A couple bought an $800 Nikon P1000 for bird photography. And when it broke – the company could do nothing to fix it. Even though the camera was bought at Walmart, Nikon considers it to be “gray market gear” and won’t repair it, leaving the couple with a “$800 paperweight.”
Nikon USA has opened back up its repair service – but not for walk-ins
After Nikon shut down its repair services in the USA and Canada in March, Nikon USA has reopened its service centre, but only for mail-in customers, not walk-in customers over the counter. This is expected to change as measures are put into place to protect both their staff and customers.
As a result of COVID-19, an announcement on the Nikon USA website says that there is a longer turnaround time than usual and that delays should be expected.
Nikon has suspended camera repair services in the USA and Canada
If you’re a Nikon shooter based in the USA or Canada and your gear goes down over the next few weeks, you’re going to have a wait on your hands to get it back up and running – not that most of us will have jobs to go shoot anyway. Nikon USA has announced that it has closed down its camera repair service and are currently not accepting equipment.
This follows an announcement a few days ago that Nikon Canada had also suspended their repair service as well as Nikon Pro Services (NPS) loaners. Nikon Australia has also closed its Sydney Office and their Service Centre, although they are still accepting deliveries by courier only.
Nikon is about to make it a lot more difficult to get your camera repaired
Nikon is soon killing its authorized third-party repair program. Starting from early 2020, more than a dozen repair shops will come down to only two facilities at the ends of the US. This way, the Authorized Repair Stations will become non-authorized and likely lose access to official parts and software. Therefore, you will need to mail your gear directly to Nikon, no matter where you live.
Nikon repairs may be invalidating your insurance and future warranty
So, this is an interesting one and not something I’ve come across before. But a British photographer we spoke to reports having had serial numbers in his Nikon lenses changed after sending them in to be repaired by Nikon Professional Services in the UK.
He says that Nikon told him they sometimes have to replace the part which contains the serial number. However, this may invalidate your insurance or future warranty when numbers no longer match up. Especially if Nikon isn’t providing any documentation for the new number or even telling you that it has a new one.
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