K5 Problem - Am I Unreasonable?

I returned my Pentax K5 with sensor marks to Pentax 5 weeks ago. I asked if possible could I get the replacement before I went on holiday, 3 weeks after it was returned.

I have heard nothing and am now back from my holiday. What annoys me is that having paid for the camera, I am now left without it for what seems to be an unforeseeable amount of time, with no update or communication from Pentax.

They cannot replace my camera in a reasonable time yet are able to stock retailers with new ones for sale. In other words of you want one, you can get it straight away. But if I want the one I have already paid for, they cannot supply it.

I feel really sore about this. I thought Pentax were handling the sensor issue well originally but that appears just to have been window dressing.
I'm going to leave it for another week or so and then contact trading standards to see if I cannot insist on a schedule for replacement.

In my view, 5 weeks is already too long. Am I unreasonable?

I'm not sure where you sent it, but the correct procedure would be to approach the seller first of all. If that had been SRS then you would have received your replacement almost instantly.

The back up if the seller is not possible is the UK repair facility, which is JP Service Solutions.

Where did you send it to?

I contacted Pentax on reading about the recall, who told me that all replacements would be handled through the retailer, Warehouse Express in this case.

WH sent Fedex to me to pick up the camera to be taken to Pentax and Pentax, when I asked to get the replacement in time for my holiday, told me the replacement would be sent directly to me from them. They did also say that they had no information on how long this would take.

This is a quote from the email from Pentax UK:

"The unit is currently awaiting a replacement due to the sensor mark. We have chased these but unfortunately we have not been given a date for the delivery of the replacements. We will forward the replacement unit as soon as the shipment arrives."

I assume that deliveries to SRS, WH et all all come from Pentax so their excuse looks lame, to say the least.

I feel I have paid out £1000 and am being fobbed off - and I don't like that

I waited nearly 7 weeks because Johnson had no stock. I was told if my retailer had some then Johnsons would authorise them to let me have a new one but they didn't.

Do WHE have any in stock?

Personally, this is wrong. UK consumer law puts the problem with the retailer.

Our first K-5 had marks, rang up SRS, asked if they had stock, they said yes, I asked them to hold one for me as I was coming straight down to exchange it.

In no way would I do what you have done. Straight down to the retailer and exchange, it's the law (within a small initial time frame), if SRS had tried to dick me around like the way you have been treated, I would have demanded a refund on the spot and bought elsewhere.

What the heck this issue has to do with anyone other than the retailer, I just don't know, they are the company you have a legally binding contract with NOT the manufacturer and certainly NOT the repair company.

As to wether you have been unreasonable, absolutely not, your retailer has, pure and simple.

It's why I always buy from SRS, hassle free.

Your retailer should have just given you a new one in such a short time frame Mike and you should have demanded it. Johnsons should have nothing to do with this at all.

It really narks me when retailers just pass the buck when they should (by law) just sort the problem out. The amount of time I spend sending my customers back to phone shops to quote The Sale of Goods Act after they have just been fobbed off is absolutely atrocious.

If I had been without my camera for 7 weeks I would be putting in a compensation claim for the cost of hiring another camera because that is absolutely taking the p***.

As I said, the retailer had non in stock otherwise they would have. Their new cameras were coming in the same shipment as Johnsons.

i had sensor staining on mine..contacted srs who collected it the next day and I recieved a replacement in exactly 7 days,,,excellent..


so no definately not unreasonable

I'm sorry John, but if Pentax wants to be taken seriously then they need to offer high quality service to buyers of their equipment from any decent camera dealer, not just SRS. I am a big fan of our friends in Watford, and buy lots from them (not just Pentax) but telling people they need to buy from one dealer in particular in order to get half decent service does not make for a brand that is likely to survive in the longer term. If I had paid £1,000 or more for a new camera and then had to wait 5 weeks without seeing it back from repairs, I would be extremely hacked off.

I think thats what John meant the retailer is the problem here

Was there really no stock around for nearly 2 months??!! Wowza!

You have put an interpretation on what I wrote that was not intended.

Sorry for any unintended interpretations. I do feel, however, that Pentax need to be able to offer better than a five week turnaround for an expensive piece of kit - aftersales service is something that you hope you will never need, but when you do you need it to work well. WHE are hardly fly by night operators, and if I was in Lemmy's shoes, I would be, as I said, hacked off (to say the least). With Pentax.

I don't want to start any controversy here.

I take John's point but I did what Pentax told me to do which was to contact WHE. The (very helpful) customer service man I spoke to said he was aware of the recall and would phone me back after consulting with Pentax on the arrangements for the recall. He called back and both he and I did what Pentax instructed.

Obviously, I've been suckered here but I'm dealing with two reputable organisations and I'm surprised. As it stands at the moment I am £1000 down with no idea when I'll get my camera. I'm glad I'm not being considered unreasonable - unfortunately, I also wish I'd never bought the K5 and it has soured my opinion of Pentax (or Hoya) no end.

I thought they'd responded swiftly to right a problem - like I say, it appears to have been window dressing in my case at least.

Luckily, I had my lovely little GF1 with 40mm f1.7 for my hols- what a lens!

My experience of Pentax UK and of Johnson's Photopia who do the servicing on behalf of Pentax in the UK has been rather different. My K-5 had atypical sensor marks which did not clear with normal cleaning. I sought the advice of Pentax UK who responded to my email the same day and requested photos which I sent. They advised professional cleaning and if that did not work the camera would be replaced.

I sent the camera to Johnsons who acknowledged its receipt. As this was before Christmas there were delays but when they reopenned after New Year they advised me that the camera would be replaced. I was in a bit of a dilemma as I was due to go to Australia on holidy in January. Johnsons offered to liase with my dealer in replacing the camera but the dealer was unwilling or unable to help.

Johnsons were most helpful and arranged for me to get the camera as soon as I returned home as they had no stock in January. I was kept informed and my emails were replied to either same or next day.

Bearing in mind that Pentax assemble their cameras in the Philippines I think they did pretty well to sort out the problem and get fresh stock with clean sensors to Europe within a matter of a few weeks.

My dealings with Johnson's did inspire confidence as they gave the impression of being very willing to help and did supply the replacement camera by next day delivery when I advised them that I was back from holiday. Their communication was excellent.