I recently purchased a "new" D800 on ebay. It was an awesome deal at $2,199 which included a 16gb SD. It was however stated that it was a non US / International version which did not carry the US warranty. The seller had a decent reputation so I decided to pull the trigger. Long story short, I did not receive shipping notification until I messaged the seller. Conveniently, the company had "just fired two of their shipping employees" which was the cause of not being notified. I got the camera via UPS in a box that looked like it had been through multiple shipments (with the previous shipping labels to prove it). I opened the D800 box and everything seemed to be as it should with a brand new Nikon DLSR. It wasn't until I attached the neck strap, opened the provided SD card, and started playing with the settings that I noticed some problems. For one, the LCD protector was already attached to the screen (I thought that in previous cameras I bought from Nikon the LCD protector was packaged separately). The protector also had some fine scratches on it which seemed like more than just factory incidents. For the most part, this was the only apparent problem I saw. After taking the first picture (in raw) I noticed the file name was "_PBP6518." Obviously this camera had been previously owned, was at least 6,517 actuations from new, and the file naming had been changed from default _DSC to _PBP. I contacted the seller and this was their response :
We have had this issue twice before over the last few months from Nikon. Both times we have contacted Nikon about pictures being taken on the camera and they have claimed that this is a normal occurance and that it happens because their cameras are tested before being shipped to dealers. This camera was never used, aside from possibly being opened to show in our store. As for the battery charger I can have a replacement sent out tomorrow along with an extra memory card for you for the inconvenience. Unforunately that happens routinely with all of our camera vendors and we do not always catch the error before the camera is shipped.
Support
CCR Camera
877.490.2688
Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 10am-5pm EST and Friday 10am-12pm EST
We take pride in customer support and truly appreciate your business, if there is anything you are unhappy with please let us know prior to leaving feedback. Thank you!
I can't believe that I have made it this far in the Nikon world and never heard of the company doing this. There is no way that Nikon would test a D800 for 6K+ shots, change the file naming to _PBP, then send it out without resetting the numbering system. I would love someone to counter my thoughts on this and tell me otherwise. As far as the camera goes, I don't want to send it back since I don't see anything necessarily wrong with it and it is more of a hassle than I want to deal with. The seller is aware of this but also knows my view of the situation :
Dear ccr810,
I have purchased multiple cameras throughout the years from Nikon and have never run into or heard of this issue. I have been an active member on Nikon forums since 2002 and still have never once heard of this happening. I appreciate the additional memory card however it is not an equal compensation for a blatant lie and false advertised product. Nikon does not send out "new" cameras that have been tested for 6,000+ shots along with changing the file naming system and not resetting the file numbering after doing so. It is obvious that the previous owner (PBP) had a business and was most likely named "Paul (or equivalent male name + middle name beginning with the letter B) Photography." I feel that more compensation is needed for this error. All signs point to fraudulence. I received no notification of sale, other than directly from ebay. I had to contact you in order to find out that coincidentally "two shipping employees were fired in the previous days" which caused the lack of shipping notification. Once the package arrived the box was in disarray. The box looked like it had been used multiple times and had been turned inside out with previous shipping labels attached to the interior of the box. After opening the box I found a missing charger, scratches on the LCD screen protector (not to mention the lack of clear film that normally comes attached to the LCD screen with new Nikon cameras), and an overall dull body appearance in comparison with brand new Nikon DSLRs. There is no getting away from the fact that this camera had been used for a good period of time before being sold to me under the condition of "New in the box." Nikon would not allow a camera meeting the above specifications to be sold as "new" condition. If there is a dispute on this, I can contact Nikon directly and forward you their response in regards to this situation.
I will be spreading this conversation among my colleges at the Nikon talk forums I frequent online.
Any input or suggestions on my next step?
We have had this issue twice before over the last few months from Nikon. Both times we have contacted Nikon about pictures being taken on the camera and they have claimed that this is a normal occurance and that it happens because their cameras are tested before being shipped to dealers. This camera was never used, aside from possibly being opened to show in our store. As for the battery charger I can have a replacement sent out tomorrow along with an extra memory card for you for the inconvenience. Unforunately that happens routinely with all of our camera vendors and we do not always catch the error before the camera is shipped.
Support
CCR Camera
877.490.2688
Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 10am-5pm EST and Friday 10am-12pm EST
We take pride in customer support and truly appreciate your business, if there is anything you are unhappy with please let us know prior to leaving feedback. Thank you!
I can't believe that I have made it this far in the Nikon world and never heard of the company doing this. There is no way that Nikon would test a D800 for 6K+ shots, change the file naming to _PBP, then send it out without resetting the numbering system. I would love someone to counter my thoughts on this and tell me otherwise. As far as the camera goes, I don't want to send it back since I don't see anything necessarily wrong with it and it is more of a hassle than I want to deal with. The seller is aware of this but also knows my view of the situation :
Dear ccr810,
I have purchased multiple cameras throughout the years from Nikon and have never run into or heard of this issue. I have been an active member on Nikon forums since 2002 and still have never once heard of this happening. I appreciate the additional memory card however it is not an equal compensation for a blatant lie and false advertised product. Nikon does not send out "new" cameras that have been tested for 6,000+ shots along with changing the file naming system and not resetting the file numbering after doing so. It is obvious that the previous owner (PBP) had a business and was most likely named "Paul (or equivalent male name + middle name beginning with the letter B) Photography." I feel that more compensation is needed for this error. All signs point to fraudulence. I received no notification of sale, other than directly from ebay. I had to contact you in order to find out that coincidentally "two shipping employees were fired in the previous days" which caused the lack of shipping notification. Once the package arrived the box was in disarray. The box looked like it had been used multiple times and had been turned inside out with previous shipping labels attached to the interior of the box. After opening the box I found a missing charger, scratches on the LCD screen protector (not to mention the lack of clear film that normally comes attached to the LCD screen with new Nikon cameras), and an overall dull body appearance in comparison with brand new Nikon DSLRs. There is no getting away from the fact that this camera had been used for a good period of time before being sold to me under the condition of "New in the box." Nikon would not allow a camera meeting the above specifications to be sold as "new" condition. If there is a dispute on this, I can contact Nikon directly and forward you their response in regards to this situation.
I will be spreading this conversation among my colleges at the Nikon talk forums I frequent online.
Any input or suggestions on my next step?
