Another reason why I stick with Nikon after 40 years!

[richard_ilomaki]

Hello

 

I have just had a minor repair done on a Nikon film scanner which is

two years out of warrantee. When I asked what the charge was they

said: "no Charge"!

 

I bought my first Nikon-an F - in 1965 and have had many many

cameras, lenses -35 mm and LF and now a scanner since then. I have

had excellent service from the local Nikon agent here in Singapore-

operating out of Shriro House- and will continue buying, using and

promoting Nikon products for another 40 years, I hope.

 

My latest is a Coolpix 5000 from which I got a razor sharp 12 x 12

inch print from a 14 meg file right out of the camea- no sharpening

or interpolation: super!!

 

Cheers

[tom_menegatos]

I'm happy you get good service in your area but when I had to go to Nikon I got had a completely different experience.

 

I had brought a scanner in to the Long Island, NY Facility. They had quoted me one fixed price when I dropped it off. They said it didn't matter what was wrong with it, that's the base fee. The guy also told me that I'm going to get a postcard in the mail saying it's ready but it really won't be ready then. I should wait for the second post card. So I get the first postcard and first thing I notice is that the charge was a bit higher than what I was qouted. So I just wait for that second post card. Keep Waiting and waiting. Finally I decide to call and they tell me it's ready and didn't know what I was talking about regarding the second postcard thing and told me the difference in price must have been the tax. Don't know anyone that charges 25% tax. Anyway... I can't figure out why I'm being charged more and unfortunately couldn't find my documentation from the first person. I go pick up my scanner, they tell me their scanner service fee is a set price and the first guy must have misquoted me.

 

So I take my scanner home and plug it in and test it out. By the thrid or forth scan I start seeing the problem again. I don't know what they did to the scanner but they didn't fix the problem I was having. The must have charged me around $400 to fix some problem I wasn't even having. So again I drive in drop off the scanner and explain they didn't fix anything. They finally get it right the second time.

 

I don't know what it was but I think mine was a "minor repair" as well since the second time around they fixed it much quicker than the first time.

 

Maybe things are different there in your area but I had a horrible experience where I brought it to. They were nice in some respects though. I can't remember if it was the first or second time I went back for the scanner I had called ahead to make sure I could test it before I brought it back. The woman on the phone put me on hold then came back and said someone would be able to do that. When I get there they tell me all their service technicians are in a meeting and that it would be impossible to have someone test it. I'm pretty sure it was the second time because I was so ticked off they would return me a product that was still broken the first time.

 

I really like the features and performance of the Nikon scanners but because of this, when it comes time to upgrade this is going to be a serious factor for me to consider.

 

Other companies like beseler and jobo will help you trouble shoot a problem over the phone and let you order the parts over the phone to fix it yourself. My camera manufacter will send individual parts and I've been able to fix my own flash. Nikon's tech support people wouldn't even let me email them a file to show them what the problem was. So instead I'm sitting on the phone with her trying to explain it verbally and she's having me recheck my scsi connections and reboot a half dozen times. I don't even think anyone bothered to see what was wrong with the scanner until the second time I brought it in.

 

Damn, I'm all worked up over this whole thing again. I'm can't remember if I emailed my complaint to them before. I'm sure I did but I'm going to send it again just in case.

[ilkka_nissila]

It's just that the US prices don't justify providing proper service. The rest of the world pays more for the items and we get excellent service, usually free of charge.

[david_h._hartman]

<em>"It's just that the US prices don't justify providing

proper service. The rest of the world pays more for the items and

we get excellent service, usually free of charge." --Ilkka

Nissila<br>

</em><br>

Are you sure the price you pay does not include higher import

duties, protective tariffs, value added tax (whatever the hell

that is) or some other form graft and corruption? Or maybe the

one that really ticks Americans off, a stamp tax.<br>

<br>

Strange how our attitude towards the gray market has changed. One

December 16th in 1773 we threw cargo of three ships into Boston

Harbor. That cargo was Gray Market Tea.<br>

<br>

Regards,<br>

<br>

Dave.

[ilkka_nissila]

Americans pay VAT too (it's just not included in the advertised price like it is here), and if you go and buy lenses in New York, you pay New York tax, etc.

 

I am unsure about protective taxes, as the only company that I think they'd try to protect here is Leica, whose prices are so high that it really doesn't matter what the price of the Japanese lenses cost ... they'd still beat them in value/price.

 

I think maybe there is a 10-15% difference in taxes/tolls but the price differences can be as high as 40%. Nikon in Europe simply take more for themselves. Labour costs more here for the employer, because of various things that the employer has to provide for the worker, also income is taxed more. So it is understandable that there is a difference in prices. But still, the fact remains that we rarely need to paid for post-warranty service, and people in the US do, and sometimes are refused service alltogether.

[tom_menegatos]

Richard, by the way, what was the problem you were having with your scanner in the first place?

 

Thanks,

Tom

[._._z]

<i> Americans pay VAT too </i><p>

 

They are different animals. VAT is a tax on the final consumption of goods and

services but is collected at every stage of production and distribution. A sales tax is

what it says it is.

[h_d4]

I'm sticking with Nikon too, after a brief dalliance with a cute little number from Canon. My slide scanner, and old but sturdy LS-20 keeps plugging along, and I recently was pleased to find a new scanner driver and scan software had been written for it and was free to download from the Nikon site.

 

However, my dedication to Nikon wavers a bit when I think about all those luscious pixels in the full frame 1Ds. Hopefully the N guys will blow the Canon away with the D2x...