The NIKON lesson...

Stephen Schwartz said:

Under US law there is something called an implied warranty. With
enough money you might be able to hire $$ lawyers if you were an
american. Ah the ower of money!

I am, however, surprised by the response from Singapore. If you
are within the Singapore warranty, it seems they should do an
exchange or repair. I aslo do not understand how shippng can be so
expensive.

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Thanks for the suggestions.

I don't plan on litigating on this one - even though it might prove an interesting practice for someone who makes his living as a lawyer

But you have reminded me of Nikon SG whom I haven't spoken to yet directly.

Will see if that changes anything.

As for shipping costs, Cathay Photo quoted shipping by DHL Singapore> Lithuania at SGD 259. That's around 170 in US currency.

--
A travel gallery of my country and some others:
http://www.pbase.com/lithuania

only very few manufacturers honour international warranty. Pentax is one of the few. Not sure about others.
--
Alan Chan
http://www.pbase.com/wlachan

The international version (Gray Market) is always cheaper than the USA version.

Take your chance and save ?

I have a Nikon and Canon SLR and both were bought in Canada. Both manufacturers honor the warranty in USA and Canada. It is clearly written on the warranty card USA/Canada ONLY.

If today I decided to move to Europe and my camera broke, I don't expect either to honor my warranty in Europe. I'll probably try and send it back to a repair center in Canada.

When making any electronic purchases outside the country I live in, it's good practice to ask about an international warranty or what kind of warranty you will get. But that's just me...

Live by the rules and die by the rules. I don't make them but I don't have to like them.

maybe most manuafacturers are making their cameras so that they will only work in their country of sale....just to keep their distributors happy. As soon as you go to another country that little warranty chip detects it and sends out the "bust it" command!

Gediminas 8 said:

As for shipping costs, Cathay Photo quoted shipping by DHL
Singapore> Lithuania at SGD 259. That's around 170 in US currency.

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I think Cathay Photo is pulling a fast one on you. I just can't see how shipping a small camera can cost US$170.

by knowingly selling you a defective product, and then counting on discouraging you from seeking warranty work through them by quoting you ridiculous shipping costs.

Of course, this is pure speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were true.

Agreed, maybe you can ship to them and send them a return label - using a label/service you choose (DHL, UPS, etc.)?

av_photo said:

av_photo said:

As for shipping costs, Cathay Photo quoted shipping by DHL
Singapore> Lithuania at SGD 259. That's around 170 in US currency.

Click to expand...

I think Cathay Photo is pulling a fast one on you. I just can't
see how shipping a small camera can cost US$170.

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Gediminas 8 said:

On the other hand, I feel that I have the right to buy a product
wherever I like, and artificial barriers set up by some
manufacturers serve no other purpose than price gauging. Like
others have pointed out, don't those cameras come from the same
factory anyway?

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You do have a right to buy a camera wherever you want.

But Nikon has a right to require warranty repair in the country of purchase.

I believe they do this because each individual country/region takes responsibility for their own warranty repairs and setting prices in the local currencies that allow them to make a good business given the cost of importing the item into that country, offering it for sale within that country and servicing warranty repairs within that country. Those costs vary from country to country and each of those countries/regions are run as a separate business (often subsidiaries) with their own financial goals and profitability.

Since the purchase price of a camera includes the cost of warranty, the local country ONLY wants to pay for warranty costs on the cameras that it sold because those are the only cameras that it collected the money on that should cover the warranty repairs. For example, NikonUSA does not want to be paying for warranty repairs on cameras that were purchased in Singapore because it was Singapore that got the part of the purchase price that goes toward warranty repair.

Yes, this can be an incredible pain for the consumer, but it's how Nikon has chosen to structure the distribution and warranty parts of their business and there are some advantages to the consumer that come from this structure (such as much more efficient in-country repair centers and more attention to some local markets). There are disadvantages too, but it is the way it is.

Should someone at Nikon corporate understood that corporate should have just made good on this repair since it's clearly a design flaw in the camera? Yes. Am, I surprised that nobody could break free of the bureaucratic rules designed to keep things regional to make such an exception? No.
--
John
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A few of us have dealt with Cathy over the years, they are a very reputable company, one of a few where serious amateurs and pros shop. The support and service has been very good. It's easy enough to ask them why the shipping is so high.

I don't want to play Canon fanboy, but Canon has a 1 year local warranty, 6 month international warranty for non-DSLR cameras.

--
Best regards,
Doug
http://pbase.com/dougj

I am a Nikon D2X owner and would expect Nikon to do the following: ask you to send the camera to their nearest repair centre, check for the faults, decide if they are due to miss-use or manufacturing/component defect or failure, contact you with the findings. If, which should be the case in this instance, it is their fault and the camera is under warranty they should repair it free of charge. If it is due to incorrect handling/operation you should pay. As you bought the camera abroad it would not be unreasonable for you to cover the cost of postage to them, and for them to cover the return postage. In fact what is happening is that not only are you being cheated by the company but they are earning bad publicity in the bargain. I hope you can find a satisfactory resolution.
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digitall said:

I am a Nikon D2X owner and would expect Nikon to do the following:
ask you to send the camera to their nearest repair centre, check
for the faults, decide if they are due to miss-use or
manufacturing/component defect or failure, contact you with the
findings. If, which should be the case in this instance, it is
their fault and the camera is under warranty they should repair it
free of charge. If it is due to incorrect handling/operation you
should pay. As you bought the camera abroad it would not be
unreasonable for you to cover the cost of postage to them, and for
them to cover the return postage. In fact what is happening is that
not only are you being cheated by the company but they are earning
bad publicity in the bargain. I hope you can find a satisfactory
resolution.
--

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--
A travel gallery of my country and some others:
http://www.pbase.com/lithuania

calvi said:

maybe most manuafacturers are making their cameras so that they
will only work in their country of sale....just to keep their
distributors happy. As soon as you go to another country that
little warranty chip detects it and sends out the "bust it" command!

Click to expand...

--
A travel gallery of my country and some others:
http://www.pbase.com/lithuania

It was actually my first thought - considering especially that I did not disclose the fact that I was in SG only briefly - but I no longer think so.

--
A travel gallery of my country and some others:
http://www.pbase.com/lithuania

Duty free shops sell photography gear a lot to travellers.
How does the warranty work? Is different for them.

And what really gets me are the extortionate prices being asked almost everywhere outside the USA. We are forced to shop around for better prices but then are abandoned when the blessed things go wrong. Why is there a two-tier pricing system?
--

The situation with warranties is stupid. They are there to protect local distributors.

My suggestion would be to buy a brand like Olympus that DOES offer International warranty on all their camera goods.

Gediminas 8 said:

It's also satisfying that we learned THE NIKON LESSON with a
relatively inexpensive product. Saved us from wasting dollars on
dearer equipment which does not work right from the shop shelf.

Gediminas

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Would "THE CANON LESSON" have been any different?

--
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Peter A. Stavrakoglou said:

Would "THE CANON LESSON" have been any different?

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I don't know yet but I'll certainly share it with you if anything similar happens.

While I don't know anything about Canon, Nikon has certainly treated me unfairly. I'm glad that I'm not the only one with such an impression.

--
A travel gallery of my country and some others:
http://www.pbase.com/lithuania

that's the reason i try to buy from a local camera shop 5 miles down the road, i pay a little more but if i have a problem i can just take it back and talk face to face.