Toronto Photography Meetup Group

HELP!!!

So I have an Sony A100 and it's needing a repair AGAIN, now that the Sony 2 year warranty has expired and the 3 year extended warranty with Henry's has kicked in the first repair they are not wanting to do the repairs.

What a joke they only want to offer A230 half the price I paid for the A100 HAHAHAHAHA - yah NO WAY. Second issue is I have an investment in the storage unit that ONLY takes CF cards so want a comparable camera that also has the CF cards, as well I also have several (5) CF cards. Not planning on spending a fortune again and switching everything over.

Problem is Henry's only carries the A900 big time price comparison with the CF cards. All the other cameras went to SD and I'm not interested in that card at all.

The other comprable camera in my eyes is the A700, but it has been discontinued and only available at the SONY stores. It is also a few hundred $ more than the body.

The manager is saying that they can ONLY offer an exchange in the Sony cameras. I told him that I was told that I would get a credit of the value of the cost I paid and can apply it to any camera.

Anyone offer any help or suggestions in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Maureen

Any Henry's employees out there who can offer some advice on the henry's help plan/anti lemon plan?

I've said this to Maureen in the past, but figured I'd repeat it here.

1. Digital camera bodies are considered disposable, and lose their value very quickly. I've seen stores maybe a year ago with a100's they were trying to clear out for a few hundred bucks (this for a camera that is now 3.5 years after release!). The fact they value the a100 at half of what was paid is a blessing.

2. The investment is in the lenses. That being said, the lenses Maureen does own on the Sony system are very much consumer grade. I'm not criticizing the choice of equipment, as it is an issue of what one can afford and is willing to spend. Maureen isn't the kind of person who drops 1k+ on a lens on more than one occasion (unlike, say me, or any of a long list of tpmg members, but I'm young and stupid with my money). However, Maureen does have the luck of being able to borrow equipment from me, of which she's currently using my a700 on indefinite loan until this all gets sorted out), and whatever lens I'm not currently using at the moment (the 70-200/2.8 seems to be popular with her). If she leaves the Sony system, she loses that theoretical benefit of me loaning her gear. That being said, she also borrows from lxdesign on the Nikon side for her D2H (which is also currently out of service on account of a failed shutter assembly a few weeks ago).

3. Maureen is rough on her gear, and with it being frankly consumer grade stuff, I just think it can't take the beating very well. I'm very rough on my gear, both for demands in use, and in demands in survivability where my own stupidity is at fault (for example, leaving camera unsecured in the passenger seat in my car, and having to brake suddenly, please cue inertia. A significant failing is that I have had that happen on more than one occasion and can't seem to learn better. But that's part of the reason I bought the pro grade stuff, since has handled the punishment (knock on wood).

4. For these reasons, I am of the opinion that Maureen is cursed, and that no matter what camera gear choice she made, the same story might have played out if it was a Nikon or Canon. Okay, I'm kidding about the curse, but the rest remains the same.

5. This is a case study in why one should not buy the retailer's extended warranty.

6. Maureen is sufficiently experienced that she outgrew what the a100 could do at least 2 years ago. Look, she double fists with a Nikon D2H (bought secondhand).

7. What does the fine print in the Henry's lemon policy say? That's the only ammo you have at this moment.

8. Given the camera has served you this long, I think you should take victory in that, and just bite the bullet and buy a new (upgrade) camera (regardless of Henry's or not). My a100 is almost a glorified paperweight, but was gifted to a family member who unfortunately isn't really using it. If they give you any store credit take the victory and run.

9. The a700 I currently want to keep for the time being as my backup camera, but I haven't completely discounted the thought of selling it to you.

10. The only other present compact flash Sony camera offerings are the a850 and the a900, one open box a900 of which Mawz informed me the Outlet store is trying to get rid of for around 2k (list is ~3K). I suspect this to be out of your budget, and frankly if you get either of the 24MP FF bodies, you're going to need more memory cards. The a850 lists for ~2k.

11. So the way I'm reading your post is that Store credit is not an option at all, and any credit could only be directly applied to a new Sony camera body.

12. As a repeat to items 4 and 5, the fact it's a Sony camera is almost completely irrelevant. Replace a100 with D80 or XTi, and the story remains the same. The issue, the gripe, the frustration is overwhelmingly with the retailer Henry's.

For reference:

http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... reId=10001

http://www.henrys.com/help/termsandconditions.html

http://www.henrys.com/repaircentre/

Take the credit and run. It's probably more than you'll ever get for selling it. Sounds like you already have another body (Nikon D2H), so it might be good time to consolidate systems.

Second, you don't really have much flexibility. Take what they're offering and call it a day.

Henry's has given you an option and if you don't like it they're more than glad to not offer it. Plus anybody that has went to Henry's to use their equipment for a trade in on something else, the price that they offer is a fair bit lower than what you could get by selling it on craigslist or elsewhere.

I have never purchased an extended warranty from Henrys or anyone else for that matter. I don't really believe in them. But I would suggest that you review the terms and conditions of your extended warranty as Henrys should comply with them. If its written down on your copy that they would replace your camera with any camera then at least you have some ammunition to argue your point.

Good Luck!

Mike

I think you are cooked Maureen. A glance at the terms of the extended warranty plan on the Henry's site shows that it states that;

ANTI LEMON PROTECTION
If, during the warranty period, your product requires repair more than twice for the same problem, it will be exchanged for an equivalent model. Please note that the product must have been repaired at an authorized Service Centre and the unit must comply with the terms of the warranty. Software and consumables are excluded from warranty coverage.

Now, it does say equivalent model, so you may be able to argue that to be an equivalent model it must have CF card capabilities. Also, if you wanted to switch teams, you might be able to argue that equivalent is not limited to models from the same manufacture, but any manufacturer that offers an equivalent model.

DG

Ok the original folder of the bill in fine prints says:

"I)In the event that replacement parts become unavailable during the term of this contract or if it costs of repairing the product is, in Henry's opinion, disproportionate with it's value, Henry's reserves the right to exchange the product with a comparable model (of like, and kind and quality)."

"K) If, during the warranty period, your product requires repair more than twice for the same problem, it will be exchanged for an equivalent model."

"L) The maximum liability of this Plan shall not exceed the original purchase price of this product."

Everyone I've talked to says that it does not have to be the same problem, but if it has to be repaired 3 times they exchange it.

As far as "L" reads it is for the same value paid.

Also the definition of equivalence states: "e

Good luck Maureen!

UNfortunately, the A230 is effectively the replacement for the A100 (It replaced the A200 which replaced the A100). While it is a lot cheaper than the A100 was, a lot of that has to do with the profound drop in DSLR costs over the last 3-4 years.

I payed $900 for my D50 in 2006, the equivalent camera in Nikon's line costs under $500 today (D3000).

Other notes: You're pretty much stuck with SD unless you want to buy an Olympus or move very significantly upwards in cost. Everything has moved to SD in the consumer range, Oly is the last to do so, having only just started last summer. CF is dying off, the only current non-Olympus camera under $1500 with CF support is the Canon 50D.

Note Henry's does have A700 stock. The Outlet Centre has at least 1/2 dozen Open Box A700's.

Double post

Thanks, this is good to Know Mawz.

Now they can get this at the reduced price and it should now be roughly the same as the price I paid for the a100 body.

I don't think it is I+K+L.
It is normally I or K or L.

The a100 was overpriced for what it was when it first came out and I believe it was slightly more than the D80 which also shared the same sensor.

The a200 was the replacement minus MLU and DOF Preview. But the sensor was an improvement and so was the shutter lag.

I had the a200, a300 and a700. Loved the a700 to bits but got rid of it cause I wanted video.

This opens the question of the features that the a100 has, and were subsequently cut to make the cheaper bodies.

So far on a short list:
MLU
DOF Preview
DMF mode (focus motor decoupling of screwdriver lenses) - this was a pretty big one for me

Mawz: if I were the owner of a D50 and had sufficient issues that the resort was to apply the lemon policy, anything without a focus motor I would not consider comparable, especially if I was using any Nikon screwdriver lenses.

I don't exactly get the issue with memory cards here. I understand your annoyed with Henry's for what they have done, I don't understand why you don't want to change cards. You can buy sandisk ultra II cards @ 4 gigs for $15!!

I have a 30g storage unit that has only a CF card slot to off load the cards on out in the field or on long trips carrying around a laptop in not an option. To replace the storage unit is an investment I don't wish to do as it is expensive. Approx $400 or more of which I can't afford to shell out at the moment.

I think that the CF cards are better cards they are not made out of plastic and the professional camera use them. I find them to be reliable. Yes the SD cards are cheap but yes you pay for what you get too.

Bottom line I'm using CF cards in the D2H and the sony, so it is only one type of card to worry about. Cards are interchangeable with both cameras.

30G or 300G? You can get a 32G SDHC card for about $100-.

My older HD80 Hyperdrive had a non-functioning SD slot, so I bought one of these http://cgi.ebay.ca/SD-SDHC-MMC-to-CF-Co ... 2eaaa53954 , It works fine.

You might want to see about upgrading the HD in your 30G unit to at least a 120G (assuming it's PATA, that would like be the largest capacity it would support) before PATA drives gets discontinued and/or rise in price.

I've worked in retail before.
I'm not gonna go into detail as I'm not familiar with all the different Sony bodies.

But often there are customers who are unwilling to comprimise.

You posted the definition of similar and comparable etc.

Notice the word similar in there.

If your worried about 30GB of storage, ask them to trade in your CF for SD cards. Its not a big deal.

What about the ways the camera they are offering you are better than what you had?

In these situations many times I have offered customers products that are much better than what they had. But for some reason or another they don't want it saying its less than they paid (Which I think is honestly the real sticking point in these cases) or maybe it doesn't take CF cards and they already have CF cards they spent half a fortune on.

Neither types should ever be an issue years from a purchase in electronics. We're not talking wine that appreciates. If the camera they offer you is better than what you had, except the CF card and they were willing to swap cards for you, what would you rather have in that case?

Unfortunately for Nikon owners, there's no bodies which are comparable to the D50 that have focus motors. Aside from the focus motor and ISO 3200, the D40 and D50 are pretty much identical in spec. Nobody's going to reasonably give you a D90 to replace a D50.

30GB isn't enough memory to justify a memory bank anymore, that's easily covered by a pair of 16GB cards. My card wallet right now contains more storage than that memory bank (32GB sitting in my wallet right now, it holds 4 each of SD and CF cards).

Card interchangeability does make sense to some extent, I use both without issues though, and I own 22GB of CF and 12Gb of SD (5 CF cards, 1x2GB, 3x4GB, 1x8GB and 3x4GB SD).

memory is dirt cheap these days unless you're buying very large (32GB or larger) cards or the fastest available (which your D2H can't take advantage of anyways).

I'm just going to point out, if it is the memory bank issue that's stopping you, it shouldn't be.

There are SD card -> CF adapters available. like so (http://www.delkin.com/products/adapters ... to-cf.html)

You just use the SD cards in your new camera, slot it into the adapter when you use the hyperdrive. Voila, problem solved.

If you're talking about SD card reliability, that's a different story. But flexibility and functionality wise, SD cards can be used instead of CF for your purposes.

edit: woops. someone already pointed this out.

which location did you talk to? i can always ask my usual sales people and see what their opinion is

That would be great Ray the more help the better. It is the Scarborough store at Kennedy Commons (Michael V is the manager). the conversation was over the phone, but I plan on going in face to face as he needs to see all the repair bills so that they can start the paper work.

No advice on your situation, but wanted to share an EXQUISITE Customer Service incident I had today.

I've purchased some Ikea Leather couches about 3 years ago. We went there because we wanted a larger company, who was going to stand behind their product for the warranty. In these 3 years, I've had the one couch replaced once due to mis matches legs (one set were shiny silver, the other dull silver - not a big deal). The second time due to defective/faulty leather material that pretty much disintegrated over 1.5 years (leather turned into suede pretty much in a 1 foot x 1 foot section).

Now, two of the three are disintegrating again.

I went into Ikea today, ready to have my guns blazing. I walked in, consiously said to myself to try with the nice approach first (fly's with honey thing) and I'll be damned if it worked.

The customer service manager came over and said, "wow, pardon my language, but that looks like shit. I'd be really angry". She called to Sofa's and found out that the leather Kramfors couches had about a 1 in 15 return rate after a couple of years, much higher than normal (she said it's like 1 in 250-300 normally)

NOT ONLY did she say, no problem to replace the affected couches - she HERSELF suggested that she will take all of them back and give me a credit to buy another set of better quality from the store. Then I suggested that they may not have a set suitable for our room (it's a large room and they have smaller stuff, normally). She then went on to tell me she would prefer that I spend it in the store, but if I couldn't find anything, she'd give it all back to me - every penny.

Luckily we found another set that we love just as much and it cost us all of $25 more (Keep in mind, the set we had was $4000)

That kind of customer service and do the right thing attitude should be everywhere...

Deep

My 2 cents.... if they are unwilling to replace the camera and lenses with a comparable or otherwise model of camera which meets your criteria. Get a refund for the most $$ you can get, and then use it to buy what you want! I think I said that yesterday.


David

Maureen,

At the end of the day it is up to Henry's staff to decide what is an comparable replacement. I think this is spelled out somewhere in their warranty papers. Even if it's not I don't think it's going to make any difference.

Fighting over whether the replacement model should have a CF slot instead of SD will bring you nowhere.

As others have said, take the money they are offering you and be done with it. That if you are firm in your decision to refuse their replacement body.

Good luck,
Radu

Well an update. The Manager was sick from Sun - Tue, off Wed and then came in today, but only for part of the day. So it looks like I will have to wait until next weekend as I am away for the weekend - in Killarney and then he is off by 4:00 or earlier everyday next week and I work until 5:30pm. Oh yeah. Very frustrating.

Hey Maureen,

Congratulations on winning the fight! For those who don't know yet, its sounding like a done deal - Maureen is getting a Sony Alpha 700 in trade for the defective A100 which is finally going to be taken out back and shot.... one would hope.

Hopefully that is the end of your camera troubles for sometime to come! Now, when is the D2h getting repaired?


David

Congrats on the resolution to your dilemma. I know this is a little late, and it wouldn't future proof your CF collection but it would future proof your portable backup device. A few companies make these SD to CF adapters so you can use future SD cards in your device.

http://www.delkin.com/products/adapters/sd-to-cf/sd-to-cf.html