Poor behaviour from Nikon and from B&H Photo Video

[cooljd]

I bought an official and fully guaranteed "Nikon USA" 135 mm AIS f/2,8 lens, serial # L 0975653, which was found defective "out of the box", with a small but very visible metal piece "glued" inside one of the lens parts. An obvious manufacturing defect when closely looking at it. You would think this is a very rare thing from Nikon, and that they would be more than keen to react and correct a situation which is definitely not in line with their habit and reputation.

This, specially when you provide them information showing there is every indication that the seller (B&H Photo Video) has simply resold that defective lens to another customer (!!!), rather than send it back to them for handling the guarantee.

Well, you would be totally wrong for thinking that Nikon USA are concerned at all by this.
After several phone calls and faxes sent to the right people (I checked for that) explaining what happened, and asking them for assistance in view of the irresponsible attitude of B&H Photo Video, they have not even bothered to reply or express themselves...
My approach to contact them was even more justified by the 30% surcost I paid for that "Nikon USA" lens, as compared to the very same "import" lens.

So, I can only conclude that a product coming out of the production line with an obvious defect is something that Nikon USA are nowadays used to live with... Very sad when you think of the high reputation of quality which they very justifiably enjoyed until recently, not to speak about what has become of their once traditional loyalty to customers.

I just like to stress that the 135 mm f/2,8 Nikkor is an outstanding lens... when it is correctly manufactured.

BTW, if you have now this lens in your hands or know who owns it, thank you for letting me know. I am just curious to know to whom that defective product has been resold by B&H Photo Video. This with the apparent complicity of Nikon USA (who probably did not want to put a "big" customer in a more difficult situation that they had already put themselves).

On my side, I had to buy another lens in Europe where I live, the lens being no more available in the US, and lost $ 483 in the process due to the high European price and to the "lost" custom and VAT paid to no avail for the first lens.

Not really surprising from B&H photo Video when you "know" them, but definitely unexpected and very sad to see how Nikon has come to care so little about quality nowadays...

[Peter_AUS]

Have you tried asking for a refund of the VAT on the lens you returned.

[cooljd]

Yes, but without success so far. I "may" still obtain it, but custom and VAT were paid on my behalf by UPS, so it is quite complicated and the chances are remote to say the least.

Regards,

cooljd

[JSPhoto]

I think Nikon's quality issues have been raised more than once around here. Look how many of their camera's are bad within weeks or a month or two. Even when Nikon acknowledges an issue they continue to the products before making changes. That in comparison to Canon who found that an issue with a lens required remanufactuering the lens, they pulled all of them immediately, and notified customers who got them replaced free of charge. I'm amazed at how many people still buy Nikon cameras with all the issues they have had the past few years.

JS

[cooljd]

I was not aware of these quality problems with Nikon. I just bought an FM3A, a very traditional Nikon which just went out of production. The quality is so beautiful : very strong and a real pleasure simply to handle it, so smooth is the assembling.

It seems that Nikon are meeting problems to adapt themselves to the new industry rules, with such high volume productions nowadays. Canon on their side are obviously doing that very well. If Nikon don't react quickly and with energy, they may well be overtaken by new players in that industry, specially these coming from the electronic.

Yet, I could simply not believe it when I had the lens in my hand. It was just as if you collect a brand new BMW, and there is an obvious dent in the bonnet, and you can see that the bonnet with the dent was still painted at the factory, and they did deliver the car !!!!

Unbelievable, I have never seen that in my life.

And then, the most surprising of all : when the manufacturer learns about that unacceptable defect, they simply ignore it !!! Leaving you to conclude that this may after all meet their quality control criteria...

I find it very sad, since I had very high respect and faith for the quality of Nikon. They have been, IMHO, a fabulous company for many many years, and it is quite depressing to see what they are becoming.

I will have probably to put my money on Canon in the future, although I am (was ?) very much a Nikonist (who switched from Olympus when they stopped 35 mm SLR).

cooljd
___________________________________
Nikon FM3A, NIKON F70, Nikkor 50 mm f/1,4 - 24 & 28 mm f/2,8 - 135 mm f/2,8...
Olympus OM1, OM2 SP, Zuiko 18 mm f/3,5 - 50 mm f/1,4 - 135 mm f/2,8 - 180 mm f/2,8...
Canon Ixus 750

[henryp]

While we regret cooljd's disappointment the fact is he bought the very last new manual focus 135/2.8 Nikkor we had. When he returned it to us, we sent it back to Nikon USA. We most certainly did not resell it to another customer.

Nikon's QC is just fine, in spite of the alleged defect cooljd thinks he discovered. Canon's no better and no worse. It took a bit of arm twisting before they recalled the defective lens mentioned above and they've never publicly acknowledged exposure inaccuracy issues inherent in one of their earlier digital SLR bodies despite numerous reports in dpreview.com's forums.

[MacktheKnife]

Hello to all the good people on this site. This is my 1st post to this site, I have been
thrashing around with cameras for about 60 years. I still classify myself an amatuer.
I have been using a Nikon film system for about 20 years. I decieded it was time to update
to digital. Have been researching the web for about 6 months, I have decieded to dump
$3000 worth of nikon glass & camera. Canon here I come, being very careful, I bought
a Canon A 620. Great little camera, not so good in low light. Here comes G 7 with a
hot shoe, solves low lite prob. What made me jump ship,was the very subject of this thread.Nikon quality slipping. Sure hope Cannon is smarter. After a sojurne in the P&S
cameras I will get into the DSLRS. I will be lurking in the shadows.
MacktheKnife

[Photo-John]

Welcome to the site, Mr. Knife

You might want to post on the Canon or General Digital Cameras forum. This is our Dealer Feedback forum so it's really more about about dealers than the equipment.

Canon Cameras Forum >>
General Digital Cameras Forum >>

Hope you stick around and become a part of the family!

[lagerhead]

I purchased a Seagul TLR and a Sekonic meter back in 2002 or 2003 from B&H and was very pleased with the entire purchase. They gladly shipped to a different address from my credit card's billing address, and the camera arrived in a couple of days as epected.
Everyone I work with & all my friends/family know that I'm an avid photo geek & often ask for advice...among other things, I tell them to buy from B&H. They seem to have the most competitive prices, and an incredible selection.
In October 2004 I visited New York City and having only a 128 megabyte card for my pocket sized Canon digital, I sought the B&H Photo store to see about a larger card. What a neat place...there must have been over 100 customers in the showroom, on a weekday morning! The "take a number" lines moved quickly & I bought a 1 Gigabyte compact flash card for $80. I wish we had a B&H where I live. All we have are Wolf Camera stores & though I have nothing bad to say about them, they sell most if not all of their equipment at MSRP.
Sorry for the rambling...bottom line: I highly recommend B&H.

[JSPhoto]

Nikon's QC is just fine, in spite of the alleged defect cooljd thinks he discovered. Canon's no better and no worse. It took a bit of arm twisting before they recalled the defective lens mentioned above and they've never publicly acknowledged exposure inaccuracy issues inherent in one of their earlier digital SLR bodies despite numerous reports in dpreview.com's forums.

#1: Nikon's QC is NOT "just fine" when they continue production of bodies they KNOW are having metering issues. Not only did they continue production, they did it knowing the cameras WOULD fail and the kept quiet about it. Even after they had a fix for the problem they continued to produce the new units without the "fix" for another 6 months.
Then imediately after that they showed they hadn't learned there lessons as they continued production of other models knowing these units had a high number of failures. The newspaper that had bought two of these later units didn't even get a weeks use out of two new bodies, and one that was replaced failed as well, thats NOT good QC, thats plain bad business.

#2: The lens that Canon had issues with was pulled as soon as they could, and they redesigned it fixing the issue.

There is a big difference in the way the two companies handled these adversities, Canon admitted the problem within a month of the lens going on the market, and pulled the lens, even issueing a recall on them, where Nikon hid the problems with not one, but two bodies in a very short time and continued production and sales leaving many people hanging.
At the time Nikon had the metering issue I knew one photog who was buying one and told him not to buy it, but he did. He got it three days before the Indy 500 and the first time he used it the meter failed, and that was 5 months or so after the unit went on the market......thats really good QC there!

JS

[MJS]

I've gottens almost everything from B&H and never had a problem with them. That includes all kinds of Stil and Video gear. I highly reccommend them. I just wish they had a retail store in Miami that I could drool at.

[photophorous]

I have ordered all kinds of things from B&H over the past couple of years and never had a single problem. I recommend them to people all the time. You can find better prices elsewhere some of the time, but there's never going to be one place that has all the best prices and the best service. B&H is my standby.

I've only had one experience with Nikon customer service and it was fantastic. I returned a lens to them for a minor repair and received it back in less than two weeks in like-new condition. I'm not sure what caused the lens problem in the first place, but my suspicion is that some dirt got inside the zooming mechanism, which is not exactly Nikon's fault. They didn't ask; they just fixed it under warranty.

Paul

[henryp]

I have ordered all kinds of things from B&H over the past couple of years and never had a single problem. I recommend them to people all the time. You can find better prices elsewhere some of the time, but there's never going to be one place that has all the best prices and the best service. B&H is my standby.

Thank you for your kind words. Much appreciated.

[JustWantFun]

B&H is the Wal-Mart of the photo world. They don't care about you. They are one of the worst things about the photo industry. They put your local photo dealers out of business. The only thing they do is drive prices down. It may be good for you now. But what happens when all of the local dealers are out of business. Do you think the prices at B&H will still be good? They own such a large share of the photo market that they dictate what suppliers do. When all is said and done B&H and the other mail order houses should be the last place anyone goes to buy photo equipment. Give your local dealer the support. The money goes back into your community not to the east coast.

[Frog]

What local dealer?

[cyberlord]

I'm with Frog, what local dealer?

I've bought from B&H Photo (Flash unit) and their service was fine. No complaints. I have not had to return anything though, which is a good thing I guess.

[JustWantFun]

That is my point. If you do have a local dealer you need to support them. I live in the Minneapolis area. We have two real good local dealers. One is a good pro dealer called West Photo. The other takes care of just about everyone else. It's called National Camera Exchange. I would rather give them my business then go to B&H. I like to see what I am buying. I like the fact that I keep my money at home. We also have Ritz / Wolfe's in town. But to me they are not camera stores. They are just photo labs that have some cameras. Kind of like Best Buy. They are a electronics store that has cameras. You wonder if the person your asking question's to has ever owned a camera. Same thing with B&H. Have you ever asked them how to do something with a camera? They don't know. Well I should say most of them don't know. I'm sure some of them know something but they don't want to tell you or don't have time. But if you have a local camera store you can go to them or call them about just about anything and they have the answer or will find the answer. But if you don't have a local camera store I'm sorry to hear that. I guess I'm blessed to have two to go to.

[another view]

If you do have a local dealer you need to support them.

I'm a Nikon shooter and been very happy with their equipment. We only have one local dealer and I've given them so many second chances I've lost count. It's like they think that there are no other places to buy what they sell, but they never had that attitude years ago (well before internet competition). Just doesn't make sense.

I do try to support the other very good local dealer, but because they don't have Nikon I don't buy much from them. That was actually one positive I had for switching to Canon, but I didn't see much point in doing that overall. B&H is my first call place - not always the cheapest and they won't always have everything in stock - but you can set your watch by their shipments.

[henryp]

B&H is the Wal-Mart of the photo world. They don't care about you.

Yes, we do. If we didn't I wouldn't be here.

[berrywise]

I've never had a single problem with B&H and I'd say they get about 80 percent of my photography business. I recently ordered a Vivitar 285HV flash from them that was dead on arrival. The problem was taken care of and I had a new flash in my hands in no time.

Sorry you didn't have the same experience but there is a reason why B&H ranks so highly on resellerratings.com

[mikeb380]

B&H is the Wal-Mart of the photo world. They don't care about you. They are one of the worst things about the photo industry. They put your local photo dealers out of business. The only thing they do is drive prices down. It may be good for you now. But what happens when all of the local dealers are out of business. Do you think the prices at B&H will still be good? They own such a large share of the photo market that they dictate what suppliers do. When all is said and done B&H and the other mail order houses should be the last place anyone goes to buy photo equipment. Give your local dealer the support. The money goes back into your community not to the east coast.

Gee, I didn't know that Wolfe Camera and Ritz were "local dealers". But whatever they are they have know nothing clerks who lie to customers. I had that happen to me. No thanks, I'll go elsewhere for my goodies.

People in my camera club have done business with B&H and are very pleased with them. I have done business with Adorama and am delighted to know that I have someone I can call or email and get an honest response as well as better prices than around here. I am on SS (retired) and my budget is limited. I look for the most honest dealers and then at price. I look at ResellerRatings before using anyone else. As of now, B&H and Adorama are two sources I check when I want something and I would do business with either of them and feel good about it.

As an addendum, I have seen henry Posner active on a number of fora ready to answer questions and help whomever needs it. Does your "local" dealer take time to do that? I doubt it very much.

Michael:smile5:

[mamajan]

I have bought lots of equipment from B&H. I have to say that their service as always been great. They have been equally responsive to me when I simply e-mailed them with a question.
They do not deal in gray market items. I will continue to buy from them. Sorry you didn't have a good experience.

[jorgemonkey]

I also have had nothing but great experiences with B&H. A few weeks ago I had to send in my teleconverter to get fixed, but I couldn't find my receipt or my account info since I changed email addresses. A few emails back & forth, and they emailed my a PDF copy of the receipt & sent me my account info.

Thanks guys!

[livin4lax09]

i have had nothing but pleasant experiences with b&h and will continue to buy from them until i find anything different, but I doubt that will happen. Adorama is a different story.

#1: Nikon's QC is NOT "just fine" when they continue production of bodies they KNOW are having metering issues. Not only did they continue production, they did it knowing the cameras WOULD fail and the kept quiet about it.

1dIII. I love Canon, but it happens, it's a business world.

[KenB]

I'll chime in with nothing but excellent experiences with B&H.