4 replies to this topic

[GracieAllen]

Nikon D500, D850, D7200 (and a few older models).

 

The 28-300 that normally lives on the D850 has been doing "interesting" things - The autofocus mostly works, but the information on focus distance is all over the place.  Pointing at the same subject that may be 20 feet away, one time it'll read 10 meters, another 3 or 5, and so on.  For something very far away, it will most likely STILL be 10 meters or 3 or something in between.  When shooting at night and using the focus dial to manually set the lens to infinity, I'm not sure where it's focusing, but it fer SHER isn't infinity.

 

Occasionally, it THINKS it's autofocused, but through the view finder it's clearly not focused on what it's aimed at.

 

SO, off it went to Nikon 11 days ago.  UNFORTUNATELY, I can't find the original invoice, so though I know it's less than 5 years old, Nikon is going to charge for the repair.

 

Today I figured I'd best call service and see when they'd have an estimate.  And found out you CANNOT CALL NIKON SERVICE any more....  And the phone answerer at the only number they publish says "WE don't have a number for Nikon service and CANNOT CONTACT THEM".

 

A few minutes ago, an email came in wanting me to authorize the $300 repair (no details of course telling me WHAT they'll be doing for $300) and provide a credit card number AND THERE'S NO WAY TO CONTACT REPAIR DIRECTLY ON THE REPAIR AUTHORIZATION EITHER!  Back to the same 800-645-6687 number, wait for a phone answerer, give them the information, hope it gets to repair in a timely manner, and that repair gets this thing fixed reasonably quickly

 

Its been a few years, but in the past I've been able to contact Nikon Service in Ronkonkoma and get an actual LIVE HUMAN on the phone, tell them what was going on (and how critical it is - as in when your D810 does a firmware update and turns itself into a brick, it's fairly critical), and make arrangements for the equipment to be fixed...  Sent images to show them what was happening, had them call me, and so on. 

 

This current system sucks.  I expected better from Nikon, though these days I guess it shouldn't be a surprise.

 

[Ron]

Did you register your lens online? If so, they should have the serial number in their database.

 

What you described sounds totally bizarre! I'm sorry that I don't have anything else to offer but I'm hoping that you get things straightened out ASAP.

 

Please let us know how this is finally resolved.

 

--Ron

[GracieAllen]

That's a failure on my part.  I've never specifically registered any of the multiple bodies or dozen or so lenses with Nikon since I rarely have needed them to do anything, and I NORMALLY keep the paperwork from when it was bought.  I'd be curious to see if Nikon would accept the registration and NOT demand the original paperwork since their repair requirements specifically demand the original purchase documentation.

 

I'm less bothered by the lens failure and having to pay for the repair than I am with Nikon's unwillingness to provide direct access to their repair service.  I don't have this problem with Sigma - you can pick up a phone and get a person that has some clue and can provide a whole lot more support than whoever it is that's now answering the phones for Nikon.  Same thing at Tamron.  Same thing at Kenko. 

 

I don't know if Canon has become so incredibly customer unfriendly or not, but it definitely wasn't this way at Nikon not all that long ago.

 

Customer service so many places has deteriorated to the point where it's noteworthy when a company actually addresses a problem quickly, efficiently and directly.  I find that sad.

[GracieAllen]

Eleven days after I authorized them to repair the lens, I received a snail mail letter to provide the same authorization.  And called.  It appears that not only can't you talk to repair directly, on Saturday you can't talk to ANYONE at Nikon.  Recording says they're available Monday - Friday.

 

So, called back today and got a person who said the authorization went through, and they're "working" on it.  "Oh, they're on a parts hold.  And I DON'T HAVE ANY ETA FOR THE PARTS.  Hopefully, we'll know in a day or two when we can expect them."

 

Hopefully?

 

So, a few weeks since it was sent, and thirteen days since the repair was authorized, and it appears Nikon USA doesn't have the parts to fix the autofocus, and has NO idea when they'll get them...

 

I hope Nikon is more responsive to people that have to rely heavily on their equipment. 

[Ron]

Well, it seems Nikon is getting worse in terms of customer service. And, I didn't think that was possible.

 

I hope everything turns out OK.

 

--Ron