Camera Obscura Repairs UK.... Problem 😔

[4r36]

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As far as I know, Alexander's father helps him with the repairs. 

Far from me justifying Camera Obscura's lack of communication (like other people, I went through the same experience and reacted in the same way), but I would not despair, Monjue. It's likely that you'll get your camera back. Not replying to emails and calls has become, unfortunately, a normal practice among technicians. In another thread, a member reported that another famous English company did not reply to his emails for an entire year, just to give an example. Again, my intention is not justifying the unprofessional behaviour of anybody, but just reassuring that eventually everything will work out for the best somehow. 

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[Herr Barnack]

3 hours ago, andybarton said:

How can you serve notice on a company that doesn’t have a correspondence address?
 

Are they listed at Companies House?

Is this them?

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11977063

Only one employee. Been in business a couple of years. 

As I understand it, that the plaintiff provides the attorney with the last known address and/or contact information.  from that point forward, the onus is upon the attorney to make certain that notice is served to the individual in question, even if that requires a bit of research to track them down.  That is part of what the client pays the attorney for. 

That is my understanding of how it works, at least.  If you live in another nation, dimension, universe, parallel reality or in the kingdom of OZ, then YMMV. 😎

JMHO but I would like to see @monjue get her camera back, with the repairs she paid for done and done correctly.  That doesn't seem to be too much to hope for.

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by Herr Barnack

[Anbaric]

Alexander Spencer isn't doing himself any favours by being cagey about his address, it just makes the business look questionable. Is Camera Obscura GB even a registered company? I think the one that Andy found is a different business. The address that Paul mentions is the same as the registered address of an unrelated (dormant?) company that Alexander references on Linkedin, of which he is the sole director. But I don't see any registration details for Camera Obscura GB itself. If it were necessary to go through the small claims system, I don't think this would require a company to be involved - an individual can be named. Let's hope there is some other way of resolving this.

[250swb]

I think 'Camera Obscura Ltd' found at Companies House may be a red herring and somebody else entirely. Follow the address the camera was sent to and the people who live there.

Edited June 25, 2022 by 250swb

[monjue]

Update: https://cameraobscurarepairs.co.uk/ still have not made contact with me, or returned my camera.

Absolutely devastated. 

I will be posting on Leica forums to warn others soon.

Thanks for everyone's replies so far.

 

monjue.

 

[250swb]

9 minutes ago, monjue said:

Update: https://cameraobscurarepairs.co.uk/ still have not made contact with me, or returned my camera.

Absolutely devastated. 

I will be posting on Leica forums to warn others soon.

Thanks for everyone's replies so far.

 

monjue.

 

You have the address, make a claim at the Small Claims Court.

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

 

[Anbaric]

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For what it's worth, this has been posted to the website:

 

'Our studio will be closed from 1st June. We will suspend all new service requests from this date until reopening. Our studio closure is expected to last for approximately 6-8 weeks.

We are in the process of relocating our studio to a new, larger space to allow for increased service demand.

All active jobs logged with us will be completed, however timings will be affected during this period. We will endeavour to complete all active jobs by 15th July.

During this period, our communication will be limited. Regrettably, we will be responding to active clients only. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

We look forward to resuming normal operations with greater capacity, attentiveness, and high service quality shortly.'

 

Don't know what they are saying on Instagram as I now get a login wall. Any Instagrammers know?:

https://www.instagram.com/cameraobscuragb

[pedaes]

39 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

Don't know what they are saying on Instagram

Nothing - just photos.

[LocalHero1953]

As I've posted before, he did a CLA on an Elmar 5cm for me - no real problems.

But this sort of business practice means it will take me a long time and a lot of persuasion to send anything of real value to him. A fast-moving address in Essex and no phone number is a 1980s caricature.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I found this thread like others did when I was fearing that I would never see my M3 again. 2 years and 12 rolls after being returned to me from Cameraworks-UK in Bury, the shutter fell apart completely (jammed solid, bits of fabric visible in the gate etc.).

I refrained from posting my experiences immediately after joining the form for fear of being suspected of something underhand.

However I can now report a (probably) happy ending. Timeline follows:

• April 29^th 09:10...I submitted the repair request form on the CameraObscura website
• April 29^th 15:35...Received a prompt response from Alex detailing his process, shipping costs and a booking form to be completed and packed with the camera.
• May 3^rd (after the long weekend) sent the camera via Royal Mail “Signed for by 1PM”. I emailed Alex telling and asking for confirmation that the camera had arrived.
• May 4^th, got confirmation from Royal Mail that the parcel had been delivered. Nothing from Alex.
• May 19^th 11:05...received an Inspection report offering a CLA, new shutter, plus (optionally) a re-cover and MC Window upgrade.
• May 19^th 16:44...I requested the CLA and shutter, but declined the optional work.
• June 9^th 15:48...I received notification that the work was complete, along with an invoice. The price was as expected. I was a little uneasy that I was paying someone’s personal account rather than a business, but at this point I wasn’t too suspicious, so I paid as requested.
• I didn’t receive any acknowledgement from Alex or anyone else (but the bank transfer had gone through).
• June 13^th 13:41...As I had heard nothing, and I was about to go on holiday, I emailed Alex asking whether he had dispatched or not, and if not, would he please wait until I returned. I didn’t want my camera getting lost in the Royal Mail. I received no response.
• June 14^th at 17:50...With no response, I tried again and gave my mobile number, asking for a call (I figured that Alex might find it easier to call than email)….I received no response.
• June 16^th 17:19...I emailed Alex informing him that I now assumed I had been scammed out of my camera and payment and would be taking steps to effect recovery / compensation….I received no response.
• June 20^th. Found this forum and thread. Joined the forum, and decided to take the advice of those people who said “just be patient, it will all be OK in the end).
• Last week I noticed an update on the CameraObscura site saying that all should be sorted by July 15^th, so I decided to wait it out.
• July 8^th 19:36...received email from Royal Mail telling me that a parcel from Oxford was to be delivered to me the next day.
• July 9^th 10:01...my camera was delivered back to me.

So Exactly one month after the last communication from Alex (payment request) my camera was returned. I still have heard nothing from the business.

I am in the process of testing the camera now, but nothing makes me think that the repair and service work is not first class and that the camera will be trouble free for several more years.

It’s a shame because I certainly won’t be risking the stress of this experience by using this company again, even though the work looks good. Professional and timely communication costs very little and generates much repeat and word-of-mouth business, but in truth I am unable to recommend this company at the moment.

I hope my experience is useful and gives encouragement to anyone going through the same angst.

[Anbaric]

40 minutes ago, Jonathan Rogers said:

I found this thread like others did when I was fearing that I would never see my M3 again. 2 years and 12 rolls after being returned to me from Cameraworks-UK in Bury, the shutter fell apart completely (jammed solid, bits of fabric visible in the gate etc.).

Just wondered if you contacted Camerworks about this, and if so how they responsed?

[Jonathan Rogers]

I didn't.  They had offered a perfectly reasonable 12 month warranty which had expired.

Cameraworks have a very long turnaround time (which they are open and honest about) and I wanted something quicker.

Reviews of CameraOscura suggested good turnaround and (more importantly to me) good quality work, so I decided to swallow a bit more cost and try someone new.

In fairness, I did get a faster turnaround, and what seems so far to be good workmanship, so in that regard, CameraObscura have delivered, but the apparently sketchy nature of the business and the non-existent communications make it impossible for me to recommend them.

[LocalHero1953]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Rogers said:

I found this thread like others did when I was fearing that I would never see my M3 again. 2 years and 12 rolls after being returned to me from Cameraworks-UK in Bury, the shutter fell apart completely (jammed solid, bits of fabric visible in the gate etc.).

I refrained from posting my experiences immediately after joining the form for fear of being suspected of something underhand.

However I can now report a (probably) happy ending. Timeline follows:

• April 29^th 09:10...I submitted the repair request form on the CameraObscura website
• April 29^th 15:35...Received a prompt response from Alex detailing his process, shipping costs and a booking form to be completed and packed with the camera.
• May 3^rd (after the long weekend) sent the camera via Royal Mail “Signed for by 1PM”. I emailed Alex telling and asking for confirmation that the camera had arrived.
• May 4^th, got confirmation from Royal Mail that the parcel had been delivered. Nothing from Alex.
• May 19^th 11:05...received an Inspection report offering a CLA, new shutter, plus (optionally) a re-cover and MC Window upgrade.
• May 19^th 16:44...I requested the CLA and shutter, but declined the optional work.
• June 9^th 15:48...I received notification that the work was complete, along with an invoice. The price was as expected. I was a little uneasy that I was paying someone’s personal account rather than a business, but at this point I wasn’t too suspicious, so I paid as requested.
• I didn’t receive any acknowledgement from Alex or anyone else (but the bank transfer had gone through).
• June 13^th 13:41...As I had heard nothing, and I was about to go on holiday, I emailed Alex asking whether he had dispatched or not, and if not, would he please wait until I returned. I didn’t want my camera getting lost in the Royal Mail. I received no response.
• June 14^th at 17:50...With no response, I tried again and gave my mobile number, asking for a call (I figured that Alex might find it easier to call than email)….I received no response.
• June 16^th 17:19...I emailed Alex informing him that I now assumed I had been scammed out of my camera and payment and would be taking steps to effect recovery / compensation….I received no response.
• June 20^th. Found this forum and thread. Joined the forum, and decided to take the advice of those people who said “just be patient, it will all be OK in the end).
• Last week I noticed an update on the CameraObscura site saying that all should be sorted by July 15^th, so I decided to wait it out.
• July 8^th 19:36...received email from Royal Mail telling me that a parcel from Oxford was to be delivered to me the next day.
• July 9^th 10:01...my camera was delivered back to me.

So Exactly one month after the last communication from Alex (payment request) my camera was returned. I still have heard nothing from the business.

I am in the process of testing the camera now, but nothing makes me think that the repair and service work is not first class and that the camera will be trouble free for several more years.

It’s a shame because I certainly won’t be risking the stress of this experience by using this company again, even though the work looks good. Professional and timely communication costs very little and generates much repeat and word-of-mouth business, but in truth I am unable to recommend this company at the moment.

I hope my experience is useful and gives encouragement to anyone going through the same angst.

I made a tongue-in-cheek post earlier about a "fast-moving address in Essex". Your experience suggests the address also covers Oxfordshire!

[monjue]

I'm currently talking with consumer affairs regarding Camera Obscurer.. Ill keep thread updated.

[danfish]

Watching this thread now with interest due to mixed experiences with Alexander. My first experience was of excellent quality work (smoothed out sticky focus on an Elmarit ASPH) but slightly sub par communications and a mistake on my return address that could have proved costly but didn't. Benefit of the doubt given!

 

Second experience was an extremely helpful and fast turnaround for a CLA on a v4 35mm cron so I could get it back for a holiday however, lens has come back extremely stiff on both aperture and focus and is now completely out of rangefinder alignment! 3 emails and a Facebook message later over the last 5 weeks with no reply. Again, benefit of the doubt was given due to the note about moving premises, which seemed to be true as I sent and received the latest lens to the Oxford address. However, reading this thread I am not impressed with multiple reports of zero communication. I have also asked for a call or a number to contact him on without reply. 

[monjue]

UPDATE: Last email sent to Alexander was on 12th July giving him a deadline to reply (as advised by consumer rights). He still has not replied.

Now the recovery process starts. I advise nobody to use their services and should warn others to do the same.

I have lost my M6 and the money I have given him to fix it.

Again, I'm devastated.

Monjue.

[250swb]

8 hours ago, monjue said:

UPDATE: Last email sent to Alexander was on 12th July giving him a deadline to reply (as advised by consumer rights). He still has not replied.

Now the recovery process starts. I advise nobody to use their services and should warn others to do the same.

I have lost my M6 and the money I have given him to fix it.

Again, I'm devastated.

Monjue.

I wish you all the best, especially as he seems to be relocating. Include his old address where you sent your camera and the new address. He's clearly a character that like's to duck and dive, but his family home where you sent your camera (?) is still the key address given he says his father works or worked with him, so maybe the 'loss' of your camera is a family run operation? I'm not saying it is but the focus back on his home address where you sent the camera is key.

 

 

[monjue]

1 hour ago, 250swb said:

I wish you all the best, especially as he seems to be relocating. Include his old address where you sent your camera and the new address. He's clearly a character that like's to duck and dive, but his family home where you sent your camera (?) is still the key address given he says his father works or worked with him, so maybe the 'loss' of your camera is a family run operation? I'm not saying it is but the focus back on his home address where you sent the camera is key.

 

 

Yes, lets see what happens. The problem is, I live and work in Spain. I travel back to the UK often, but my next trip is not until December. I'm based in Sheffield, so its difficult for me to look into the 'home address' with such little time and long distance.

I'm leaving it up to the Law to figure out. I will keep the thread updated.

 

If anyone is just joining this thread, do not send any equipment to https://cameraobscurarepairs.co.uk/ based in the UK. Its possible its a scam.

 

 

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[earleygallery]

It seems to be the 'thing' for Leica repairers in general to be unresponsive and hold onto their customers property for many months or years, to then eventually return it, very probably in the same state they received it.

Strange!

[Herr Barnack]

If Leica repair technicians have such a huge backlog of work that they cannot get a camera or a lens in, repaired and sent back to its owner within a reasonable amount of time, they should stop taking in equipment in need of repair.

If I go to a repair person's website and they have posted "the current turn around time for repairs is six months, give or take," I can then decide if I am willing to wait six months, or if I need to seek repair service elsewhere. 

That's what we call common courtesy and professionalism.