NIKON DISSAPOINTMENT (warning..LONG POST)

[BuZzZeRkEr]

A month ago I sent in my D300 under warranty to get repaired. I'm only about 5,000 exposures deep. When I was on the job my AF Illuminator went out on my SB800, then shortly after on my Nikon D300 body. I couldn't recover that AF Illuminating light that evening, but still pulled off the job.

So I didn't schedule any event jobs for the month of feb anticiapting that my D300 and speedlight will be in the shop being repaired. It was going to be an internal job since the light on the body itself and the signal through the hotshoe to speedlight light AF Illuminator is dead. Odly enough the AF Illuminator on my SB800 also went dead!! (Disclaimer - Yes I did all the preliminary testing trying different speedlights trying my speedlight on different nikons to no avail. I also triple checked to make sure I was in single servo auto focus and that AF Illuminator assist was ON in the menu. So I isolated the problem to be internal malfunction in the speedlight SB800 and the D300).

So I finally get the camera back today as it was in the shop FOR A MONTH!!! A MONTH! Having my baby back I anxiously opened the package up and gave her a test run. So I find a note taped to my D300 saying there was no problem with the camera and "Based on the results of our evaluation, we are returning the product to you and anticipate you will confirm everything is working properly as we found. If you experience any further difficulties please call our technical support group at ---------- with the product in hand and we will troubleshoot it with you"

WHAT??!!! PLEASE DON'T MAKE A MISTAKE IN YOUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAN INSULT ME! I couldn't believe it!! So I had to play this one out....so I called their troubleshooting number...it went someting like this...
nikon
"technical support."
me
"Yeah, I have an unresolved issue with my camera that I sent in to be repaired it was not, so they taped this letter to my camera for technical support so you can trouble shoot the problem with me to fix it"
nikon
"Yes I can help you with that, what is the problem.."
me
"my AF Illuminator doesn't work"
Nikon
"Whats an AF Illuminator?"
me
"Uh...."
nikon
"What model?"
Me
"D300..my af illuminator doesn't work and the note said you can help me with that"
nikon
"ok read your manual"
me
"Yeah, uh I'm a professional photographer and know my manual by inside and out"
Nikon
"ok let me try and get a d300 and walk you through it"
me
"<SIGH>"

after a few minutes of him fumbling around with the thing and the manual he basically said go into the menu and make sure that the settings we're on (he told me the the wrong settings a couple times and I had to correct him) then I assured him my settings we're on. Then the guy can't get his AF Illuminator to come on and thinks it's a firmware problem...I had to tell him to go to a dark place and try to use it. The poor guy comes back again and tells me he can't get his af light to come on....I then told him to check his C S M focus option and select S...BINGO! At least I fixed their D300, but still the genius couldn't fix my problem. So guess what?

Nikon
"Ok, your going to have to send it back"
me
"Crap, I've got 7 jobs lined up march and 2 of them are next week"

(@*#$% $%($# &$ $#&% #$&% &% $& # $&% #&$ %&#$ %& !!!!!!

I figured how much money I'm going to be out the first week alone.....
$360 Because NIKON sat my camera on a shelf for AN ENTIRE MONTH cleaned it than sent it back after they taped a condescending letter to it!! ARE YOU SERIOUS????? I can't believe it!

 

[soylentgreen]

Sorry to hear about your situation. That is piss poor customer service and not because I use Canon. You should contact their rep department. There is no way a repair should take that long. Than again it is Nikon.
When I worked at a camera shop for about 3-4 months I lost track of how many Nikon SLRs and P&S I had to ship for repair. No repair came back sooner than 5 weeks. They usually issue a estimate of repair within 10 days. Seriously. 10 days for an estimate? And that's after me having to call and request for one because they are not gonna waste a phone call to get back to an authorized dealer. They better have sent it back to Japan for repair. They need to get their act together. I had a customer with a P&S that shut-off after taking a couple of photos out of the box. Sent it to Nikon 3 times and they sent that same letter "We could not find a problem". Woulda been cheaper just to exchange it after all the shipping charges. I doubt they even looked at the camera let alone tested it. We finally exchanged it for her from our own inventory to settle things.
My Canon repairs have taken no longer than 10 days, including shipping to and from. My last repair had to replace the shutter and top plate. I am not CPS by the way. All of my dealings with Canon are first rate, so I cannot complain.
You are best off renting a camera for the time being if you are going to be out for another month.

 

[epp_b]

Nikon
"Whats an AF Illuminator?"

My experience with Nikon and timing has been as pathetic as yours: a month turn-around time, minimum, and I've had to send in a lens three times.

 

[BuZzZeRkEr]

Sorry to hear about your situation. That is piss poor customer service and not because I use Canon. You should contact their rep department. There is no way a repair should take that long. Than again it is Nikon.
When I worked at a camera shop for about 3-4 months I lost track of how many Nikon SLRs and P&S I had to ship for repair. No repair came back sooner than 5 weeks. They usually issue a estimate of repair within 10 days. Seriously. 10 days for an estimate? And that's after me having to call and request for one because they are not gonna waste a phone call to get back to an authorized dealer. They better have sent it back to Japan for repair. They need to get their act together. I had a customer with a P&S that shut-off after taking a couple of photos out of the box. Sent it to Nikon 3 times and they sent that same letter "We could not find a problem". Woulda been cheaper just to exchange it after all the shipping charges. I doubt they even looked at the camera let alone tested it. We finally exchanged it for her from our own inventory to settle things.
My Canon repairs have taken no longer than 10 days, including shipping to and from. My last repair had to replace the shutter and top plate. I am not CPS by the way. All of my dealings with Canon are first rate, so I cannot complain.
You are best off renting a camera for the time being if you are going to be out for another month.

I'm so close to switching to canon, but I love my Nikons.....when they work. I use the CLS system alot. Yeah I'm going to be out 360 bucks the first week alone if I have to rent...I'm hoping it doesn't come down to that..I've got a few more things I can try at nikon. Hopefully they can send me a loner untill they repair my D300....it's a long shot but ya never know.

 

[soylentgreen]

Try going to a Big Box retailer and purchasing one and than returning it after the job. Just a thought. Nikon WILL NOT send you a loaner unless you are NPS. Even than your name better be Annie Leibowitz or something.

 

[bhop]

No offense intended, but as a Pro, you should really have a backup body for situations like this.. I use a d200 but have my old d70 as a backup. It's not as user friendly as the d200, but better than nothing in a pinch.

Also, just curious, but is an af illuminator something that you absolutely can't do a shoot without? I mean, back before dslr's even pro cameras didn't have 'em and photographers of the day seemed to get by. Personally, if I had to choose between 'getting the job done with limitations' or not doing it at all and losing money, i'd choose the former and send in the camera for repair later when I won't lose out on jobs.

 

[Josh66]

Had to revise the post I was about to make...


OK - seems that the $360 that you'll be out is the cost of renting another body. At first I thought that was what you would loose in cancelled shoots... If the latter was the case, I would say that you are not charging enough. I don't think I could even survive on $360 a week...

 

[Josh66]

Nikon WILL NOT send you a loaner unless you are NPS.

Sorry, but what is "NPS"?

 

[BuZzZeRkEr]

No offense intended, but as a Pro, you should really have a backup body for situations like this.. I use a d200 but have my old d70 as a backup. It's not as user friendly as the d200, but better than nothing in a pinch.

Also, just curious, but is an af illuminator something that you absolutely can't do a shoot without? I mean, back before dslr's even pro cameras didn't have 'em and photographers of the day seemed to get by. Personally, if I had to choose between 'getting the job done with limitations' or not doing it at all and losing money, i'd choose the former and send in the camera for repair later when I won't lose out on jobs.

I have a backup D200, no offense taken but thanks for assuming I didn't have a back-up...uh....anyway the D200 is just not the same!

Try shooting a wedding reception without the AF illuminator I'm sure most professionals that have wedding experience wouldn't think of doing a reception without it working. I'm sure people did alot things back in the day, but hey we've come a long way since then and I don't want to miss a fantastic shot that I would've otherwise capture because my AF illuminator is messed up. It might be ok for some people to miss a couple great shots because their equipment is malfunctioning, but not for me. Thats why people hire me and seperates my quality of work from the rest.

 

[BuZzZeRkEr]

Had to revise the post I was about to make...


OK - seems that the $360 that you'll be out is the cost of renting another body. At first I thought that was what you would loose in cancelled shoots... If the latter was the case, I would say that you are not charging enough. I don't think I could even survive on $360 a week...

OK - seems that the $360 that you'll be out is the cost of renting another body
BINGO!!!! We have a winner :mrgreen:

Sorry if I didn't make my post clear, but I'm going to out $360 for PAYING for the rental....that is absolutely not what I am charging for the jobs.

 

[TheOtherBob]

Sorry, but what is "NPS"?

Nikon Professional Services, I believe.

http://www.nikonpro.com/

 

[AlexColeman]

Yeah... I have had completely different interactions with them. When I had an issue with my 70-200, I got it back in about 7 business days, cleaned, fixed, and with a nikon clear filter on it. I don't know what happened.

 

[bhop]

I have a backup D200, no offense taken but thanks for assuming I didn't have a back-up...uh....anyway the D200 is just not the same!

Try shooting a wedding reception without the AF illuminator I'm sure most professionals that have wedding experience wouldn't think of doing a reception without it working. I'm sure people did alot things back in the day, but hey we've come a long way since then and I don't want to miss a fantastic shot that I would've otherwise capture because my AF illuminator is messed up. It might be ok for some people to miss a couple great shots because their equipment is malfunctioning, but not for me. Thats why people hire me and seperates my quality of work from the rest.

Well, you said you put off booking jobs because your d300 was in the shop, why wouldn't I assume you didn't have a backup?

I'll take your word on shooting weddings, it's something I will never do by choice.

 

[BuZzZeRkEr]

Yeah... I have had completely different interactions with them. When I had an issue with my 70-200, I got it back in about 7 business days, cleaned, fixed, and with a nikon clear filter on it. I don't know what happened.

I love my Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 VR that is some serious glass!!

 

[BuZzZeRkEr]

Well, you said you put off booking jobs because your d300 was in the shop, why wouldn't I assume you didn't have a backup?

I'll take your word on shooting weddings, it's something I will never do by choice.

Simple.. because if I was at a photoshoot then my D200 failed...then what? I'm not whipping out a coolpix

Your right, weddings arn't for some photograhers it's hard work and a party at the same time.