Serious Question for Nikonians

[epp_b]

My experience with Nikon Canada for warranty repair service has been about a 4-to-5-week turn-around time, which is pretty pathetic.

 

[Mike_E]

Just an FYI, in these economic times practically every company is cutting every expense they possibly can. From Hiring freezes to RIFs to draw-downs in parts and products (only ordering what they think they need to get by with).

This recession/repression (yes some of it was engineered but that's a different subject) has hurt everyone in ways both obvious and subtle. In matters of warranty repair I would suggest that you first call customer service to find out the exact channel you need to follow for your desired result. Then make sure to write down the names you are given and if there is a delay I Strongly suggest that you write a real paper letter that is polite yet to the point mentioning the names you were given and the steps you took to ease the process.

Let me reiterate: A Real Paper Letter with Names, and be Polite!

E-mail gets deleted all the time. Throwing away a physical customer complaint is still a firing offense in most places.

Being polite just raises the likelyhood of you getting your gear back in full working order with out any new issues or time bombs (a screw that's tightened but still loose enough to come out after the warrenty is up for instance ).

 

[Sw1tchFX]

First, this is a serious question, not a trying to peve anyone off thing since I am now a Canon shooter. I was a Nikon shooter for 30 + years in film and loved every minute of it.

Yesterday I stopped by one of our two photography shops where I live. This shop has been the official Nikon dealer for 30 years. He handles both Nikon and Canon. He didn't have one body on display and only a couple of Canon lenses left. He said that he had sold every body he had on hand and most of his lenses last week. Normally he has two full display cases.

He surprised me by telling me he no longer is handling Nikon, only Canon. His explanation was that he can't get merchandise in a timely manner and their repair service has ground to a halt. I was advised that he has a couple of customers that have been waiting over 6 months for lenses to be repaired and returned. Needless to say I was shocked.

Has Nikon dealer and customer service gone down hill that far or is this some weird thing going on here, because I never had or saw problems like that in all the years of shooting Nikon film gear?

I work at ritz and i'm sure you all know about the reorganization. We've had a hard time getting Nikon gear too, and it's not our fault. Nikon just isn't shipping them.

From a retailers standpoint, i'm surprised that he didn't do that SOONER.

Alot of local photo shops won't carry Nikon gear because it's too much of a pain in the butt to work with them.

 

[soylentgreen]

I worked at a local camera shop for a short stint last year. We never really had problems with Nikon or Canon supplies. Our stockroom was overflowing with D90's, Nikkor lenses, etc. for the holidays.
My main gripe was with Nikon Reapairs. I can honestly say that not one repair I sent back to Nikon; and there were plenty, was returned sooner than 5 weeks. It takes approximately 10 days for a repair estimate. Once approved, they will proceed with the work. I have lost track of how many D40's were sent in for service.
I actually won a bet from the store manager when I sent my Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS in to Canon for servicing. I had dropped it and bumped it few times and thought the sharpness was "off". He was under the impression that Canon would take 3-5 weeks to get my repair done. I told him 2 weeks tops. Low and behold, I had it back in 9 days including shipping time to and from. My manager ended up paying for lunch.
There are probably horror stories on Canon's end also, but in my dealings with them; I have only praises. I often call their tech department with very specific questions and they are more than happy to spin yarn with me. Hell, the local rep even loaned me a 1Ds Mark III and EF 200 f/2L IS to mess around with. None of my repairs have taken longer than 10 days. My only sore note with Canon is that they will not service my EF 400 f/2.8L if it ever needs servicing.

 

[Ejazzle]

Nikon stuff is always "out of stock"

 

[JerryPH]

Little tidbit from the service industry... on average, if a person receives excellent customer service, they'll convey that story to peers for 3-6 months. If they have an exceedingly bad experience, they'll continue to tell that story for 12 to 18 years.

Well that is not the "right" numbers but it does convey a fact. Good service 3-6 months and bad service is 12-18 months. This as per "how to deliver customer service excellence"... I cannot recall the author's name at this moment.

It does point out 3 important facts, though;
1. it is a lot easier to resell to an existing client than to find a new client.

2. customer service is a LOT more important than many people give it credit.

3. once you have a bad rep, it is sheer hell to get rid of it.

 

[JE Kay]

I don't know about Nikon, but Canon is about to be put to the test by me. My 100-400 L IS focus ring just 'ground' to a halt the other day. I mean ground, bearing obviously fell apart. The lens lives on a tripod and is about a month over the one year warranty. At 2K I wasn't expecting that.

Canon either repairs or replaces it at no charge or it's over to Nikon.

In saying that, I've never had a problem with Canon service on other things, but I've never had anything like this happen, so we'll see. :thumbup:

 

[flea77]

Alot of local photo shops won't carry Nikon gear because it's too much of a pain in the butt to work with them.

And those same local shops wonder why I quit buying anything at all from them

There is a really nice camera store (both consumer and pro level gear) that I must have driven by hundreds of times, I stopped once, the guy behind the counter made some snide remark about the manufacturer when I asked if they carried a brand of bag I liked, never went back, I would rather pay more and drive further (or do it online for less). That guy cost that company a small fortune in sales.

Allan

PS. Actually I lied, I did go back once, to play with a tripod to see if I liked it so I could order it from B&H :mrgreen:

 

[table1349]

Thanks for the input by everyone. It has been and interesting thread. I guess I was just so shocked at what I was hearing that I wanted some other input outside of our little flat land sphere.

 

[Early]

Let's hope Nikon isn't following Minolta out the door.

 

[Overread]

considering that there are many people switching from Canon to nikon as a result of Nikon's focus on high ISO usabilty over Canon's move for MP I hardly think that Nikon are heading out any time soon

 

[2ART]

PS. Actually I lied, I did go back once, to play with a tripod to see if I liked it so I could order it from B&H :mrgreen:

ha!