jorgef2002
Established
Have any one heard from Mrs Krauter lately ? I have been trying to contact her for about 2 and 1/2 months about a camera and lens that I sent her a year and 2 months ago,is she ill ? I hope not,if anyone have heard from hear please let me know thank you.
jorgef2002 :bang: :bang:
jorgef2002 :bang: :bang:
Gary E
Well-known
Sherry is spotty with email replies and prefers to use the phone instead. Have you tried calling her? I sure hope she is alright.
cnphoto
Well-known
I had an email response from her a week ago about a potential lens CLA.
Bingley
Mentor
She may have a lot of work at the moment. But I received an email from her on Monday confirming that she'd received a lens I'd sent for a CLA.
kshapero
South Florida Man
Like Sherry and a lot of other repair folks, I also am very busy pursuing my livelihood (much like most of you here), But I always return phone calls and emails, punctually, especially to my clients. What gives?
porktaco
Well-known
lol they are craftsmen and artists.
kshapero
South Florida Man
John Lawrence
Well-known
I can't speak for Sherry Krauter, but I know a number of highly rated repairers who have practically given up using email because of the sheer volume of messages they've been receiving.
One repairer springs to mind who regularly receives over 100 emails a day, ranging from those asking his opinion on a certain item on a certain internet auction site, to those wanting advice on restoring / repairing a camera themselves, to those wanting to know what to look for when buying a camera, to those wanting to know which cameras would be the best long term investment, to those he needs to translate into english, to those ... well you get the picture!
So with the best will in the world he simply cannot deal with the volume of messages and just doesn't have the time to reply to them all and repair cameras.
John
One repairer springs to mind who regularly receives over 100 emails a day, ranging from those asking his opinion on a certain item on a certain internet auction site, to those wanting advice on restoring / repairing a camera themselves, to those wanting to know what to look for when buying a camera, to those wanting to know which cameras would be the best long term investment, to those he needs to translate into english, to those ... well you get the picture!
So with the best will in the world he simply cannot deal with the volume of messages and just doesn't have the time to reply to them all and repair cameras.
John
kshapero
South Florida Man
Too bad but some of us might see that as economic opportunity. So it goes....
Beemermark
Mentor
However the issue is that she has had the parts for repair for more than a year and a half.
John Lawrence
Well-known
Or the reverse - spending all day answering messages from those who are neither going to use your services, pay you anything or, in some cases, even thank you! Plus you've still got to trawl through those messages to find the genuine ones.
The line taken by the repairers in question is that if someone wants to get hold of them and are serious, then they'll take the time to telephone them.
John
I should add that this is just an observation, and as the post above states, is not really what's at issue here.
Last edited:
wgerrard
Mentor
Jorge, telephone her after 12:00 noon east coast time. She's a night person. I had a similar experience some time ago, posted the same question here, and got the same kind of responses. In my case, she was waiting to locate a part to replace something with a minor scratch that had occurred during her work. More than fair enough, but I wish she had told me. My lenses were shipped back to me within a week after my call.
I can understand not wanting to wade through a lot of email. But, on the other hand, keeping other people's possessions for months on end without telling them what's going on is more than legitimate cause for annoyance.
I can understand not wanting to wade through a lot of email. But, on the other hand, keeping other people's possessions for months on end without telling them what's going on is more than legitimate cause for annoyance.
kshapero
South Florida Man
Then pick through and answer emails of your paying customers.
Beemermark
Mentor
Unfortunately they often won't answer the phone. I had a bad experience with SK once where I finally gave up and never did my item back after 18 months (just a polarizer). I still use DAG for really out of the ordinary repairs but it's been 3 or 4 months and I can neither get an email response or anyone to answer the phone.
Somehow, Youxin (who I believe has full time job) can answer emails, answer the phone and do a Leica repair in less than two weeks (including shipping) so you have to wonder.
I also, having been in business myself, wonder if they have ever heard of first in, first out. I send other items like cameras out for repair and generally I get an estimate of how long. Even Leica does this. If they say 6 weeks I don't even think about calling until week 7 or 8. Saves them a lot of emails and phone calls I would think.
wgerrard
Mentor
Krauter's initial response to my emailed query promised a two-week turn around. I suspect that letter is boilerplate, and seems an imprudent thing to say before inspecting the item needing service.
Almost all the complaints here about Sherry, et al, are about unanswered email. The frequent response is that they are busy craftsmen and don't like email. A distaste for email is not the issue. Failure to keep their customers informed is the issue. Business people who repair the property of others have an obligation to keep those customers informed about the status of the work. If they don't like email, they can send a postcard, or use the phone.
There is no excuse for silently keeping someone's property for months on end.
By the way, John Hermanson offers to push your job to the front of the queue for an extra $50 fee. I think that's a great idea.
John Lawrence
Well-known
As I said in my second post - which takes (unpaid) time. Time that could be spent repairing cameras and earning a living.
But whatever our opinions here, as I said in the footnote to my second post, this is not the issue in this case and doesn't help the OP any.
I intended my original comment as an observation rather than a provocation, based on my acquaintance with a number of camera repairers of repute.
John
John Elder
Well-known
Concerning Sherry Krauter, I have had numerous cla's of both cameras and lens done by her. Everything she did took less than a month. To say that she has had a lens for 14 months and that the OP is just starting to try to contact her 2 months ago just doesn't sound right. My personel experience and the experience of my photog friends with SK pretty much makes me believe the OP did something wrong. At the very least i find it very strange the OP waited a year to contact her. I can also say that the work I have had done by DAG and Youxin Ye was also execellent.
wgerrard
Mentor
That doesn't jive with my own experience, John. I sent her two lenses for routine CLA last year. She responded quickly to my first email asking how to ship, etc., indicating I should expect a two-week turnaround. I shipped the lenses. She did not confirm delivery for some days after tracking had said they'd arrived. I queried via email and she responded. Several months passed. I had no lenses, and no response to my repeated email queries.
I eventually phoned her. She said she had scratched one of the lens housing and was trying to locate a clean replacement. When she indicated the scratch wasn't very big, I asked her to finish the CLA and return the lenses ASAP. They arrived within a week. I've never been able to find that scratch.
I applaud any repair person who is so conscientious that they would take the time to search for a replacement for a part they had invisibly scratched. But, I can't condone anyone who holds the lens or the camera and keeps silent about it. It's 2010. Disliking email is no more acceptable than disliking stamps.
I eventually phoned her. She said she had scratched one of the lens housing and was trying to locate a clean replacement. When she indicated the scratch wasn't very big, I asked her to finish the CLA and return the lenses ASAP. They arrived within a week. I've never been able to find that scratch.
I applaud any repair person who is so conscientious that they would take the time to search for a replacement for a part they had invisibly scratched. But, I can't condone anyone who holds the lens or the camera and keeps silent about it. It's 2010. Disliking email is no more acceptable than disliking stamps.
charchar
Newbie
She is the best. I just got my lens back this Tuesday which was within the promised 3 weeks for a complete CLA.
jmooney
Guy with a camera
If you don't want to use email for your business, then don't advertise an email address. In today's world not answering email is the same as not answering the phone. If you don't answer my email I'm not going to take the time to call you, I'm going to assume that you don't want my business. I understand that a business owner's time is valuable, especially a one person operation, but their time is no more or less valuable then mine. So why should I chase someone around when there are others who will value my time and work to earn my business?
Jim