RKL349 Loc: Connecticut

Sorry for your issues. I have purchased a refurbished body and two refurbished lenses from the GetOlympus site with no problems. I have credit card companies monitor purchases on my site and send me notifications when the card is used. This did not stop Olympus from allowing the sales to go through. I did have to call them once and it took a few calls to get through to them but once I did everything went smoothly - this had to do with resetting a password on their site because it was locking up, not a purchased oriented issue. Maybe by google-ing Olympus you may find some addditional phone numbers you can try. Good luck - I hope this works out for you.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Most recently I ordered a refurb camera from them. Twice I had to fill the order because of "technical problems" that had nothing to do with me. I was finally able to get the order in to receive notification that such camera was in back order. No one at Olympus got back to me when I placed the order to tell me the camera was in back order.

I spoke to a woman that identified herself as an Olympus Customer Service Representative. She was very polite and apologized for the inconveniences. I was firm telling her that if the camera was is back order it should be advertised as so. I never got notified by Olympus and they did so after I placed my order. I was told it could take up to 2 months before they could ship the camera.

Three days later Olympus notified me that the camera was on its way to me and finally I have it here and I have been reading the instructions and configuring the camera to my photographic style.
After they sent the camera they used all kind of courtesies and I am thankful for that.

Will I order again from them? Perhaps I will but I will certainly think about it before I do.

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

Please keep us posted. Sorry to hear about the problems you're having.

I'd call the regular Olympus numbers.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

The email had both regular and toll-free numbers to call with a 6-digit extension for the woman who sent the email. Her title is Retail Credit Specialist, so I assumed she had a specific credit-related question, which is why I called the numbers she gave rather than the general customer service number. In any event, I used both of the numbers on several occasions, and each time got an elaborate answering system recording which, when I followed the tree and eventually entered the specific extension, I got a recording using the woman's name, asking me to leave a message. AND the credit card shows on my bank's web site as being paid to Olympus Imaging America. So I haven't been too concerned about a phishing scam.

In any event, I got another email an hour ago from the same woman, apologizing for and explaining her delay in responding, and concluding "The email was sent to confirm the billing and shipping address of your order, which will ship today and be delivered tomorrow."

Both shipping and billing addresses were the same, so I'm not sure what their problem was. But since I placed the order on the 10th, the web site says there will be a day or two of processing, and I paid for 2-day air delivery, I think I'm actually a bit ahead of the game if it arrives on the 13th. At the price of some anxiety for a day or two.

What DOES concern me is the report of refurbs being defective on arrival. The lens in question is the Olympus 9-18/4.0-5.6. I'll look it over very carefully as soon as it arrives, although other than checking for proper autofocus at various distances, and correct aperture operation by changing exposures across multiple shots of the same scene, I'm not sure what I would be able to identify as a problem.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It has helped make for a unique buying experience - for me. Although I don't think Olympus USA should be too happy about that.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

It is becoming a more common practice since the Equifax breach. I have had a similar experience dealing with my insurance company's online pharmacy.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

Hadn't thought about that aspect. She did say that my data will stay in the Olympus USA system, so if I order again they won't have to check up on me again.

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

I had the exact same thing happen with Greentoe on a Tamron lens I submitted a bid on, and was accepted by an East Coast Camera Store. I received an email from my credit card issuer verifying I had indeed made the large purchase. Which I did verify, then not two minutes later I got an email from Greentoe stating there was a "payment issue'. I emailed Greentoe and told them that I had authorized the payment through my credit card issuer and everything should be ok. About 15 minutes later I received another email from Greentoe advising me the payment had gone through and the lens would ship that afternoon. I'm wondering if the Experian data breech has had something to do with this?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Sounds fishy to me!

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

Final followup (hopefully.) Lens arrived this afternoon by FedEx, as promised in yesterday's email. Solidly packed in an Olympus box, which was well padded inside another, much larger box, so everything was in perfect shape. Lens angle of view at 9mm is indeed considerably wider than the coverage of my 12mm lens, which is what I was looking for. So I don't think I'll regret NOT getting (and paying for) a 7mm wide zoom.

Initial images are properly focused and properly exposed, so it looks like everything works. Total delivered cost with tax and shipping was $439, which I could have beaten by $2 with an EX+ lens from KEH delivered the same way, and maybe by a few dollars more (eventually) by watching and bidding carefully on ebay. But a going-over by Olympus and a short warranty seems like a better package overall.

So in conclusion, I'm delighted with the deal, now that I'm past the initial second-look phase on the credit card. I have bookmarked the Olympus refurb page and will check it regularly for good deals that will improve my MFT kit. (And I wish I could find a similar page for Panasonic stuff.)

Thanks for the show of support during the initial stage of the process.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Good to hear you got the lens. Enjoy!

In case you don’t have the Micro 4/3 wish list:

http://hazeghi.org/mft-lenses.html

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

Yeah, that was one of the first bookmarks in my "Four Thirds Stuff" bookmark folder . . . But I'm TRYING to keep this from getting to the size of my Nikon kit. ;-)

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Good luck with that. I abandoned my Canon and Nikon habit.