8mm Forum: Bad experience with Ritter Media Beaulieu Repair-Please share

»	8mm Forum » 8mm Forum » Bad experience with Ritter Media Beaulieu Repair-Please share

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

Author

Topic: Bad experience with Ritter Media Beaulieu Repair-Please share

Alan Rik
Film God

Posts: 2211
From: New York City, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted November 05, 2017 06:46 PM

I wanted to put out there a public service announcement/warning in case anyone is looking into using Ritter Media http://www.rittermedia.de for the repair of any Super 8 equipment you may have.
I came across them many years ago because I saw their stickers on a Beaulieu 6008 Super 8 camera. They modify them and I had heard they did good work.
So around April of this year I contacted them to see if they could put my Beaulieu 708 HTI back to original factory spec as they told me that they have the original Beaulieu parts as well as the original service personnel that worked on the items when Beaulieu was up and running.
My Beaulieu 708 HTI was working very well but i wanted them to go through it to see if they could spot any potential problems down the road as well. Just a factory "tune up".
So the Beaulieu 708 HTI is a very rare and expensive machine. I have had the item shipped from Wiberg Photo in Sweden to Bjorn in Beaulieu Sweden, and then here to me in NYC and it arrived in MINT condition as was stated before purchase. Additionally it was sent to the West Coast a while back and it came back to me in the same pristine condition.
When it has been sent it was always double boxed, lots of bubble wrap and then foam on all sides of the box so that the item was like an egg. A 50lb egg that withstood the abuses of international and domestic travel.
They received the item and said all was well they would let me know when it was ready. It took them a bit as a few times I called I was told the service person (they must only have one?) is on Holiday. After about 4 months they told me it was ready and to do payment via Bank transfer. They do not take credit card. I was charged around 400
Euros including return shipping.
When the item arrived it was in a large oversized box, wrapped with bubble wrap 2 times around, no foam (why didn't they use my original box?), and filled with flo pak.

As I dug around I found the projector near the bottom of the box and now I was a little concerned. It arrived at my work so I couldn't really take a look in depth but I pulled it out of the box and took it home.
When I unwrapped the bubble wrap I found this:

I immediately contacted Ritter Media and told them I didn't want to turn on the machine until I heard back from their service person to see if he possibly worked on the Ballast and Ignitor and accidentally "left" the old transformer and bracket out.
They informed me that he was on "holiday" and would get back to me. About a week later Ritter Media said that he didn't work on the Ballast or Ignitor and that it looked like the damage was caused by mishandling.
So I turned it on. The fan doesn't come on. The lamp doesn't come on. But at least it threads properly. If the bulb was damaged due to their negligence I am looking at a minimum of at least $250 dollars before any repairs and not including the $250 to send it to them initially and then the 400 Euros to get it back. Very expensive lesson for me.
I asked them how could they not double box the item and not pack properly.
Their reply was:
We are extremely sorry that there were such difficulties in the delivery. We usually pack with "Flo-Pak Green" which are recyclable, dust-free and antistatic. These build up biologically. Styrofoam is no longer used. The disadvantage of the "Flo-Pak Green" is that these can be easily pressed under pressure. There are no problems with shipping within the EU.
We have almost no experience with transport to the EU abroad. Since this is a transport damage, this is of course to be complained. We are sure that we have packed the unit properly."
I then asked them to file a claim and they said the receiver has to do it. Then I asked them if they insured the item and they said they did not because I did not ask them to!
What??
At this point in time the giant box filled with Flo Pak green and nothing else had been sitting at my work place but it had now been at least 2 weeks as I had been waiting for Udo Hoffman at Ritter Media to contact me in regards to the transformer. In that time someone threw out the big box. But I was hopeful that Ritter Media would take some responsibility for the inadequate pack job and the failure to insure or offer insurance.
I sent them an email and asked if I sent it back and paid for the shipping would the repair the unit and pay for return shipping back to me.
The reply was:
“What the image shows is inside the winding or unwinding arm inside. It is me squat like this part can break off. It is the attachment for snapping the coil arm. Can only happen by gross force, fall, or shock damage. I do not think it is a transport damage. There will be no coil arm, so we can’t give you a coil arm anymore.”

6 months warranty on the work carried out. If there are other problems which are not covered by the warranty, a new repair request is required with the complete procedure. As I see it, it is not a guarantee.
If the equipment has actually been damaged, the transport company is liable if the equipment has been properly packed. From our point of view it was that. We have never had a self-inflicted transport damage in the past."
So now they are saying the broken arm is not transport damage? Are they saying I broke the arm and dropped it when I got it? Really?
And after that all emails have gone unanswered. I think this company is a disgrace and since payment was done via bank transfer i have no recourse except to warn people NOT to use Ritter Media.
Please pass this on. I have received a replacement arm from a wonderful member here and am in the process of refurbishing the unit back to its original glory. Fingers crossed.