Nikon service centre's service standard


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Vinnievinyl

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Dear All Nikon user,

How do you find the service standard of Nikon Singapore’s service center??

Following was what happened when I send in my Lens(AFS500mmf4.0) for a repair.

1. Problem: Lens auto focus could not be reactivated after the camera has gone into idle. (Meter off about a preset timing)

2. Send it in on Monday(24th May 2004). They say they will check it up and give an estimation.

3. Waited till Thursday(27th May 2004), no new what so ever till I called. They say they test the lens and no problem was found, so I told them I’ll go down the next day to test using my camera.

4. 28th May 2004, I was there at 9.30am. The Technician brought out the lens with a D100 mounted on it. The problem surface the moment he was trying to test for me. (I was thinking whether he has really test or check the lens for the last 4 days)

5. Then I ask him what to do next. That Technician dare to tell me he don’t know what happen, I gone “lagi” pissed off after he say no when I ask him whether has opened up the lens to check the internal. (The problem is intermittence and it could be just a loose connection.) ;(

6. The next thing he said was even worst! He has “NIKON SINGAPORE” cannot know what happen except to send the lens back to Japan for a check up. And we must bear the shipping cost for that check up even before any repair is done. He also say there is adjustment to be made after changing the SWM or the IC chip, which can only be done in Japan. But his mouth look as if got stuff by a 600mm f4 lens when I asking him why were they able to change my AFS300mmf4’s IC without performing that procedure. ;(

7. Finally, I ask them where is Mr. Sim(Chief Repair Supervisor). He told me Sim will only be back on next Tuesday(1st of June 2004). Than the nice lady in charge NPS suggested to wait for Sim to come back, may be he knows what to do.

I was obviously not happy about what happen because they didn’t even care to look into the problem first before suggesting any thing. If it is only a small problem which can be solved, why should we send the lens back to Japan? He didn’t even care to open up the lens to check if it is a loose connection, and simply say never see this kind of problem and must send to Japan, that certainly make his job easier for sure. I was pretty sure my mouth was about to go stink :devil: if not for the ladies there.

I’m going to wait till next week and see the outcome. Till then, for those who intent to invest into a Big Glass of Nikon, you may like to wait and see how Nikon handle this issue before you invest.

Refer to post #43 & #55 for updating
 

well...a very unprofessional service from a World well known Profressional lens maker! hope u will hav a satifactory reply from Nikon Singapore soon....
 

Only show this much about product training given to the technicians......
 

I'm so sad to hear of your plight... :(

Personally so far the service rendered to me by Nikon is still acceptable.

However, do aware that it is not common in singapore for the big glasses like the 400, 500 or 600 lenses, thus I'm not surprise that they can't handle these repairs except for sending it back to Japan. But in all cases, I do agree that Nikon did not do a good job this round. They could have:

1. Advise the customer and let he/she knows that they can't handle precision repairs on these lenses except for sending it back to Japan upon receiving repair orders in advance. Thus you would not be so pissed later for the delays.

2. 4 days to test such a problem is really way too long.

3. Being a NPS, they should automatically offer a loan replacement to the NPS member.

4. Be it sending back to Japan or to any other part of the world, Nikon should bear the cost as this is not the customer's fault to pay for their tecnhical incompetence in doing their job. So long as the lenses is purchase in Singapore from a authorised Nikon Singapore shippment batch of goods, the lenses must be charged for repair cost only in Singapore, not shipping cost + repair cost.

However on the other hand, if the lens is bought in HK or Malaysia or anywhere except Singapore, when this lens is being brought in for repair in Nikon Singapore due to the fact that the customer is a NPS member, then in such situation, Nikon then can charge the shipping cost from Singapore to the Original Country where it is first purchased for repair, to and fro. But not from Singapore to Japan as this does not makes any sense.

Do hope that Nikon Singapore can see these suggestions for their service centre, as if this goes on, Nikon will surely lose the confidence of their loyal customers, and this is really not worth the while as this is caused by their 'stupid' policy and poor internal administration.

That's actually one of the reasons that Nikon loses a great deal of her market share to 'CxxxN'. And personally speaking in terms of superior in design, quality, etc Nikon is always more superior than 'CxxxN' which the latter treat their customer as 'Sxxxxx' with poorer designed camera bodies and other stuff. The newly so called 'D2H competitor' is a good example of a 'Sxxxxx' Camera.
 

thanks for sharing ur experience with us.. sad to hear what you have face with this unprofressional service.. i actually tot of sendin my camera n lense for service too. well, hope things will work out smoothly for u. take care.
 

um... do they offer a hot-swap/loan when you book in your lens? that should be possible under NPS... just my guess. i'm not sure if CPS has that service or not...
 

can't really blame them, the number of such lens that are around in the market is pretty little. they are likely to lack experience.

about the few days that your lens is at the service centre without being fixed, u have to take into consideration that they have many other equipment lining up waiting to be serviced, 4 days queue isn't that bad afterall.

they could have open your lens to take a look, but how many would take such a big risk to open up a 12k+ lens, i rather send it back to japan where they have more experience with such equipment. think of it this way, if they open it up and cause further damage to the lens, would u be happy?

overall the service for consumer and amateur based equipment is still above average, my friend send in his f80 for repair, the staff told him it will be ready within 1 week, but he managed to collect it in 3 working days.

anyway, gd luck on getting ur lens fixed, hope it doesn't cost a bomb.

~MooEy~
 

Vinnievinyl said:
I was pretty sure my mouth was about to go stink :devil: if not for the ladies there.

Hmm..perhaps you needn't have bothered controlling yourself.:p
When I was there I heard one of the ladies there mutter this after a customer send in his D70 for focus calibration.

"Send in camera without lens? Like that how to check? He know how to use or not one!"

Certainly not professional to say this of any customer.
 

Lately their services standard drop and they have their limitations. Vinnievinyl I got your messages and hope they solved the problem promptly.

Abdul
 

this was my feedback to them sent via email to their general enquires address...till now I haven't got a reply .


Feedback : The service centre hours does not cater to the working class of people. Open only during Mon-Fri 9-5pm forces people to take leave jus to send camera for repair?? hey it is a service centre for people's cameras isn't it????

Suggestion: For Nikon to provide better Customer Service (isn't that what Nikon is suppose to strive?) Extend the service counter working hours .For example maybe Tues and Thurs till 8pm and 8am-12pm on Sat jus for collection and sending in of cameras only.
 

Zerstorer said:
Hmm..perhaps you needn't have bothered controlling yourself.:p
When I was there I heard one of the ladies there mutter this after a customer send in his D70 for focus calibration.

"Send in camera without lens? Like that how to check? He know how to use or not one!"

Certainly not professional to say this of any customer.
That's amusing to hear. I had sent my FE in for CLA before (before they stopped supporting it) and it never required a lens. Similary, Coolpix cameras can be sent in without a CF card. Maybe nowadays they'll say "Send in camera without the card? like that how to check?" :p

Regards
CK
 

Zerstorer said:
Hmm..perhaps you needn't have bothered controlling yourself.:p
When I was there I heard one of the ladies there mutter this after a customer send in his D70 for focus calibration.

"Send in camera without lens? Like that how to check? He know how to use or not one!"

Certainly not professional to say this of any customer.

Hiee...

Maybe, the focus calibration problem may not only be due to the Body....who knows if the lens it self (kit lens) being made to consumer standards, may introduce certain level of worst case tolerance which may interact and tolerance stack and become "doubly" worse. So i guess, requesting a lens is justifiable for say a particular model....in this case.....the D70.

Or maybe ....they are too many sending in....(a known issue) and they relised that the problem (focus error) may have been partly contributed by the kit lens..

Well....that usually happens when you have a super high volume product in the market and there is only one service center with 3 to 4 people to serve you....its really stressful on the service center part too...

I have personally seen lens being repaired with brass metal shims inserted below the lens mount (on the lens) to compensate for such focus errors...

rgds,
sulhan
 

sulhan said:
Hiee...

Maybe, the focus calibration problem may not only be due to the Body....who knows if the lens it self (kit lens) being made to consumer standards, may introduce certain level of worst case tolerance which may interact and tolerance stack and become "doubly" worse. So i guess, requesting a lens is justifiable for say a particular model....in this case.....the D70.

Or maybe ....they are too many sending in....(a known issue) and they relised that the problem (focus error) may have been partly contributed by the kit lens..
Yes, this may be true. But the point I wanted to make was she badmouthing a customer the moment he left whilst in the presence of 2 other customers. This is poor service irregardless of whatever reasons they have. She made the comment on the assumption that the lens was a contributor to the fault, but that is not for her to decide without checking with their in-house lenses.

Well....that usually happens when you have a super high volume product in the market and there is only one service center with 3 to 4 people to serve you....its really stressful on the service center part too...
Agree about this, but it is no excuse for poor service. The staff at Nikon Singapore do not seem to be overworked in comparison to others, They had at least 5 people in that department when I was there, 2 at the counter and I saw at least 2 others in inside the service room.

Compare this to the Sigma tech centre. 1 poor receptionist and 1 technician who stays back till 7pm to accept send-in/collections.
 

marlin said:
this was my feedback to them sent via email to their general enquires address...till now I haven't got a reply .


Feedback : The service centre hours does not cater to the working class of people. Open only during Mon-Fri 9-5pm forces people to take leave jus to send camera for repair?? hey it is a service centre for people's cameras isn't it????

Suggestion: For Nikon to provide better Customer Service (isn't that what Nikon is suppose to strive?) Extend the service counter working hours .For example maybe Tues and Thurs till 8pm and 8am-12pm on Sat jus for collection and sending in of cameras only.

Agree. Isn't it a bit odd to have such unfriendly working hours? Only students, elderly, self-employed, and graveyard shift pple can send in their cameras?

Lunch time crowd is ridiculous, and it's too far away for too many of us to visit during lunch hours anyway.

Canon has better opening hours. At least they bother to extend opening hours on certain weekday evenings. Nikon is unresponsive to customers' demands in this aspect :thumbsd:

Where are the marketing folks? Customer service, are you listening? It's no longer abt the best technology winning the day. It's best marketing...
 

Had my own experience with Shriro then (now Nikon Singapore). I believe they are still the same people there but with different management? Anyway, I sent these two lenses for cleaning: Ai'd 28mm/2.0 and 35mm/1.4 both older type.

After I collected them, I found that I couldn't focus at all with one of the two lenses, went back to them and explained to the guy who repaired it. After explaining it to him, he just didn't believe me, I showed it to him that I could not focus on a flat surface (only the center was sharp or only the sides were sharp depending where you focus it). It took me a while to convinve him and the manager there (tall young guy, don't know his name). What apparently happened was that one of the inner elements was placed back in the wrong orientation, well this says enough about the repair experience of that particular guy, never will I sent my lenses to them now!
That they do make mistakes is something I accept gladly, no one is perfect.

The worst was that they wouldn't want to believe me when I showed the fault to them! They kept saying there is nothing wrong with it! This lens, in fact any lens will show you a relatively sharp image at the whole focusing plane, and not either center only or sides only......even the worst lens will not do this.....anyway, later they did correct it and they said they didn't have the repair manual for these lenses.....I opened lenses myself in the past, it is not about manuals in this case, it is about a working attitude of how to place the glass elements back in proper order and orientation.

Now I go to the repairman of a little shop in Peninsula Hotel shopping center, he does the best job I have ever come across in Singapore AND in Holland!

Hong Sien
 

Zerstorer said:
Hmm..perhaps you needn't have bothered controlling yourself.:p
When I was there I heard one of the ladies there mutter this after a customer send in his D70 for focus calibration.

"Send in camera without lens? Like that how to check? He know how to use or not one!"

Certainly not professional to say this of any customer.


If that is what she muttered...then I am really worried about their product and service knowledge. When I sent in my D70 for focus calibration 2 weeks back, the CSA insisted that I need not send in the lens. He said only the body is needed. :bigeyes:
 

Vinnievinyl said:
Dear All Nikon user,

How do you find the service standard of Nikon Singapore’s service center??

I agreed that Nikon Singapore Service Center's standard is not up to standard.

I sent in my D70 twice to the service center.

Experience 1: Just to upgrade my firmware from 1.00 to 1.01
Result: The firmware was upgraded alright. When I got my D70, I found that there was an obvious dust particle when I look thru the viewfinder ;( (I am sure there isn't any dust when I sent it). ** Edited to be on the correct term, otherwise it may not make sense :) **

The lady at the counter brought it back in and the tech guy cleaned it up within a minute or so. ;p

Experience 2: CCD Cleaning because of dust
The counter lady took my D70 to the tech guy and after a few :) (less than 5) minutes, the lady brought it out and said it was cleaned. I took a few shots of the clear blue sky and the dust particle WAS still there.

The lady brought it in AGAIN for the 2nd time. This time it took longer to clean the lens :think: (took about 10-15 mins). I thought that they may be performing a thourough cleaning for my D70. As usual, I took a few more shot of the clear blue sky outside. Unbelievable, the dust particle WAS still there. :nono:

The lady brought it in AGAIN for the 3rd time. Almost immediately, the tech guy (probably the one who was servicing my D70) came out to explain to me.

His explanation:
If I open up my apeture to f/8 and above I will surely see some dust particle. :bigeyes: This is normal for digital camera. I am not sure this is the case, maybe someone can clarify.

However, I went on to show him the few shots that I took. It shown clearly a streak of dust particle. He further amused me by saying, this may be due to the assembly of the CCD, the dust particle was trap in between the CCD, :eek: which cannot be cleaned. Then I told him, since my camera in still under warranty, can I changed a new set. He quickly told me that my camera had to be checked thouroughly and check-in my D70. :bsmilie:

After about 4 working days, I got a call from them to collect my D70. I went to collect the very same day and tested a few shots. This time around, there was no more dust particle. I wonder where was the dust that was trap in between the CCD??? :blah:

Well, that was both of my unpleasent experience with Nikon Singapore.
Overall, I am happy with my Nikon gear. Just wish the Nikon Singapore service standard will improve.

Thank you.
 

sehsuan said:
manuelH, you mean the dust can bee seen in the viewfinder? that's dust on your focussing screen, NOT the CCD.

The first time when I sent in for firmware upgrade, the dust was actually on the mirror itself. I could even see the dust particle with my naked eye when I opened up the lens and view the mirror on my D70.

The 2nd time, the technician claimed that the dust was in between my CCD during the factory assembly.

I am very new to dSLR, that was why I am a little worried when I saw other post about the Nikon Singapore Service Center. I believed I will be using/buying Nikon photography equipment in the future, which is why I am worried. Unless I sold all my 4 lens and D70 to switch to Canon.
 

ManuelH said:
Experience 1: Just to upgrade my firmware from 1.00 to 1.01
Result: The firmware was upgraded alright, however the technician did not even check the CCD. When I got my D70, I found that there was an obvious dust particle on the CCD ;( (I am sure there isn't any dust when I sent it). When I look thru the viewfinder, it was there.

this is the part that doesn't make sense. re-read what you typed...

through the viewfinder, you can only see what the lens allows you to see, and you will NEVER see the CCD unless you've locked the mirror up and viewing it through the lens mount itself.
 

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