In light of recent events with purchasing a Z body and experiencing prolific dropping of the ball and atrocious customer service on my end, I’m curious what your experiences have been with Nikon USA support.
Why? I’ve managed to escalate my particular situation to someone high up on the food chain at Nikon corporate, with direct ties to the Japanese executive side.
I’ve read quite a few stories here and on other forums about generally apathetic, atrocious, unhelpful, you name it - customer service.
The goal is to get a sense of what your experiences have been, what issues you’ve run into, how they could have handled things differently, etc.
I don’t work for Nikon but my recent experience has left me quite dumbfounded and generally blown away by how the majority of their CX reps even operate and maybe there’s a way to wake them up a bit for everyone involved here.
If you’d rather keep things private, feel free to send a PM, but I’m gonna shake things up a bit here.
I had a very poor experience getting my new Z8 repaired for the recall. But they eventually made it up to my satisfaction after we reached a financial settlement.
Long story short, I sent it in the first day that the recall was announced and just finally got it back a few days ago. It took over a month, and two shipments back and forth to Nikon.
They first misdiagnosed something minor (my top $2 LCD screen protector cracked, but not the LCD itself) and separately quoted me $hundreds for an unnecessary LCD repair alongside the recall repair (two different work orders). This single misdiagnosis set off a chain of incompetence from them.
When I declined that unnecessary and misdiagnosed repair, the camera just sat there with no progress. When I called a few days later, Nikon told me they'd check on the progress and get back to me in 1-2 days. So 6 days later, they confirmed the camera was repaired for the recall and shipped the camera back to me.
But then 2 days after that (and after I got the camera back), they said there was a mixup and they never actually repaired my camera and I'd need to send it back to them. I had to request they expedite this, and the rep claimed both my shipping and repair would be expedited this second time. (I found out a week later in speaking with a "supervisor"--who was also terrible to speak with) that neither the shipping nor the repair was expedited; and ultimately, my "expedited" repair even ended up taking significantly longer than their average turnaround range of 7-10 days they quoted me.
Also, their system is so bad that several of their reps thought I had sent 2 different Z8 cameras--but apparently with the same serial number--telling me they sent my first Z8 back to me already but my second Z8 would be a few days. They seemingly didn't listen to anything I said and didn't answer any questions, instead offering what I considered to be weasly or canned responses to different questions, or changing scope of the response.
The last straw for me was when they finally sent me tracking number--several days after I was supposed to have already received my camera--telling me they overnighted it and I would receive the camera the next day. And when I checked the tracking number, it was sent by ground and I wouldn't get the camera for a few days. And when I called, their supervisor gave me more seemingly false answers.
I believe I had calculated that they had my Z8 longer than I did by that point. Again: I sent it in on day 1 of the recall and just finally got it back a few days ago, with possession of the camera for a just few days in between.
I had gotten frustrated enough that I filed a complaint with the BBB.
We quickly reached a financial settlement to compensate me for the ordeal, where Nikon refunded me a double-digit percentage of the purchase price of my Z8.
I like Nikon and Nikon products. But in my experience, their service has been atrocious. And it's probably made worse by the fact that they ended their authorized third party repair program in 2020 (even though it appears they use a third party--Camtech--to perform at least some repairs, since that's where my camera was sent back from the first time).
I don't mind calling Nikon out on the poor service I've received from them, because I hope they fix their poor service.
Luckily Aramco is completely selfsupporting in nearly everything. I borrowed their lubrication manual covering everything from 10 000+ HP gasturbines to geodetic theodolites, and some watchmaker screwdrivers. Went down to the storehouse for the correct solvent and grease. Took the front ring off, cleaned it and regreased. Works to today on my FTZ. Don't talk, do something. I suppose you have the right of returning/replacement even without reason.
