Epson Japan support?

[Bob_McBob]

Does Epson Japan accept cameras for warranty service from overseas? I have a brand new R-D1s purchased from Yodobashi in Japan. What would I have to do to get it serviced? Epson's Japanese support site only has information for people living in Japan, and they don't have a support e-mail address. I don't particularly want to call a Japanese-language support line. Would Epson USA or Canada be able to forward my camera to Japan or something like that?

 

[RML]

No idea, Bob. So this is a *bump*.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Anyone? 🙂

 

[Bob_McBob]

No one? 🙁

 

[mn4367]

I really don't know if they'll send it to Japan but maybe they can service it instead in the US or Europe. According to Rich Cutler these are the contact addresses:

Epson Engineering Europe SA
60 rue Auguste Perret
Europarc
94000 Créteil
France
Tel: +33 (0)8 92 89 99 99
Fax: +33 (0)1 56 71 57 26

Epson America, Inc.
Service Center
2350 E. Stafford Road
Plainfield
IN 46168
Tel: 562 276 4315

More information about the procedure can be found here: http://richcutler.co.uk/r-d1/r-d1_14.htm

 

[Bob_McBob]

I don't suppose anyone reading the forum now has any advice for me? I've been way too busy and stressed out to give Epson USA a call, but I will try that first. I have friends in Japan willing to forward the camera to Epson for me if necessary, but I would quite like to avoid that.

 

[mn4367]

Sorry, for Japan I don't know...

 

[Bob_McBob]

I just got off the phone with Epson USA. They can't forward the camera to Japan, and they have no contact info for Epson Japan support. I guess the next step is to call Epson Japan and hope I can find someone who speaks English.

 

[mwooten]

Bob,
I know this isn't much help to you now, but Epson's refusal to honor the warranty of their products disturbs me. I bought my camera from Robert White a little over a year ago. At that time there was "talk" on the forum about Epson USA not fixing cameras bought outside of the US. Epson claimed that they weren't responsable for the world-wide warranty that the cameras came with. The folks at Robert White were upfront, and told me about the "issue."

I bought the camera anyway, and things have been fine. Yet, it still bothers me that Epson USA can claim that they are not bound by a warranty that lists no exclusion of the North American continent. I'm no lawyer, but I hopefully someone on the forum is, and can give a satisfactory answer to this.

Maybe you can find someone at Epson Headquarters that can spank the droids in the USA into action.

Take care,
Michael

 

[Taipei-metro]

I don't suppose anyone reading the forum now has any advice for me? I've been way too busy and stressed out to give Epson USA a call, but I will try that first. I have friends in Japan willing to forward the camera to Epson for me if necessary, but I would quite like to avoid that.

I was in Yodobashi Osaka, no, they don't speak English, I don't think Epson Japan customer service people speak English either.
If I were you, I'll send the camera to a Japanese friend w some camera knowledge, take the camera personally to Epson customer service. Be adviced that, at this time, Epson does not produce any digital camera, they've given up even P&Ss all together.
When I was checking out the open displayed RD-1s in Yodobashi, I was the only one doing that, the store TV monitor was all KISS, Lumix, Coolpix, ads...
Some may suggest you Steve's repair shop in Culver City, CA. I was in his place 3,4 times, repairing a friend's Hasselblad, and try to get a quote to repair my MD12 motor drive. I did not repair it, because it's a bit too much and I don't shot film any more.
Good luck.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Bob,
I know this isn't much help to you now, but Epson's refusal to honor the warranty of their products disturbs me. I bought my camera from Robert White a little over a year ago. At that time there was "talk" on the forum about Epson USA not fixing cameras bought outside of the US. Epson claimed that they weren't responsable for the world-wide warranty that the cameras came with. The folks at Robert White were upfront, and told me about the "issue."l

I wasn't aware there was even a possibility of having Epson USA service the camera. I read Epson Japan said it was extremely unlikely Epson USA would service the R-D1S, and I don't know of anyone who has successfully got them to work on it.

I heard back from Steve of Steve's Camera. He said he would have to look at the camera in person before he could let me know whether he can fix it, since Epson won't supply parts. Considering a round trip would probably be $100, that doesn't seem like a very good option. It's worth $200+ for the round trip to Japan if it means I get a new camera in perfect condition.

Unfortunately., the friend who offered to send it to Epson for me wouldn't be able to take it in person, and doesn't speak/read Japanese very well at all. I do have other friends who speak Japanese fluently, so I will probably get one of them to write a description of the problem to send with the camera.

This is really a horrible pain in the ass. I don't regret buying the camera, but I do regret not buying it from somewhere like matsuiyastore who could deal with Epson for me. The worst thing is that the R-D1 refurbs appeared on Epson USA's site right after I got my R-D1S 🙁

 

[Bob_McBob]

I had another friend in Japan call Epson for me, and apparently there was no one there who spoke English. Thankfully, his wife volunteered to talk to them for me, so I now know what to do to get the camera serviced.

Epson Japan can receive cameras from outside the country, but they won't send them back, so I will have to have it returned to my friend who will then ship it to me. According to several people there, the camera must be shipped back in the original packaging, which I found a little odd. I suppose the black box is specially designed for the R-D1 body, but what do you do if you tossed it? They want me to include a copy of the receipt as well as the warranty card I never filled in, and a description of the problem in Japanese. Turnaround time will be 2-4 weeks. I'm going to see about shipping it tomorrow, and I don't expect to get it back until early next year.

This bring up a few issues. Since Epson Japan won't ship a camera outside the country, pretty much anyone who bought theirs over the internet from Japan is out of luck on warranty repairs (other than matsuiyastore who will deal with Epson for you). I've also read that Epson USA will not service the R-D1S even if you pay the out of warranty service fee. Where does that leave R-D1S owners outside Japan? If my shutter dies a couple years down the line, am I going to have to go through this time-consuming and expensive process and rely on my friends on Japan again?