaroid I shot at 1/125 was blown out. I changed the aperture and adjusted the shutter speed to 1/250 and that fixed it.

But I knew I had a problem. So I took the lens to my local camera shop. The local tech (very nice guy) checked the shutter speeds. All normal. He said that the Main spring needs to be replaced. He did not have the parts and will send it to Hasselblad in NJ.

I agreed, not knowing what I was getting myself into. They charged 22 bucks to send it over. And the estimate took 2 weeks to get back.

So Hasselblad said that the lens needs a main spring, a mounting tube to repair the lens. With shipping and my local camera shop's charge on top of the repair, the whole thing will come out to 500 bucks.

I bought the lens for close to 900 bucks 6 years ago. I am feeling a bit swindled. I have not agreed to the repair yet. Are they ripping me off? Is this a good price?

If there are any other credible repair techs out there?

Even if I refuse the repair, the whole thing is going to cost me 80 bucks just to get my lens back (22 dollars to ship it to Hassy in NJ plus 60 bucks to ship it back!)

I appreciate any help/advice. Thank you in advance.

Oh, the lens is an older one. I believe it was built in 1983. She's lasted a long time and is my favorite one to use.

Thought I'd add to this discussion. Here is my post from a few days ago. They have my lens, want to charge me a ton of money and refuse to ship the lens back unless they receive 60 bucks for the shipping.

Ridiculous. They are holding my lens and won't return it unless I pay the original camera shop that sent it in for return shipping. The best case scenario is I pay $80 in shipping fee's to have my lens returned, un-repaired.

[DanielStone]

For Hasselblad (V) repairs, give David Odess your business. VERY professional in my experience and from hearing about others experience as well.

http://www.david-odess.com/

[foto_man]

For Hasselblad (V) repairs, give David Odess your business. VERY professional in my experience and from hearing about others experience as well.

http://www.david-odess.com/

Hi Daniel,

Yes, I looked into that option. He is based in Mass. I called HB in NJ and asked if they can ship it to Mass instead of to me (much much farther to ship to me). The lady asked who I was sending it to. I said "David Odess." She stated he's not certified and that he "repaired backs 25 years ago."

Needless to say, they will not send the lens to him either.

[DanielStone]

Hi Daniel,

Yes, I looked into that option. He is based in Mass. I called HB in NJ and asked if they can ship it to Mass instead of to me (much much farther to ship to me). The lady asked who I was sending it to. I said "David Odess." She stated he's not certified and that he "repaired backs 25 years ago."

Needless to say, they will not send the lens to him either.

Tell them(HB) to shove it, and since YOU are the customer, they can ship the lens onto whomever you want to perform the repair if they are unable/unwilling to do it.
Call David Odess, and inform him of your predicament. I know a few people who use him exclusively, due to similar circumstances like you're experiencing.
Sorry to hear of your plight...

[Douglas Fairbank]

You should contact David Odess but I think you will find that he cannot help you with a digital back problem. This is probably what the people in NJ were trying to tell you. You don't say what back it is but www.b23.dk should be able to help you if it is an ixpress back.
In fairness to NJ it would be difficult for them to be seen to sent equipment direct to David Odess just as it would be difficult for Hasselblad UK to be seen sending equipment directly to me.
For the record, I don't think I would be able to help you with the digital back either.