What's going on at Hasselblad?

[arigram]

I have ordered a new 503CW body, a CFE 180 lens and some accessories from the local representative and its been three months. He keeps delaying the delivery week after week and blaming it on Hasselblad itself. He told me today that this is a global problem and everybody's having trouble getting Hasselblad products.
I have emailed the company a few days ago and gotten no response so far which is odd considering that I have been treated like a Saudi king before.

Is the local greek dealer full of shit?
Or is it a problem with Hasselblad itself (like phasing out the "old" V System or restructing)?

I am thinking of calling them directly in a day or two.

 

[rbarker]

They may be on their way to PMA in Orlando, Florida. It usually takes almost a week of seeing the sights there to get adjusted to the time difference.

 

[jon furer]

There are so many great deals on ebay...why wouldn't try there? I bought my entire system that way....most of my equipment was mint and I paid a fraction of the cost of new....

 

[isaacc7]

I have ordered a new 503CW body, a CFE 180 lens and some accessories from the local representative and its been three months. He keeps delaying the delivery week after week and blaming it on Hasselblad itself. He told me today that this is a global problem and everybody's having trouble getting Hasselblad products.
I have emailed the company a few days ago and gotten no response so far which is odd considering that I have been treated like a Saudi king before.

Is the local greek dealer full of shit?
Or is it a problem with Hasselblad itself (like phasing out the "old" V System or restructing)?

I am thinking of calling them directly in a day or two.

They are in the process of moving their USA headquarters. Things are bound to be a little weird for a while... Don't worry, I'm sure they're pretty excited to sell a camera system and they'll get it to you as soon as possible.

Isaac

 

[arigram]

Thanks Isaac, but why would the move of the USA HQ mess up their global HQ in Sweden? They are not shipping my camera from the US are they?

Btw, Jon, I have pleanty of Hasselblad equipment, all bought new. This is an order I have already made and payed in part, plus for some complex reason I wouldn't be able to get anything used. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Well, I guess I am calling them tomorrow. I am more curious than anxious really.

 

[kjsphoto]

Ari,

I would be interested to hear what they have to say. Does anyone know if you can still get your cameras serviced in the US at Hasselblad?

Woudl you still be able to send to their USA location?

10 Madison Rd.
Fairfield NJ 07004

 

[Karl K]

I heard that the Hasselblad Service Center in NJ is closed.

Ari,

I would be interested to hear what they have to say. Does anyone know if you can still get your cameras serviced in the US at Hasselblad?

Woudl you still be able to send to their USA location?

10 Madison Rd.
Fairfield NJ 07004

I was told that they are in the process of re-organizing their service center somewhere else. BTW, they have only one sales rep in the Eastern USA that I know of.

 

[cconnaker]

I just ordered and received the 503CW Kit. It took about 1 week. B&H has what you are looking for in stock. I also ordered a 180mm CFE and B&H told me they talked to Hasselblad and Hasselblad said to expect delivery in 2 - 4 weeks for the lens.

 

[NikoSperi]

Ari,
If the Greek situation is like my experiences (both in the US and Italy), it's the distributor that's doing their usually efficient job. And then they wonder why grey imports and used camera sales are the way everyone goes. :rolleyes:
If you are intent on buying new kit, call Matt Sampson up at Robert White and you'll get it in under 24 hours. (I'm assuming they have it in stock, but they have practically everything in stock!)

 

[arigram]

I called Hasselblad today and spoke with three people.
The problem is with the local greek guy. They are screwing this up and they are lying.
503CW can be delivered quickly when ordered, they are out of 180 lenses but only since a couple weeks ago (they would have them in April) and other things like the WinderCW are in stock.
The Hasselblad guys were astonished and surprised by the lying and deception of the greek company. One wondered "why they would do such a thing?"

The company that I ordered the Hasselblad from used to be the greek representatives but they lost their dealership just about the time I made the order but ofcourse didn't tell me at the time. Hasselblad told me that they had problems like that before with this company that's why they pulled their partnership.

In the same order they were three strobe units from Elinchrom. I have contacted them with email as I don't have their phone number. They are delayed as well.

I will try to get thing sorted out tomorrow. Probably cancel the order.
Damned Greek crooks.
No wonder Greece is the last of the 25 european countries and will never reach the european average.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Ari, are you sure that Greece is a european country? I ask because when I visited some of my cousins in Athens one remarked of another that "he goes to Europe once a month." That was in 1970, and much has changed since then, but still and all ...

 

[arigram]

Correction then: Greece is an EU member, but it is as european as Syria.

 

[Quinten]

Hi Arigram,

Hasselblad had a major reorginasition and even moved their swedish office at the end of last year. Many items were out of stock for a while (because of the moving) it should be more or less ok by now but this certainly effected many deliveries.
It is also common for dealers to wait with their orders till they have a substantial amount of orders for one company to save money.

cheers!
Quinten

 

[George Papantoniou]

Ari, I am so happy to hear that mr Kounio lost his Hasselblad representation... He is an A**hole and a crook and made a big fuss when I reviewed the new (then) H1 and wrote that it was too expensive...

 

[BrianShaw]

So, does this mean that there is peace, love, and harmony between Crete and Greece... or are there other issues still to be resolved?

 

[arigram]

George: Well, I hope the new guy is better, but I don't bet my kidney.

Brain: Nope, the issue is still unresolved...

 

[arigram]

The plot thickens.

I got a call today from the new representiave of Hasselblad in Greece. He seemed to be informed from the HQ in Sweden. The problem is the old representative Salkofot which most probably they are crooks. The new representiave informed me that my problem is a common with that other company and they have screwed many people in the country. He seemed to have personal and probably professional interest in my case and he talked to me for a long time and asked me to write a formal letter to cancel the order and even threaten them with legal action. Probably he has a vendetta with Salkofot and I was talked he used to work there.
In any case, I went to my local cretan distributor and asked him to cancel the order. I will probably get the remaining Hasselblad equipment from the new representative and also find another brand of strobes.
We will see how good the new guy is.

 

[BrianShaw]

The plot thickens.
...

What a pain in the a$$. Do they have your money... or are you free to order from someone who won't give you so much grief. When I bought Hasselblad kit (last year) I sent credit card number to Calumet and had teh merchandise in about 5 days. B&H or Freestyle probably would have been the same. Do you have to deal with these yokels?

 

[arigram]

I'll tell you what happened.
I cancelled the order of the Hasselblad stuff and made it to the new representitive. I got some of it the next week and waiting for a couple (body and lens) I knew from Hasselblad Sweden that they were out of stock of.
But with Elinchrom the story continues.
I received the strobes five months later. They came without stands or nothing and I had to make a new order for them. Thankfully that came in a couple days. But I was so pissed of that I wrote a letter to Elinchrom using strong language and asking them to change their representive in Greece.
I didn't expect the reaction but I got Salcophot in serious trouble.
Elinca requested a written apology and report on the matter and the greeks almost lost the representation. Mr. Kounios, the owner actually called my cretan distributor at home (who is in and out of hospital in cancer therapy) and my father as well to whine about my email.
Elinca is a serious company and they seem to take complaints seriously for a single email to cause all this trouble. But Salcophot is not. The day I received the missing stands and accessories they called to ask for their money. I don't feel sorry for them. I gave them tens of thousands of euros and not only they acted unprofessionally but they showed no respect for their customer (apologies on the phone after I call them mean nothing to me).

 

[colrehogan]

Kounios called your father to complain about your email? Good grief! It's a shame you've gone through so much trouble to get your equipment. Hope you get good service out of it for a long time.

 

[arigram]

I know Diane its rediculous!
He called my father because he went to see Kounios while on a trip to Thessaloniki some time ago (while we were still fighting with the Hasselblad order) but Kounios did not call me! I mean, sheesh, I am not twelve!
The service thing is what worried me and that's why I contacted Elinca.
I don't want the strobes to break down while working and wait for Salcophot months to fix them.
Anyway, I really didn't want to hurt them just for them to act professionally. I hope things will go okey after all this mess.

 

[arigram]

Anyway, I just received an email from Elinca asking me to give Salcophot a second chance and I will. What the hell, I am not in for blood, revenge is not in my interests. I hope atleast I scared them enough to be more proper in the future.