The 60mm lens repair story 11/14/08
Back in October when I bought the Nikon D700, I put the Micro Nikkor 60mm lens I have on it to test it out on the "cool new full frame" camera. However, the lens did not work. It gave me some sort of aperture error... It worked fine on the F55, the F5, it used to work on the D2X when I had it, it worked on my friend's D80 body but for some reason it did not work on the new D700... I took it to Henry's in St. Catharines and they tried it on a D3 and a D300 body.. Same result. The lens seems to work on the older bodies but not the newer lineup. Nikon said that it should work on all of them. So I sent the lens in to them and they said the aperture ring was busted.. I told them to fix it but then I called back saying "wait a second, this works on all other bodies but the newer ones.. please do some testing before you repair it!"... So they were supposed to test the lens first and call me back saying what was wrong with it.
I didn't get a call until yesterday (they've had the lens for 2 weeks by this point) and the tech said "your lens was repaired, because it was busted and the outstanding amount is $196.62"... I told them I didn't approve the repair--well I *DID* technically at first but called back and told them to test it out before they repair it.. This conversation however did not make it into their records somehow--and that the lens wasn't broken because it was working for me before. I asked what happened to the tests they were supposed to do? He said he was certain he called me saying the lens was busted, after testing it on [at least] the D90 (D90?? That's a new camera, no?) The fact is he didn't call me... and it wasn't really busted like he said it was... I wasn't paying the amount they quoted me. We now couldn't prove that the lens worked on "some" bodies, because they've already replaced the ring. The rep kept saying that I approved the repair and I won't get the lens back until it's paid for.
We came to an agreement whereas they were going to restore the lens to the state it was in when I sent it to them, and send it back to me. I agreed to that. Go ahead put it back to the way it was...
Later on in the day they called back and said "We don't really operate that way, reversing a repair would be spiteful on our end.. that's not how it works here. We're willing to give you a 50% discount on the price of the repair." That sounded a bit better... but I told them that the lens was working, I would've liked to know what was the matter before anything happened and that I really did not feel that I should pay them for something without getting an answer to what I asked. Finally he said that he wanted to make it so that we both benefit from this but if I say that I'm not paying for it and since they don't really reverse repairs, there isn't much he can do he is going to send the lens back, as is, at no cost... as a nice gesture.
So the lens arrived today. I tried it and it works fine now on the D700. It didn't cost me a penny and while I'm very excited about that, I still don't know what was wrong with it. Oh well, I don't need to know everything, do I?
I didn't get a call until yesterday (they've had the lens for 2 weeks by this point) and the tech said "your lens was repaired, because it was busted and the outstanding amount is $196.62"... I told them I didn't approve the repair--well I *DID* technically at first but called back and told them to test it out before they repair it.. This conversation however did not make it into their records somehow--and that the lens wasn't broken because it was working for me before. I asked what happened to the tests they were supposed to do? He said he was certain he called me saying the lens was busted, after testing it on [at least] the D90 (D90?? That's a new camera, no?) The fact is he didn't call me... and it wasn't really busted like he said it was... I wasn't paying the amount they quoted me. We now couldn't prove that the lens worked on "some" bodies, because they've already replaced the ring. The rep kept saying that I approved the repair and I won't get the lens back until it's paid for.
We came to an agreement whereas they were going to restore the lens to the state it was in when I sent it to them, and send it back to me. I agreed to that. Go ahead put it back to the way it was...
Later on in the day they called back and said "We don't really operate that way, reversing a repair would be spiteful on our end.. that's not how it works here. We're willing to give you a 50% discount on the price of the repair." That sounded a bit better... but I told them that the lens was working, I would've liked to know what was the matter before anything happened and that I really did not feel that I should pay them for something without getting an answer to what I asked. Finally he said that he wanted to make it so that we both benefit from this but if I say that I'm not paying for it and since they don't really reverse repairs, there isn't much he can do he is going to send the lens back, as is, at no cost... as a nice gesture.
So the lens arrived today. I tried it and it works fine now on the D700. It didn't cost me a penny and while I'm very excited about that, I still don't know what was wrong with it. Oh well, I don't need to know everything, do I?
Entry ID: 000248