Defective Nikon D80

[tobys bits]

Dear All,

 

I finally picked up my 30th birthday present yesterday - A shiny new Nikon D80

from Jessops in Newbury (United Kingdom). The cost was 699 GBP, which is

exactly the same as warehouseexpress.com.

 

After finally coercing the missus into letting play with it last night, I

noticed to my horror that there was a dead pixel in the display. I called

Jessops this morning and they said they didn't have a replacement body in stock,

but they'd see if they could get hold of one and call me back.

 

Much to their credit, they called back only an hour or two later to tell they

had a replacement body in stock and I could pop in and swap it over. So now

I've got my new body and I'm happy as Larry, although it made me think twice

about buying the warranty for another 80 GBP or so. Initially I turned it down,

but now I'm thinking perhaps it would be a good idea, especially when the girl

in Jessops told me there was a fixed price for Nikon repairs - Nearly 200 GBP!

Although I guess this only counts for problems that are outside of the

manufacturers warranty, so

it's probably not worth it.

 

Has anyone else not taken out warranty and then regretted it afterwards?

 

Cheers,

Toby

 

PS - I took a few snaps on the way home, including one of this handsome swan.

The camera produced incredible results, I'm delighted with it.<div></div>

[rjeffrey]

I worked retail for many years and it was common knowledge that extended warranties are generally valid for rare purchases and otherwise looked down upon. Most are never collected upon, and if they are - be ready to jump through some hoops. The Nikon warranty should be enough. (Nice swan - but a bit overexposed ;)

[ShunCheung]

It is well known that extended warranties are bad deals for the purchaser.

 

Additionally, I see lots of D70 and D70s owners upgrading to the D80 lately. Even the oldest D70 is not yet 3 years old. The oldest D70s is just over a years old and the original one-year warranty has recently expired. If you are the type who likes to upgrade to the latest technology, it is questionable whether you'll keep the camera for long enough into the 3rd year.

 

I have been using Nikon for 29 years, and only a couple of items went back for warranty repair within the first year. After 9 bodies, nothing has ever been repaired in the 2nd or 3rd year. That includes a D100 that is now over 4 years old.

[anthony_bez]

Toby, The extended warranty with Jessops is independent of Nikon. They do not send the camera back to nikon. It is sent to the insurers repair facility, that repair general electrical items including cameras.

 

I would keep the 80.00 quid!

[g._armour_van_horn]

I've only bought an extended warranty once, they're normally not a good deal. That occasion was when I bought a used Kodak DCS-760 for about $800. Since that was a $7,000 camera when new, just about anything that could possibly go wrong with it is going to cost an arm and a leg to deal with, and I rarely have spare limbs sitting around. My warranty cost me about the same proportion of my purchase price as yours did, but it was only about 1.25% of original cost, which made it seem like a good bet.

 

I don't think you could ask for a better exposure on that swan without convincing the bird to wander into a studio and pose. I don't see many swans on my walks around this neighborhood, and no birds that will let me get nearly that close!

 

You also lucked out with the store. I believe that there is a standard for how *many* dead pixels are allowed on an LCD, I think most laptop makers have declared that three dead pixels are acceptable.

 

Van

[tobys bits]

Thank you all for your helpful advice. I'll think I'll keep my 80 quid... Sounds like it's unlikely I'll ever use the warranty.

 

And thanks Van for your kind words. Where I took the picture is a great spot where people always feed the swans, so when you wander up they think they're about to get a tasty treat :->