Extremely bad service from SIGMA singapore.


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Chris Lim

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Oct 24, 2005
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Hi Bros and sis,

Allow me to share with you this story in hope that you will learn from it and take precaution in case the same may happen to you.

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I had purchased a 28-70 f2.8 Aspherical Sigma lens from T.K Foto some one year back. I hadn't really noticed anything wrong with the lens as at that point in time i wasn't sure of how to do a thorough check of the lens for back focus issues. Thus brushed off the issue that the lens had the usual softness at F2.8. However some 3 months back, due to under utilizing of the lens, i decided to sell it away. I met up with the buyer who did proper checks and pointed out to me that the lens was backfocused and that it wasnt an issue of it being soft.

I decided to send the lens in to SIGMA Service Centre at e-centre@redhill. I made a call to enquire if the lens could be calibrated. The staff on the other line asked me for the model of the lens and the problem with it. I gave her the necessary info and she told me she will get back to me as the technician wasn't around that Friday. I can understand that the weekend was here and that i would probably have to wait till monday to find out. On monday i did not recieve a phone call from Sigma, Thus i called them up on Tuesday. I was told the technician was on urgent leave due to personal reasons and will be back on thursday. OK. So i called up again on friday after a no return call on thurs. Was told the technician still not around. FINE. Waited till the next week.

The next week came, i called up on monday, by this time the lady on the line already could recognise my voice (Yes that is how many times i had called)

She requested for the model of my lens again stating that "OH! i thought you were talking about the newer model 28-70. Ok ah, i check for you and call you back later."

One day passed, No call.

The next day, i made a call to them again and was told that she is not sure if the lens can be calibrated, and that i had to bring the lens down to their office at redhill to have the technician take a look. So, i brought the lens down. Was told the technician is busy and if i would like to leave the lens there. OK! since i dun use it, just leave it there loh.

Got a call a few days later, and was told i need to bring my camera down to let them test. So i asked if i could come over now. NO. I had to make an appointment. which is about a week later on 10 sept. Was told that it would be quite fast to have the test done. So when i arrived there i was told a different story. That it would take awhile to do the testing. They suggested i leave the camera there. And i was thinking to myself.. "NO.. i came all the way here 3 times, there is no way im walking away with at least a diagnosis of the problem after 1 and a half months" So i had them finish the testing in 45 mins while i sat there patiently.

Final diagnosis was, "Yes Mr Lim, your lens is back focus, however, we do not have the means to recalibrate this lens as it is an old model, we will e-mail the images to Sigma Japan and enquire if they have the board to do the necessary repairs or calibration. NOT TO WORRY, AS YOUR LENS IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY." I casually asked, if the lens could not be calibrated and since it is still under warranty, how would they handle the situation. The technician replied "We can try to offer you a trade in and buy another lens at a special price"

Back to the waiting game again.

They claimed they called me 3 days after the testing was done, That was not the case. I waited for a week before i called them again. the lady on the phone said the relevant person was not around that day and had to call back again the next day. Fine. Called the next day and enquired if japan replied. Her first sentence to me was. " EH? I THOUGHT I CALLED YOU ALREADY? NO AH? Orh.... sorry sorry, they say cannot be repaired cos they dun have the parts anymore, cos your lens is the old model then cannot repair"

FINE!

So i asked about the option of a trade in, And she told me she will check with her retail manager. AGAIN, another few days passed, no call. I called to enquire yet again. Was told that "Oh ya, the retail manager say need to check on that"

I got fed up and decided to send a letter of complaint through the Sigma website.

The letter was CCed to Japan as the website was US based.

Japan CCed back to Singapore and told them to look into the matter.

2 days later the email returned to me was that facts had been distorted. I waited a much longer period then their "USUAL WAITING TIME", Cover up of bad service, a "miscommunication by the service staff", NO TRADE IN.

So in simple words, "GOT WARRANTY ALSO NO USE".

Offered me the 18-200/3.5-6.3 OS S$786.60 including GST


I declined the offer and told them i would make this incident known.

_____________________________________________________________________________


To all the people reading this, I hope you would now think 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,..... as many times as you can with regards to buying a SIGMA PRODUCT. With such bad service, quality and worst of all voided warranty which is still valid. I have now been convinced that it is one company to avoid totally.
 

I feel your anguish...
 

sorry to hear bro...i had my own dealings with them and did no better than you. what i had to do was call japan and talk to them. in my opinion the problem with sigma singapore is management. from my experience the receptionist tries her best but she can only do whatever her manager miss tan allows and often this secretary is buying time because miss tan is basically clueless. i bet you never even spoke to the manager at redhill...? she would not talk to me, the manager miss tan and she ultimately is the problem. i have the number for an english speaking manager in japan, perhaps i should post it here for other bros who have to deal with an incompetent miss tan (the manager) or they feel as though they were not serviced properly. this guy in japan can and will get after the people at the sigma singapore serice center

if anyone has trouble with the sigma service center here...get in touch with
Vuslat Tatar
Sigma Corporation
2-4-16 Kuriki, Asao-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, 215-8530 Japan
Tel: 81-44-989-7437 Fax: 81-44-989-7448

again, he speaks english so you can communicate with him...i know the sigma website does not offer much info on who to contact so here ya go and good luck
 

Thanks bro, i've email and cced to all the relevant ppl from sg to japan.
 

ok, i am gg to KIV the pending purchase of Sigma lens

Looks like Sony Service Centre is still the best. :thumbsup:
 

Oh dear.... :(

They should at least offer you some better compensation as an apology..
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Dun get too worked up over it k :cool:

Maybe the gal see you very the yandao, want you go down again and again mah. ;)
 

Oh dear.... :(

They should at least offer you some better compensation as an apology..
icon9.gif


Dun get too worked up over it k :cool:

Maybe the gal see you very the yandao, want you go down again and again mah. ;)


Ha i dun think that is the case man. I never even saw the manager once. I think its just extremely unprofessional for sth like that to happen. and for that fact i hope their who's who sees this thread. just hope you guys will learn from this incident and reconsider the purchase from sigma.
 

Ha i dun think that is the case man. I never even saw the manager once. I think its just extremely unprofessional for sth like that to happen. and for that fact i hope their who's who sees this thread. just hope you guys will learn from this incident and reconsider the purchase from sigma.

There were a few nasty thread on sigma and tokina customer service as well previously..

I hear oso scared.... :sweat:

After hearing somemore from you... wahahahahah
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bro, like you i never saw the manager until maybe the 7th time i went there....and yet even that time the manager never said a word to me. honestly speaking, call mr. tatar in japan and let him know that the manager has not even spoken to you. i told him that this manager was the problem, miss tan, and how she did not handle the situation and i think he needs to hear how again, she is not upholding a quality japanese brand by providing poor service abroad. put it this way, if you had a business and customer service counted to you, no matter where you are in the world you want that customer service to be tops...correct?

call him (mr. tatar), he is a nice man to talk to and believe me he will do everything he can to satisfy you no matter the cost. plus, perhaps it is time for new management at the service center anyway and complacent people need to come to life. either way, there will be people who will continue to buy sigma, but none of us bought crappy service when we look on our warranty. in my opinion, this would not happen in japan.

the receptionist is good
the tech mr. ser is good
but miss tan the manager gota go...she is the real problem

anyways, call japan, mr.tatar will fix it for you and he should hear what's going on here because none of us need to deal with this kind of sh*t after we drop a load of money on their product.
 

guess i'm a lucky fella then. my 18-50 got bf. emailed them, say need appointment and bring camera along. i booked a time slot, went there. the tech took my cam and lens in, waited a while. they opened the conference room for me to sit in. beside got a few photog jap mags. got porn inside. indulged in the mags for about 30 mins, then the tech said i can bring back my cam liao.


after about 1 week, they called back, say ready liao. i went back, the girl say wait in conference room for a while. so i waited for a few minutes while browsing through their mags. then my lens came, i tested a few shots, good to go, said thanks, then that's it. nothing interesting.

my experience here: http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=2518946
 

that's sad, sigma makes many great lenses

anyways sigma singapore is quite retarded la, hurhur
international warranty also don't accept sometimes
suka they say
 

guess i'm a lucky fella then. my 18-50 got bf. emailed them, say need appointment and bring camera along. i booked a time slot, went there. the tech took my cam and lens in, waited a while. they opened the conference room for me to sit in. beside got a few photog jap mags. got porn inside. indulged in the mags for about 30 mins, then the tech said i can bring back my cam liao.


after about 1 week, they called back, say ready liao. i went back, the girl say wait in conference room for a while. so i waited for a few minutes while browsing through their mags. then my lens came, i tested a few shots, good to go, said thanks, then that's it. nothing interesting.

my experience here: http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=2518946

great experience.

from what i noticed, the problem with the sigma service center is when the tech cannot fix the issue. when he can't fix it through calibration or whatever else then you will see how bad the service can be. my opinion is that if it is a problem beyond the technician and falls into management to make a decision, wow, you will be in for a ride...and this is the problem.
 

I understand cos it is a newer lens so they have the means to fix it on the spot. But if its an older version, and the warranty is still valid. They should not be tell me that nothing can be done. and sorry we do not accept trade in, or much less offer sth equivalent. Instead they offer me the only option of purchasing a new lens which is far far from the range that i require. So is this about bad product knowledge or bad management? i think both.
 

The weakest link is Sigma SINGAPORE just like Nokia SINGAPORE.

Once the local company takes over, the customer service goes out the window.
 

I would have expected top notch service espcially with a japanese company. It is just sad that things are like that. Worst part is that my valid warranty became invalid just because they could not fix the problem. Gives people very very little assurance and confidence in their product.:thumbsd::thumbsd::thumbsd:
 

Think definitely is the management.

They're running a service center. You should be well staffed and not leave your front desk with NO ONE. I dropped by their office twice.

Both occasions went down without appointment.

Occasion 1:

Flash head intermittently got jammed. Went all the way down. Reception - no body.
Had to press doorbell before someone appeared - from the pantry. (i know its lunch time but you're running an office cum service center at least have someone at the reception?)

Thankfully the tech, cleaned up my flash internally and it never jammed after that. No charge.

Occasion 2:

Needed to verify some TC issues. Same thing happened as scenario 1.

The receptionist i spoke to tried to note down the problems i was encountering and not 1 word was mentioned that she didn't know what i was talking about - till later - as i was told the tech is out for lunch and i chose to wait.

The tech came back from lunch that i HEARD IT - She was telling the tech i was encountering and did not understand what i was saying to her :bsmilie: :bigeyes:

After which, the tech quickly attended to me. Then this old guy in a suit (persumably some big shot) was around :sweat:.. tech also stress. They were very nice and accomodating. Allowed me to sample a few of their TCs before concluding that my TC was the root of the problem.

My take - It is never a waste of resource in setting up a proper service counter / entrance. As mentioned earlier, the company has been too comfy being the sole agent for too long and needs a wake up call/restructuring. I know the company is a chinese company and - i believe - a shrewd way of cutting cost of not setting up a service couter / desk at the expense of cost - especially when you're the SOLE AGENT. :rolleyes:
 

Think definitely is the management.

They're running a service center. You should be well staffed and not leave your front desk with NO ONE. I dropped by their office twice.

Both occasions went down without appointment.

Occasion 1:

Flash head intermittently got jammed. Went all the way down. Reception - no body.
Had to press doorbell before someone appeared - from the pantry. (i know its lunch time but you're running an office cum service center at least have someone at the reception?)

Thankfully the tech, cleaned up my flash internally and it never jammed after that. No charge.

Occasion 2:

Needed to verify some TC issues. Same thing happened as scenario 1.

The receptionist i spoke to tried to note down the problems i was encountering and not 1 word was mentioned that she didn't know what i was talking about - till later - as i was told the tech is out for lunch and i chose to wait.

The tech came back from lunch that i HEARD IT - She was telling the tech i was encountering and did not understand what i was saying to her :bsmilie: :bigeyes:

After which, the tech quickly attended to me. Then this old guy in a suit (persumably some big shot) was around :sweat:.. tech also stress. They were very nice and accomodating. Allowed me to sample a few of their TCs before concluding that my TC was the root of the problem.

My take - It is never a waste of resource in setting up a proper service counter / entrance. As mentioned earlier, the company has been too comfy being the sole agent for too long and needs a wake up call/restructuring. I know the company is a chinese company and - i believe - a shrewd way of cutting cost of not setting up a service couter / desk at the expense of cost - especially when you're the SOLE AGENT. :rolleyes:
Tell that to Nikon. :bsmilie:
 

Tell that to Nikon. :bsmilie:

:bsmilie: ... not sure bout nikon .. canon always has got SOMEONE stationed.

Then there's that marvellous coffee machine :devil: :p
 

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