Last week, photographer Dan Martland published a video on Instagram where he claims that a two-day old Hasselblad X2D II 100C that he purchased from Pictureline started to significantly malfunction. After trying to work with Hasselblad directly to resolve the issue, the camera company and Pictureline both declined to replace the unit, citing severe water damage.
“Not even 24 hours old and it unexpectedly died on me,” the photographer says.
Martland is an accomplished visual professional who says he has more than 20 years experience working as a full-time, multi-skilled lighting camera operator and editor for a number of UK broadcast networks. In 2015, he struck out on his own and has been working globally on broadcast and documentary projects from his home-base in New York.
“Purchased brand new from Pictureline and received the unit on Monday afternoon via ups. Opened up, did firmware updates and headed out to get sunset photos in New York City,” he explains. Pictureline is a large and trusted retailer with locations in Salt Lake City, Utah and Boise, Idaho. “Tuesday morning I turned the camera on at home and it seemed to have developed a fault.”
The “fault” he is referring to is rather extreme. While the visuals in the posted video are enough to show something isn’t right, the sounds are even more alarming.
“I called Hasselblad directly to get tech help. They advised me to do a factory reset and calibrate the sensor. This didn’t seem to help fix the issue,” Martland continues.
“Rather than sending it back to Pictureline, I decided to deal with Hasselblad directly as they said they would set up a case and exchange the unit for a new one. So they sent me a shipping label so I could return it back to Hasselblad.”
After Hasselblad received the unit, Martland says the company emailed him to say that it would not be able to exchange or repair it, as it exhibited signs of water damage. Martland says he is baffled by the decision.
“This made no sense to me as it was nowhere near any water or liquids. How?!!! All I did was take a few sunset photos from inside a skyscraper in New York City on a dry night?!” he writes.
Martland then reached out to Pictureline who, after a day looking into the issue, told Martland that they stood with Hasselblad’s decision: they would not be refunding, exchanging, or repairing the camera.
After Martland’s post went viral, Pictureline took to Instagram on Sunday to fully explain the situation and why it sided with Hasselblad:
Pictureline is aware of the social media attention being received surrounding a hasselblad X2D II camera body which is no longer working. We feel it is important to clarify our role in the situation and address some misinformation that is circulating.
The customer experiencing issues purchased a Hasselblad X2D Il from us and a brand new factory sealed unit was shipped to him. He has acknowledged in several posts that the unit arrived factory sealed and un-used. The next day, when he experienced issues with the camera, he contacted Hasselblad directly and subsequently sent the camera to them for repair/replacement.
We first learned about the issue with the camera when we received a phone call from Hasselblad factory service. They shared with us that they had received the camera and that the customer was requesting a replacement. The request was being denied because the camera had “significant water damage, with visible liquid still present inside the unit, as well as evidence of short circuits.” They reached out to prevent us from replacing a unit that would not otherwise qualify because of the liquid damage.
Shortly after receiving this communication from Hasselblad, we received a call from the customer. He was honest about the information he received from Hasselblad, and shared frustrations with his interaction with their repair facility. We offered to reach out with additional company contacts to see if we could gather any additional information or work to find an alternate solution to help. It was unclear from the customer’s interaction if there had been water exposure to the package while in shipment to Hasselblad, so this was a specific area of interest for us in our outreach.
Hasselblad representatives were able to confirm that the external and internal packaging were dry and did not exhibit any signs of water exposure.
They also confirmed that the moisture damage to the camera was visible upon preliminary examination, and this discovery led to their decision to disassemble the camera, ultimately revealing the complete extent of the damage to the camera.
Because of this damage, Hasselblad is unwilling to replace the camera either directly to the customer or through pictureline.
Integrity and transparency are core values for pictureline, and we work diligently to build long-term, trust-based relationships with our customers, whether it is your first purchase, or you’re a regular. This trust has allowed us to continue to grow in an industry where it is easier than ever to purchase from big box retailers or online power sellers instead of local and regional cameras stores.
Unless clearly labeled as “open box” or “used,” all the products we carry are new, unused, never grey market, and we proudly stand behind everything we sell. But as with many consumer electronics, our ability to replace or warranty a product is at the discretion of the manufacturer, in this case Hasselblad.
Because of the respectful communications we’ve had with the customer, it’s been disappointing to see comments become personal, attacking our business and integrity. We hope we’ve been able to clarify our role in this situation and sincerely hope for the best for the customer involved.
Pictureline’s explanation has quelled some of the anger the business was facing, but not all of it. Many still hold the retailer accountable for what they see as Hasselblad’s poor decision.
“I know the person, personally who is also a professional camera man with film. Knowing his background and him, I can assure you he did nothing to that camera. You are a very large company therefore you could have made this right and earned a professional client for life. Good business is about happy clients as happy clients return and refer. Referrals are worth millions. I am sure you can still make this right,” photographer Veronica Yacono writes in response to Pictureline’s explanation.
“I am annoyed with both [Hasselblad and Pictureline], as Pictureline sold the camera and should have made the manufacturer accountable or just taken care of their client.”
“Foolishly I bought this camera with a debit card and not a credit card so I feel like I’m out of options,” Martland concludes. “I’m really not one for causing problems on social media, but I feel it’s the only way I can get the attention of Hasselblad. I’m really hoping they’re listening and do the right thing.”