I am going to start a new category called Malingering’s Better Business Bureau. This is for all people/companies/businesses who have successfully pissed me off enough to spend 5 minutes telling someone about it.
I begin with my old friend Olympus (who I have already complained about, but this takes the cake)
Yes, here we go again. In case you’re new to this story, I will briefly explain. I won an Olympus Stylus camera back in July. I was rather excited but it proved to be defective an a number of my photos were quite blurry. Since it was under warranty, I sent it back for repair. I received it in the mail, and the photos were just as blurry. So I took a bunch of sample (blurry) photos and sent them a CD of photos along with an autographed letter explaining that I was disappointed in their ability to repair the camera. Well I just received the camera on my doorstep. I was excited, because I haven’t used it for months and I like sort of like the shitty thing because it’s so light and tiny. Anyway, I took a few test photos when I took it out of the box… I took some comparison photos with my Canon just to make sure I wasn’t completely stupid and simply don’t know how to work a camera. You can guess which is which.
Here is a copy of the rather polite letter I sent them. back in November. The next letter will not be so nice. I will keep you updated.
To Whom It May Concern:
I sent my Olympus Stylus 710 for repair in August of 2006, about 3 weeks after purchase. I was having trouble with the camera as it was not focusing appropriately and the majority of my photos were blurry.
I received the camera back on August 30, 2006 with a repair service packing slip (enclosed). It stated that the focus was checked and adjusted and to “please, set macro mode off.†Unfortunately the camera was not repaired. The photos are still blurry and the auto focus is not working.
Perhaps the problem was not explained or diagnosed correctly the first time. The camera does not focus (at all) when the optical zoom feature is used. I consider the optical zoom to be a rather important feature and the fact that I cannot use it basically renders the camera useless.
I have included a CD containing sample photographs from the camera. As you can see, the macro setting works fine. It is taking photographs of anything more than 8 feet away that is problematic. Maybe the EXIF data on the files will help with diagnosis of the problem. I hope when the camera is returned to me, this problem will no longer exist.
Thank you very much. You may contact me by e-mail if there are further questions.










