Nikon USA to stop selling camera parts to independent repair shops

[jose_angel]

<p>Hmmm, this sounds familiar to me... Next step will be that only Nikon USA will sell/guarantee/repair Nikon products... all other possibilities are "out of the law". After that, an insane pricing policy, waiting lists, servicing delays, etc. etc.<br /> I`m afraid this time the "globalization" is going from Europe to America...</p>

[Uhooru]

<blockquote>

<p>Toyota <em>does</em> decide to whom they will sell their own parts, Jerry. Third parties who don't want to operate in cooperation with Toyota can use any of an ocean of third-party parts. Which is why you're making a poor analogy.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>As far as I know, any repair shop can send a runner over to the counter at the Toyota dealer and buy or order an authorized Toyota part. It's just that they have to pay retail for it maybe minus the sales tax pass through. Do you know different?</p>

 

[Ian Rance]

<p>As Nikon UK is so hard to deal with regarding spare parts this will be a real blow I think. Last time I wanted a rubber grip for my F5 I was told by Nikon that they would not sell the part to me as I was not 'qualified' to fit it. The price they quoted if I were to order via 'someone qualified' was enough to make me choke. They were abrasive and I ended up just saying goodbye. Over on eBay I ordered from a small independant supplier for $30 per part and fitting myself (and doing so knowing that I am competent to do it properly).<br>

Their normal customer helpline for parts ordering is very poor but once I somehow got put straight through to the 'pro' department (a mistake I think) and they were great and sent out a small screw and film retainer for a fiver.</p>

[Monophoto]

<p>IL don't understand this at all. This policy seem to have lots of downside, and no upside for Nikon. </p>

<p>Don't want to stereotype here, but this strikes me to be about as 'tone deaf' as the way that Toyota handled some of there problems a while back. Do the Japanese have a different view of customer service?</p>

[Spearhead]

 

 

<blockquote>

<p>I have heard that Leica has excellent customer service.</p>

</blockquote>

 

 

<p>Are you saying that they will fix Nikons?</p>

[anand_dhupkar]

<p>So what happens to the warranty that I bought for my D7000 that I bought from B&H ?</p>

 

[henryp]

<blockquote>

<p>So what happens to the warranty that I bought for my D7000 that I bought from B&H ?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It's warranted by Nikon USA. Your situation is unchanged as long as you use an authorized repair facility should the need arise.</p>

<p>It's my <em><strong>personal </strong></em>opinion this is an anti-grey market move. I think there are unintended consequences for the used market.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>It's my <em><strong>personal </strong></em>opinion this is an anti-grey market move.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Clearly it is. Grey-market products hurts Nikon USA. If I were Nikon USA, I too would try my best to kill off grey market. Meanwhile, B&H, Adorama, etc. make lots of money selling grey-marekt products. Therefore, their interests are different.</p>

<p>Like Dave Wilson, my Nikon products rarely require service, and sometimes they need service before I drop a lens or something. With today's complex DSLR and AF-S VR lenses, I would either send my equipment back to Nikon for repair or send to big repair centers such as Authorized Photo Service in the Chicago area. Today's environment is very different from 50 eyars ago when cameras and lenses were mainly mechanical devices that a lot of independent "mom and pop" shops could repair.</p>

<p>Additionally, gray-market is not limited to new cameras and lenses; there are many outside sources for parts. Nikon USA cannot control those.</p>

[henryp]

<blockquote>

<p>If I were Nikon USA, I too would try my best to kill off grey market.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>But the contrast to how Canon USA has addressed this issue is noteworthy.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

[jose_angel]

<p>I think so, too. And I also think that there will be also consequences not only for the used market, but for everything, european market included.</p>

<p>I`m pretty sure the brand Nikon has survived in a certain european country thanks to that american grey market. I suspect that a wrong monopolistic management in that country has greatly contributed to the overwhelming leadership of Canon. Many people were forced to buy Nikon overseas because prices were simply doubled in europe. No way of buying spare parts, extremely bad repair services, clumsy and odd procedures with customers, etc.</p>

<p>I`m now disconnected from this camera world, so I don`t know how it currently works. I see that at least prices are a bit more reasonable.</p>

[bms]

<p>If the fact is any indication that Nikon now has had my V1 and it took them more than 2 weeks to even process it (it still does not show up online in their system though it will allegedly be finished this week), I'll see service further deteriorate. I had good experiences so far, but now I am a but weary....</p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>But the contrast to how Canon USA has addressed this issue is noteworthy.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It really puzzles me why Canon USA is not completely hostile to gary market Canon products. IMO they are not playing it smart. You might not like what I say here, but Nikon's approach makes far more sense to me.</p>

<p>It also puzzles me why Canon has not entered the mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera market, but that is a different topic, and I can't imagine that it'll stay that way for long.</p>

[paulr]

<p>Leica tried the same thing several years ago. Didn't fly with customers and Leica reversed their decision. Things have changed over the past several years. The cameras back then were mostly the Leica film cameras with mechanical parts. <br>

Are independents outside of the manufacture capable of repairing a digital camera? I don't know....</p>

[scott_ferris]

Matt,

 

Toyota do not decide who to sell genuine parts to, you can order them from any Toyota dealer and via Toyota direct from

Japan, you do not need to be a certified Toyota agent to use certified Toyota parts. If you want to fit genuine parts they

are readily available, if you want to use generic parts they are often available, when the auto designers tried to make

replacement parts copyright able they failed.

 

If this is true it is just a bean counters way of making money, service work is a good source of income, even if you say it

cant be fixed, that means a customer has to, cost effectively, buy a new camera to use their current lenses.

 

I used to buy Costa Del Mar sunglasses, they are expensive but very good and had excellent after sales service and

backup, I'd recommend them very highly and many people got them on my recommendation. Then they changed their

repair pricing, their service fell off a cliff and I won't buy them again or recommend them, they don't care, they make more

money. I am happy, I use and wholeheartedly recommend Maui Jim's, their backup and repair is not a money making

venture set up to nickel and dime genuine owners.

[alex_lofquist]

<p>Perhaps Toyota will service your Nikon with genuine Toyota parts?</p>

[emiliogtz]

<blockquote>

<p>It really puzzles me why Canon USA is not completely hostile to gary market Canon products.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Maybe it's just because Canon is a bigger and more diverse company, perhaps they can afford it and let the customers be, for the time being.</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>Jose, why would a European customer be dependent on the American gray market? Even if it hadn't existed we could still have obtained substantial savings by simply ordering the Nikon USA item (in the old marketplace where the prices in Europe were substantially greater than USA prices; today the difference is quite small apart from the VAT).</p>

[acbeddoe]

<p>Watch companies (e.g. Rolex, Omega, Zenith, Breitling, ...) have been doing this for some time. I used to repair watches but I can no longer get parts - they put me out of business.<br>

I think these companies are just being greedy. This is clearly restraint of trade.</p>

[henryp]

<blockquote>

<p>Jose, why would a European customer be dependent on the American gray market? Even if it hadn't existed we could still have obtained substantial savings by simply ordering the Nikon USA item...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>But today Nikon USA restricts authorized US retailers who are not permitted to ship a Nikon digital slr to any address outside the USA.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

[Uhooru]

<blockquote>

<p>But today Nikon USA restricts authorized US retailers who are not permitted to ship a Nikon digital slr to any address outside the USA.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I guess it's relative. It seems that the gray market in the States is the HK dealers, no?</p>

[peter_e]

<p>The solution is that gray importers need to import gray parts as well. Perhaps cheaper than Nikon USA would have provided them.<br>

Independent repair shops should get organized and follow the independent car repair shops that managed to strike a deal with car manufacturers after the Right to Repair bill was introduced in 2001. Check wikipedia after it is back up again.</p>

[petrana_batik]

<p>This also spells doom to those proficient enough to service their own Nikon equipment. <br>

So far, Nikon service has been sub-par. My local technician is far better skilled than the folks that man the South California service center, and IF he has a part in hand, his turn around time is measured in days, not weeks or months. To add insult to injury, Nikon Japan has been reluctant on selling parts as well. <br>

My take? Nikon needs you to buy new hardware, not keep servicing your FM2. They will stop at nothing to force you to upgrade.</p>

[steven_p]

<p>Many times over the years, I've phoned Nikon Parts Dept, provide a CC and they mail me what I ask for. (They have my mailing address on file.) The last time was within a year ago.</p>

<p>I am not an authorized "anything."</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>Ilkka, you`re right; but in the past, although there was a little difference I bet most people favoured gray items over the USA ones. But when the grey was not available, they have had the chance of buying USA or wait. It simply was a warranty logic issue. I bet Mr. Posner knows about it.</p>

<p>I don`t know when, but time ago I noticed that several american dealers stopped selling not only Nikon cameras but many <em>new</em> items and products to overseas. As I said, I don`t know how this currently works.</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>With a Nikon USA imported item, there is the 1-year Nikon worldwide warranty, whereas with gray, there is no Nikon warranty (gray goods are warrantied by the store that sells it, but shipping costs from Europe to USA would be hundreds of EUR for an individual so it would be impractical to take advantage of it). Of course, with EU laws you are still protected and the official importer is responsible for product manufacturing flaws up to at least 2 years from purchase, irrespective of the warranty claimed by the manufacturer, but you may have to take it to court to get that protection. Thankfully repair costs here are a fraction of what they cost when done by Nikon USA.</p>