Ricoh GR 111 Digital Camera.

My GR 111 is just under two years old, and with covid 19 has had minimal use, virtually brand new.

The power button has withdrawn below the top surface of the camera making it impossible to operate and power up the camera. This would suggest that there is a malfunction under the power button. Having spoken to the UK Ricoh repair technical centre, they intimate it may well have to be shipped to Germany for repair which would obviously be quite expensive.

Has anyone experienced this fault on the GR111 before and possible cost of repair?? I have the GA Lens Adaptor and the GW Wide Conversion Lens plus the view finder and these accessories are redundant without the camera. Any thoughts please?

Have you checked to see if you have a 2 year warranty? Which retailer did you buy it from?

Could be the expense of sending it to Germany will be Ricoh's, not yours, but in any event surely all you have to do is send it to Ricoh UK?

Thank you John X for your help. I purchased GR111 from Wex photo video, and they confirmed it only carries a 12 month warranty, unlike Pentax ( same company) who give you 24 months. Wex were very helpful and informative passing on phone numbers and the like. The UK Ricoh repair centre is a John Pye of Uttoxeter and they said I could post the camera to them, but it was most probable it would have to be forwarded to Germany for the repair.

At present I am reluctant to do this as this morning I contacted a friend who did own a GR11 but it developed a defect and having purchased via Amazon they offered him a full refund and it was out of warranty. The defect to the GR11 was exactly the same as mine but on the GR111,ie, power button being sunk below the top surface of the camera. Is this an amazing coincidence or a design fault?? I would suggest the latter, and therefore intend to contact the Ricoh Company with this question.

The camera is very good but in general terms not the cheapest, and I strongly feel that with very little use it should have given better service than 23 months. Ricoh/Pentax have a long history of strong, well engineered cameras, ( certainly Pentax) and this is just not good enough.

I will keep you informed of what ever progress that I make, hopefully it will be of the 'happy' type! PS I grew up in the South East of London. Catford, Dulwich/ Lewisham. Thanks broadreach.

If you believe that there is a design fault that has resulted in the power button no longer working, then legally you have 6 years from date of purchase to make a claim against the retailer. But as it is now beyond 6 months from date of purchase, the onus is on you to prove that there was a design fault and that this has lead to a failure in an an unreasonably short time (for the type of product). You might be able to argue on the basis of low usage (using number of shutter actuations as evidence), your friend's experience of their camera fault (documentation would be needed) and evidence of your camera having been used carefully (from its overall condition).

As you have found, different retailers have different policies for dealing with customer complaints about a product. Amazon is big enough to take the hit - it's probably cheaper than employing someone to argue about it.

Good luck.

Steve

Under the Consumer Rights Act if the camera develops a fault, which it has, even if it is outside the warranty period, then you can ask WEX to repair the camera as it is reasonable to expect a camera to last longer than 24 months. The generally accepted expected life of anything under the act is 6 years.

Lots of information on your rights under the act available from Citizens Advice on the internet.

All you have to prove is the camera is faulty and has not been misused.

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Paul

K1000, Espio 140, ist, istD, K70, K3iii and numerous lenses, just don't tell my wife.

Thank you very much for your very welcome and helpful comments and suggestions.

I do intend to persevere with the fault, and venture down as many avenues as possible.

Will add comments as seen fit.

Thanks, Peter.

Thank you very much, John X Lubbyman, and PR Yorkshire for your help and advice. I can report a happy ending. I contacted Ricoh and informed them of the camera malfunction. Ricoh confirmed that the GR111 does carry a two year warranty in the UK as stipulated on their web site, provided the purchase was made through an authorized bona fide photographic distribution channel. The knowledge of this was not given to me by the company I purchased the camera from. Although helpful and trying to assist, they were definitely not aware of the Ricoh UK warranty, which has surprised me a little.

Ricoh gave me the address of the official UK Pentax/Ricoh repair and service company, a John Pye of Uttoxeter, and they made good the fault and the camera was posted back to me within a couple of days. All I may add under the two year warranty.

So pleased, well done Ricoh and well done Pentax User.

Thank you.

I'm glad you got a satisfactory conclusion and that members of the forum showed their willingness to help (again) - hope you have many years of happy shooting with a fine camera

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LennyBloke

An excellent result. Sometimes it pays to be persistent!!

You'll now have to use it and post some pictures on the forum...

Steve

FWIW that's not quite right. Goods only need to be "fit for purpose". How long they should last could depend on several things, eg the product and its intended use, and even how much it cost - a cheapo socket set from Poundland wouldn't be expected to last as long as a premuim Snap-On set, for example...

6 years is the period one has to take a claim to the Small Claims Court.

Anyhoo...glad it all worked out

Apparently sine early GR111's had a minor defect with in the 4-way controller., See:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/product-updates/ricoh-gr-iii-service-notic...
If it's that follow it up as it sounds an inherent fault you shouldn't have to pay to get it fixed.

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John K