Warning to Washington, D.C.-area photographers

[Mike Buckley]

Strauss Photo Technical Service used to have a long-standing reputation for providing high-quality service to businesses, government agencies and consumers in the Washington, D.C. area since 1949. (This is its home page.) Indeed, I have used them exclusively to repair my Nikon cameras no longer under any warranty, whether I worked directly with Strauss or whether I used a photography retailer that always sent my equipment to them.

The company apparently changed ownership in 2011. My experiences since then are very different from my experiences before then. I gave the company some slack relating to my first bad experience that occurred after the change of ownership, taking into account that it was the first bad experience among several previous good experiences. Now that my next experience has been far worse, I give them no slack whatsoever and encourage every photographer in the Washington, D.C. area to be aware of what has happened to me.

I took my camera, grip, battery and body cap to Strauss Photo on October 9. They charged me a $49 diagnostic fee that would be fully credited to the cost of the repair if I approved it. I did so on October 12. As of December 2, they still have my camera, have not repaired it, have not responded to my inquiries, have not executed promised follow-up, and have no idea when they will repair it. They claim an inability to get parts by blaming it on Nikon; considering the circumstances, I suspect that parts aren't being sent to them because perhaps they aren't paying their bills.

Rather than bore you with a detailed litany of everything that has and has not happened in the intervening days, I will instead fast forward to today. The company was not answering its phone and its service manager had not responded to my inquiring email sent a week earlier. (I have since been told that the service manager is one of the owners.)

Having given up on the company, I went to the facility today to retrieve my camera equipment. The front door was locked at 12:15pm even though the company's advertised business hours indicate that they should have been open at 10:00am. (This was the second time I had experienced this recently.) When I returned a few hours later, the facility was finally open.

The company would not return my camera equipment to me. Randy, supposedly the only representative in the facility, explained that it was in the home of one of their technicians. When I demanded to have my equipment available for pickup the next day, he emphatically explained that that would not happen. He did offer to try to make it available one day later than I preferred, but made no commitment. Keep in mind that he has lied so often in the past that nothing that he would promise about the future would be believable.

I immediately contacted the local police department. They explained that it would be appropriate for me to file a report of stolen property. Instead, I sent an email to the company explaining that I would do so if they do not have my camera equipment available for me to pick up at 3:00pm on Wednesday. We'll see.

[Digital]

Mike, I am so sorry for your negative experiences. I am fortunate to live in the Atlanta area which has a highly reputable camera repair store (Peachtree Camera Repair). They are also an approved repair center for Nikon Cameras.


Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

It's interesting that you mention that, Bruce. I just now used this Nikon web site. The page requires selecting a particular product. That indicates that not all Nikon-approved shops are authorized to repair all Nikon camera equipment. As it turns out, that web site indicates that the shop that accepted my equipment and told me that they had ordered the required parts directly from Nikon is not authorized by Nikon to repair my equipment. That would perhaps explain why Nikon never sent them the required parts. Or perhaps not.

[Digital]

Mike, I accessed the web site you listed. It is a valuable resource in case I need camera repairs in the future.
Thank you for the information.
Please let the CiC members know how this turns out for you.


Bruce

[Colin Southern]

Interesting read Mike -- looking forward to the follow-up

[Glenn NK]

I read somewhere else (another forum) that Nikon is limiting the sale of Nikon parts to Nikon authorized shops.

Found it:

http://www.naturescapes.net/forums/v...epair#p2071474

[ShaneS]

Wow. Mike, that is quite a predicament. I certainly hope that your camera is available and you do not have to pursue anything with the police.

My next question falls a bit to the paranoid side but have you checked Craig's list in your area to see if your camera is or has been listed for sale? I would probably do that given the experience that you have had with this vendor and the fact the you have no idea what type of 'technician' has your camera right now!

Good luck.

[Colin Southern]

I'm wondering if they're getting it repaired somewhere else and just planned to put a markup on the repair cost.

[Shadowman]

This might be the perfect reason for taking your camera to a brick and mortar camera shop and having them handle the trade-off. Even with this arrangement I noticed by the statement on my receipt, any item not recovered once repaired will be sold.

[Mike Buckley]

have you checked Craig's list in your area to see if your camera is or has been listed for sale?

No, I haven't done that. That's because I would rather not spend my time that way until it becomes necessary. If I come to the conclusion that the company is not going to return my camera, I'll then spend my time helping the police in their investigation in any way they think will be helpful. For now, I'm leaning toward the idea that the company has been completely incompetent rather than steeped in criminal behavior.

I'm wondering if they're getting it repaired somewhere else and just planned to put a markup on the repair cost.

I wouldn't mind if they were doing that. In fact, the last time I gave them my camera they explained that they had sent it to Nikon. There were some problems with that transaction as well, though not nearly as serious as with this one. Indeed, I wish they had sent it to Nikon this time. If they had, I would have my repaired camera back by now. Instead, once I get it back I will have to start all over and send it to Nikon myself.

This might be the perfect reason for taking your camera to a brick and mortar camera shop and having them handle the trade-off.

I don't understand your thinking, John. If I take my camera to a camera retailer, they might send it to this very same company, in which case I would surely still be dealing with the same situation though with less control because of using an intermediary. I have done that in the past knowing that the retailer would send it to this company. That was in the days when the company was enjoying a good reputation and rightfully so.

All: My wife looked at Yelp and found only one review from this year. It described two experiences with the company involving the repair of a receiver that are almost exactly the same as what I am going through. Why the person dealt with the company a second time after having such a disastrous experience the first time is beyond me. That reviewer's receiver was apparently never repaired. Instead, the manufacturer provided the reviewer with a receiver out of concern for all the trouble he had gone through.

[Shadowman]

I don't understand your thinking, John. If I take my camera to a camera retailer, they might send it to this very same company, in which case I would surely still be dealing with the same situation though with less control because of using an intermediary. I have done that in the past knowing that the retailer would send it to this company. That was in the days when the company was enjoying a good reputation and rightfully so.

I've been lucky that in my short time in the world of digital photography I've only had to two repairs needed. I went through my local camera dealer and when I wanted an update I called them, not the repair outlet. I got a quick response from the dealer and just as quick of an update through the repair shop. My point was go through the normal channels, not through some desk clerk.

[Mike Buckley]

Now that I think about it, John, it's possible that the company would have given better service to a camera retailer that is sending them lots of business than to me.

After awhile, I was working with the service manager, who I later learned is one of the owners, not a desk clerk. He was as unresponsive as anyone. When I went to the facility, I worked with the only person who was there.

[Mike Buckley]

I just spoke with the repair department manager of my local Calumet brick and mortar store. He was also the manager before Calumet bought the store when it was part of a local chain.

He stopped using Strauss Photo a few years ago. He explained that when they were good, they were really good and when they were bad, they were really bad. As the vast majority of repairs became digital, he said it was more of the latter, so he stopped using them.

He explained the reason there are so few authorized Canon and Nikon repair shops is that both companies increased their stocking requirement. Authorized repair shops are now required to stock so many parts that few can afford to meet the minimum requirements. So, most of them went out of business.

Any time a customer brings in a Nikon or Canon digital camera for repair, he always sends it directly to the manufacturer.

Interesting.

[Glenn NK]

Is Straus Photo Technical Service authorized to repair Nikon cameras?

To quote from their web page: "We have received National awards for superior service by Canon, Minolta, Sharp, Kodak, Polaroid, and others."

It seems strange that they don't list Nikon.

http://ifixit.org/1349/

[Mike Buckley]

Is Straus Photo Technical Service authorized to repair Nikon cameras?

I only know that according to a Nikon website they are not authorized by Nikon to repair the camera that I gave to them. That's completely contrary to what the service manager told me.

[drjuice]

I hit on the idea of fixing my own stuff, since I'm generally pretty fearless about the guts of any kind of electronic or mechanical device. When the "lock" of the gate to the battery compartment on my Sony alpha700 broke, I fixed it myself since the five-year warranty period was long since over.

I called their Parts Depot and with some help from the lady on the other end, identified the two pieces I needed and gave her a card number for the cost of the parts and shipping. Two days later (that's what I get for calling late in the afternoon Kansas City time), my parts arrived. I spread out my small parts towel on my table top and about 20 minutes later had the two pieces connected to my camera without a $175 charge for labor.

For those of you who've never repaired electronic gear before, working on a terry cloth towel (usually hand size) helps to keep track of the teeny pieces and parts that may roll off the flat surface of a desk or table. It's also handy for keeping items in the same relative positions as they are inside or on the device you're repairing. Also, I always wear a ground strap whether it's a camera or a computer that I'm repairing (you can order it from Amazon or a similar source for around $1.50 plus shipping and tax and it'll work fine unless you get into wearing it 24/7).

virginia

[Andrew76]

I only know that according to a Nikon website they are not authorized by Nikon to repair the camera that I gave to them. That's completely contrary to what the service manager told me.

In my line of work, if I were to falsely inform a customer that I could service something, that in actuality I could not, I could lose my distributorship of said product.

That's just not right.

[Mike Buckley]

That's just not right.

The criterion of whether doing something is right or wrong seems not to enter into this company's consideration.

[Colin Southern]

The criterion of whether doing something is right or wrong seems not to enter into this company's consideration.

I've noticed this with a lot of companies and a lot of people. I'd far rather just here the truth (albeit with a bit of diplomacy!) than a pack of lies that's been thought up on the spot because they felt it was the best combination of "most believable", "least revealing of their stuff-up", and "least embarrassing".

When one of my customers rings up it's just so much easier to tell the truth "Fred - I'm sorry. I stuffed up. On to it now. Have it ready shortly for you".

[ShaneS]

Colin, don't' get me started on the shades of gray that get passed off as the 'truth' in customer service these days! Unfortunately, I've become quite cynical and like you would much rather hear the truth, a sincere apology, and a plan on how to move forward rather than a bunch of lame excuses and technically 'true' statements that are misleading at best (which seems much more common).