I am seeking advice on a nightmare of an experience that I am having with Nikon. I ordered a factory refurb 300VR on July 4th. I had been waiting for this purchase for some time, and was able to catch it during a time when Nikon offered 10% off refub purchases. This lens was to replace a much older 300 2.8 AF that previously belong to two café members, and still shoot great.
I received the lens on July 8th. It had at least four major problems: (1) images were simply junk…I don’t know if it was the AF or optics; (2) AF hunted and “jerked” badly; (3) VR felt very rough; and (4) the lens did not function with Nikon 1.4 and 1.7 TCs that work fine with my 70-200 (did not report correct aperture and would not come close to focusing). I verified all of this on three bodies. I shipped the lens back to Melville at my expense, plus insurance costs. When I received it from the repair, I didn’t even have to take a shot to tell that it was essentially in the same condition, except the VR was improved. Exact same issues with the TCs. I took a few shots which I sent back to Nikon when I returned the lens for a second time (on their dime this time).
I have spoken to multiple people on the phone. After the first repair I did not want them to send me this lens back. I was going to consider that repair #3, since someone returned it to begin with. If I had a problem in the future after repair #3, and outside of the limited warranty, it wouldn’t seem wise to me to invest in repair #4 at my own expense. They said they were finished last Friday and that the lens had been completely overhauled, or something to that affect.
They say the lens shipped Monday overnight to me Tuesday morning, but no one can find it. They never sent me a tracking number, but they admit that the number they have leads to nothing in the UPS system. The link that I was able to see on the Nikon page for shipping info as of this Monday just took me to at UPS “error” page. Nikon has twice told me that they are “investigating.” Sadly, there was a UPS cargo plane crash in my area Wednesday morning, so that is in the back of my mind. I called Nikon yesterday morning…they were supposed to get back to me yesterday afternoon, and did not. I called again this morning and made it to the 3rd level of support…also supposed to follow up this afternoon, and did not. Fortunately all of this is documented in their support system.
Comments or advice? This is my first encounter with Nikon support, and it hasn’t been good. Anyone have a special number I could call
? At this point they have had my money for 40 days and I think I have been patient enough. Is it too much to ask for a new (VRII) lens? At this point, if they returned the money, my net experience is still extremely negative.
I received the lens on July 8th. It had at least four major problems: (1) images were simply junk…I don’t know if it was the AF or optics; (2) AF hunted and “jerked” badly; (3) VR felt very rough; and (4) the lens did not function with Nikon 1.4 and 1.7 TCs that work fine with my 70-200 (did not report correct aperture and would not come close to focusing). I verified all of this on three bodies. I shipped the lens back to Melville at my expense, plus insurance costs. When I received it from the repair, I didn’t even have to take a shot to tell that it was essentially in the same condition, except the VR was improved. Exact same issues with the TCs. I took a few shots which I sent back to Nikon when I returned the lens for a second time (on their dime this time).
I have spoken to multiple people on the phone. After the first repair I did not want them to send me this lens back. I was going to consider that repair #3, since someone returned it to begin with. If I had a problem in the future after repair #3, and outside of the limited warranty, it wouldn’t seem wise to me to invest in repair #4 at my own expense. They said they were finished last Friday and that the lens had been completely overhauled, or something to that affect.
They say the lens shipped Monday overnight to me Tuesday morning, but no one can find it. They never sent me a tracking number, but they admit that the number they have leads to nothing in the UPS system. The link that I was able to see on the Nikon page for shipping info as of this Monday just took me to at UPS “error” page. Nikon has twice told me that they are “investigating.” Sadly, there was a UPS cargo plane crash in my area Wednesday morning, so that is in the back of my mind. I called Nikon yesterday morning…they were supposed to get back to me yesterday afternoon, and did not. I called again this morning and made it to the 3rd level of support…also supposed to follow up this afternoon, and did not. Fortunately all of this is documented in their support system.
Comments or advice? This is my first encounter with Nikon support, and it hasn’t been good. Anyone have a special number I could call
? At this point they have had my money for 40 days and I think I have been patient enough. Is it too much to ask for a new (VRII) lens? At this point, if they returned the money, my net experience is still extremely negative.
