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Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs

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I have read about that complaint quite a few times. However, in my personal experience, Nikon USA repair is right on the mark when my equipment has impact damages. In the few times that the product is defective during the warranty period, every time Nikon has fixed it free of charge, including my FTZ adapter in 2019, a D750 in 2015, an SB-800 flash back in 2005, and a 35-70mm/f2.8 AF zoom back in 1990.

Overall in four decades of using Nikon, I have not used Nikon repair all that many times, maybe within a dozen, but I used them three times between 2018 and 2019. Parts hold seems to be a common delay by a week or two. Their charge is mostly reasonable but certainly not cheap. I have lived on both US coasts so that I have experiences with both Nikon Melville (Long Island, New York) and Los Angeles.
 
My experiences with Nikon have been above-board as well; they have always repairs stuff quickly and have always performed warranty repairs without charging me.

One time, they replaced a shutter (under warranty) and I was still having issues when I got the camera back. They replaced it again, still free of charge.

I have a very small sample size to report from and I'm sure LensRentals deals with Melville/NikonUSA far more than I do. So far so good for me, though...
 
Adamant said:
Maybe give us a brief summery, rather than just a link, as a courtesy to your readers?
Click to expand...
What to do and what to avoid (with all cameras, not just Nikons):

- Sand and saltwater, including salt spray.

- Keep the bottom of a camera dry and that includes if you use a base plate making sure moisture is not getting trapped between the body and the plate.

- Wipe camera down regularly

- Keep in mind that the base plate of the camera is the weakest part of the camera,

- Keep your cameras dry.

- If you use a lens with a tripod mount walk attach the strap to the lens' tripod mount not the strap on the body.

They do fault Nikon's Authorized repair centers as frequently calling things "impact damage" that are not.
 
paulski66 said:
My experiences with Nikon have been above-board as well; they have always repairs stuff quickly and have always performed warranty repairs without charging me.

One time, they replaced a shutter (under warranty) and I was still having issues when I got the camera back. They replaced it again, still free of charge.

I have a very small sample size to report from and I'm sure LensRentals deals with Melville/NikonUSA far more than I do. So far so good for me, though...
Click to expand...
Right, since my Nikon cameras and lenses are quite reliable, my sample size is also small as fortunately, I don't need to deal with Nikon USA repair very often.

Even though my personal experience is quite different from Lens Rentals, I tend to believe that there is some truth in their comments. Generally speaking they are a reliable source of information.

I should point out that once my 70-200mm/f2.8 on a tripod got blown over due to strong wind and hit hard rock, total stupidity on my part. The lens was still working fine but the focus ring became stiff; however AF was still totally fine. I went to Nikon in Los Angeles in person, and they wanted at least $550 to fix it, maybe up to $650. I thought that was very pricey and declined repair on the spot. I rarely use manual focus on that lens and otherwise it was still working perfectly.
 
BillyBobSenna said:
Horshack said:
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Click to expand...
Over the years, Roger Cicala from Lens Rentals has claimed more than once that Nikon USA would falsely blame the problem on "impact damage" so that they can avoid to make free repairs for items that are still under warranty.

Again, generally speaking, Cicala is someone whose opinions I respect, but personally I have never had such bad experience with Nikon USA repair.
 
shuncheung said:
BillyBobSenna said:
Horshack said:
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Click to expand...
Over the years, Roger Cicala from Lens Rentals has claimed more than once that Nikon USA would falsely blame the problem on "impact damage" so that they can avoid to make free repairs for items that are still under warranty.

Again, generally speaking, Cicala is someone whose opinions I respect, but personally I have never had such bad experience with Nikon USA repair.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the explanation. I have also had Nikon repairs under warranty and never had an issue. I use my equipment a lot and it looks warn. Still no issue.
 
BillyBobSenna said:
Horshack said:
Adamant said:
Maybe give us a brief summery, rather than just a link, as a courtesy to your readers?
Click to expand...
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Click to expand...
= Nikon will find an excuse to void warranty work, claiming any evidence of any impact is the root cause of the issue and thus a free repair is not warranted.

As someone currently going through a just-out-of-warranty repair not caused by impact or anything I did, I can state that my current experience with Nikon's repair services is pretty poor. Poor enough where I am going to be significantly scaling back purchasing any new Nikon equipment or contributing to positive discussions on Nikon (despite knowing this will have zero impact to Nikon).
 
LoneTree1 said:
Horshack said:
Adamant said:
Maybe give us a brief summery, rather than just a link, as a courtesy to your readers?
Click to expand...
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
No one sane wants to have to slog through a 26 min long video. Have people forgotten how to type?
Click to expand...
Which is why I provided a time link to the relevant portion of the podcast in my OP. And the relevant portion was all of 35 seconds in length.
 
Last edited:
Horshack said:
LoneTree1 said:
Horshack said:
Adamant said:
Maybe give us a brief summery, rather than just a link, as a courtesy to your readers?
Click to expand...
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
No one sane wants to have to slog through a 26 min long video. Have people forgotten how to type?
Click to expand...
Which is why I provided a time link to the relevant portion of the podcast in my OP. And the relevant portion was all of 35 seconds in length.
Click to expand...
I have to be honest: I have no idea why people are finding this so difficult.
  • The topic covered is written in the subject title of this thread
  • There is a description of where to skip to in the audio
  • There is a hyperlink to the audio
Have people forgotten how to read and click hyperlinks?

I guess people no longer want to make an effort--the information has to be digested for them before it is fed to them.
 
Last edited:
I've had warranty repairs and I have had impact damage repairs. The warranty ones were free and the impact damage was not.
 
beatboxa said:
Horshack said:
LoneTree1 said:
Horshack said:
Adamant said:
Maybe give us a brief summery, rather than just a link, as a courtesy to your readers?
Click to expand...
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
No one sane wants to have to slog through a 26 min long video. Have people forgotten how to type?
Click to expand...
Which is why I provided a time link to the relevant portion of the podcast in my OP. And the relevant portion was all of 35 seconds in length.
Click to expand...
I have to be honest: I have no idea why people are finding this so difficult.
  • The topic covered is written in the subject title of this thread
  • There is a description of where to skip to in the audio
  • There is a hyperlink to the audio
Have people forgotten how to read and click hyperlinks?

I guess people no longer want to make an effort--the information has to be digested for them before it is fed to them.
Click to expand...
I rarely follow links. It's part of what I consider safe computing.
So I for one would have appreciated an "executive summary".
 
shuncheung said:
BillyBobSenna said:
Horshack said:
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Click to expand...
Over the years, Roger Cicala from Lens Rentals has claimed more than once that Nikon USA would falsely blame the problem on "impact damage" so that they can avoid to make free repairs for items that are still under warranty.

Again, generally speaking, Cicala is someone whose opinions I respect, but personally I have never had such bad experience with Nikon USA repair.
Click to expand...
I agree and am a bit perplexed.

Since LensRentals lens are rented to many people I wonder how they would be so certain that none of their renters subjected a lens to impact.
 
bclaff said:
shuncheung said:
BillyBobSenna said:
Horshack said:
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Click to expand...
Over the years, Roger Cicala from Lens Rentals has claimed more than once that Nikon USA would falsely blame the problem on "impact damage" so that they can avoid to make free repairs for items that are still under warranty.

Again, generally speaking, Cicala is someone whose opinions I respect, but personally I have never had such bad experience with Nikon USA repair.
Click to expand...
I agree and am a bit perplexed.

Since LensRentals lens are rented to many people I wonder how they would be so certain that none of their renters subjected a lens to impact.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing their personal experience handling thousands of lenses and their intimate knowledge of how they're assembled. They also rent camera bodies - they may see more impact claims for those than lenses.
 
Last edited:
beatboxa said:
Horshack said:
LoneTree1 said:
Horshack said:
Adamant said:
Maybe give us a brief summery, rather than just a link, as a courtesy to your readers?
Click to expand...
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
No one sane wants to have to slog through a 26 min long video. Have people forgotten how to type?
Click to expand...
Which is why I provided a time link to the relevant portion of the podcast in my OP. And the relevant portion was all of 35 seconds in length.
Click to expand...
I have to be honest: I have no idea why people are finding this so difficult.
  • The topic covered is written in the subject title of this thread
  • There is a description of where to skip to in the audio
  • There is a hyperlink to the audio
Have people forgotten how to read and click hyperlinks?

I guess people no longer want to make an effort--the information has to be digested for them before it is fed to them.
Click to expand...
Not sure either.
 
bclaff said:
beatboxa said:
Horshack said:
LoneTree1 said:
Horshack said:
Adamant said:
Maybe give us a brief summery, rather than just a link, as a courtesy to your readers?
Click to expand...
Sure, here you go: Nikon USA's Impact Damage claims to avoid warrantied repairs is still a thing.
Click to expand...
No one sane wants to have to slog through a 26 min long video. Have people forgotten how to type?
Click to expand...
Which is why I provided a time link to the relevant portion of the podcast in my OP. And the relevant portion was all of 35 seconds in length.
Click to expand...
I have to be honest: I have no idea why people are finding this so difficult.
  • The topic covered is written in the subject title of this thread
  • There is a description of where to skip to in the audio
  • There is a hyperlink to the audio
Have people forgotten how to read and click hyperlinks?

I guess people no longer want to make an effort--the information has to be digested for them before it is fed to them.
Click to expand...
I rarely follow links. It's part of what I consider safe computing.
So I for one would have appreciated an "executive summary".
Click to expand...
 
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