The Zeiss Ikon Contax Camera Repair Website

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Payment, Shipping and Communication Instructions

Payment Terms

When you submit equipment to be repaired or restored you enter into a binding contract between you and myself as follows: By sending the equipment here you agree that you have read this contract and agree to it and that you have funds available to make full payment within 10 days of being notified of the completion of the work for the estimated charges plus any additional charges you authorize for necessary work or parts uncovered as the work progresses, plus the packaging and shipping charges. You agree that if full payment is not received within 60 days of your being notified by email the work is complete ownership of the equipment passes to me and that the equipment will be sold to satisfy or defray the charges. You agree that if you cannot make payment within 60 days it is possible to obtain a scheduled monthly payment plan and that once all the charges have been paid the equipment will be returned to you; but if the payment schedule is not adhered to and one payment is not made the ownership of the equipment passes to me 30 days after the payment was due.

The last thing in the world that I want to do is to take ownership of your equipment. If you are unable to pay the charges I am more than happy to negotiate a very generous scheduled payment plan. You can also arrange for your camera to be sold as a consignment sale. If your camera is abandoned you loose all property rights in it and are not entitled to any of the proceeds from its sale or any information concerning the sale.

Normally payment for repairs and overhauls is not due and payable until you are notified of the charges due. However, in some special cases payment in advance of the estimated charges or the payment of a good faith deposit may be required before work can commence.

Payment Methods:

In making a purchase, making a waiting list reservation, Sending equipment for repair or paying for repairs you agree to all of the following terms:

I have no personal favored form of payment. Whatever you find most convenient to you in the following list is equally acceptable to me.

Personal check
Company check
U.S, Canadian or Japanese postal money order in USD
Bank, Western Union or other type of money order
Bank cashiers check
Credit card convenience check. Most credit card companies will gladly send you a convenience check to be used for purchases. All you have to do is to call your credit card company to get one. In most cases the interest rate on the amount charged with the convenience check is the same as for normal purchases.
High quality Contax Rangefinder or Contarex equipment in trade is also an option. Value and condition are subject to verification here.
PayPal is allowable provided that you pay the fees PayPal will deduct from the payment to pay for the transfer. Currently these fees are 3.4% for within USA payments and 3.6% for payments originating from outside the USA
Direct Credit card payment is not available. Currently my monthly volume is not large enough for me to be able to obtain a credit card merchant account at reasonable cost.
Cash by Registered Mail. There's nothing I can do to stop anyone from stuffing cash into an envelope and sending it to me. But this option is strongly discouraged. The possibility of loss or theft in the mails is very great even when the envelope is sent by registered mail. I can assume no responsibility for loss in the event you decide to send cash by mail.
Direct Bank Transfer: This cannot be done the same way as it is done in Europe using SWIFT and IBAN numbers. It is necessary to use your bank to arrange a fund transfer to my bank.to an intermediate bank in the USA that processes payments from outside the USA. This bank will then transfer the payment to my account. There is a delay of about two to three days for the funds to be deposited into my account.

You are fully responsible to ensure that any form of payment you send to me will be honored by my bank.

In making a payment to me you agree to the following: In the event any form of payment submitted by you to me should be dishonored by my bank for any reason, and you do not send replacement payment so that it is delivered to me within 48 hours of the time the item was submitted for deposit to my bank, you agree the matter shall be decided by the Small Claims Court of the County of Solano in the State of California and that you agree you shall not not make any appeal and waive any and all rights you may have to appeal or contest the judgment of this court to any other court or authority. You agree that you shall pay and that I am not responsible to indemnify you, for any of your personal, legal or incidental expenses in this matter. You further agree that in the event you make an appeal of any judgment from this Small Claims Court to a higher court or authority that you shall pay all of my personal, legal and incidental expenses in the matter in addition to the amount of the original Small Claims Court Judgment and a wage of $75.00 per hour for my time spent processing the matter. You agree to pay all of my small claims court costs and a contractors wage of $75.00 per hour for every your I expend on the matter prior to the hearing on the dishonored payment and that the total wages shall be included in the plea for damages made at that time.

In the event you should submit a replacement payment after 48 hours has elapsed, but before the matter is filed with the Small Claims Court, you agree to pay a fee of $150.00 in addition to the original amount of the dishonored payment.

In the event you should submit a replacement payment after Small Claims Court papers have been filed you agree to pay a fee of $500.00 in addition to the original amount of the dishonored payment.

You agree that since I use the U.S. Mail to send your item to you that if your payment is dishonored by my bank that this matter should also be brought to the attention of the Postal Inspector in the form of a Complaint of Mail Fraud. You agree to fully cooperate with any investigation that may result and to hold me harmless for any and all costs and inconveniences which you may experience as a result of the investigation process and its outcome.

Purchase Refund:

In making a payment to me for a purchase you agree to the following in addition to the above. All sales are final after a three day evaluation period. If you purchase an item from me you have a three day period to evaluate and then return it for a full refund minus shipping charges. If you retain the item for longer than 72 hours following its delivery to you the sale is final and your sole recourse is the guarantee.

In the event you purchase an item, keep it longer than 3 days, submit payment for it which is dishonored by the bank, and then refuse to make good the payment and return the item you agree you have used it as a rental and agree to pay rental charges of $50.00 per day per item. The rental period shall begin on the day you received the item(s) and end on the day it is returned. In addition to rental fees you agree to pay for any damages, losses and/or depreciation which may have occurred. You agree that I am the sole arbitrator of any damage, depreciation or loss determinations and assessments and that I am your sole recourse with regard to these matters. You also agree that any rental debt shall be under the terms above for a payment dishonored by the bank if it is not paid within 3 days of being communicated to you by email.

Payment for Repairs or Restoration is due:

If you are a new customer estimated repair charges are due within 10 days of the email being sent to you to inform you of the estimated charges. If you are an established customer charges for services are due and payable at the time you are notified the work is complete. Normally I will notify you by email unless you specify another method. Payment for services is due and payable within 10 days of the submission of the statement of charges to you by email. You must acknowledge receipt of this bill for services or for the estimate within 5 days of it being sent to you. If an acknowledgement is not received it will be sent to you by regular United States Mail.

If payment is not received within 10 days from the date of the sending of the email notifying you of the estimated charges or of completion of the work and billing the amount due I am no longer responsible for loss or damage to your equipment due to any cause, including but not limited to: burglary, theft, fire, flooding, earthquake, building collapse, dropping, or any other cause.

Late Payment or Equipment Abandonment:

When you ship your camera or other item here for repairs or an overhaul or you make a reservation on the waiting list you make the following agreement with me concerning them:

1. For Work Accomplished:

a. Repaired equipment from inside the USA for which payment is not received within 60 days of the sending of the first bill will be considered to have been abandoned with the condition that all rights to the item are transferred to me by you and that you retain no interest of any kind in the item.

b. Any credits such as the price of donated parts or labor shown as a credit on the invoice, with the exception of prior payments and value for equipment accepted in trade,, are cancelled effective 30 days after the notice of completion of work and bill for services is sent. These cancelled credits will be added to the amount due.

c. If, due to circumstances beyond your control you are unable to make full payment a monthly payment schedule can be arraigned that is convenient for both you and me. Establishment of a monthly payment schedule will preserve your ownership of the equipment provided payments are made as agreed.

d. If it is necessary to make improvements to your camera or other equipment to make it more acceptable for sale and you contact me to purchase back the camera after 60 days have elapsed and it has been abandoned and become my property, the charges for any improvement work accomplished or in progress will be added to other charges that must be paid to purchase the camera or other equipment..

e. You agree to hold me harmless for any and all damages; direct, indirect or consequential, you may incur as the result of late or non payment due to circumstances beyond your control or mine.

2. For Estimated Charges:

a. If payment of the estimated charges is not received within 10 days of the bill of estimated charges being sent the estimate will be considered cancelled. In the event of a cancelled estimate the owner will be informed by email of the charges to package and ship the equipment back to him. These charges will be due within 60 days and if payment for the shipping charges is not received within 60 days the equipment will be considered to be abandoned, will become my property, and will be sold. There will be a $75.00 labor and handling charge to pack and ship equipment being returned due to a cancelled estimate.

b.. You agree to hold me harmless for any and all damages; direct, indirect or consequential, you may incur as the result of late or non payment due to circumstances beyond your control or mine.

Late Payment Process:

If payment is not received within 10 days of the payment billing notice being sent to you an email notice will be sent to you to inform you that the equipment will be considered to have been abandoned and will become my property in an additional 60 days. If you do not respond to the first notice within 10 days a copy of this email will be sent to you by regular United States Mail. If payment is not received within 60 days of the first email notice the equipment becomes my property and will be sold to pay for the charges. If the equipment is sold for a price less than the charges you are still liable for the remainder and depending upon the size of this remainder it can be forgiven or a judgment obtained against you for it at my discretion.

Abandoned Equipment:

Equipment that has been abandoned will be sold to cover the repair charges. In some cases it is necessary to provide additional parts to make the equipment more marketable. If equipment is abandoned and imrproved and the owner should desire to redeem the equipment after it has been abandoned but before it has been sold the redemption price will include the cost of labor and parts provided to improve the equipment as well as the original charges and storage charges.

Traded or Sold Equipment:

Transactions that include traded equipment in exchange for estimated or due repair charges or equipment that is sold to me outright are not cancelable once the traded equipment has been received here and accepted. You agree that once you agree to a price or credit and the payment to you is put into the mail or otherwise transmitted or credited to you the equipment becomes my property and it is not subject to return unless the cancellation is agreed to by me.

Applicability of Changes to this Page:

Any changes made to this page are effective immediately when published on the Internet and are effective to any equipment for which payment has not yet been received.

Shipping

Shipping your camera to me should be by insured shipment and otherwise as suggested in the shipping instructions provided in this web site. Shipping to and from me for servicing is at your cost. Shipment to me is at your cost and from me for warranty work is at my cost for domestic destinations and shipping both ways is at your cost for destinations outside the USA. I ship normally by insured U.S. Priority Mail and by USPS insured Registered mail for foreign shipment. Fedex shipment using your Fedex number is available.

If you are from outside the USA and expect to have to pay customs duties on services and equipment purchased from me it will help you to know that you are fully responsible for the payment of any taxes or duties.

If you are outside the USA and you want to minimize any duties assessed on your equipment when it has been returned to you the best way to do this is to declare it on the way out of your country. All countries have customs declaration forms that allow you to declare equipment sent to the USA from your Country. If you use this form to declare your equipment as having the value it will have after it has been repaired I will use this same value when it is returned to you and you will not have to pay any customs duties when it is returned to you. There are no duties assessed on camera equipment sent to the USA for repair and so you don't need to worry about the value you declare on your equipment when it is sent here.

The Contax camera is very sensitive to shock and vibration. It is very possible for your camera to be further damaged during shipment to me if it is improperly packaged and it is more possible for it to be damaged during shipment to you if it is not properly packaged. I have a lot of experience in shipping Contax cameras and have learned the hard way what is required to minimize the possibility of damage to your camera while it is in shipment. So please follow these instructions with great care.

Free Packaging Offer: In the USA, If you don't want to go through all the trouble, expense and bother it will take to obtain all the necessary materials you will need to ship your camera to me for overhaul all you have to do is ask me to send you a shipping kit. I will send you, at no cost to you, a complete kit containing all the packaging materials you need to properly package your camera for shipment to me for service. I'm sorry but due to the prohibitive cost am unable to ship packaging kits to foreign destinations or for non-overhaul work. Use this link to find out all about this offer: Free Shipping Kit.

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Or You Can Do It Yourself

I realize it may cost a little money, inconvenience and time to package your camera properly. But remember that while your camera is in shipment it is in the custody of people who do not know how important it is to you and me or just how fragile it is. The packaging needs to take the place of our hands.

Shipping Address: I will gladly provide you with my address and telephone number in response to your email request for it. Just send me an email to: Henry Scherer

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Suggested Shipping Instructions

Packing Fee: I will package your camera in accordance with these instructions to return your camera to you. If the materials you use to send the camera to me are not suitable for return shipment you will be charged a $10.00 fee to cover all of my costs in obtaining and purchasing the proper shipping materials.

Outer Box: Use a new thick walled box normally 12"x12"x12" in size but smaller as suitable for smaller items like lenses..
Plastic Bag: If you are in a high humidity area put the camera in a Ziploc type plastic bag to hold the camera to protect it from moisture.
Bubble Wrap or second box: Use bubble wrap to cover the camera with at least three layers of bubble wrap (use more if you have more) or package the camera in a second box. Please do not tape the bubble wrap. Use a rubber band to keep it from unrolling. Taping the bubble wrap makes it impossible for me to reuse it when I return the camera to you.
Packing: Use foam plastic packing peanuts. Fill the box about 1/2 full, then place the camera on top of the layer of peanuts. Then cover the camera with the remaining peanuts. Fill the box so that when the flaps are closed it is necessary to compress the peanuts slightly so that the box is firm. Shake the box lightly to see if the camera can be felt to be moving. If it can, add some more peanuts. Do not use plastic balloons, wadded newspaper,r air bags, or other paper, large chunks of upholstery foam or broken up pieces of solid foam plastic to pack your camera. These provide no protection from shipping damage.
Tape: Use high quality package sealing tape to seal the box closed using a single continuous run of tape that covers the top and bottom closures with two layers of tape. There is no need to cross tape the box. Taping the box excessively makes it impossible for it to be reused when returning the camera to you.
Marking: Mark the box "Fragile" on the top and bottom of the box. DO NOT MARK THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOX TO INDICATE IT CONTAINS A CAMERA OR CAMERA EQUIPMENT.
Insurance: Insure the contents for its full market replacement value.
Communication Terms

Old camera equipment sometimes needs replacement parts the need for which is not obvious when the equipment is received or that can only be determined after it has been disassembled. If the cost of these parts is nominal they are supplied at no additional cost but for items such as prisms, lens elements and other items they are supplied at additional cost. Sometimes replacement parts are suggested to make a significant improvement in the mechanical or cosmetic condition of the equipment. The equipment owner is always notified of the need or suggestion for repair or improvement parts and for the necessary authorization of the additional cost.

If you are sent an email identifying the need or the suggestion for replacement parts at additional cost it you agree to provide a response within 24 hours of the email being sent to you at the last email address provided by you. Work on the equipment will not proceed until a response is received.

If the response is not received within 24 hours a second email will be sent to you. If no response is received the equipment will be put into storage in its current condition.

If no response is received within 10 days of the sending of the first notice it will be necessary for a good faith deposit to be paid in order for work to recommence on your equipment. The amount of the deposit will be full payment for all completed work plus 1/2 of the estimated charges for uncompleted work. A notice will be sent to notify you of the requirement for this deposit and its amount.

If the good faith deposit is not received here within 10 days of the notice being sent to you a notice will be sent to you to notify you the equipment will be considered to have been abandoned in accordance with the payment terms provided above on this page. No other notice will be provided.

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Zeiss Ikon Contax Camera Repair