Nikon Service oddity

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KCPhoto

KCPhoto

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I recently sent in my D500 (warranty) and 200-500 (not) to Nikon for service. Their website tells you the CA facility is closed due to Covid and that all orders are shipped to the Melville, NY location. So, I followed the directions, sent to New York, etc. My lens and camera were signed for in Melville, NY on the 14th. Got my estimate to approve on the 18th. Stuff started shipping back to me this week. Funny thing is, the stuff is coming from their California location now. So maybe they are shipping things all over? Thought it was odd.

Another thing is, do they not usually tell you what they did via the repair status link? I am assuming there will be a run down in the box when I get everything back. But their tracking site never changed from what was listed as the problems I reported. Simply got an estimate that said "Moderate Repair Rate" total $311 to pre approve. Then a sentence that this could be lower or higher and was only an estimate. Nothing else.

First time I have ever had to send them anything.
 
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KCPhoto said:
I recently sent in my D500 (warranty) and 200-500 (not) to Nikon for service. Their website tells you the CA facility is closed due to Covid and that all orders are shipped to the Melville, NY location. So, I followed the directions, sent to New York, etc. My lens and camera were signed for in Melville, NY on the 14th. Got my estimate to approve on the 18th. Stuff started shipping back to me this week. Funny thing is, the stuff is coming from their California location now. So maybe they are shipping things all over? Thought it was odd.

Another thing is, do they not usually tell you what they did via the repair status link? I am assuming there will be a run down in the box when I get everything back. But their tracking site never changed from what was listed as the problems I reported. Simply got an estimate that said "Moderate Repair Rate" total $311 to pre approve. Then a sentence that this could be lower or higher and was only an estimate. Nothing else.

First time I have ever had to send them anything.
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Just curious as to what issue(s) you were having with each item that caused you to want to send them in for service? Would also be interested in hearing a follow up when you get them back as to what work was performed.
 
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VStammer said:
Just curious as to what issue(s) you were having with each item that caused you to want to send them in for service? Would also be interested in hearing a follow up when you get them back as to what work was performed.
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I was having AF inconsistency with my 200-500. Even with Live View it simply would miss in both directions front and back focused. Even the focus area itself was coming in soft. Solidly mounted and high shutter speeds. The lens took a little bounce while in Rocky Mountain NP in August. Has had issues since. Only sent D500 with it cause I knew it was a warranty and knew they would clean and inspect for free. I requested that they cal the camera and lens pair together. I don't know if they did/do that. I shipped the items together, but they shipped them back separately a couple days apart.
 
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Ah, yes, welcome to the wonderful world of Nikon USA Service. Will you ever know what they did? Maybe, they do sometimes list repairs on the paper you get back when your gear is returned. RPL is replaced, RP is repair, GWO is Good Working Order. If they replace a mount you'll see it in the paperwork, likewise a ribbon cable, afs motor, VR motor. Otherwise, they tend not to get into too much detail.
As for locations, Nikon USA farms out the majority of their repairs, especially the paid ones. I haven't had a warranty repair in a while but back when I did, it was handled by Nikon themselves. For several years the CA location was outsourcing many repairs to Mexico, the Melville location has several locations in NY they use, one not far down the street and another in the Bronx. I can't say why your gear is coming from CA other than it might have gone to Mexico for repair and it was easier for them to send it to CA. CA might not have repair staff but may have a couple of people in shipping and receiving. Check the "from" label carefully, you might find it's not the same address as the Nikon CA location which would indicate that there is an outsource facility nearby.
When they estimate, they use a couple of repair categories as general estimates as they don't often know exactly what is involved until the dig into it. I think they make a little extra at times although I have to admit a couple of years ago both my repairs came in under the estimate and they only charged me what the actual cost was.
 
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Ya, so far nothing has changed, price-wise. It still just has an asterisk beside it on the repair status page. Who knows. I tried to send to a well-known repair shop in the mid-west. They told me Nikon never sent out the package for the 200-500 to any of the 3rd party authorized repair centers. So if you have that lens you have to use Nikon's actual service center.
 
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I recently had a 200-500 repaired by an independent service center, much less then Nikon's quote ($248 vs $432 + shipment).
Photo sample here of what I get back from Nikon with my repairs:
120 repair 2.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
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Charles Loy said:
I recently had a 200-500 repaired by an independent service center, much less then Nikon's quote ($248 vs $432 + shipment).
Photo sample here of what I get back from Nikon with my repairs:
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That's pretty much what my service sheet had when I got my 200-500 back from Nikon. All I know is wasn't zooming correctly when I sent it in and it is working as expected now. Whatever they did or whatever the pixie dust they sprinkled on it was it worked!
 
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Capturingtheunseen.com said:
I've utilized Nikon service four times over the years, including in the past two months. No complaints, and I have always gotten an explanation of what they did. I consider that great service.
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Yes, I have no reason to think it will be anything but fixed. A pretty quick turn around really. Especially since my stuff evidently crossed the country twice in the process.
 
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