Zeiss Ikon service in Oberkochen

[mfogiel]

After about a year of intensive use, my Zeiss Ikon suffered several hard bumps, and the RF finally gave up and went out of alignment. I had it fixed by a professional serviceman in Milan, but it came back with a 5cm focus error (at 1m). In desperation, I tried to adjust it myself, and even with the use of a magnifier and very patient tweaking, I still was unable to do better than reduce the error to 3 cm ( initially the camera rf was PERFECT, with less than 0.5 cm visible shift at 1m).

So, finally I gave up and send the camera to Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen, asking for adjustment and demanding to buy a couple of Zeiss lens caps which I lost in recent months.

I have received the camera back today, adjusted, with the caps included, and all has been done "under warranty", which I have not even produced!

This has really been a very pleasant surprise... Kudos to Mr Bertram Hoenlinger and Carl Zeiss AG !

 

[rxmd]

I'm impressed!

 

[Adam]

Great to hear. I haven't yet had to send in my Ikon, but I've been pleasantly surprised by Zeiss' responsiveness to email. It's always nice to see a company that recognizes the value of good service.

 

[noimmunity]

I have received the camera back today, adjusted, with the caps included, and all has been done "under warranty", which I have not even produced!

This has really been a very pleasant surprise... Kudos to Mr Bertram Hoenlinger and Carl Zeiss AG !

Let's all sing the praise of Mr. Hoelinger! He helped me straighten out my Biogon 2/35. Turnaround was fast, communication was excellent, and it didn't cost anything more than shipping (plus the unfortunate import duty on the way back because Zeiss uses courier instead of postal service).

Dealing with Cosina, Japan, for Zeiss service has been a different experience. Helpful people, they exact a charge just to have a look at the camera (even one purchased in Japan).

Glad to hear that you got your RF aligned, Marek!

 

[lshofstra]

On the subject of service:
Last summer my ZI went out of vertical alignment. I had sent it in to Oberkochen before as it was inaccurate in focussing. This time I didn't get around to doing so for quite a while; too busy with work, moving house and whatnot. By the time I managed to find the time the warranty had (just) expired. However, as I had in fact stopped using the ZI, I sent it in and hoped for the best. It just came back, after a week or two. They didn't fix it. They replaced it with a new camera. An note from mr. Hönlinger explained that, as it had been sent in before during the warranty year, the "repair" was free of charge. I'm still not sure about the camera. Service, however, is absolutely first rate.

 

[italy74]

Ciao Marek, guys
I'm really happy for you.
The day I'll ever get it, I'll know where to send if needed.
This is what we need to hear. Even if you fall, your back is covered!
Just great.

 

[ZeissFan]

In the "old" days, most companies used to be responsive to customers. It's interesting how we're surprised and almost gleeful when a company offers good service to its customers.

We've come to accept mediocre quality, service and response as normal. A call often connects with a call center, which turns out to be a very trying, frustrating experience. If you have to call back, you have to explain the entire reason for calling, and you rarely get the same person twice. And the level of frustration rises when it involves someone who doesn't speak the same language. Sorry, but this is true.

Our neighbor has a Zune MP3 player, which he's sent in several times. He's never received adequate service and has been told that's all they can do for him. Another neighbor has an iPod, which he's tried to get serviced. Apple told him he'll have to pay $165 or so to get a new battery. And that's more than the value of the iPod.

There aren't enough companies that value the customer. But it's also symptomatic of our desire to have the cheapest/least expensive products possible. There's a tradeoff for wanting $49 DVD players and buying goods based purely on price.

In the past three years, I've had two problems with Sennheiser headphones. Both of my questions to Sennheiser were answered promptly. And in both cases, Sennheiser replaced the products within a week, even though one was out of warranty.

I've also had a similar experience with Bang and Olufsen.

These days, I'm more interested in buying high quality products from established companies with solid reputations, especially when it involves a large amount of cash from my bank account.

 

[ZeissFan]

Let me add to my call center comment.

If you're on the phone with Carl Zeiss or Leica, for example, and you get someone who speaks with a German accent whether it be a U.S., U.K. or German phone number, you would find that acceptable. In fact, you might even enjoy the experience, because you feel that someone from the German Zeiss operation is speaking with you. You also know that the chance of speaking with this same person who knows about your camera the next time that you call is reasonably high. It's a satisfying experience.

If you're on the phone with Microsoft or Chase bank, and the person is speaking with a non-English accent, you know that the reason you are speaking with this person has everything to do with a company spending as little as possible on customer service. And you also know that the next time you call -- even if it's seconds later -- you probably will be speaking with someone else who knows no history of your problem. And that's why it's a frustrating experience.

It's not about race, religion or ethnicity. It's all about what perceived value a company has placed on you -- the customer.

 

[italy74]

Exactly.
Too often companies are relegating stupid and dumb call centers as their front office not realizing how high is the percentage of unsatisfacted customers, especially if - as it uses nowadays - you neither have a human answering but just a pre-recorded answer.
This is the logic of managers who want the highest profit with the lowest expense.
Actually I see also in my company lots of people grown surrounded by their only idol, NUMBERS (what's the KR name for that? I can't remember here... oh, yes, MEASURBATORS) forgetting real persons and judging only basing on numbers, estimates etc. as if real experience would count nothing.
I'd like to tell more but it's better I stop here.
Kudos to Zeiss, Leica and all those companies who REALLY invest in customer satisfaction, not asking you to be slimy with them "remember to be highly satisfied if you just can, when eventually asked".. never heard of this leitmotif? and then handling magically NUMBERS (! always these damned numbers!) if something goes wrong, so that a "satisfied" is NOT (yet) GOOD (they ask you WHY only SATISFIED!) because you MUST (MUST!) get a VERY satisfied customer IN ANY CASE.