I'm trying hard not to lose it. After speaking with "customer support" about an issue I've documented elsewhere on this forum, and performing yet another camera reset, my conversation with the service rep went something like...
"I would recommend you sending the body in for service."
OK, will you be sending me a prepaid shipping invoice?
"No, sir. You would just send it in, you have to pay postage. I would also recommend you sending in the Nikon lens that is giving you the issue."
OK, what about a service order number?
"You won't get one until after we receive it and a tech provides you with an estimate."
Excuse me for sounding surprised, and more than a little annoyed, but this is a $2000 body that I've had for less than a month, and you're asking me to "just ship it", and not just it but a $1400 lens so you can just poke around with it to try and reproduce an issue I have told you is wildly intermittent - and then you're saying you will be providing me an estimate on what it will cost to fix it?!
"Well, sir, we need to make sure that no water or sand have damaged the body, in which case any necessary repair would not be covered by warranty."
You are seriously sh*tting me, right? This thing has barely left my backyard to this point.
"No sir, this is what you would need to do if you want us to help you resolve your issue."
Help ME resolve MY issue?!?!
I seriously need to take a deep breath, calm down, and dig up the personal number of the guy at Nikon I dealt with when I had a pair of D600's make 3 consecutive trips back to NY for new shutters. Then I need to spend the evening wondering why exactly it is I didn't switch to Canon when my brother (a Canon pro rep) offered me the chance.
Going to call B&H and see if someone there can help me out.
Wish you lived in Canada, friend. I live in between the Nikon and Canon headquarters. I've never had anything but amazing service from Nikon. Didn't deal with Canon when I shot Canon.
And here in Belgium nothing of these horror stories like in the US. Everybody that needed the repair center here (Procirep) has got good point forthem.
What do you expect Nikon to do in this situation? You have to get the set to them somehow if they are to look at it, and their request to verify that you haven't voided your warranty is perfectly valid - for all they know you took your D500 swimming with you and are trying to sneak in a free repair (I doubt you did, but you get the point). How else can they attempt to diagnose and repair the 'wildly intermittent' issue specific to your gear without physically having it? In the thread you linked, most of your problems also seem to be with unsupported third party products. If the body is less than 30 days old and giving you grief with the 70-200/4, just return it to B&H. I would never even consider sending something to Nikon that was within a return period, if for no other reason than to avoid the chance of shipping damage from the couriers.
Nikon pays postage both ways on service advisories & recalls, but usually only return shipping for warranty claims. The grass is certainly no greener on the other side.
I know it's frustrating if you have a problem with your gear, and it's terrifying to leave it in the hands of couriers, but if you're within the return period I don't know why you even bothered calling Nikon - just get a new one from B&H and save yourself the stress.
And here I was complaining that after laying out about 50 thousand in body's and glass, I couldn't get a loaner NPS rain hood for my 400 2.8. from the NPS people.....
If it only happens when you have third party stuff on it, Sigma or Kenko, I would hardly think Nikon will be sympathetic. New body, maybe lens firmware needs updating.
I can't see how that is bad service, as said already, they have to examine the equipment. It sounds like a comms issue with the Sigma lens, which is not their concern. You should contact Sigma, not Nikon.
Is your main gripe that you will have to pay postage to send it to Nikon? Your other complaints about service order number and estimates don't seem reasonable. They need to look at your camera before they decide if there is a problem.
I was actually happy to pay for shipping (one way) to hasten the process
of getting my 3 Li-20 replacement batteries. My first and only dealing with
Nikon 'customer service' (CA) was splendid.
I suggest you send an email to Nikon support asking them to try what you have suggested. Posting on this forum informs other photographers of the issue, not Nikon.
Long story short, the issue is fully documented, with video supporting it, with both 3rd party and Nikon products (70-200mm F4 and 300mm F4 as of Tuesday). That buys me nothing with Nikon, and while I get the desire to inspect the body, I'm not shipping lenses with it when I have video to document it.
That said, I spoke with B&H and they are happy to exchange mine for a new body. The bad news is that I need to send it in and wait for them to get their next shipment from Nikon, but at least it'll be resolved.
I've had better than average customer service from Nikon in the past, but this is beyond subpar. And I'm still waiting on my batteries. They said 5-10 days, but I could have walked there in less time.
good to hear b&h had resolved your problem. care to post the s/n of the body for reference should it ever showed up on the refurbished list??
btw, it's bad business for the prime manufacturers such as nikon, canon, etc... to endorse or support 3rd party products, unless they get a cut of the revenue.
tntcorp wrote:
good to hear b&h had resolved your problem. care to post the s/n of the body for reference should it ever showed up on the refurbished list??
btw, it's bad business for the prime manufacturers such as nikon, canon, etc... to endorse or support 3rd party products, unless they get a cut of the revenue.
When it goes in I'll post it (I need it for a shoot this weekend and B&H were fine with me sending it in next week).
And yes, I get the lack of an endorsement for 3d party gear, which is why I didn't bother even speaking to them until it happened with a Nikon lens.
Hmm, my dealings with NPS have been really pleasant so far. Each time I've sent in a camera body and/or lens, I get it back within a week.
The only issue was with my 24-70 when the rear mount got pushed in... they told me the parts were on backorder. But I was able to get a 24-70E on loan for about 3.5 weeks and only had to pay shipping one-way.
Then again, are you using off-brand products with your Nikon bodies?
well, I just received my replacement 20 batteries (3). the second issue since 2008 and they did the job.
I have (3) 3rd party lenses that are being used on the D500:
11-16/2.8 Tokina works fine
150/2.8 Sigma OS macro works good
120-300/2.8 S Sigma zoom works good.
I have a few other Nikon FX lenses that I don't use on this body and they also work fine
as of today 6 Nikon v20 EN-EL15 batteries
I personally have no issues sending gear back to Nikon under their system.
and please don't try to use the Canon card. I spent 5 years dealing with issues with their bodies. luckily they were 40 minutes from my house. 3 bodies totaling approx. $18000 investment (1Ds, 1Ds2, 1D3). and everything took time for parts. I was a CPS member before it was a "pay to play" multilevel club.
the grass that looks greener turns out to be spray painted
