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Hi all.

I have a friend sending her *ist D for some extended warantee probs.

Anyone have an experence or opinion about quality of their service?

I have got bad experience.

My Sigma broke and virtually took them 3 month and number of phone calls trying solve the issue including sending the lesn to Japan (because it is imposible to sent small fault element ot Australia and replace it (i?). After this period they said me that damage was done by me and it doesnt go under warranty, which is obviously not true. I had this lens on body for two film rolls and that was all.

Finally I said that I dont want then to make any repair and ask to sent back the lens to me as it is. Propably with some regret they send me new sample, but without any word about that. I have found that newly sent lens worked fine and serial number was different.

Sold that cr... anyway and will never deal neither with CRK or Sigma.

Regards,

K.Polak

krpolak wrote:I have got bad experience.

My Sigma broke and virtually took them 3 month and number of phone calls trying solve the issue including sending the lesn to Japan (because it is imposible to sent small fault element ot Australia and replace it (i?). After this period they said me that damage was done by me and it doesnt go under warranty.

Finally I said that I dont want then to make ane repair and ask to sent back the lens to me as it is. Propably with some regret they send me new sample, but without any word. I have found that newly sent lens works fine and serial number is different.

Sold that cr... anyway and will never deal neither with CRK or Sigma.

Regards,

K.Polak

Huh? have you talked to our Sigma Chairman about this?

I dont have to. I have already my opinion about those two companies

Regards,

K.Polak

krpolak wrote:I dont have to. I have already my opinion about those two companies

I'm just wondering, what will happen if you'll have faulty Nikon lens and Maxwell will fail to repair it quickly. Will you sell all of your Nikon gear and stop buing Nikon things at all?

I personally do not let a bad experience with a company taint future purchases.

A good example would be the number of members who recently had problems with their D70’s - sent for repair, only to have them returned with another problem. Would I reject Nikon because of this - no. Would I castigate the service agent - yes. But, other than top level service, the problem is generally at the base level - the competence of the individual repairer.

An example I have experienced was with a Sony product. The official Sony service agent had no idea what was wrong but suggested a new circuit board at a cost of approximately $350.00 - I sent it to an outside source who resoldered a wire for $10.00!!

Another example - my Grundig TV was dead. Phoned Grundig and they said they would have to pick it up for repair - estimated time 6 weeks.

A friend had the same TV and told me to disconnect the mains plug from the wall for about 2 minutes then plug back in and turn on the TV - it worked. It seems this is a common problem with Grundig TV’s and they know about it. Cost of DIY repair - nada - cost through Grundig probably a fortune

Hilop,
Maxwell will repair Nikon lens but not long as three months and I never see that, but not as same as CR Kennedy acted to kprolak case.

Sigma and Tokina will, this is not first case from kprolak, I had heard few cases from the Aussie once they dealt with CR Kennedy.

I have no opion about CRK, but everyone here knows just how much I love the high level of b uild quality that Sigma bring into their products.
Excuse me while I throw up!

And Raskill,
How did you go with your crippled Sigma lens?

Lets me put it in this way. Every gear has right to break. But...

I have few Nikon lenses and no of them fail me so far = 100% reliability

I had two Sigma lenses and one of them went down = 50% reliability. On top of that add pissing off CRK and Sigma attitude towards service and client support and reliability is reduced near 0%.

Everybody gets its own chances. I did my choice. Period.

Regards,

K.Polak

krpolak wrote:
I have few Nikon lenses and no of them fail me so far = 100% reliability

I had two Sigma lenses and one of them went down = 50% reliability. On top of that add pissing off CRK and Sigma attitude towards service and client support and reliability is reduced near 0%.

krpolak,

You have said it all! and It's true!!!!

So so, I took a few more images at the A1 GP, and got a better 'keep' rate. But I did decide that Xerubus's 70-200 VR was to good to pass up on......

On a side note I got an email from CR Kennedy saying to send them the lens and they would have alook at it for me and carry out any repairs thought necessary. Also, when I purchased the lens I got a 'Mack' warranty. Instead of having to send the lens back to 'Mack' in NY, they (Mack) said to send it to Cr Kennedy and they would carry out repairs on their behalf and forward them the bill. Seems pretty good.

Raskill,
Perhaps your lens won't be returned from CR Kennedy in another few months.

krpolak wrote:I have few Nikon lenses and no of them fail me so far = 100% reliability

I had two Sigma lenses and one of them went down = 50% reliability. On top of that add pissing off CRK and Sigma attitude towards service and client support and reliability is reduced near 0%.

Everybody gets its own chances. I did my choice. Period.

I have 4 sigma lenses with no problems = 100% reliability
I have 5 Canon lenses with no problems = 100% reliability

So by your thinking they are as good as each other.

Petal666,

And this is your experience. Mine is simply different. And as appears during this talk I am not alone with my experience. Which might or might not mean that your statistics will change soon

Lets Heath Bennett read all that and make his own choice.

And lets everybody sticks where one believes is the best to.


Regards,

K.Polak

Somehow the question about CRK has devolved into Sigma-bashing.

FWIW, I've had two Sigma lenses (and 4 Canon). One of the Sigmas was crap, and got sold. The other (a macro lens) I bought well after that: I'm happy to accept that they make some really crap lens designs as well as some really good ones. I've had no reliability problems with the macro lens (except for the back mount getting shaken loose after >1 week driving in the outback: quite understandable, and simply fixed with the right screwdriver!).

So far in this thread we've only heard one experience (negative) with CRK, and hints from Birddog about some other CRK stories. Can anyone else offer opinions/experiences?

krpolak wrote:I had two Sigma lenses and one of them went down = 50% reliability.

Two lenses is an insignifcant sample. Totally irrelevant, and absolutely not a reliable basis upon which to make a judgment such as this.

OTOH, I don't particularly like Stigma products (as is well known in these here parts), but my dislike of them has been weaned through about 30 odd years of experience in photography, and through my evaluation of a number of divrse products made by them over that time,, through which I've found them to be of genrally inferior build quality, and where appropriate lesser optical quality.

And when I effectively ban a product from my choice list - Sony and Dell would be two such examples - that decision is based upon such issues as quality of product, and, if and when a problem occurs, the attitude I experience when bringing that problem to the fore.

If an organisation treats me with contempt, and if the senior management also treats me with contempt, - as with Dell - then they lose the opportunity to enjoy my custom.

Or if their pricing regime is treating me as if I'm an idiot - Sony and Maxwell are examples here - I carefully review other options for purchase.

Sony rarely get my business ...

gstark

Two lenses is an insignifcant sample. Totally irrelevant, and absolutely not a reliable basis upon which to make a judgment such as this.

But its just enough for me to not put any money to minor third party manufacturer, especialy one like Sigma, who is even not able get proper licence from big players. That is based on my experience not only with photo gear. You get what you pay for.

Anyway, I am not going to write whole analisis with who one should stick or not. You pay, you decide, it is your money.

Everybody has its own brain. And just expressed my own opinion for Heath Bennett. EOT. I dont like to repeat myself.

Regards,

K.Polak

My experience with CRK was exceptional. I phoned them for an outlet on replacement globes for the Bowens Trilites expecting them to direct me to Kayell or similar.

They arranged for two to be sent from Melbourne to their Sydney office for pick up by me. I did not ask for this - they just offered the service.

But this does raise a question: the Bowens are used by professionals and I have a feeling that if you are in the professional field they will bend over backwards to help you

But they know you are the Sigma Chairman