I lost the port cover to the grip connection off the bottom of a D800E and after finally getting thru to Nikon service they're telling me I have to send the body in to their service dept as a repair so they can put a new cover over the grip contact. The service guy at Keeble & Shuchat had told me the same thing and I didn't believe him.

What do you think their service rate will be to push a new cover over that connection? (let alone the shipping)

Thanks Nikon, I didn't realize I could still grip my ankles!

rd4tile wrote:
....
Thanks Nikon, I didn't realize I could still grip my ankles!



Haha!

But yea, that sucks. I don't know how long this new policy will last

Fortunately the product line is good because the service and overall customer relations are absolutely abysmal.

humm, looks like its just the older bodies...

http://shop.nikonusa.com/store/nikonprt/en_US/home

rd4tile wrote:
I lost the port cover to the grip connection off the bottom of a D800E and after finally getting thru to Nikon service they're telling me I have to send the body in to their service dept as a repair so they can put a new cover over the grip contact. The service guy at Keeble & Shuchat had told me the same thing and I didn't believe him.

What do you think their service rate will be to push a new cover over that connection? (let alone the shipping)

Thanks Nikon, I didn't realize I could still grip my ankles!

e-bay may be your friend here. Have you looked to see if you can find that part on e-bay yet?

That's what I've done with previous cameras. It may be that the D800e is too new for small parts to be available outside Nikon.

Sorry to hear. I have not searched but would be interested to know if any third parties have these parts. In your shoes I'd be darned if I'm going to send the camera in and lose its use for the duration for something like that. Ludicrous.

Yeah their parts policy is insane. I understand them if they didn't sell you a new sensor or main board or something, but grips, covers, the external plastic parts, etc, just bizzaro. There's some parts on ebay like the battery cover for example, so you might try there. This is one of the things that makes me kind of regret switching. Good thing the products are good.

Cut a piece of paper to just smaller than the shape of the opening.
Place strip of gaffers tape over it and enjoy your D800e, F' da part!

tjpenton wrote:

But yea, that sucks. I don't know how long this new policy will last

Until sales drop. If sales don't drop, then they've made a great business decision. If sales do drop, then they'll probably reverse it.

I just sent my camera off to El Segundo, and according to USPS they have had it since the 5th. They will still not even confirm they have gotten it, let alone evaluated it. Thank goodness I have insurance, my insurance company said to give them until next Monday and file a police report by then. If it wasn't for me loving the ergonomics of their gear so much, I would be heavily considering moving brands

misanthropic a wrote:
I just sent my camera off to El Segundo, and according to USPS they have had it since the 5th. They will still not even confirm they have gotten it, let alone evaluated it. Thank goodness I have insurance, my insurance company said to give them until next Monday and file a police report by then. If it wasn't for me loving the ergonomics of their gear so much, I would be heavily considering moving brands

Call Nikon customer service and complain and they will contact the repair center and get an answer where it is. Sometimes it even gets checked into the system after you do it or maybe not. Depends on their mood.

misanthropic a wrote:
I just sent my camera off to El Segundo, and according to USPS they have had it since the 5th. They will still not even confirm they have gotten it, let alone evaluated it. Thank goodness I have insurance, my insurance company said to give them until next Monday and file a police report by then. If it wasn't for me loving the ergonomics of their gear so much, I would be heavily considering moving brands

A police report??!

Is it your insurance companies opinion that if they don't respond by Monday, that Nikon has stolen it??

I would be ticked if I knew full well that USPS delivered 8 days ago and no response. What a PITA.

rankamateur wrote:
misanthropic a wrote:
I just sent my camera off to El Segundo, and according to USPS they have had it since the 5th. They will still not even confirm they have gotten it, let alone evaluated it. Thank goodness I have insurance, my insurance company said to give them until next Monday and file a police report by then. If it wasn't for me loving the ergonomics of their gear so much, I would be heavily considering moving brands

Call Nikon customer service and complain and they will contact the repair center and get an answer where it is. Sometimes it even gets checked into the system after you do it or maybe not. Depends on their mood.
Sad thing is I HAVE been in contact with their CS department. I have a 9 email (replies, so 9 sent by me) convo with a CSR with Nikon. Hopefully someday they will email me or evaluate it, I have never heard of Nikon taking this long to even look at a camera, let alone check it in.

misanthropic a wrote:
I just sent my camera off to El Segundo, and according to USPS they have had it since the 5th. They will still not even confirm they have gotten it, let alone evaluated it. Thank goodness I have insurance, my insurance company said to give them until next Monday and file a police report by then. If it wasn't for me loving the ergonomics of their gear so much, I would be heavily considering moving brands

have a bit of patience with nikon right now since the el segundo offices just moved to another location on literally november 8th. im sure your stuff is somewhere, being sorted out. i visited the new location in los angeles on november 9th to drop off a couple of cameras bodies to be CLA'd, and the attendant whom i know fairly well said things are a tiny bit hectic because of the move.

We had a hurricane that wiped out the NY area. I wonder how much service was diverted to El Segundo. The reason that I bring this up is because mine has been there for three weeks. It was repaired and shipped yesterday.

I used to get little rubber covers from El Segundo.
I also got a little shoe cover from them this year for my V1
When did their parts department close?

I can't see Nikons policies on parts being good for them. It will open a door for more cheap knock offs and ebay rip offs. People will get tired of dealing with Nikon and go else where. I don't understand why they have decided to make it so hard for every one. Dosen't make very good business sense in this day and age.

Sears did this years ago. Anything with the Sears brand had to be fixed by Sears. Look where they are now, a subsidiary of Kmart.

trenchmonkey wrote:
Cut a piece of paper to just smaller than the shape of the opening.
Place strip of gaffers tape over it and enjoy your D800e, F' da part!


+10 ... the supposedly "captive" locking knob for the tripod collar on my 70-200 VR fell off and Nikon wants me to send it in for service in order to replace a $5 part. So Nikon is turning a $5 repair into a >$100 repair (when shipping & insurance is included) with this policy!!!! Gee, thanks Nikon for screwing me over.

I noticed that the locking knob socket is 1/4"-20, so I ordered a similar type screw from B&H for $5 ... and two spares just in case ... looks a little funny, but for saving myself $100+ and not having my lens gone for a month, I'll live with it.

I can't say I'm very happy with Nikon over this customer hostile practice. Does anyone know if Canon is any better? If this keeps up along with the lack of a D400, I may switch.

Andre Labonte wrote:
Does anyone know if Canon is any better? If this keeps up along with the lack of a D400, I may switch.



I couldn't say 'better' as in 'more accurate repairs'.

But better as far as turnaround time, absolutely. And they'll sell any part to anyone who calls and asks for it.