Fujifilm Professional Service

[LP26]

Let me begin by saying that I am a professional photojournalist with some forty years of experience in the field. I have worked on multiple continents and have had my images published in leading publications throughout this increasingly connected small world of ours.

 

For most of those forty years I have shot Leica and Nikon cameras and  I have never experienced the such an extreme discounting of professional needs until I purchased a Fujifilm X-E2. I also have an X-Pro 2 on preorder at the moment, an order I am strongly considering cancelling. My first X-E2 malfunctioned within two days. That camera was promptly replaced by the vendor. That replacement X-E2 ceased to function after four months. It has been returned to Fujifilm for repair or replacement. The response of Fujifilm's service department has been cavalier at best, informing me that I will get the camera back when they are good and ready to return it to me.

 

Needless to say, after four decades of exemplary responses from Leica and Nikon, I was more than a bit disconcerted by Fujifilm's response to the situation which has been "You'll get the camera back whenever we get around to sending it back."

 

I am left with the feeling that Fujifilm has little to no interest in serving the professional market, nor is it concerned with the quality of the cameras it offers.

 

As a professional journalist I am forced to determine that Fujifilm has little to no interest in meeting the needs of professionals, but rather an attitude reflecting reflecting a profound ignorance of professional users. I suppose that if their marketing folks have determined that professional needs are of little importance to their balance sheet then perhaps it's time to return to the professional relationships that are of value to companies like Nikon, Leica, and Canon.

[CRAusmus]

Are you sure you are talking with their Pro Service Department?  Many folks have complained about their repair service only to realize that you get a totally different reaction when you talk to their Pro Service Department.

 

Fuji really needs to clean this area of their business up though.  Granted they are new at servicing the needs of the professional and will in time get it ironed out.

 

http://petapixel.com/2014/12/09/fujifilm-will-reportedly-launch-professional-services-us-next-year/

 

Supposedly this has been launched, but Fuji really needs to get the word out on this and even make it a paid service if need be to service the professionals in the industry.

[LP26]

Yes, the camera is with their so-called professional service department which, to this professional, seems to be anything but professional.

 

Time is indeed the core issue here, yet that so-called professional service department has little to no concept of the importance of time to a working professional journalist.

[darknj]

Yes, the camera is with their so-called professional service department which, to this professional, seems to be anything but professional.

 

Time is indeed the core issue here, yet that so-called professional service department has little to no concept of the importance of time to a working professional journalist.

 

I can get behind that, my Gold NPS status has helped me in a pinch tons of times with my Nikon gear. 

 

Kind of wish there was something as good for Fuji...

[CRAusmus]

If they want to be true players in the professional market, then they will have to make something as good as what Nikon and Canon have.

 

Supposedly they already have, but I have yet to find any information on it.  How much it costs, what phone numbers to call, etc...Next time I bump in to my local reps, this is at the top of my list to talk to them about...

[steve]

"You'll get the camera back whenever we get around to sending it back."

 

so that's what you were told ????  really ????

[LP26]

I too have been an NPS member for some 40 years. There was an occasion back in the 1970's when I had a Nikon F and lens shot out of my hands and found a new camera and lens waiting for at the next reasonably sized town I arrived in. No questions asked, just a new functional tool to work with.

 

Ironically, Fujifilm made available X-Pro 2's to my agency prior to the official release. One of my agency colleagues even made a promotional video for them. I shot with one of those X-Pro 2's and was favorably impressed enough to purchase/pre-order one on the first day of sale. Yet when I spoke to the so-called "professional division" techs I got a significant degree of arrogance and was told I could expect my camera's return in "perhaps" ten days to two weeks. When I noted that by that time I would find myself, quite literally, on the other side of the planet, I was told that then I would find it waiting for me on my return (this assignment will keep me on location for as long as 60 days).

 

Is this what Fujifilm claims is professional service?

If so, it's not the level of service this particular shooter references as professional.

My bag is now packed with reliable Nikons and Leicas.

These are genuinely professional cameras backed by genuinely professional service and support.

My feeling, at the moment, is that Fujifilm is an amateur corporation serving an amateur market.

 

I suppose that's all well and good if the amateur market is their target. They do however attempt to sell themselves as a producer of pro-level tools.

 

Trust me, based on current experience, professional is not an adjective I would apply to Fujifilm.

[CRAusmus]

I too have been an NPS member for some 40 years. There was an occasion back in the 1970's when I had a Nikon F and lens shot out of my hands and found a new camera and lens waiting for at the next reasonably sized town I arrived in. No questions asked, just a new functional tool to work with.

 

Ironically, Fujifilm made available X-Pro 2's to my agency prior to the official release. One of my agency colleagues even made a promotional video for them. I shot with one of those X-Pro 2's and was favorably impressed enough to purchase/pre-order one on the first day of sale. Yet when I spoke to the so-called "professional division" techs I got a significant degree of arrogance and was told I could expect my camera's return in "perhaps" ten days to two weeks. When I noted that by that time I would find myself, quite literally, on the other side of the planet, I was told that then I would find it waiting for me on my return (this assignment will keep me on location for as long as 60 days).

 

Is this what Fujifilm claims is professional service?

If so, it's not the level of service this particular shooter references as professional.

My bag is now packed with reliable Nikons and Leicas.

These are genuinely professional cameras backed by genuinely professional service and support.

My feeling, at the moment, is that Fujifilm is an amateur corporation serving an amateur market.

 

I suppose that's all well and good if the amateur market is their target. They do however attempt to sell themselves as a producer of pro-level tools.

 

Trust me, based on current experience, professional is not an adjective I would apply to Fujifilm.

They should be offering you a rental while you are waiting for your service to be complete...At least that's my understanding.

 

A week to ten days in some of the cases is expedited service in Fuji's infancy in the pro service arena.  As they open more and more service centers, I expect this time to reduce, but that will take time...Still a week is a long time, but when you have a tool in your hands that works, a week isn't so bad; if you have to go with out, that's a totally different story...

[johant]

But is this a Fujifilm problem, or a Fujifilm USA services attitude problem? It could be that Fujifilm Japan is not aware of the issue yet? I cannot imagine that they would find it acceptable.

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[LP26]

A good read at DPR... The subject of service is part of the conversation.

One could be an optimist and hope that improvements will be made.

 

Here's the link.

 

http://www.dpreview.com/interviews/6258617860/fujifilm-interview-jan-2016

[frod]

I thought the PS wasn't launching for a few months yet, and only in Japan to begin with?

[FX Admin]

I thought the PS wasn't launching for a few months yet, and only in Japan to begin with?

That's what they said last week during the Fuji X-Pro2 event.

 

Andreas

[Marc G.]

What a pointless thread. I've received excellent service from Fuji Germany. So generalizing your service experience for all Fuji service points is no less than narrow-minded, especially in combination with the rant/cancelling pre-order.

 

Here, X series is serviced with priority. You receive a free loan camera for the time of the repair which is sent out the same day you tell them about the repair problem, so before they even have the camera.

 

On the other side, I also used Leica and the customer care is one of the worst I have ever experienced. Clueless people, long repair times and 60% of the stuff I bought had to be sent in instantaneously. But do I think that it's always like that? No.

[darknj]

 

 

... But do I think that it's always like that? No.

Just going to quote part of your post for the sake of easier reading.

 

The fact is, Nikon Gold NPS is the same level no matter where you are in the world. If I bought my gear in US, live in Europe and it breaks down on a shoot in Asia, I will get a replacement. No questions asked and hassle free.

 

Fuji is still very far from such a service level.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Marc G.]

Which is to be expected. The X system exists since 2012. But even after only 4 years, the service is still much faster than what I experienced with Leica. When you take the number of users and the time in existence into consideration, the Fuji service is fine. After all, it took decades for Canon and Nikon to create such a service system. You cannot expect the same thing from Fuji after 4 years. When they launch the FPS this year, it's still a miracle.

[Shulvy]

"You'll get the camera back whenever we get around to sending it back."

 

so that's what you were told ????  really ????

That's pretty much what I was told when I sent in my X-T1 for a screen replacement.  It was basically "where not sure when we'll get to it and we'll send it back when we're done." 

[spinneyhorse]

Sony UK took 8 weeks to return my Sony camera....first  saying 5-6 days?? Had to wait for part to be sent, no rental....

 

No Sony pro centre set up here in the UK yet?

 

Canon have a 3 day turn around, if not fixed a loan camera is given.

 

I want to move to Fuji, but a little unsure how they are here on fixing cameras for pros?

[frod]

So if we actually treat things equally, then it's fair for me to compare the above story with the weeks of denial about D600 shutter debris followed by ten day turnaround time and no outward postage refund from Nikon service I received as an ordinary consumer, because that's the actual equivalent service to the above.

[darknj]

The real issue at hand is that Fuji service pro level is far behind Canikon, unless you are an X-Shooter, I am not expecting any kind of differences in processing the repair between a regular user and somebody who's actively trying to earn a living with Fuji gear.

 

I had to send my XF 35 F1.4 back for maintenance because the dust filter slipped out of the lens barrel, I clearly stated that I had an even coming up in 15 days and I was planning to use that lens. It took them 3 weeks to get my lens back. No temporary replacement, no apologies, nothing that could have helped me out. I was stuck at either go at the event without my lens and find a way around that or just buy another one.

 

It is good that I am not earning my living with Fuji gear because I would have dropped it as workhorse system and stood my ground with Nikon.

[frod]

That's what we're saying, everyone is agreeing. Fuji pro service does not yet exist, of course it's going to compare unfavourably.

[flysurfer]

I'm glad to live in Germany.

Free loaners for everybody during the repair time (one only has to ask). 

And free one-time sensor cleaning by Fujifilm with every system camera purchase.

And 2 years warranty.

[darknj]

I'm glad to live in Germany.

Free loaners for everybody during the repair time (one only has to ask). 

And free one-time sensor cleaning by Fujifilm with every system camera purchase.

And 2 years warranty.

 

Wish I could have that in Belgium, I could drop the Nikon gear fully.

[Tom H.]

Wish I could have that in Belgium, I could drop the Nikon gear fully.

 

I got my stuff in The Netherlands, I had to send in my 56 1.2 APD twice, and twice they lent me a replacement for the period it took to repair at no charge. Under warranty though. The time it took to service my lens was quite long, that definitely needs improvement...

[darknj]

I got my stuff in The Netherlands, I had to send in my 56 1.2 APD twice, and twice they lent me a replacement for the period it took to repair at no charge. Under warranty though. The time it took to service my lens was quite long, that definitely needs improvement...

 

Meh... It's even more depressing... Basically all the countries around mine seems to provide a minimal of support while mine doesn't... Just great...

[milandro]

In the EU the laws on warrantees vary a bit from member state to member state, but the general principle is that the first line of response to a guarantee claim lays with the shops, then, suppose the shop would have gone bust, they would be  then enforced by the distributor and if this one too would for some reason no longer exist, they would be administered by the parent company.

 

 

This has the goal to insure that the warrantor is the closest possible to the end consumer.

 

In other words your first and foremost contact with any aspect of the guarantee is the shop where you bought your items. With the exception of the UK, the general norm is that you have a minimum of 2 years guarantee.

 

The NL have also another additional norm that is that a guarantee extends to the whole of the foreseeable useful and expectable life of any purchase you make.

 

Having said this, if you buy something with for example Kamera-Express, Foto Klein, Nivo-Schweitzer, Camera Nu, it is them, the shops, who extend the courtesy of a replacement camera not FUJI as a company.

 

So, it is possible that a certain shop does this ( Kamera-Express did this with me when my X-E2 was sent for 8 weeks to Germany) but that another doesn’t because Fuji doesn’t have this program of a temporary replacement in its guarantee.

 

There are shops in the NL, one in particular which I shan’t mention, which have no physical shop where you go and visit, I am not familiar with them but they might not be in the same position of a shop which might take a camera used as a display camera in the shop and lend it to you while your camera in away.

 

 

But the fact that the Netherlands a country of 17 million, doesn’t have its own repair lab and that cameras need to be sent to Germany is a serious problem.

 

 

I no longer earn my money with photography but when I used Nikon I knew that I could drive to their lab in Haarlem, back then, and in Beverwijk now,  and have my camera quickly fixed, I could also borrow a camera in case it needed a longer time.