How was it awful? Despite the OP's tale.... it is up to the manufacture to make sure that any warranty repairs are in order... pretty much the norm there...
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Broken Gitzo Tripod
- Thread starter Phrasikleia
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How was it awful? Despite the OP's tale.... it is up to the manufacture to make sure that any warranty repairs are in order... pretty much the norm there...
I did buy from a brick and mortar store, but they shipped it to me.
ArtfulDodger specified how it was awful. The repair center was completely vague about the status of the repair, except to say that they had the unit and would be shipping it to me within the next week. I presumed (correctly) that they would be honoring the warranty and repairing the tripod, but I did not know that for sure until it showed up today. Unfortunately, in "repairing" the tripod, they used the wrong part, so it's still not fully functional.
Buying from a brick and mortar shop only guarantees that the photographer will spend at least a couple hundred more dollars for that "service". With no guarantee that the service work done through your shop would've turned out differently.
But, hey, thanks anyway for spamming her "broken tripod" thread with your sales pitch. Sheesh!
It's true that service may have been the same, but then the shop would probably handle any shipping costs, reshipping costs if more work is needed, etc.
For a tripod and other supposedly durable items I'd be happy getting them online too, but for something like a lens or body it might be worth a bit more money to know that your local shop will handle things like this. I recently had to send a body in for backfocus issues; all I needed to do was drop it off at my local shop and the shop handled everything (sending it out, dealing with any communication with the repair center, etc.). Also, in my case, that shop had one of the best prices for that body when I bought it.
Lloyd Chambers' Gitzo also seems to have suffered a failure. If those are the Gitzo spikes on his tripod (covered with the rubber feet attachments), I would not be altogether surprised at the failure he encountered. Those rubber feet are incredibly difficult to take off, and I worry sometimes about pulling too hard on them. I am considering moving to a different set of spikes that have rubber feet which would hopefully be easier to remove.
http://diglloyd.com/
Ruahrc
http://diglloyd.com/
Ruahrc
I spoiled. The Nikon factory repair depot is five miles from the house and near the office. The Canon depot is a 40 minute drive south. Both places are good with walk-in service and sometimes can make a simple repair on the spot while you wait. (I'm in So. California)
I've owned Nikon SLR gear going back to the 1970's and mostly it just never needs service. I've been to the Nikon place I think twice. But I need to go back as one lens seem to have lost a small screw. I suspect they will just put in a screw and hand it right beck.
I guess you've never needed a repair for anything from Gitzo/Bogen/Manfrotto. The ONLY place where you can send items for repair in the US is in New Jersey. I've spent the last week trying to get in touch with someone over there regarding the botched repair of my Gitzo tripod. It's as bad as trying to contact someone at the phone company. This has been a really unfortunate ordeal for me.
I finally got my tripod back (again) yesterday from Bogen/Manfrotto, and this time it came back properly repaired and fully functional.
It was a frustrating ordeal, however. It had to go to New Jersey twice, and I spent a full week trying to get in touch with someone about the bad repair after the first round. I finally got through to a human and escalated the matter to a higher level manager, since two other managers were ignoring my calls and email messages.
I first sent the tripod out on February 1, and received it back (the second time) on March 4, so I was without it for more than a month. Glad this whole ordeal is now over.
It was a frustrating ordeal, however. It had to go to New Jersey twice, and I spent a full week trying to get in touch with someone about the bad repair after the first round. I finally got through to a human and escalated the matter to a higher level manager, since two other managers were ignoring my calls and email messages.
I first sent the tripod out on February 1, and received it back (the second time) on March 4, so I was without it for more than a month. Glad this whole ordeal is now over.
Glad to hear you've got satisfaction at last! If you hadn't persevered they'd have been happy to hand over a botched job. Hope your husband is happy with it!
Yeah, he's thrilled. Got him a nice ball head for it, so now we have both Gitzo tripods up and running. Fingers crossed that this new part will not have the same material flaw that the first one did.
Not wanting to let Gitzo off the hook for this, but do you feel the first repair would've gone more smoothly if you'd included the center column when you returned it the first time?
Gitzo is only 'on the hook' for a material failure. It's their distributor (Bogen/Manfrotto) that handles the repairs. At any rate, yes, presumably if I had included my center column the first time, they would have tried to insert it before sending it back and would have discovered their mistake at that time. I worried about the extra weight for shipping (at my expense) and possible damage to or substitution of my column, but I later regretted having been such a worrywart.
FWIW, Gitzo and Manfrotto are both owned by the same corporate parent: http://www.vitecgroup.com/OurBusinesses/ImagingStagingDivision.aspx
I minimize the stuff I send in with a lens if it's heading back to Nikon for repair or calibration and I would do just as you did if I was sending in a tripod. It's up to the repair facility to get it right, and if getting it right includes needing the center column then they need to communicate that information to their customer.
FWIW, when the bracket for the horizontal center column of my 190CXPRO4 failed (completely self inflicted, BTW) I sent the whole tripod to NJ and they sent back a completely new tripod.
Regardless, I'm glad that you finally got things squared away. I think your experience has us all looking at the famed Gitzo quality and customer service in a little different light.
Regardless, I'm glad that you finally got things squared away. I think your experience has us all looking at the famed Gitzo quality and customer service in a little different light.