Olympus 100 to 400 *****UPDATE*****

[kazandlee]

A HUGE thank you to Olympus for sorting my lens out, received it yesterday from Cliftons Cameras.Thanks to Iain from Cliftons and Aidan from Olympus for their care and focus on resolving my supply issue. Cant open it till Christmas day but worth that wait a little longer. Will be sharing some photo's on here over the Christmas period then you guys can tell me were im going wrong lol. Thanks everyone.



So, my 100 to 400 lens plot thickens, I wondered if there was anyone on here ordered their 100 to 400 after September 30th and has received it?.

I ordered mine late August and still not received it. I chose to support a local family run camera outlet in East Yorkshire as the order of the day for me was to support local business just as people have supported mine.

My dealer has 2 of these on order, one for me and another but have never received a delivery yet, the other chap ordered his as soon as the pre order option came out. Apparently the dealer says that although they are a 'pro dealer' because they don't have a high volume spend they are put on the back burner until all the 'major' retailers who spend a lot of money are supplied.

Quite furious to say the least, ok so I could have gone with a big chain and ditched my local supplier but that for me wouldn't be right, my only complaint is how Olympus allegedly manage their supply chain, I was quite willing to wait for delvery but never thought it would be until December and now its looking like 'well into' the New Year.

I really feel for my local dealer, its not his fault but if this is the way that Olympus are treating their dealers then its quite wrong, especially which at the end of the day affects a customer.

[ronidog]

I ordered one from srs at the end of September. They got some in the next day and so mine was sent straight away first class. Sorry to hear you are having problems still.
Dave

[Walti]

If you know which Olympus rep covers your area - drop him an email as Olympus ALWAYS claim to look after the small independents (the shop will be able to tell you if you don’t know)

David Smith covers Cambridge and has always been ready to help in situations such as this!

[blackfox]

the way I read it from viewing the net ,demand far exceeded supply .. to good a job was done on u.tube .. it looks as if the far to Middle East was first in line , then Europe , and then the u.s.a .. the only thing I can add is hang on its worth the wait ..I only got mine due to a cancelled pre-order

[kazandlee]

Thanks everyone, going to contact dealer again tomorrow and get the contact for area sales person.

[Dave in Wales]

A mint used one went on TP for £925.........https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/th.../#post-8832949

Not that that's any help to you.

[Phill D]

Sounds like a question for Mark Thakara at Olympus.

[kazandlee]

Sounds like a question for Mark Thakara at Olympus.

Who is this guy, is he contactable?

[Jax]

Who is this guy, is he contactable?

He is the current Olympus UK Brand Manager. Ian the owner of this forum and Admin may be able to help you in contacting him. Mark is also on Linkedin and Facebook.

Jax

[kazandlee]

UPDATE...... So, I couldn't get hold of Olympus's Mark Thakara but I messaged Olympus direct through Messenger again and received a call just a little while ago. I cant go into the detail but essentially my local dealer shouldn't have taken my cash for order and they were never promised a lens for pre orders. Turns out that my dealer should and perhaps did know this, essentially the only time I would have got one is when stocks are readily available for the shelves and deffo not for pre order....feel a bit let down to be honest, not by Olympus but my local dealer, Ive waited 4 months when I could have had one by now, all because I wanted to support a local business, live and learn I guess. Olympus are sorting my refund out with dealer and are sorting me a lens out quicker than my dealer would have ever got one. Who knows, might have something to unwrap on Christmas day Thank you Olympus for the amazing customer service and sorting a problem out which wasn't even theirs.

[Tram]

Guessing they won't be seeing any more of your money.

Good to hear Olympus are carrying on their tradition of good customer service.
Hope you enjoy using your new lens after such a long wait.

[kazandlee]

Thanks..... Im really looking forward to it, bitter sweet, been using them on and off for 30 years so yeah, a bit annoyed.

[Phill D]

Sounds like a good solution. To be honest though I'd hope your dealer tries to sort out some sort of compensation for you too.

[Jax]

Apparently the dealer says that although they are a 'pro dealer' because they don't have a high volume spend they are put on the back burner until all the 'major' retailers who spend a lot of money are supplied.

I'm not defending your dealer as he should have been chasing up his 2 pre-orders from Olympus and keeping the 2 customers fully informed. If he was made aware by Olympus that the pre-order would not be fulfilled he should have been honest and told his two customers.

This sort of situation however is yet another reason why we are losing all the small high street businesses . Pre-orders should be dispatched by manufactures in the order they are received and not by giving preference to those who spend the most money. That of course is in an ideal world but sadly this world is very far from ideal.

Hopefully Olympus will provide a lens in the very near future and you can put this unfortunate experience behind you and enjoy using the lens.

Jax

[kazandlee]

Thanks for that, apparently the issue was that my dealer isn't a pro dealer allegedly and were not in a position to take an order on the assumption it would then be prioritised through the Olympus network, there's more to the story as well but wouldn't want to talk out of turn. I am pleased with Olympus customer care though, amazing and honest.

[blackfox]

When I read some of the horror stories re other brands I’m so glad that I chose olympus ,as long as the new owners carry on in the same ilk it can only get better ,let’s hope Brexit doesn’t throw a spanner in the works

[kazandlee]

how they have dealt with this for me has encouraged me, I now have a contact for someone quite high up at Olympus and his door seems open in the future, Olympus have even honoured the price that the local dealer was giving me which is £50 less than msrp. They have just offered me a demo lens to use over the Christmas period until the next shipment arrives which Im told mine will be on it in January.

[MJ224]

Sounds a reasonable solution. I hope you get the demo in time for Christmas. :-)

[pdk42]

I don't get it with local dealers. In my litle Nikon foray this summer I wanted to buy the 24-200 Z lens which had only recently been announced. Mindful of Covid and wanting to support local businesses I called up LCE in Leamington and placed a pre-order. I offered a deposit but they said no, we'll just add you to the list and let you know when it's available. Despite chasing several times they never got back to me at all, even when the lens started shipping from other suppliers. Odd.

[kazandlee]

Its quite disappointing, Ive been a customer of my local dealer for 30 years, im glad I didn't put down the full payment upfront, not saying I will have any issues getting my deposit back but Im just so please Olympus have stepped in, ok so my last contact with them before they called me in person wasn't that calm, they still saw the end user and the pain the dealer had caused and are now sorting things.

[MJ224]

Put it down to humanity, it's nearly in the past now..looking forward to seeing your photos with the demo lens...:-)