Buyer Beware!!

[tschreiner]

I purchased a Kodak EasyshareDX6440 and printer dock. It worked fine for 14 months (2 months past warranty). then it froze up with the lens fully extended. I contacted Kodak and was given the royal run around. After 2 months of trying they convinced me to send my camera in for a one time repair of $35.00. After much waiting I finally got an invoice for $198.00! After calling Kodak again they informed me that they "determined" that the problem was caused by misuse! Now my camera sits at their facility (it will cost me $48.00 to have it returned UNREPAIRED) and I have a totally useless printing dock because I will NEVER purchase another Kodak product.

After almost 4 months of trying, I sent a letter to their CEO and was refered to their consumer advocate. Unfortunately they proceeded to blame me for the problem and furthermore would refer me to their security department if I continued to contact them! I paid almost $400.00 for this product and feel that I have a right to expect it to function well beyond 14 months. I wish I had consulted the buyers forums before I purchased this camera, it would have saved me a lot of grief. I'm hoping to share this information so others dont make the same mistake as I did. $400.00 is way too much to spend on a DISPOSIBLE camera.

Good luck and beware! Tom

[simxp]

Never mind "consulting the buyers forums before I purchased this camera", consult a lawyer. You contracted them to repair the camera for the price of $35, and they are now refusing to honour that, and are charging you a price to return it unrepaired that is out of proportion with their costs. In England, I think it's possible that you would have a case for the small claims court (I don't know for sure; I'm not a lawyer). I'm not sure what the equivalent system is in America, but I would get a lawyer and find out. In lieu of a lawyer, there are many consumer advocacy and consumer law forums; find one or two, post your dilemma and ask for help.

[JimC]

tschreiner wrote:

After 2 months of trying they convinced me to send my camera in for a one time repair of $35.00.

I'd like to see that one in writing. That sounds more like a fee for an estimate on repair to me. In any event, it was out of warranty and the cost of fixing almost any digital camera out of warranty is going to be high (and that goes for other manufacturers, too).

Most manufacturers quote a high price for any out of warranty repair on a Digital Camera (and around $200 is about right for that type of camera).

It's usually cheaper to buy another camera on the used market versus repairing most of them out of warranty (although Kodak has been known to offer refurbished models at a reduced price as an alternative to repairing one for you).