Re: filmscanners: ss4000 repair bill

[Arthur Entlich <artistic@ampsc.com>]

I would object most vigorously to this repair bill.

It sounds like design flaws and defective parts.

A load motor sensor has no moving parts, I would gather, and should not 
have failed, period.  The cleaning brush, which I assume is internal, 
should not have required "readjusting" and of course a cleaning brush if 
there to begin with, is a recognition that it will gather dirt and will 
require occasional cleaning, so it seems it should be a user accessible 
part, if this is the case.

Calibration is probably done on every unit that comes in, and again, 
shouldn't drift enough to need to be done unless there are design 
issues. And what the heck is "preventive maintenance"... this sound to 
me like "we fixed some other design flaws while we had it here, so it is 
less likely to be back again."

How old is the unit?  Was it mistreated by you, or left in an unusually 
dusty environment?  How many frames have been through it?

Lastly, this estimating fee of 30% of the repair value in an outrage. 
Nikon charges $50 on cameras, which are more sophisticated and harder to 
take apart.  Many companies charge nothing.  My brother was in the 
service industry for a dozen years in hi-tech and he charged nothing, 
and finally $5, since it is true you have to fix the unit to estimate 
the problem properly and it can be abused (he also was the only company 
in his field giving a one year warranty on repairs).  They are basically 
saying, everything we did to fix this is irreversable, maybe with the 
exception of the replacement of the sensor. I mean are they going to 
mis-align the brush and make it dirty again before returning it to you?

If I were you:

1: Speak to David Hemmingway about this, now!

2: If that doesn't resolve to a reasonable conclusion, I'd protest 
loudly to Polaroid

3: I'd find out the cost of the sensor, probably a generic part costing 
$5.. if Polaroid won't supply one, check out Microtek, who makes the 
thing and sells their own version. It might even be a generic part 
available at Radio Shack too.

4: If they don't provide the repair for free, or nearly so, if your 
handy, I'd refuse the estimate, pay the $125 under extreme protest and 
I'd order the sensor and install it myself.

5: Post a warning on all lists and usenet sites about this practice of 
Polaroid's

Polaroid seems to have a multiple personality disorder.  They can be the 
most reasonable, helpful, top notch company to deal with some days, and 
then other times, it seems, their business ethics go into a real slump. 
  Having experienced only the positive side of this personality, I find 
it really painful to hear of these type of experiences.  But obviously, 
they do occur.


Art

Bill Ross wrote:

> My ss4000 was giving me perpetual-motion back/forth motor 
> action on initialization, and after pushing a slide carrier
> through slowly a few times with the unit turned off, it 
> switched to continuous eject action. Then I got the
> sensor brush & tried that - no effect. So I shipped the
> unit to Polaroid, & just got the estimate, $400 for:
> "Repairs needed: Load motor sensor, cleaning brush,
> cleaned, aligned, calibrate and preventative maintenance
> performed." Cost of estimate if I choose to skip the 
> repairs is $125.
> 
> Given that others are seeing this initialization problem
> due to sensor failure, I'm suspecting that the root cause
> is a bad batch of sensors. I wonder how much those sensors
> really cost..
> 
> Bill Ross