****ed at Nikon

[Joejr14]

Alright post #2 shall be a complaint I've got regarding Nikon.

I got a D50 for Christmas as I've always loved photography but never really got that involved when I had my Minolta film SLR. Too much $$ on film and developing to ever really spend much time with it.

Anyway, I chose to spend the extra $200 and get a dSLR instead of a higher end point and shoot, and I'm glad I did. I love my D50, when it works.

About 2 months in I started having a problem where the lens (kit 18-55) would not focus in auto mode. I shoot mainly in A mode for my other side hobby (more like a business of snake breeding) and I'm forced to be in A for those pictures. Anyway, the lens would 'search' and make horrid screeching and grinding noises. I called Nikon's digital tech support and they said it was a lens issue, and to send the lens in. Okay, it's under warranty, not a problem.

Sent the lens in, got it back the very next week stating it had been tested on several Nikon bodies and it was fine. Told me if the problem persisted to send the body and the lens back so they could be tested together. This really ****ed me off, because clearly this 'problem' is not going to fix itself. Sure enough, after about 10mins of using the camera the problem started. I tried all the auto modes, and this was a problem in all of them, however it first stated in A mode and then became more of a problem throughout all modes. I called Nikon again and they told me what the note said---send the camera in.

Frankly, this is absurd. They've now had the camera (lens and body) for almost two weeks and it still says 'in shop' on their website. I think it's poor customer service to have to pay shipping and insurance TWICE on a product that clearly has a defect and is only 4 months old now, however the problem started 2 months ago. I for the life of me cannot find a phone number, email address, or snail mail address for standard customer service issues. All they have on www.nikonusa.com are numbers and email addresses for digital tech support, and service support.

Does a strictly customer service number/email/mail address exist?

Any ideas on what the problem might be and if this was a factory defect with the camera, or something I could have potentially done in 2 months of shooting?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[primus diddy]

What kind of snakes do you breed? Do you have a website?

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Nikon. Is there a camera shop around you that can give you a phone number to call?

 

[Oldfireguy]

I'm not seeing "poor customer service" here. There are not many companies that foot the bill for sending products back for repair, at least not in my experience. Nikon is a big company and I'm sure they have more cameras to fix besides yours. When you factor the time it took to get there, it really had not been as long as it seems.

I'm sure being without your camera sucks and seems like it is taking forever but the end result will be getting it back and having it work. Now if you get it back and it still have a problem then I think you have more of a right to complain about customer service.

I have had a Nikon go bad and was pleased with the customer service I received. Camera came back and worked fine but I also have three bodies so I don't have to stop shooting. Took about three weeks to get it back.

Give it another week and see what happens.

 

[Joejr14]

I'm not seeing "poor customer service" here. There are not many companies that foot the bill for sending products back for repair, at least not in my experience. Nikon is a big company and I'm sure they have more cameras to fix besides yours. When you factor the time it took to get there, it really had not been as long as it seems.

I'm sure being without your camera sucks and seems like it is taking forever but the end result will be getting it back and having it work. Now if you get it back and it still have a problem then I think you have more of a right to complain about customer service.

I have had a Nikon go bad and was pleased with the customer service I received. Camera came back and worked fine but I also have three bodies so I don't have to stop shooting. Took about three weeks to get it back.

Give it another week and see what happens.

My major complaint is that I've had to send the lens back, and then the camera body and the lens. Clearly if there wasn't a problem with the lens why send it back to me knowing I'm experiencing a problem? Makes no sense to me. A phone call stating that the lens was fine and asking whether I wanted to send the camera body in would have been appreciated, but I guess that might be a bit extreme of an expetation on my behalf. I'm just really not happy that I've been without a camera body or lens for essentially 6 weeks now and that I've had to pay to ship the lens, and then the lens and camera body back to Nikon. They pay to ship it from the factory back to me, but not from me to the factory.

I was just hoping to be able to find an email address or such so that I could discuss my 'complaint' with them. I feel that they offer a warranty and if their product goes bad, it shouldn't cost me anything to ship that product back for repair. Perhaps that's asking too much, but I don't think so.

 

[Joejr14]

What kind of snakes do you breed? Do you have a website?

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Nikon. Is there a camera shop around you that can give you a phone number to call?

I'm sure there's a camera shop somewhere in town, but at this point I don't have the camera so it does me no good. Plus, I'm not going to foot the bill when I can send it back and have it taken care of for free, even if it costs me shipping.

Anyway, I breed cornsnakes and yes, I do have a website, although it's still under construction. I've only got a few gravid females but next year will definitely be an interesting one. The website is www.calascorns.com if you're interested, but just remember it's still under construction and needs a lot more pictures.....but can't do that without a camera!