Posted: As of January 26, 2009
In response to a Kodak Television Advertisement 2
ESP5 All-In-One printers were ordered from the Kodak Store along with an extra ink
cartridge. We were sent two (2) printers that didn't work and then we
were told on the phone by customer support to install the
software and let it fix the printers. We were told this even though the
Kodak Return Policy on the back of the invoices states, "Software must
be UNOPENED." Here is a PDF of the back of the invoice from the Kodak Store .
After these failed attempts to fix the printers and
the discovery that we would void our guarantee if we installed the
software we decided to just return it all. But, we felt ripped off
that we had to pay them to ship back the 2 broken printers they
sent us along with the ink. At the least they should take
responsibility for their error and pick up those costs of returning
the products back to them.
So, we decided to write Kodak and ask or rather
demand that they pay for the return insurance and shipping costs for
the broken printers they sent us. We wanted to give them a chance to
fix the problem but we didn't have much time left on our "30 day
guarantee". If they would not do that then it looks like they are just
trying to rip folks off and we would take it up with American Express,
the credit card company used to purchase the order with.
Here is the email sent via Kodak's email page. While
on there website they have many links to contact them by email, many
with different descriptions, they all lead back to this page, so this
the way we first contacted them.
Friday, 01/23/2009 An Open
Letter to Kodak
They sent us an automatic response reposted here:
Friday, 01/23/2009 Auto Response From Kodak
A technician "Oscar F" responded shortly after that well within the 24
hours, but only to say we had contacted the wrong department and to contact the Kodak Store. Here is his response:
Friday, 01/23/2009 Email from Oscar F at Kodak.com
As I said the Kodak Store "contact us link" takes you to the same email page as we used the first time. Oscar F has me going around in circles and I have already seen that calling gets me the same result or worse because it is not recorded. So how am
I to interpret this as anything more than a run around.
In addition we requested that the email be redirected to the right party if necessary. Why couldn't this have been
done. Now it is really looking like Kodak is trying to rip people off.
Our experience with Kodak has been a 100% failure rate with their printers and also 100% failure rate with their
customer service. In addition they have a return policy that is voided if you set up your
printer, using the software and then don't like the job it does. That is not
a money back guarantee in my book. I guess I can be glad both printers actually
failed to work in the first place before I had unintentionally voided the guarantee.
At this point we are left with contacting American
Express and complaining that we were shipped broken products or of
shipping the broken products back at our cost. Neither of these options
make us happy.
That is why we would recommend to everyone not to
buy Kodak products, but if you must then do not get them from the Kodak
Store, use a vendor you trust and one that has a real money back
guarantee.
What's Next!
We have collected all the email address we could
find for Kodak and we are sending the whole list each an email which
includes what we have already written them and a request for someone in
management to take action and fix this company.
Now this is no longer just our issue it is an American issue. These
bad business practices can only lead to job losses and eventually
collapse of the company. We do not want that to happen we
want Kodak fixed!
We understand that Eastman Kodak Co. has more to it
than its consumer product line. But, according to
marketwatch.com on Dec. 12, 2008,
"Moody's expects Kodak's consumer digital segment, which accounts for about 30% of total revenue, to see revenue declines in the fourth quarter due to the deteriorating demand environment, " Maybe the demand is not the real issue but the failure of the
company to send out working units and provide real customer service.
If you have Eastman Kodak Co. stock then demand
answers. If you do not get any answers then consider why you still have their
stock.
As soon as we have sent the letter we will post it here.