I want my lens back! Sigma customer nonservice rant.

[Chris1le]

I sent my Sigma 70-200EX back to Sigma for calibration. It had a front focusing issue. It arrived at Sigma 06-03-2004 according to the UPS tracking site. I have not heard any word about the lens since then. I called a few weeks ago and was told the lens was there but they were very busy and they would get back to me. I gave them my phone number. They have all my contact information on the letter and receipts that I sent them with the lens. I tried calling again last Friday.Got a busy signal. I've tried calling three times today. No answer. I also e-mailed them last Friday. No reply.

What should I do now? I'm getting a bit concerned about whether I'm ever going to see this lens again. :evil:

I for one will never buy nor recommend that anybody purchase ANY Sigma product until this issue is resolved. :evil:

[robertwgross]

I think Sigma reserves that kind of treatment only for customers who rant.

I didn't rant, and they got my lens turned around inside 48 hours.

---Bob Gross---

[vfilby]

I think Sigma reserves that kind of treatment only for customers who rant.

I didn't rant, and they got my lens turned around inside 48 hours.

---Bob Gross---

I think that that is a very unfair comment. Judging without knowing what was written in the letter that was sent with the lens, what was said on the phone when he originally contacted them or without knowing what Sigma told Chirs is nothing but a measure of ignorance.

I think that most people in this situation would be anxious so please be kind.

Chris, did they give any time estimations when you sent it to them?

Vince

[robertwgross]

I think that that is a very unfair comment.


You are entitled to your own opinion.

I've dealt with Sigma more than once, and there is a trick to it.

---Bob Gross---

[vfilby]

I think that that is a very unfair comment.


You are entitled to your own opinion.

I've dealt with Sigma more than once, and there is a trick to it.

---Bob Gross---

What exactly do you mean by 'I didn't rant'? Are you saying that you present your lens to them by lowering to your knee and bowing your head in a servile fashion? Perhaps it means that Sigma watches this forum to see if people rant. Absurd isn't it? It is more likely that you are confusing correlation with causation: The no ranting doesn't cause the quick service but the co-occurence was merely happenstance.

My whole point was that we don't know how he interacted with Sigma to begin with. So how can you make a comment about ranting when you don't know if Chris actually ranted to Sigma?

If there is a special technique in dealing with Sigma why don't you share it with the forum (or if that has been done before, share it with Chris) so that we can all benefit from your infinite wisdom. It makes more sense then intimating that s/he doesn't know how to deal with Sigma, which should be so obvious that pointing out mistakes would be improper.

I hope that in the future you will give good justification for your opions/answers rather then just saying 'you didn't do it right".

Vince

[Chris1le]

I think Sigma reserves that kind of treatment only for customers who rant.

I didn't rant, and they got my lens turned around inside 48 hours.

---Bob Gross---

Good for you Bob. Mind letting the rest of us in on your little secret! :x

I haven't ranted until my lens has been missing for over a month! Would that be acceptable to you? The letter I sent simply stated the problem. No ranting then. I even told them how much I liked the lens accept for the minor focusing problem. The phone call I made was simply to make sure they received the lens and to see when it might be returned. No ranting then. Only after not being able to contact them and their not trying to contact me have I begun to get pretty ticked off.

No I have not heard one word from Sigma regarding my lens! I know they have it but they have made no attempt to contact me regarding said lens.

So Bob. Am I being unreasonable!? :evil: Is my simply trying to find out the status of my lens deserving of the "treatment" I'm receiving from Sigma?

[robertwgross]

No, you probably aren't being unreasonable. However, telling everybody in this forum never to buy Sigma because of your bad incidence... that makes no sense at all.

I've worked very closely with Customer Service organizations on a client-vendor basis, and as a company employee. I know what makes the normal ones click, and I know what gets results most of the time.

First of all, this is summer. In the summer, many employees go on vacation. In the lean times that many companies are in these days, a temp worker is not brought on board simply to make up for employees gone on vacation. So, this isn't anybody's fault, it is simply a harsh reality of the business. Some companies are better set up to handle inquiries by telephone. Some are better with email. Your mission, as an interested consumer, is to find out what works best for that vendor and then to use that mode wisely.

One company that I am very familiar with would issue an RMA number only after a customer inquiry, and then that number had to be marked on the outside of the package containing the item for repair. If anybody failed to mark the outside with a valid number, then the package would go sit in a locked cabinet forever. Some customers were able to establish a relationship, however fleeting, with the repair coordinator. Somehow those repaired units got back to the customer faster than anybody else's.

Next, we don't know the client-vendor relationship you have. Some are recent customers and have a new product warranty for some protection. Others have an older product with no warranty, and they tend to be at the mercy of the vendor unless they have purchased some kind of warranty extension. I guess it is only common sense that the customers with leverage will get faster results than the ones with no leverage.

Depending on how you first inquired, you may have been promised a repair completion date. If that didn't happen, then you've lost leverage again.

Some customers send their product for repair via fast mode (e.g. Fedex). That sends an unwritten message to the vendor. Some customers enclose their own Fedex account number to speed the return journey. I know that sounds kind of "above and beyond", but it gets a message across.

Some customers send in a common product with a common ailment. The repair is straight-forward, and often they get it back quickly. However, other customers have an uncommon product, or it has an uncommon ailment. Worse yet, some have symptoms that can't be reproduced easily or consistently. Those will go around and around for repair, and nobody will dare project a repair completion date. The customers who do the best job of describing symptoms to the vendor will tend to get faster results than the ones who say "it's broken" or something like that. Unfortunately, sometimes that tends to be a fault of the repair coordinator. If they didn't record or understand fully the initial customer complaint, then a vague repair request gets logged on the system. That, of course, slows down the repair works very badly.

Whenever I deal with any of those companies on a client-vendor basis, I keep a log of all of my dealings with them, whether via email or via phone. When I send the product to them, I enclose the log that tells the whole story of who said what. That never hurts.

I know on my last two bouts with Sigma, they had my lens for less than two days once and less than three days once. Maybe I was just lucky.

---Bob Gross---

[Sector001]

i recently had to send in my sigma 28-300mm lens in for a rechipping. i faxed them my receipt serveral times, even though they said a rechipping was for free, but they told me they found something else wrong with it. luckily my warranty is still valid for 4 years. they wanted to charge me $60 for the repairs. they estimated a month coz they were backed up. but it turned out they fixed it and sent it back to me in about 3 weeks.

there customer service isn't all that great...it could be better.


i got my lens back and repaired. :D

i was thinking of selling it but decided not to at the end...i will however buy a canon branded lens as a backup.

[robertwgross]

i recently had to send in my sigma 28-300mm lens in for a rechipping.

Is that a fairly new product?

Is that a fairly recent purchase?

Yes, enclosing a copy of a receipt tends to help matters along.

---Bob Gross---

[Chris1le]

I said "I" will not buy nor recommend someone purchase a Sigma product until this issue is resolved. YOU are free to read my rant and do as you please. 8) I considered buying both the Sigma 80-400OS and a Sigma wide angle until I had this problem. Needless to say I wound up buying the Canon equivalents and could not be happier.

This is a new lens. Sent in for a simple calibration. I called them before I sent it in. I sent a letter describing the problem, a CD with test images on it, and all my contact information plus receipts. Never was I angry or pushy about when I would get it back. I just wanted to know what I needed to do to get it checked out. I wasn't expecting it back in two days or two weeks. I expected it to be gone for about a month. The thing that ticks me off is I have not heard ONE WORD from them regarding the lens. Shouldn't they have made some sort of contact with me in the last month?

My question is as it was before. What do I do next? All I want to know is where is my lens? When will it be done? Will they let me know when it is on its way back? I really do not think that is asking too much. The total lack of communication from them is what is getting me mad, as I'm sure it would others.

Many people come to this board asking about lens purchases. A lot of them are Sigma vs Canon questions. I too searched the boards before purchasing my lenses. After reading the reviews regarding the 70-200EX vs 70-200L I chose the Sigma due to many recommendations on this board. I read how Sigma was rechipping lenses that would not work with the 10D and thought they would be a good company to do business with. I have even recommended Sigma lenses in the past. How could I now recommend Sigma to anyone with MY current issues with them? So far it seems like I made a bad choice as far as customer service goes. I do like the lens I purchased. I would just like to be able to use it again sometime. :wink:

[Sector001]

yes it's a fairly new product, i bought it last year, so it's only 8-9 months old. i can actually get around $100 for it, but i may fare better on ebay.



i recently had to send in my sigma 28-300mm lens in for a rechipping.

Is that a fairly new product?

Is that a fairly recent purchase?

Yes, enclosing a copy of a receipt tends to help matters along.

---Bob Gross---

[Sector001]

i suggest u try calling them again...that is what i did. i called and checked to see if they had received my fax of the receipt. the first time they said, no, so i refaxed and called them again.

[robertwgross]

What do I do next?

At this stage, I would make a phone call and ask to speak to the Customer Support Supervisor about a problem. Be prepared to spend a little time on hold. Assuming that the supervisor is not on vacation or laid off, then eventually you will get to speak to the person. Introduce yourself first, and then ask the supervisor about how much time they normally take on a job like yours. Do this before you start into telling your story.

If the supervisor says something like "one month", then you start into your problem. Chances are, the supervisor will say that he will look into it and find out. Then, chances are, you will get something happening in a week or so (just a guess here). If the supervisor goes into stall tactics ("My worker who worked on those just quit the company!") or something like that, then you ask if there is somebody else you can talk to about the problem. You just quietly explain that you will escalate this systematically until they pop something loose.

Ask a rhetorical question like: "Is this any way to run a company?"

That used to always bring their blood pressure to a peak.

First, however, make sure that you have all of your facts and serial numbers and receipts and dates all lined up, and the names of whomever you spoke to previously.

---Bob Gross---

[Sector001]

that is a very good point about getting the names of whom u have spoken with. i didn't do that, but luckily it worked out for me.

[Chris1le]

Finally got through to them. :) After being there for a month it is scheduled to be repaired sometime this week. :? Boy. That sure seems like a long time for a simple calibration. Oh well, At least I now know it is getting closer to its trip home. I hope! Hopefully all will be well and I may be able to cautiously begin recommending Sigma once again. :wink:

[robertwgross]

Did Sigma give you an estimate of the cost?

---Bob Gross---

[Chris1le]

No. It had better be free. It is under warranty. If they try and charge me there is no way I would ever recommend them to anyone. :wink:

[robertwgross]

I don't know how Sigma operates in this one respect. In some cases, when a product is in warranty and is sent in, the vendor will simply fix it and return it, and about the only thing that gets marked is "Completed." Unfortunately, that leaves the customer wondering whether they really did anything or not.

I got a Sigma lens back from warranty repair, and there was absolutely nothing marked on any paperwork. It had been done, but they didn't admit to fixing anything.

Later on, if it is out of warranty, then the repair fee is paid by the customer. Then, the customer has a right to know exactly what they did for the fee, and "Completed" is not sufficient.

---Bob Gross---

[slejhamer]

Hey Chris, I spoke with Sigma today and they finally shipped my lens back yesterday. It had gotten to them a week before yours (May 26th to be exact) so hopefully yours will be on its way soon too.

Cheers,

[Chris1le]

Right on, good to hear that Slej. They said mine should be on its way next week. One can only wonder what our lenses have doing last month. :D

[Sector001]

they put REPAIRED on my invoice.

[slejhamer]

Just a follow-up: Sigma did a downright terrible job cleaning the lens. Dust still visible inside. Waste of time, money, etc. Selling it to KEH in "good" condition. :x

[Chris1le]

Just got mine back the other day. Doing regular shots it seems to be focusing dead on. :D It sure is shakey after getting use to the 100-400IS. I guess I'm going to have to break out the monopod again. :?