Disastrous Hasselblad Scanner Repair Experience

[chrism]

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I'm very pissed off right now. Six weeks ago I sent my 848 away to New Jersey for service and repair. It had been working just fine until one day I put in a negative holder and it came back out canted to one side. As it came back out the metal clip that the negative holder slides into was out of place and it caught on the metal tongue at the back of the light table. It started making clicking noises as it got stuck and I switched it off straight away. Then I switched it on again and used Flexcolor to lock the mechanism for transport. I have the original box and packing materials, so I bundled it up and sent it back to NJ after a few e-mails. I'm in Canada, and the customs at the border held it up a long time as they were certain it was some kind of medical device ("scanner" and the sender is an MD) emitting noxious radiation. Eventually it got to NJ and after a two week wait in the queue I got an estimate of about $600 to fix it. Yes, said I, in my innocence. I enquired after it two days ago and was told it had shipped last week. It arrived back today, and on putting in a negative holder to see if all is well guess what happened? Just the same. This time the mechanism tried to moved the negative holder back and forth as it does for a preview and it caught again on the metal tongue at the back of the light table. Clicking noises and before I could hit the power switch the transport broke and moved so that it snapped the light tube. Just for fun, a black plastic part rolled out of the scanner down the light table. On e-mailing NJ, I was asked about damage to the box etc. Flexcolor's maintenance menu shows that the scanner's last service was on 4th August and that it has had 36 scans without a feeder and zero with one. I thought this meant it hadn't been tried with a negative holder, but I am told by the very polite Maryann Murphy that this refers to something other than a holder, perhaps the multiple-holder mechanism that the 848 and X5 support. She has agreed it must go back to them but has been coy about answering my questions about shipping arrangements. Having spent $600 on the last repair and around $300 shipping it there by Purolator and $200 by UPS getting it back, I'm $1100 down and no better off. I don't think I should have to pay anything more for Hasselblad to make right what they missed.

 

I may be an amateur, but I still have things to do. I have been asked to photograph the annual staff party at a local business ('as long as you use film'!) in ten days time. I have a Nikon 9000 and a Konica Minolta 5400 as backup, but I've been spoiled by the Flextight, and I now find that six weeks of using the Nikon have been wretched, especially as I have to use Vuescan instead of NikonScan given Apple's relentless march of progress. To add to it all, I was diagnosed with leukemia two weeks ago, and while it might seem silly and a good example of denial in action, I had been rather counting on getting my scanner back and enjoying a few films before the chemo starts. Since Hasselblad are the only game in town that are going to be better than the Nikon 9000 and the Plusteks, I have ordered an X1 this evening from B&H. I can't take the cash with me and my widow can sell it when I'm done with it. But I am so angry that Hasselblad have the nerve to charge so much and do such a rotten job. I hope you all have better experiences with your scanners - they are the best but Hasselblad isn't doing its part as far as I'm concerned. Should they manage to repair the 848 I will sell it, but you can be sure I will test it out first!

 

Chris

[Doc Henry]

Hi Chris,

It is unfortunate that Hasselblad has left its customers, for after sales service, because people are using digital and no longer takes pictures with film.

This is a serious mistake because good photographers are slowly returning to film or still continue to shoot with film .

So manufacturers abandon production of scanners, Nikon for example ! and I can tell you they are wrong !

Digital images are certainly practical (vision of the immediate picture) but the picture quality is not worth the film (rendering , lines and edges

soft (not smooth) and we can get tired quickly from this side of "synthetic image" specially in b&w , "not faithful" in colors,"flat" images, not

showing in relief.

I looked on B & H and saw this comment from one user of X1:

"I wanted the best Scanner available for scanning my vast collection of 35mm Slides & Negatives. This Scanner is the one. Scans from this machine

are the best I have ever seen from a Scanner. I have used previous dedicated 35 mm Scanners from Epson, Minolta and Nikon. Hasselblad could

do a better job with customer support and with supplying detailed instructions on use of this Scanner. Their website is also lacking in good

instructions"

Best

Henry

It will be a long process that must be followed for this leukemia and be brave Chris !

Recovery could happen after this treatment.Success rates are good but the body might get tired pretty quickly (an advice of physician). Send me a

PM if you want.Sorry for this new.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Doc Henry

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[Herr Barnack]

I am sad to hear all of this. Hasselblad's customers who for over thousands per body and lens deserve better. Stabbing loyal customers in the back when it comes to service is not the formula for a company to live long or to prosper.

 

Hasselblad currently produces megadollar mefium format digital cameras and lenses and a lineup of consumer oriented small format digital turds; also not the formula for long term prosperity.

 

When I read that Hasselblad had axed the V system, it seemed like an indicator of the company entering its death spiral.

[Brenton C]

Henry is right. Partly right. Not only good photographers but the not so good ones.

 

I've returned to film after many years hiatus, and in the last 15 months bought 3 Leica film cameras. Always had a lust for Leica. And Hasselblad too.

 

But will I venture there? Not looking good.

 

Don't customer service people know that web-wise consumers will search "hasselblad scanner review"? And that search will bring them right to this forum page!

 

Hopefully my saying "Hasselblad scanner review" will increase the likelihood of a page 1 result.

 

Hasselblad scanner review

Hasselblad scanner review

Hasselblad scanner review!

 

Chris, good luck on your missions--the scanner justice issue, but more importantly, the leukemia tx issue.

 

BTW, did you ever meet a Dr. John Gray who used to be at Camp Hill back in the 80's?

[topoxforddoc]

Chris,

 

Sorry to hear about your Hasselblad scanner woes. Such a shame, as they produce fantastic files. Anyway, much more importantly, good luck with the treatment from another MD.

 

Best wishes,

 

Charlie

[chrism]

The scanner is now to be picked up again by UPS on Monday. I have to pay the shipping but Maryann says they will re-imburse me. In the meantime, the X1 is languishing in Lachine PQ because of missing paperwork.

 

John Gray? The name rings a distant bell. I did a three month elective in Halfiax in 1981 (but that was at VGH), but didn't move here from the UK until 1985.

 

Chris

[Stuart Richardson]

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That's terrible to hear! Sad to say, but I have had a terrible experience as well...one that was enough to put me off buying a Hasselblad product ever again.

Getting into it just makes me angry, so I will say this: I bought a brand new X5 scanner which was showing banding on all color negative and most thin b&w scans. I was coming from a 646, so I knew this was not the normal behavior. They denied the problem for ages. Finally, they agreed to service it in Denmark (I am in Iceland). I had to pay nearly 400 dollars in shipping and insurance to get it there (after paying 20000 plus for a new scanner).

When it got there, they would not speak to me directly, only via the Icelandic distributor (who did not have a large experience with these scanners).

They fixed the CCD under warranty, but then charged me 600 euros of "preventative maintenance" without asking me. Basically they replaced the belts and lamps on a scanner that was less than six months old and under warranty, and then charged me several times what it costs to do it at a local distributor. I was livid.

 

The scanner itself is a good design, but they have not updated substantially updated the software in about a decade and it shows and the service from the factory is as bad as is possible to be without them hurling actual insults at you. Never again!

 

I mostly shoot with Leica, and the difference could not be more startling. I have never had any issues with them trying to deny a problem. They are easy to contact in person and have great customer service directly from the factory. When things have gone in, I have found that usually they do more than they charge you for. Out of warranty repairs can be extremely expensive, but the results are very good. Generally if they think something is their fault, they fix it on their cost regardless of warranty. My bad X5 experience and positive Leica experiences played a large part in why I wound up with an S2 and not a Hasselblad H series camera.

[Doc Henry]

When it got there, they would not speak to me directly, only via the Icelandic distributor (who did not have a large experience with these scanners).

They fixed the CCD under warranty, but then charged me 600 euros of "preventative maintenance" without asking me. Basically they replaced the belts and lamps on a scanner that was less than six months old and under warranty, and then charged me several times what it costs to do it at a local distributor. I was livid.

 

The scanner itself is a good design, but they have not updated substantially updated the software in about a decade and it shows and the service from the factory is as bad as is possible to be without them hurling actual insults at you. Never again!

My bad X5 experience and positive Leica experiences played a large part in why I wound up with an S2 and not a Hasselblad H series camera.

 

Stuart, sorry for your troubles

I am obviously shocked by this attitude. Hasselblad abandons its customers because the product is no longer in benefits .

I browsed their site and I noticed that the X1 is still running under Windows 2000 and XP. "but they have not updated

substantially updated the software in about a decade" You're right ! As you know , we have now W7 and W8 and

W XP is stopped since March 2014 !

This shows a certain casualness from Hasselblad with its customers

... and X1 or X5 is not cheap !

I who wanted to buy a used X1 , I think I'll pass !

Best

Henry

I have M7 M8 M9 but I shoot more and more film.What a pleasure to take his time and frame

[Brenton C]

The scanner is now to be picked up again by UPS on Monday. I have to pay the shipping but Maryann says they will re-imburse me. In the meantime, the X1 is languishing in Lachine PQ because of missing paperwork.

 

John Gray? The name rings a distant bell. I did a three month elective in Halfiax in 1981 (but that was at VGH), but didn't move here from the UK until 1985.

 

Chris

 

John was in charge of the memory clinic there, the only physician I dealt with during my first Psychology practicum, back in the summer of '88.

 

Very much enjoyed my 2 years stint in Halifax. Beautiful place. The natives don't much care for "upper Canadians" though.

 

I hope to visit for the fall colours, but this year's fall isn't promising.