What is the "norm" turnaround for repairs in NIKON AUS?

[nugget]

It has been 2 weeks (11 business days) since they have had my two lenses and all I have so far is a repair quote for ONE of the lenses. I am not a member of NPS. I was told by Nikons Customer Service Manager that this is an acceptable time period. His exact words "We do not consider this to be an excessive amount of time to be without your equipment and all effort to have it returned to you once repairs have been completed will made with due haste".

I am actually shocked. When I sent the two lenses in I thought I would have them back within two weeks repaired. I don't even have a quote for one of them yet and they are telling me this is acceptable. Acceptable for WHO? I can't even describe how dissapointed I am with their service. If it takes more than 2 weeks just to get a quote I am fearful of how long it will take to repair them and get my lenses back. So much for my Easter hopes to shoot some Azure Kingfishers.

I love their gear but their service is shocking.

[gstark]

Hi Nugget, and welcome.

<housekeeping=on>Could you please attend to putting a meaningful location into your profile? Please check the forum rules at the top of this page, as well as the FAQ. Thanks. <housekeeping=off>

[quote="nugget" His exact words "We do not consider this to be an excessive amount of time to be without your equipment and all effort to have it returned to you once repairs have been completed will made with due haste".[/quote]

Did you let him know (politely but very firmly) that you did not consider this to be an acceptable time frame?

What was indicated to you - by Nikon - when you put the items in for the quote and repairs? And did you lodge them directly, or through a dealer? If through a dealer, it may take up to a week to get to Nikon, before they can look at it.

I certainly believe that two weeks, just for a quote, is quite excessive, but there is no "normal" time for a repair as such. The time needed will depend upon the nature of the repairs required and parts availability.

But I suspect that I would certainly be pushing for better service than what it appears you may be receiving at this time.

[biggerry]

Firstly, I would remove and personal information (name) about the customer rep you are dealing with since this is not relevant and quite frankly if it was my name I would not be happy.

I think you need to provide more details about the lens and what repair is required, I mean, did you drop it in the ocean or something?

In regards to your specific question

What is the "norm" turnaround for repairs in NIKON AUS?

I have only had one thing repaired and this was quoted to take longer than two weeks, however their workload at the time was high and nonetheless they did promise to push it out as quickly as possible since they knew I needed it promptly. From memory, I picked it up in less than the two weeks!

So, how long is the 'norm' turnaround time? its a bit like how long is a piece of string?

[Remorhaz]

I've heard that a couple weeks turnaround time is pretty normal for all the camera manufacturers (e.g. both Nikon and Canon). I've only had one lens in for checkup and when I dropped it off (to a dealer not Nikon) I was told it may take two or three weeks before I got it back. I was sad but such is life - I must have lucked out because mine was back in about a week.

[aim54x]

The manufacturers all work on a timetable of 20 working days as the maximum allowable turnaround other than for difficult jobs or high workload times. However, if you decide to drop it off at at dealer, be aware that this may add a few days on either end for processing and freight, and also keep in mind the time it takes to contact you with a quote, and the time it may take for you to respond to a quote.

[nugget]

gstark:

Hi Nugget, and welcome.

<housekeeping=on>Could you please attend to putting a meaningful location into your profile? Please check the forum rules at the top of this page, as well as the FAQ. Thanks. <housekeeping=off>

Done

Did you let him know (politely but very firmly) that you did not consider this to be an acceptable time frame?

NO I havent done so yet. I wanted to see what you guys think. Personally I think its definitely absurd to wait so long just for a quote. I still have not heard anything about my second lens.

What was indicated to you - by Nikon - when you put the items in for the quote and repairs? And did you lodge them directly, or through a dealer? If through a dealer, it may take up to a week to get to Nikon, before they can look at it.

I sent the items directly to NIkon. I know exactly when they signed the receipt of delivery as the items were sent registered. Before I sent them I was told it would take about 5 days or so to get a technician to look at them and give me a quote.

Thanks for your input.

[nugget]

biggery:

Firstly, I would remove and personal information (name) about the customer rep you are dealing with since this is not relevant and quite frankly if it was my name I would not be happy.

Agreed. Name removed.

I think you need to provide more details about the lens and what repair is required, I mean, did you drop it in the ocean or something?

Two lenses. Both involved in a car accident.
-Nikon 300 F4 AF-D (making horrible noise when focus point moves from close to infinity)
-Nikon 300 F4 AF-S (had a sugary drink spilled on it. Soon after developed a sticky/stuck manual focus ring which I managed to loosen up but it just didnt feel smooth the way it used to be.)

So no I can't say that it would be something too complicated to inspect and assess. Both lenses optically performed just fine.

[Jenno]

Just to add a bit of balance to this post with my experience with the repair of 2 lenses 24-70 & 17-35 damaged whilst travelling OS.
Physically took lenses to Nikon Australia on 28/03
Quote for repair of 2 lenses received by email 29/03 ($2k)
Gave the go ahead for repairs 13/04 (after insurance Coy came good)
Received advice by email that the 24-70 was fixed 15/04 and ready for collection
Advised that the 17-35 repair will take longer due to complexity.

More than happy with my experience so far

[nugget]

Just to add a bit of balance to this post with my experience with the repair of 2 lenses 24-70 & 17-35 damaged whilst travelling OS.
Physically took lenses to Nikon Australia on 28/03
Quote for repair of 2 lenses received by email 29/03 ($2k)
Gave the go ahead for repairs 13/04 (after insurance Coy came good)
Received advice by email that the 24-70 was fixed 15/04 and ready for collection
Advised that the 17-35 repair will take longer due to complexity.

More than happy with my experience so far

If I had your experience I would be on here spreading the good word for NIkon and giving my friends who are canon users a hard time (all in good fun)

[nugget]

I've heard that a couple weeks turnaround time is pretty normal for all the camera manufacturers (e.g. both Nikon and Canon). I've only had one lens in for checkup and when I dropped it off (to a dealer not Nikon) I was told it may take two or three weeks before I got it back. I was sad but such is life - I must have lucked out because mine was back in about a week.

Two weeks turnaround is more than acceptable. Even 3 weeks. They have had my lenses though since the 5/4/2011 10:30am. All I have so far is a quote via sms for one lens which I immediately approved. Didnt hear anything about the other lens. So I called them on the 15/4/2011 to find out what is happening with second lens. I was told another technician had picked that one up and would be inspecting it for a quote and I should receive one shortly. I did not so I called them again on 18/04/2011. Was told "the second lens has fallen off our system unfortunately and has not been assigned to a technician. Its a glitch that can happen from time to time". I was then told I would receive a quote by the 19/4/2011 i.e the next day. That was yesterday and I am still waiting to hera anything.

What really disturbing is their stance that all this that I am experiencing is ACCEPTABLE!. And completely within their accepted timeframes.

[aim54x]

Two weeks turnaround is more than acceptable. Even 3 weeks. They have had my lenses though since the 5/4/2011 10:30am. All I have so far is a quote via sms for one lens which I immediately approved. Didnt hear anything about the other lens. So I called them on the 15/4/2011 to find out what is happening with second lens. I was told another technician had picked that one up and would be inspecting it for a quote and I should receive one shortly. I did not so I called them again on 18/04/2011. Was told "the second lens has fallen off our system unfortunately and has not been assigned to a technician. Its a glitch that can happen from time to time". I was then told I would receive a quote by the 19/4/2011 i.e the next day. That was yesterday and I am still waiting to hera anything.

What really disturbing is their stance that all this that I am experiencing is ACCEPTABLE!. And completely within their accepted timeframes.

Sounds like Nikon may be under a bit of a heavy workload at the moment. I have had a very bad personal experience with them in the past, but the recent experiences with them through work have been good. I'll PM you the name of someone to ask to talk to if you want to get closer to the top.....

[photomarcs]

Notes aside : Could it be.. that one, being an older lens that parts are hard to come by ? and for the second model 300mm being an afs variant, could that be due to particular parts needing to be changed instead of cleaned, which can be caused by an uncertainty due to parts unavailable in Nikon Australia ? which leads me to say.. if it is the case.. you might be in a sticky situation with getting parts from japan... ( no pun intended).

[nugget]

I was told none of the two lenses require any parts. I have actually received last week 29/4/2011 my 300/4 AF-S back. The cleaned optics, checked and cleaned the AF-S. Charged me $320. And when they cleaned the optics they missed a corner of the front element. Still waiting on my other lens.