Never buy an Olympus Camera (1 Viewer)

wandalf · Mar 25, 2003

After owing a C730 Olympus camera for only 6 weeks and using it for 3 days it broke. Black screen and no more photography for me.

Their repair center received the camera on March 7, on March 24 I receive a letter stating they are unable to repair the camera at this time as they do not have the parts.

Supposedly they should have it repaired on April 11. Do I believe this??? NO WAY.

Do not purchase this camera. I have a list of complaints from other owners of this camera and none would purchase a camera from Olympus again.

Olympus ignores the emails once you have purchased the camera and experience problems. No more answers at that point.

Am I angry, you bet!!

bcurrie · Mar 25, 2003

That is very unfortunate to have had that experience. I have a Canon and have heard of similar customer service problems, so I hope mine never needs service. I do not know about the C730, but I know that usually Olympus builds a pretty reliable camera. Strange, it is usually me that gets problems like this!

Okay, okay, here is my attempt to bring a smile to your face in this trying time. It is one of my favorite corny jokes. Of course it is not the same unless you actually HEAR me tell it, but I will try.

Q: How do you catch a unique rabbit?
A: U Nique up on it (say it out loud as I wrote it).

Q: How do you catch a tame rabbit?
A: Tame way, U Nique up on it!

Ta da!

Thank you, thank you very much.

Screech · Mar 25, 2003

Wanda, sorry to hear about your camera problem. I, too have heard a few complaints from friends with Olympus cameras.
Have you discussed a "New" camera replacement with the service department? It might be worth a try. Hope your problem gets resolved soon!
Bob
Brian, Thanks for the jokes, the only "clean' ones I know now. ;0)

Tammie · Mar 25, 2003

Wanda, so sorry to hear about your camera woes. I can just imagine how frustrating that must be! If you happen to be in the market for a new (non-Olympus) camera, I will strongly recommend Fuji. We purchased a Fuji FinePix 6800 Zoom last summer and it was one of the best purchases we've made. I love my little camera!
Just a suggestion. Hope you get some response from that company to your liking.

IanF · Mar 25, 2003

In defence of Olympus, I've had my C2100UZ for over two years without a problem, though I did send it in for a firmware upgrade and hot pixel removal just prior to the warranty expiring. They said it would be returned in 28 days and it was.
I also have had an Olympus C2000Z for over four years and it is still going strong.

Rosah · Mar 26, 2003

I had an Olympus C2100UZ that lasted one year; just past the warranty date. Then the zoom/shutter button quit working. Olympus told me they would charge me $289 to repair it but wouldn't guarantee it could be fixed. They also offered no additional warranty afterwards. I chose not to spend the money on such an iffy situation. I am now kicking myself because I bought another Olympus, this time the C730. I went with it because I had already sunk a lot of money into the B-300, cards, batteries and charger and could use them on this camera. The only decent pictures I can get with it are using the manual settings. When I try the pre-programmed settings, I get only blurs. Three weeks after purchasing it, the camera started giving me occasional shots that were almost black, almost white or orange. That is the same scenario Wanda described just before here went. So far, mine is still working with only the occasional problem but I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have five friends who have Olympus cameras; 2100, 700 and 730. All have had their cameras die on them and while some were replaced, it took at least 3 months for Olympus to do so. One person was told the same thing I was with my 2100. I'm real happy there are some out there that are working properly but I have to agree with Wanda. This will be my last Olympus. I did purchase the five year warranty this time so I will be able to get it fixed if it goes bad.

Cindy M · Mar 26, 2003

Wanda, I'm so sorry to hear you've had this trouble. My own Olympus 2100 UZ has worked like a charm, absolutely NO problems in the couple years I've owned it. Based on my own personal experience, I would recommend the uzi to anyone, it's a well made piece of equipment with superior glass. I used to belong to an online yahoo group for Oly 2100 uzi owners and there were rarely any complaints about the camera- and that was with over 1,200 members.
Unfortunately there are lemons with any product, we found that out the hard way with a new Chevy Blazer we purchased that was in the repair shop 27 times the first year we owned it. That is a nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. General Motors did NOT care that we were stuck with a very expensive vehicle that was not only a lemon but very unsafe on the roadway. A company is only as good as it's customer service and sadly alot of companies just don't care once they get your $$- I'm sorry to hear that Olympus may be one of them.
When you think about it, these cameras have become so popular that they must be rolling them off the assembly line like hotcakes. People are buying digital cameras faster than they can supply them- maybe a good thing for the retailer, but not for the consumer if quality control & customer service goes out the window.
Have you taken any other action aside from letters and phone calls? I'd be getting ahold of the Better Business Bureau and other Consumer advocate groups.

Andy Bright · Mar 30, 2003

Sorry to hear of your problems with the Olympus.. there's no excuses for such a limited back-up from the Oly service people.
I do know there was an SDS (sudden death syndrome) problem with the 2100 series.
Andy

Vogelman · Mar 30, 2003

Take heart it is not only an Olympus problem! I had a similar experience with my first Nikon Coolpix 700 camera, though it was returned to me in fairly short order and is still going strong after more than 3 years and many thousand pics. I also had a problem with Canon when I bought my Canon GL1 digital video camera. Even after spending more than $2000 the first two had serious defects right out of the box (1st LCD screen upside down, and second tape would jam in camera), but the third has now been fine for more than two years. The good news is that serious defects usually show up fairly quickly under warranty and electronic equipment is generally reliable once working properly. So far no problems with my Canon D60 (>7000 pics) knock on wood.

I hope you have a similar experience once working properly. Did you try taking it back where you purchased it from to exchange for a properly working one? My experience has been that most retailers would be cooperative in handling this kind of defect that happened so shortly after purchase.

Vogelman

kim · Apr 30, 2003

wandalf said:
After owing a C730 Olympus camera for only 6 weeks and using it for 3 days it broke. Black screen and no more photography for me.

Their repair center received the camera on March 7, on March 24 I receive a letter stating they are unable to repair the camera at this time as they do not have the parts.

Supposedly they should have it repaired on April 11. Do I believe this??? NO WAY.

Do not purchase this camera. I have a list of complaints from other owners of this camera and none would purchase a camera from Olympus again.

Olympus ignores the emails once you have purchased the camera and experience problems. No more answers at that point.

Am I angry, you bet!!

kim · Apr 30, 2003

I also had an Olympus a couple of years ago - experienced problems and had also a torrid time trying to get it repaired. Mine was just out of guarantee and the bill was so huge - I ended up telling them to keep the camera. As you say - never again!

Harry · Apr 30, 2003

I'm amazed at the bad press re Olympus cameras. We've been using a C900 commercially (estate agency) for a long time and it's still going strong, no problems at all.

wandalf · Apr 30, 2003

Olympus, after much complaining and telling the company I was going on every forum I could find that discussed cameras and tell them what a lousy camera, gave me a new one. Not a word said, no letter, nada, just a new camera. I am amazed at the difference. The other one was truly a lemon, they just did not want to believe me until I became very angry. I am most happy with the new one. It is fabulous on the preset modes, especially sports setting.
I know people who are still having problems with the same model and Olympus has done nothing to remedy their problems. Guess I just screamed the loudest.

bcurrie · May 1, 2003

I'm glad that you got a suitable replacement, but it is sad that the company would not respond to your courteous request and only would respond after "much complaining."

rka · May 27, 2003

I have been using the Olympus E-100RS for 2 years with absolutely no problems. This camera uses the same lens and IS as the C2100.

Even though I am very pleased with the product's performance, I will probably not buy an Olympus again since I have read too many threads like this one (dpreview, steves-digicams forums etc.) expressing similar concerns about after sale support.

Too bad ...

Aitch · May 27, 2003

I've had an Olly C3030 for 3 years,now. No problems and great pictures. Never had any dealings with customer service other than requesting a replacement short instruction book. Got a pretty brief reply that they were out of print.

bigbadja · May 27, 2003

Olympus 700C series...the Greatest

G'day Wandalf, perhaps you just got a lemon, this can happen.
My Olympus 700C is the first camera I've ever loved. I've carted it {carefully] all over Australia for 2 years and compared it with other cameras and nothing comes near it. My sister bought the 730C and is just as happy with hers, although perhaps not in love with it.
For the price {AUD$1000} or GB400 it represents the best performance / value / optical quality over the market.
Having the 10X Optical Zoom makes it ideal for birders.
Mine also functions beautifully when digiscoping.

When the time comes to upgrade it I can't think of anything else that will satisfy my needs. Check my picture gallery out and you'll soon see why I'm so happy with it.
BigBadja

Andy Bright · May 28, 2003

Re: Olympus 700C series...the Greatest

bigbadja said:
G'day Wandalf, perhaps you just got a lemon, this can happen.

From what I've heard it seems that there are rather too many 'Lemons' in the Olympus 7** series, does seem to be a quality control issue. The 2100uz was another Olympus with a slighlty suspect reputation, dying suddenly...... though this camera has a legion of devoted followers.
Oddly enough the Olympus 2020/3040/4040 (and similar) have a very good reputation, though these cameras are very well built and aimed at a slighlty different market.
Andy

maxfoto2003 · May 28, 2003

how strange. I have an Oly-730 since December and I am very happy with it. I am glad the new camera is OK now ;-))

bh3251 · May 30, 2003

Hi from Québec.Canada
I'am looking at the panasonic DMC-FZ1-S ZOOM OPTIQUE 12:1
I saw it in a specialized photography store, very good pictures taken without much light. Haven't bought yet, but very impressed!

Never buy an Olympus Camera (1 Viewer)

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