Miserable Nikon Support Experience

Nikon will service it provided you have the original purchase receipt from an AUTHORIZED dealer. Anytime I travel out of the country with my equipment I take the sales receipts for my equipment ~ never had any issues as of now.

As to the OP, it seems to me if you have 30 years with Nikon you would realize that US lenses, purchased through an AUTHORIZED Nikon dealer as a US purchase, come with a 5-year warranty card that must be returned. If that card is not in the box, you're purchasing gray (in the US, that is) and risk no sevice through NIkon US. I do agree that their registration system could be better, though...

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pjs
'Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph
is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.'
Edward Weston