Chile Forum

Somehow, one of the my most precious material possessions got damaged.

I don't understand how, the holding bracket, the frame and Autofocus glass got detached from my Olympus E410.
Literally the 3 pieces were floating inside the body of my camera.

Since the camera still under warranty , i sent an Email to the States, to find out how is the process to send the camera for repairs.

So far no response yet.
I looked online for the representative of Olympus in Chile, the company was Reifschneider Foto, located in Agustinas in Santiago.

So , i took the bus to Santiago under a dark cloud of doubt.

1- I have no receipt of purchase
2-The camera was purchased in States.
3-The model is relatively new Launched on march 2007
4-Digital SLR are very complex cameras
5- I have not seen this model in Chile yet

I arrived to the store in Ahumada and Agustinas, to find out the Agustinas store listed in the website was closed.

Now all service,repairs and sales are being done in Huechuraba,which is to me a very nice neighborhood next to.... China.

After a long drive in a taxi , we arrived.

A conglomerate of industrial and business wharehouses.

I explain my problem,almost crying and the service person (Luz), called the technician (Alvaro) to see my camera.

They explained me that from January on , they will be able to import parts to repair my camera.

That, takes sometimes 3 months ,to get the camera back from the States, (some repairs are done on premises,the complicated ones sent to USA)

But, since i was on my lucky day, they are going to try to re-attach the bracket and frame.

After a few minutes , they come back with my camera in perfect working condition, except fot 2 minuscule scratches on the reflex glass, (were there before, due to the pieces "flying" inside) but without any effect on the picture being taken.

I was expecting to pay at least a service fee ot diagnostic fee.


But ,ZILCH,CERO , NADA, just a thanks and an apology from them for my waiting,and the driving because of the wrong address posted on the Olympus Site...

Really impressed with the company, i can't praise these guys enough.

The only bad thing was that the cab fare was more expensive than the round trip from Valpo to Santiago, even on a Friday.....

A refreshing tale, most appropriate for this season of good cheer.

Nice story Zulu. And also, good job on the blog.