Contaxbs Alphabet Game

[kgardas]

> Posted by John Ekholm (Johnj) on Thursday, December 04, 2003 - 6:08 pm: > > Maybe we should invite a Kyocera representative to this site for a > heart to heart chat.

That would be really cool! Something like Leica chat about R8 digital back.

Cheers, Karel

 

[frogmeister]

What a great idea, John.

Good luck. I've spent the entire morning - or a good part of it, anyway - trying to reach a real live person at Kyocera/Contax. Nothing but voice mail, and looping voice trees.

Seems not only do they not want to communicate with us, they make it VERY difficult to communicate with them. I'm not even sure the email response form is working (on their website) 'cause I couldn't get a response or confirmation to that either. :-(

Dave

 

[rickd]

I don't know the situation in the rest of the globe, but in the States Contax has significantly reduced their presence. So far as I know they only have the lone office in New Jersey, having abandoned their West Coast office two or three years ago in a cost-cutting move.

It used to be that they'd have one or two Contax events a year at my local dealer (northern Calif.). Those events at one time included both a sales rep *and* a repair tech. You could take in any Contax you owned for a checkup and even minor repairs, gratis. Of course at the same time you could play with an extensive collection of new Contax gear. The sales rep understood the technology behind the camera and could explain it in a completely understandable manner. Any really off-the-wall questions, the tech could answer.

This is how I came to buy my G2 system, I was smitten by it while having my 139Q releathered and the gooey light seals replaced. Given this impressive commitment to customer service and support, I had no qualms about jumping into a completely new system.

The same dealer still has similar events for Leica, Nikon, Canon, Hasselblad, etc., but it's been a long while since I've seen a Contax rep there, much less a service tech. My belief is that no matter how many cameras Kyocera/Contax may flood the market with, if they don't reestablish their commitment to dealer support and high-profile customer service they will no longer be a player in the highest echelons of the photographic equipment marketplace. It's hard to believe they could walk away from their twenty-five year effort to be there.

-Rick

 

[writing4me]

You have another good point, Rick, about the Contax days with a rep and a repair person. That has to be less expensive for Kyocera than running a full page ad in a glossy magazine and would most likely generate longer term satisfaction and loyalty while driving new sales. (Look how long you remember the good feelings generated by that long ago event - and how many fellow photographers did you tell about it in glowing words after you were there?) Even if they only picked some major cities like New York, Chicago, L.A., Miami and came out once a year that would be great! I'd travel to Chicago (2+ hours each way) for that. Dave, I feel your pain trying to reach Kyocera in New Jersey, I gave up long ago after trying for days and days even with a direct phone number for a specific rep. I wish you better luck. -Lynn

 

[coyot]

>Our local rep in Dalals, Texas holds a Contax Days each year (sometimes twice.) The last one had a Contax rep.

Michael.

 

[dirk]

James,

this forum is organized by threads. Each thraed has a specific topic. Please post your question in the appropriate section by opening a new thread.

"...Maybe we should invite a Kyocera representative to this site for a heart to heart chat..."

John,

since 9 months we are trying to convince Kyocera Europe and Kyocera Japan to communicate with its costumers - also over this forum. But til now, there is not the slightest interest to communicate in any kind of way with the costumer.

 

[fastfashn]

No, and they Won't communicate with you via a privately "owned" forum like this one. There isn't a company in the world, unless their support reps have nothing else to do, that will open the can of worms involved with company statements and support in an open forum that they can't control.

You want Kyocera/Contax to talk to you? You need to get them to have a forum/web board on the Contax/Kyocera site modelled on the Customer Forum at leica.com, or Apple.com for that matter.

From personal experience I can tell you that open public forums on a web site the company does not control are a disaster waiting to happen for any company.

Kyocera has a PR problem that they are going to have to deal with, but I will tell you that a lot of the industry(s) thinks that web board forums are a PITA that they wish would go away. If Kyocera is as old school as I think it is then they are probably just ignoring the whole forum universe and hoping it goes away.

They may read stuff here, but respond? Good luck.

-Dana

 

[frogmeister]

Dana,

You almost got it right. I don't think that Contax/Kyocera is 'ignoring the forum universe' - I think they are just ignoring the universe and hoping it will get better. In today's competitive marketplace, some form of active participation with your customer is infinitely better - if not outright required - than no participation.

I know, there's a taste of sarcasm in what I write.... Sarcasm comes from pain, and pain comes from something that conflicts with our desired reality.... I want Contax to kick Canon and Nikon's collective butts - and know that it could. I also know the realistic likelihood of that, hence my sarcasm....

Have a good night, all!

Dave

 

[derekstanton]

"There isn't a company in the world, unless their support reps have nothing else to do, that will open the can of worms involved with company statements and support in an open forum that they can't control."

Actually, there was a Panasonic rep who was an active participant in discussions about that company's digital cameras, in the dpreview forum. Unfortunately, his defensive arguments with regard to the LC-5 were frequently bizarre, meaningless, and/or inaccurate. Although his objectivity was questionable, and therefore invalidated many of his responses, i do believe that his mere participation was key toward Panasonic's 'improvement/adjustment' in the digital arena.

I'm not going to speculate as to whether or not this particular person had "nothing else to do," but his presence was refreshing, and it is always nice to see corporate involvement at that level of discussion. And, contrary to the opinion expressed above, i believe those 'discussions' were a POSITIVE PR move.

 

[tomasjpn]

I think Dave has hit the nail on the head - they are just ignoring the universe and wishing it would get better. As for having a forum on their website ala Apple.com, well, I don't know about you guys, but their 'new' website looks like a huge step backward to me. The Contax part of it got sucked into the Kyocera site and is far more difficult to navigate etc.

The main Contax service centre here in Tokyo, by the way, has nary a computer in sight. I would be surprised if anyone in the top management at Contax or Kyocera even knew how to use a computer. Japan isn't as advanced as people think it is; it appears so, but it is not. Kyocera keeps the Contax division as a 'prestige' division, as someone already pointed out. And the Contax division appears to provide decent customer service only here in Japan. I don't think they really give a damn about the contracted reps they have in other countries, and this seems to be reflected in the low level of service that ex-Japan customers receive.

Their management is very old-style Japanese management, and that means that every decision is made by one guy at the top. Subordinates in divisions, even a division head, has no decision-making power at all, so the president of Kyocera is ultimately responsible for what has happened to the Contax division in terms of promotion and customer service.

Mark