First post to the group and after doing some searching I didn't find any previous posts about this exact issue so, here goes. I'm trying to get a sanity check about USA vs. grey market related to a camera that I just bought.
Last week I bought a 645NII from World Photo Sales (Brooklyn, worldphotoonline.com). They are a Popular Photography check rated advertiser, and also meet the requirements for the Shutterbug advertisers. Both of those requirements include specifying if it won't be a USA warranty. In their ad World Photo Sales indicated that they only ship USA warranty. When I talked with them on the phone they confirmed that they just got this camera in and that it was USA warranty. When I received the camera on Friday I first noticed that there was no product registration card, and then I remembered something that a Pentax sales rep that I've gotten to know during eBay adventures had mentioned something about USA warranty medium format equipment coming with a holographic "P" on the box as protection. And this box has none. On the other hand, this camera came with everything it should including the strap, the eyecup, an English manual, and US batteries, which I've heard that you might not find with grey market stuff. I then placed a call to Pentax and reached the folks back in tech/repair, only to find that they had not heard of this holographic "P" but promised to check with someone and to call me back. I haven't yet heard back from them (and it looks like they're closed today), and had to sit on my hands until this morning to call back World Photo Sales. When I got them on the phone this morning I was told by a second sales rep that they ONLY sell USA warranty items. No explanation as to why there would be no registration card, just said all I needed to do was to send the camera to Pentax if it needed warranty repairs. I then asked them if they were familiar with the holographic "P" and the guy said he wasn't, said he'd never seen one on any 645 or 6X7 cameras that they've ever sold. After that call I found this link on the Pentax site, which sure enough, says that in order to protect consumers that Pentax Corporation places a hologram P designation on all medium format bodies, lenses and accessories that are USA warranty covered: http://pentax.com/service/serv_greymarket.cfm Now at this point I'd be ready to send this camera back (and fortunately I used my American Express card and they are very protective of their customers in handling disputes like this would be) except for one other thing. I also bought a Pentax 45-85mm zoom for the camera from another dealer and the ad for that lens said USA warranty also. It also arrived on Friday, and yup, it's also missing the hologram P. But it had a USA warranty registration card inside the box. So for the heck of it I called that dealer a few minutes ago, and they also said that they only sell USA warranty products, and they too have never heard of this hologram P. I'd almost think that the web link above is a fantasy, except that the Pentax sales rep that I met via a sales on eBay had posted some Pentax sales stock that was being sold off, and in his auction he had a picture of this "P" on the box, and talked about it in the auction ad. So, my question kind of comes down to this -- has anyone on here who's purchased medium format stuff ever actually received the product box WITH this hologram P on it? Maybe another question to ask is whether anyone here has had any dealings with World Photo Sales. Dan Kirsch - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
