Lenses at Golden Touch 2 Months

[wgerrard]

I've had two lenses at Golden Touch for two months with no word on what needs to be done and no cost estimate. Is that typical for Sherry? She asserted a three-week turnaround, but I don't know if the three weeks begins when the package is delivered or when it rises to the top of her work queue.

I'm not worried about it, and certainly don't mean to be critical, but it would be good for planning purposes to know what to expect.

 

[awilder]

Why ask us? Just send her an email or give her a call. I've used her before on a few lenses for CLA and turnaround was within 3 wks from delivery so you might want to confirm delivery with her or the carrier. The delay may be due to waiting on parts, but only she knows.

 

[MCTuomey]

i guess i manage my expectations when i send a lens to GT or DAG by "forgetting" about the lens for a good while. that way i can be surprised if the turnaround is 3 weeks and not concerned if it's 3 months.

sherry is a one-woman shop, after all. she gets busy, and i don't think she takes a lot of time off.

 

[tbarker13]

It's funny. I think that time estimate is sort of a boilerplate thing she sends out every time she gets a request for service. At least, every time I've dealt with her, I get the same form-letter type email about the service and time it will take.
But it looks like Sherry - perhaps not as badly as Don Goldberg - is well swamped with work these days. I don't think she's hit that time estimate for the past 3-4 lenses I sent to her.
Still, she does great work.
As AWilder suggests, just give her a call or shoot her an email. I'm sure you'll get some sort of response pretty quickly. I do notice, though, that she tends to work very late hours. So you are more likely to get an answer at midnight than at noon.

 

[wgerrard]

Just wanna get a feel for others' experiences, since many threads here talk of waiting months and months for CLA's done by other people.

I have confirmed delivery. She hasn't responded to my last email, but I will try again. If waiting on parts was going to cause a lengthy delay, I'd think it would be the technician's responsibility to contact the customer, not the other way around.

 

[wjlapier]

Just wanna get a feel for others' experiences, since many threads here talk of waiting months and months for CLA's done by other people.

I have confirmed delivery. She hasn't responded to my last email, but I will try again. If waiting on parts was going to cause a lengthy delay, I'd think it would be the technician's responsibility to contact the customer, not the other way around.

Call her. Be friendly, and enjoy the conversation 😉

 

[awilder]

Call late in the day or even at night, she's nocturnal.

 

[35mmdelux]

She did a blistering fast turnaround for me. Sherry's cool; just give her a call.

 

[tennis-joe]

I had a turn around of 2 weeks on a lens I sent her. Maybe she doesn't like you? Kidding!
Joe

 

[mccurleyphoto]

She took 4 months on my camera and lens. But she does great work.

 

[fbf]

Estimate was quick for me, turnround time is about 5 days. No complaints.
Give her a call.

 

[Robert Hooper]

I talked to Sherry Krauter about a month ago and she said her work load had increased exponentially since Leica USA no longer works on film cameras. If you send them a camera for repair, they will just forward it to Solms Germany for servicing. Sherry is even becoming selective about the equipment she will accept for servicing right now. I wanted to send her my Leica IIIg for a CLA, but apparently the screw mount bodies are labor intensive and she is just too overwhelmed with other work to take mine on at the moment. I'm waiting for her to give me the OK to send it in. She did accept a 50mm Summicron DR for CLA, though.

I wish there were a greater number of qualified and trustworthy repair people in the US to choose from, but I only trust Sherry Krauter these days.

I shoot with all of the cameras I own, but I'm a collector too and I'm fussy about cosmetics. I will not tolerate tool marks or scratches on returned equipment I send in for servicing. I've even had vintage pristine parts switched by one well known repair specialist. The realization made me physically ill. Don't ask me who this was because I'm not interested in getting into a argument over the validity of my assertion. I have absolutely no doubt that it happened and have photographic evidence as a result of images taken of the camera body for insurance purposes.

 

[thomasw_]

....I've even had vintage pristine parts switched by one well known repair specialist. The realization made me physically ill....

Get out more, Smaug.

 

[Robert Hooper]

Yes, thomasw, I was mad enough to breathe fire.

Smaug

 

[Ronald M]

Same switch was pulled on my neighbor by a well known repair person. When they met up at a camera show, he gladly exchanged the less than mint for a LN he had on the table.

 

[CameraQuest]

I've had two lenses at Golden Touch for two months with no word on what needs to be done and no cost estimate. Is that typical for Sherry? She asserted a three-week turnaround, but I don't know if the three weeks begins when the package is delivered or when it rises to the top of her work queue.

I'm not worried about it, and certainly don't mean to be critical, but it would be good for planning purposes to know what to expect.

Why are you here instead of asking Sherry? there is email and the telephone.

Stephen

 

[sepiareverb]

Just ask her to send it back?

 

[swoop]

I had my lenses at DAG or 3 months with no word or estimate. Until I got an email one day saying my lenses were done and the price.

I sent paypal and my lenses were home within 4 days.

They aren't bestbuy. They're small business repair people. And I imagine they have a queue of lenses to work on for weeks with varying degrees of repair needed. i sent two lenses. One had a bent rear mount from a drop and the other had a loose spring/detent in the aperture ring.

 

[tajart]

sherry

sherry

she is great to talk with on the phone as is dag.
both she and dag have done wonderful work on my cameras.
knowing they always have a lot of work on their benches i never expect fast turn around, and am always pleased with what they return to me.
from what i've heard about them is that a telephone call is the best way to get answers to questions regarding the work you need or are having done by them. straightforward, no nonsense.
ps- i've never talked with youxin but his work is nice as well.

 

[CK Dexter Haven]

Maybe she IS overwhelmed. I recently sent an email AND left a voicemail, about a camera i was hoping to send to her for repair. Neither message was ever returned. That was not my experience with her in the past.