By Ding Qingfen (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-16 06:56

A woman rides a bicycle past a Kodak billboard in Shanghai. [newsphoto]

There will be no let-up in Chinese consumers' battle against international imaging major Eastman Kodak over its "defective" cameras, say aggrieved buyers.

In March, 19 Chinese consumers filed a suit against Kodak, claiming its LS443 model had design flaws and demanding free replacements or a refund.

Shanghai Pudong New Area District People's Court held hearings on August 7 and 8, and is expected to pronounce its final judgment later this month or early September.

Wang Naichun, representing the 19 plaintiffs, said they would not give up. "We will go on appealing to the court till we have a satisfactory outcome," said the 40-year-old government official.

"Kodak can't meet unreasonable requirements, and we are waiting for a fair outcome," countered Tian Geng, Kodak's spokesperson.

"These consumers may only have lost a camera, but Kodak has lost trust," said Deng.

The model, LS443, appeared in the local markets in December 2002. Since 2005, some 800 consumers have found the same problems on the product, including blank screens, overexposure and malfunctioning lenses, within a year of purchase.

The China Consumers' Association last year sent samples to a camera quality inspection in Xi'an and the result showed the problems resulted from poor design.

Kodak insists LS443 had passed Chinese quality inspection before it was put onto the market and said it has been trying all possible means to put an end to the embarrassing situation.

"Last year, we carried out a compensation plan, allowing consumers to replace their cameras with a new one for amounts ranging from 100 to 1,650 yuan," said Tian.

But this is far from what consumers want, said Wang. "We want equal treatment for all consumers," said Wang.

The defective cameras were also found in Taiwan Province in 2005. In July 2005, Kodak reportedly replaced all defective cameras in the province.