Hasselblad USA Service Center Closed/Relocated? Expertise to Repair? ***UPDATED WITH OFFICIAL RESPONSE ***
Related: Hasselblad, Hasselblad medium format, Hasselblad mirrorless, Hasselblad X2D 100C, medium format, optics, Roy P
re: Hasselblad X2D
UPDATE Nov 7: various readers confirm that essentially what is stated below is in fact the situation. There is a quote on this forum from a Anthony McCall of Hasselblad (unofficial, but looks real) confirming the closure/move.
Update Nov 9: see official Hasselblad response towards bottom.
A reader here forwarded the following:
I wanted to inform you that the Hasselblad service office in New Jersey is closing. The office will relocate to California. Your equipment will be shipped to the California location for repair. Please be aware that the new office will open at the end of the month, so there will be a delay with your repair. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks
Anthony McCall Hasselblad Technical Support Representative
[original post] Hasselblad USA Service Center Closed/Relocated? Expertise to Repair?
I disclaim any viewpoint on the veracity or lack thereof of the information below. Consider it rumor unless confirmed. However, it is so important that I felt my readers should be made aware of it ASAP.
- I have a call into the service manager (voice mail), asking for confirmation/details and I will update this post accordingly, should I receive a response.
- I have sent an inquiry to Hasselblad marketing, offering to publish any comments/clarification that Hasselblad wishes to provide.
I will publish here any information Hasselblad wishes to articulate once a response is received.
Hasselblad service center changes
A subscriber sent me this note today. Name withheld by request, for a legitimate reason.
Just found out today that Hasselblad’s NJ service facility was told this past Monday that they are closing. They are now closed.
All their equipment has been packed and sent to what appears to be a DJI facility in Los Angeles. The LA facility has no technicians trained to repair Hasselblad equipment and the company has no plan to take care of pro or consumer customers with equipment that is already in NJ for repair.
This is a crazy situation, that certainly seems like a story worth looking into.
The NJ manager of 25+ years who has been downsized is **********. NJ phone is ***-***-****...
Pros need fast and reliable service
Pathetic 1-year warranty, though Hasselblad is not alone in so-doing, with most vendors sucking just as much.
X2D image quality is fantastic, but even the very best image quality is useless should the camera and/or lenses need service. Pros in particular have critical needs for rapid and competent service.
Personally, I want to know that I can get my gear serviced with a time frame at least 5 years out as a bare minimum, and in one week or less. For example, Sony has turned around my camera in a single day, and each and every time (3 times I’ve needed service)—impressive!
Roy P writes:
I had another friend also tell me recently to not go anywhere near Hasselblad. Apparently, he has a 50+ year negative history with Hasselblad/
However, this current story is certainly bizarre. Any professional product manufacturer, in any field, doesn’t act like this, so products in for repair or service are all packed up and put in limbo. Considering they came out with a new body with the long overdue 100 MP sensor and two new lenses, they are certainly going to be in business with their new Chinese owners.
Most likely, this was just clumsy handling of their internal operation – a company has a right to reorganize itself, and these kinds of shutting down one location and moving it to another happens all the time. Only, these things are done privately, with very few customers actually even finding out about it. In this case, it looks much more visible to customers, which brings bad PR. Hopefully (for Hassy customers) it’s nothing worse than that.
DIGLLOYD: agreed that such things happen in general, except not so much with service centers having only a few (very few) skilled technicians for very specific gear. If the skilled technicians do not move from east coast to west, then how does Hasselblad replace those skills in the short/medium term... an impossible task since it takes years for a technician to become really skilled/proficient in solving oddball issues.
Official Hasselblad Response
Received 2022-11-09
In order to improve our services, we are moving the US Hasselblad service center to a new location in Burbank, California, starting November 7, 2022.
The new address is: Hasselblad Inc., 201 S. Victory Blvd., Burbank, CA 91502. All existing repairs will be transferred to the Burbank, California service center.
Due to this adjustment, our US repair service may experience temporary delays, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
We expect to complete this move by the end of November 2022 and appreciate your patience and understanding during this transition.
To learn more about this change or to contact customer support, please e-mail us at support.us@hasselblad.com.
Diane DiVincenzo
PR Director of Hasselblad
