Any alternatives to using Oly's repair service?

[jdal]

My 7-14 m4/3 lens is broken (suspected damaged circuitry, along with some physical damage, according to Luton Cameras). Luton no longer repair Olympus kit where they can't get the parts, so it seems my only option to use the Oly Portugese repair centre. Does anyone know different? Oly are offering a fixed charge of £214.55 for this lens. I have no idea if this is reasonable, but don't think it's reasonable to refuse to issue parts to 3rd party repairers and maintain a monopoly position on repair.

[Wookie]

I have used Black and White in Bristol for some minor stuff, but when I had a lens problem I tried Luton and was told that with lens calibration only Oly have the kit and got the impression won’t give set up or what ecru is needed for others to do it. So yes a monopoly!
in fairness, even with the delays last year caused by courier etc. the repair I got back was well worth it. In my view.

[blackfox]

Trouble is it’s not just olympus doing it most other brands have jumped on the bandwagon

[pdk42]

Luton Cameras was always a decent option.

http://lutoncameras.co.uk/

[Olybirder]

Luton Cameras was always a decent option.

http://lutoncameras.co.uk/

Unfortunately, as John stated in his original post, Luton Cameras no longer have access to spare parts for Olympus cameras and lenses, so there seems to be no alternative to the Olympus repair facility in Portugal. Personally I think it is a disgraceful decision.

Ron

[pdk42]

Oops - that’ll teach me not to read beyond the first line ! Apologies…

[Phill D]

I've used Luton in the past and they've been brilliant. I thought they used to be an authorised Olympus dealer so it's a shame Oly wont even let them have spares. It's a great little old style camera shop. I called in to drop off a lens for repair a few years ago and had really good chat with the owner. My wife was looking for a replacement for our old Oly C40Z at the time and I was moaning I couldn't find anything modern quite like it. He found one on a shelf in the shop he said I could have for a tenner. Unfortunately when we tried it it had the same shutter problem ours had. Anyway when the lens returned in the post fully repaired ther was another C40Z as well with a note "found in the store room no charge" That little camera looked like new and lasted the misus another 3 years until I got her a Stylus 1. It still works but she just wanted more zoom. So I for one wish Luton well and hope they can keep going in these difficult days.

[jdal]

Thanks for the responses all. I see Oly began to expand their Portugese repair centre in 2019 to do medical equipment repairs, then OM Digital Solutions split from the Olympus corporation, so I guess that may have some bearing. Whatever the reason I find it totally unacceptable, and the situation is made much worse by our leaving the EU, so I'll be warning people away from buying Olympus kit. Such a shame. In the meantime I've bitten the bullet and shelled out the £214.55, probably reasonable for a £1000 lens that has physical and electrical damage.

[Phill D]

I suspect OMDS are not alone in doing this I bet most of the other camera manufacturers do already or will do similar in the future.

[jdal]

Yeah, you may be right. It's going to end up like Cubans keeping Toyota pickup's going, unless you're a bloody millionaire.

[MJ224]

How many times have you had to repair Olympus Kit? I had a shutter fail on an EPL5 a few years ago, a lens that needed cleaning inside, and I bricked a lens doing an update. 3 times in 15 years. It's gonna cost money to repair, get used to it...

[jdal]

How many times have you had to repair Olympus Kit? I had a shutter fail on an EPL5 a few years ago, a lens that needed cleaning inside, and I bricked a lens doing an update. 3 times in 15 years. It's gonna cost money to repair, get used to it...

Not the point is it. It's the fact that (a) Oly have engineered a monopoly and (b) it now takes a bloody age to get the repair done. And in answer to your question, E-M5 FN lever fell off, E-M5II lens seals leaked, an an old 4/3 7-14 lens knackered when a tripod collapsed and the current problem. If you do climbing photography your kit's more likely to get damaged than if you do wedding photography.

[blackfox]

Thanks for the responses all. I see Oly began to expand their Portugese repair centre in 2019 to do medical equipment repairs, then OM Digital Solutions split from the Olympus corporation, so I guess that may have some bearing. Whatever the reason I find it totally unacceptable, and the situation is made much worse by our leaving the EU, so I'll be warning people away from buying Olympus kit. Such a shame. In the meantime I've bitten the bullet and shelled out the £214.55, probably reasonable for a £1000 lens that has physical and electrical damage.

As I said earlier olympus are not alone in this all the camera firms are going the same . And I think you will find olympus are at the extremely cheap end of the market . Nikon wanted £400+ to repair the a.f motor on a friends lens which he had bought for £550 .. leaving the e.u has nothing to do with it either they are still honouring all warranty work , the damage and repair with forethought would have been covered by insurance if you had it .. the repair centre in fact bent over backwards to with a warranty repair of mine last year and a lady I was in contact with had her camera replaced with a new one due to the courier losing it .

[pdk42]

Leaving the EU has had some impact. Firstly, all goods sent for repair overseas now have to be accompanied by customs paperwork in order to avoid VAT and import duties as they cross borders. The impact of this means that the cost of small shipments goes up because it's expensive to do the paperwork (so much for "a bonfire of EU red tape"). As such, companies wait until there's enough to ship, which introduced extra delays. Secondly, shipping to/from Europe has been massively changed since the freight companies can no longer do so many "cabotage" trips involving smaller shipments that might have been carried as part of a larger one. As a result, cost and time for EU shipping has increased.

Bottom line - as with almost everything else, leaving the EU is a train crash that we'll continue to experience the effects of for some time.