I read the thread flaming Columbia Global and the lack of NIKON service centers in the Philippines. I am glad I am not a Nikon user.

However, I tried to fix my KM 7D on Sony Service Stations. Yes, these are the SONY solid centers located near where you and I live as all SONY and KM products must pass through these sations. And the service was just as BAD.

SONY service center facts are:
1. They claim to be "handlers" of the KM brand only.
2. It takes two months to repair the camera as it has to be brought to the central repair office.

While, I do not mind that they are "handlers" of the KM brand only and I AM patient to wait for two months, my experience was the following:

1. I went back to the service station one week after two months have lapsed.
2. They informed me that the camera has not been returned from the central office.
3. When asked the status of the camera, They DO NOT HAVE any quick communication with the main office to find out what the status of any repairs done.
4. According to the customer relations clerk, they only email once a week to the main office. They don't even have an inventory list of their repairs to ask the main office to keep being updated!
5. When asked if they can give just a quick check to see if the camera is "repairable", the girl repeatedly reasoned that they are "handlers" only of KM and such cannot check. Honestly, I do not see the connection of being a "handler" and not being able to find out the status of the repair.
6. I waited till the end of the week and called their line, the "Call Center" was busy for the entire time (can't even get through to the recording!)
7. Finally, I got in the second day and the call center agent told me that the only thing they can say is that the camera is "under repair", and still cannot tell me if they have started the repairs, was it repairable, or was it just sitting on the shelf the entire time.
8. Finally, I decided it is worthless to undergo this kind of service and asked how long will it take to pull out the product.
9. The "BEST" answer to me was that they are "handlers" of KM cameras only, and they will charge me a diagnosis fee. A very funny answer as, first. they did not even have any diagnosis, and, second, it doesn't matter if one is a "handler" only or not as pulling out an item must just be a communication between where you sent the item and how fast to retrieve it!

I STILL DO NOT see the connection between being a "handler" and the capability to know the status of the repair, and to know how long can one pull out an unrepaired item.

Thus, the conclusion is that one should be happy that NIKON only lack service centers here in the Philippines!

I read the thread flaming Columbia Global and the lack of NIKON service centers in the Philippines. I am glad I am not a Nikon user.

Sorry to gear about your problems with Sony. I've had similar experiences when I had my Mini-DV camera serviced. The reality must be since they deal with all Sony products (VHS, CD, DVD players, digital cameras, mini-DV recorders, etc.), they may still be coping with how to effectively address the KM camera concerns when units are sent in for repairs.
Even Canon users have had their share of service center complaints and Nikon users have also had their share of praises for Columbia. For us Nikon users, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with the establisment of Columbia Digital Sales as the distributors and hopefully brand-stewards for Nikon. With a September 7 EB coming up to discuss Nikon owners issues, this is indeed a good sign. For the most part, we'll gripe about the poor support of Columbia in the past, but without a doubt, we're still happy to be Nikon users!
If you can identify who the product manager for the Sony / KM cameras are locally, then corresponding with that person may help. It's an unrealistic expectation to have your concerns addressed at the service center level since they may really know no better. Which is also not an excuse. I hope your concerns get resolved. As consumers, we deserve better!

As consumers, we deserve better!

My observation is that while the above is an important point, there is nothing in our consumer behaviour that suppliers take notice and react accordingly.

People keep harping on bad customer service, yet continue to patronize their product. Duh? So why should they improve at all if you still buy their products inspite of poor aftersales?

We should realize that our power as consumers in this country lies on our purchasing power - BEFORE NOT AFTER we exercise that purchasing decision. The saying "buyer beware" is very apt in the Philippine environment. That is because consumer recourse after purchase is either non-existent or ineffective.

Exercise of that power is something they can not ignore.

Gerald, I would suggest you stop wasting your time with the d*ckheads and talk to the manager in charge of service and explain your points. You have very valid points they should act on. That should light some fire up their a*s.

And if you still do not get a proper response, dump their gear and move on to other brands.

Hi Gerald, mind sharing what has happened to your unit? My 7D went dead and it's with Sony now... on it's second week actually. I'm thinking of pulling out my unit but not sure where can I get it fixed.

The camera still there. Apparently, waiting for a tool from singapore that seems to take them forever.:Mad:

i'm very satisfied with sony service (Solid Corp.). They fixed my V1 in 2 days for free eventhough i bought the cam in HK.

I was able to send my 7D to Sony Singapore and they fixed it there :)

you mind sharing how many actuations your 7D has before it died? 3 7D conked out here im waiting for mine. and when it die im not planning of sending it to Sony for repair but I'll be using it as paper weight. :Dum:

Hi Yam, bought it used so I'm not sure what's the correct total. With me, I took about 3T shots when it just refused to switch on :P The mirror box assembly was replaced and it only cost me about USD125. IMHO, it's no use bringing it over to the local repair center, I pulled it out from there myself :P
BTW, do you know a reputable person/place where I can get one of my lenses cleaned?
TIA

revisiting this thread and hopefully more info about the Sony SC can be updated in here :)

I just drop by in Sony Center Alabang to have my Alpha clean and the clerk said will take only an hour to do it. At first I am very glad and satisfied that it is somehow quick but after waiting for half an hour the clerk told me again that they will just call me as they will bring my camera to libis because they DONT HAVE TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR ALPHA. I asked back how long it will take and they said about 1 or 2 weeks. The clerk also asked me if the camera is doing wrong like blinking or any malfunction as if she's expecting it while i already told her that i just want to make it clean because of the dust in the sensor. Well i cant wait for 2 weeks so I asked them can i directly go to Libis to have it clean but they insist that it need to come through to them first before in Libis.

"2 WEEKS FOR ONLY CLEANING MY ALPHA" :( well i guess i cant do anything about it consider they dont establish yet their support for this new product even though they selling it in the market already. I am a sony fanatic but right now it turn me off.

10mins lang yan ke dogears :)) just wait and see... still gathering the elements of nature :D

TO those who are looking for Sony Services center, visit this link to find the one nearest in your area: http://www.sony-asia.com/section/servicecenters?site=hp_en_PH_i

BTW, I just had my alpha fixed due to the CF card slot pins being bended. Took about a week to get done,bummer. So, be careful in taking out and reinserting your CF card.

I send my Alpha in our local sony service center ( Philippines, Cebu city) last july.31
to fix the grip so far they said it will be fix around 2nd or 3rd week,
when i call on the mid 2nd week to fallow up i was shock that they are still ordering the parts ( O__o) so im sure that they can not fix on the 3rd week so after a couple of days i call back (its already 3weeks and 3days) they said the parts just arrive yesterday but they can send it on the Aug. 29, damn.. almost a month of waiting...
so far theyve fix the Grip well but they should have rush the order.. i was suppose to take some pictures of the blood moon last Tuesday but my cam is still in thier hands :( (sorry for the bad english im really tired right now..)
ill post the pic of the newly fix rubber grip

saan meron na kayo parts nga naka stand-by

I send my Alpha in our local sony service center ( Philippines, Cebu city) last july.31
to fix the grip so far they said it will be fix around 2nd or 3rd week,
when i call on the mid 2nd week to fallow up i was shock that they are still ordering the parts ( O__o) so im sure that they can not fix on the 3rd week so after a couple of days i call back (its already 3weeks and 3days) they said the parts just arrive yesterday but they can send it on the Aug. 29, damn.. almost a month of waiting...
so far theyve fix the Grip well but they should have rush the order.. i was suppose to take some pictures of the blood moon last Tuesday but my cam is still in thier hands :( (sorry for the bad english im really tired right now..)
ill post the pic of the newly fix rubber grip

saan meron na kayo parts nga naka stand-by

i read before that the rubber grip is the weak spot of our alpha because that rubber grip can be tear from the grip body. i hate to say but i believe SSC for alpha in our country is not that prepared or even established for repair/fix/support. as i commented below, it takes 2 weeks for ONLY cleaning my CCD :(... and repair is another story. :Grin:

same issue with the KM7D :P

I took my old cam to sony. They lost my lens cap! They didn't replace it. :(

When i first came to Philippines, I had to shoot some photos of ladies for a brother who had KTV business in Manila.. When i opened my bag, i realized that my mount part broke. OH my Freaking lord!!

That shoot got canceled, and I brought my 7D to the SONY service center in Balintawak.
They had no idea and don't know what to do with it. The only answer I heard from them was,
they have to send the unit to Malaysia to fix and it will take 2 months.

So, I gave up...

I ended up sending it back to Korea. It got fixed in 2 days and My father is keeping the body now.
Because of that, I purchased Alpha100. with Battery Grip.

However, I miss my 7D. I hope I get my 7D back Soon and have 2 DSLR body system.

When i first came to Philippines, I had to shoot some photos of ladies for a brother who had KTV business in Manila.. When i opened my bag, i realized that my mount part broke. OH my Freaking lord!!

That shoot got canceled, and I brought my 7D to the SONY service center in Balintawak.
They had no idea and don't know what to do with it. The only answer I heard from them was,
they have to send the unit to Malaysia to fix and it will take 2 months.

So, I gave up...

I ended up sending it back to Korea. It got fixed in 2 days and My father is keeping the body now.
Because of that, I purchased Alpha100. with Battery Grip.

However, I miss my 7D. I hope I get my 7D back Soon and have 2 DSLR body system.

Sir Lawrence Where did u buy the Alpha Battery Grip? Is it Opteka or Anssman?

i got bad experience with my 1st time to work with sony service center,
i think its not sony company itself, but like an authorized sony service center
first, sony philippines website is not updated, the service center supposedly in a building near sta. lucia mall has already transfered to marcos highway, in the semicon building,

the camera is a dsc-w50, the problem is that it's lens does not zoom in or out
it just gives the message saying turn the power off and on again...
it click click clicks really fast (more of a whirring sound) when you try to turn it on, but the lens actually still goes out albeit just intermittently, or sometimes just with a little coaxing
then when I took my mom's cam to the service station last saturday, I was told by the lady that took a look at it that the lens would probably be needed to be replaced, now at that point the lady tahat took a look at it was asking if it was dropped, I actually honestly did not know if it was indeed dropped since i just took it from my mom and was going to have it fixed and give it as a surprise to my mom, now the lady was saying something like the lens is crooked or something (which it is not crooked at all) i know what a crooked lens looks like coz i saw a different camera of the same model with an actual crooked lens
now the lady laid out the possible expenses that the repair would incurr, of course since she worked there I assumed that she had the experience and would know exactly how much the whole repair would cost,
she gave an estimation of about 3thousand plus for the parts namely the lens the regular labor fee...
since I am on a strict budget, i decided to go through with the repair, coz 3 K would just be under my budget... (if she said anything higher I would have not gone through with the repair at all) then lowe and behold I get a txt the evening of the same saturday saying that actual repair would cost 5600 plus not including labor, so I guess they found something else wrong inside or something... even though the lady ensured that only the lens needs to be replaced,
I feel this is a rip off right away coz they should know right away what part will be replaced maybe just by testing it when i first took it there, they are supposed to be the AUTHORIZED repair/service center right? so they should be experts on the gadgets, its not like my mom's camera is an antique or something... they should have the expertise on the repair and service of the camera right?

o well i said to my self, i guess they found something else inside that would also need to get replaced...

so i'll just pay the rest of the diagnosis fee and pull out the unit...
so i went to the center monday around 11 am, I got there with my 4 yo kid brother... hoping to just pay the rest of the diagnosis fee and maybe save up some more money to have the camera serviced eventually, they do have that thing where in 90 days if ever i decide to actually go through with the repair i dont have to pay the diagnosis fee anymore...

so, I get to the center, first thing I noticed when they brought it out was that it had lots of smudges on it, you know like as if the technician was PASMADO or something (oilly palm?) for pete's sake dont they have cleaning cloth or something? heller !!!

so that's ok, i'll just clean it back home...
so did the necessary paper work and paid the balance of the diagnosis fee...
then my kid brother and I walked to and got to our car....

BUTI nalang (its good) that I checked the camera before driving away, I know I should have checked it while in their presence still inside the center but i was kinda rushing coz I still needed to sleep, (since I work night shifts and past 11am is way past my bed time) and i was still to accompany my brother to get something to eat...thats the main reason why he tagged along
then i was surprised to see that the little peice of plastic that was holding the battery down is gone, meaning if the battery and memory bay door is open the battery will fall and it shouldn't coz the little peice of plastic prevents it from falling, its spring actioned something...

so i saw to my self, that's ok, maybe the technician just "forgot" to put it back in....
so in back we went to tell the lady of the situation...

then all of the sudden the lady was saying that it was already like that when i brought it in...
HUH? heller... I distinctly remember that that peice was there, becuase when I left the unit with them I took out the memory card and when you take out the memory card, you see that little peice of plastic....
so at this point I was kinda getting ticked off...
so she was calm and non-chalantly saying that maybe because since it was dropped that the that part will get broken off or something.... parang sinisisi na na nabag sak daw kaya ganun at wala na ung part na yun.. heller !!!??? what the heck does dropping the cam have to do with that part being missing... and the point is that it was there and working when I brought it to them... she says that it might have been misplaced or something...

heller >>??? go find it?

so she takes it inside to their back office where I think all of the technicians are..
then she comes back and produces the part... the poor little peice of plastic... she has it in one hand and the camera on the other... she shows it to me and I say yeahh that's it... and i dont think its even the same color... if I'm not mistaken it was light blue/skyblue but the peice she brought out was more like dark blue like this so i think to myself fine... I dont care as long as you put it back....
so i almost laughed out loud when the poor lady was fidgeting with the peice and was trying to put it back into place... hahahaha sinusuksok... of course it will not work... coz its spring loaded ... ahhhhh the spring... so obviously the spring is not there pero I give her 10 for trying hehehhe it was really funny hahahaha

anyway.... back to ranting

so she goes back to the back office acts as if she was looking for the technician and came back saying that the technician was on break and was in the CR....

crap what do i care... he didnt put it back together correctly so he should put it back pronto... is that too much to ask?

what ticked me off really was that she said the guy was there... when in fact he went out went next door to eat lunch....


so the short of it is they made me wait... a paying customer... well paid customer... they made me and my 4 yr old kid brother wait... it was around lunchtime already so ... i think to myself ... they have the right to eat... their only human right? I mean its ok, my 4 yr old kid brother, who was fidgeting and kept on saying that he was hungry already, can wait for them to finish eating...

so waited we did, i mean i could have gone and went out to eat as well but their location was out of the way from where im from so it will be a hassle to go and come back ....

so 12 noon to 1 pm we waited... growling stomach and all.. i grew hungry also from being so frustrated...

i said to myself this is not how they should treat a customer...

funny thing is... another customer came in while we were waiting, with a similar looking camera...cyber shot din but it was pink and it was i think thinner... that guy had a really busted lens it was really crooked and it did not even retracted... any more...
and i saw them go through the same dance... he was told that it will cost so and so for parts and etc etc for labor...
I was thinking poor guy he's getting suckered into spending his hard earned money too.... i think the guy was loaded so he can afford it but that's not the point of my rant....

anyway...
so after the technicians break they took the unit to the back area again and after 20-30 more minutes eventually produced my mom's camera... poor thing is even more smudged up and oily...

and the thing is....

when I brought the camera to them the lens still came out and still protruted to some extent and i could still take pictures with the camera sort off.... it just did not zoom in and out properly... I got the proof that it still was able to take a photo coz the lady that processed the job order took a photo of me for testing when i first brought it in...

but now... the camera's lens does not come out at all....

crap i'm thinking did I just pay these people to mess up my mom's camera some more?

i'm sure the technician is a nice guy, if he has any kids i'm sure he is a good father to them...
but based on what they did to the camera... he is a crappy technician...
maybe he was just having a bad day... i dont know... you be the judge of that ayt?

from my point of view I gave them the chance to make it right and to undo the mistakes that they did, that's all they get, 1 chance...
they failed miserably

i'm glad I do my job to the best of my abilities otherwise i'll make my customers feel like they're having the worst day of their lives, i sure felt like that yesterday

sorry for the very prolonged RANT... if this is inappropriate then please MODS send me a PM so that I will not do it ever again...


i'm still pondering what to do next, any ideas? comments suggestments? violent reactions?



at the end of it all...
this was brought about by my being CHEAP hahaahahahhaahhhahahhahhahahahaahah
i'm a cheapskate......
coz you think i'll have the same problem if I went through with the repair?

ahhaahahahhahhahhahahhhaah

anyway....


jai guru deva OM

I pity w/ you Tam. They make their customer looks stupid as you really dont know any thing about the product. Anyhow, hope they would read your experience and improve more on their after sales. For me its okay to tell me that they need time to check on the problem first before giving inaccurate estimates. Its ruin our day! :) That would be understandable consider they had lots of electronics product other than cameras so just be honest and not turning back the blame to us customer.

which sony service center is the "main" service center? maybe its best to take cameras there. i need an F717 fixed. its got that dead CCD issue which they supposedly will fix out-of-warranty- for free. hopefully, i'll get a more pleasant experience than the posts here *raph crosses his fingers*