Publicado en el foro de reparadores de Nikon:
Es una verguenza que Nikon haga eso, ved las incongruencias...
Salud.
Jes.
----
There's a firestorm running through the community of independent
camera repair technicians after Nikon sent a letter to them on Monday.
Signed by Arnold H. Kamen, vice president of operations and customer
service for Nikon Inc., the letter tells independent repair facilities
that the company will no longer supply parts to anyone but officially
authorized repair facilities. That stated reason is "the technology
underlying today's cameras is more complex than it has ever been, and
in view of the specialization of technology as well as the specialized
tools that are now necessary to perform repairs on this complex
equipment..."
But the total ban on sales of parts to independents has nothing to do
with technology or training or even the quality of repairs. Few real
repairs require sophisticated software, hardware or training. If those
things were required for installation of specific parts, it would make
sense to restrict only those, not every screw and spring in the
inventory, including old parts for less technical cameras.
While you might think that only a factory or Authorized Repair
Facility can provide great repair, you would be wrong. Most repairs
going to the factory are subbed out, some even going across the
border. Some repairs are good and some repairs are shoddy -- on both
sides of the fence. (Check
http://www.contacthelp.com/directory/Shopping/Electronics/Nikon?ListingID=48among others and read for yourself. Reports from the Better Business
Bureau suggest Nikon's record on repairs handled through its own
facility are not as good as most independent technicians.)
No, this is not quality control. The real story here is this is
clearly restraint of trade. Nikon has been squeezing independents for
years with increasingly poor parts service, poor communication, and
long backorders.
But what does this mean for people on the NikonRepair Yahoo Group? It
means access to repair parts will become more restricted. Access to
local or nearby repair facilities will become problematic at best. If
you are a professional relying on your Nikon equipment, you might not
be able to get fast repairs from your reliable local independent photo
technician. Some of those independent technicians who have been
repairing cameras successfully for decades through changing technology
might not be able to overcome this challenge to their business. It
probably means more expensive repair parts. By comparison, Canon does
not have this policy and does a much better job of supplying
independent repair facilities with the parts they need. Are Canon
cameras so much less technical and easy to repair compared to Nikon? I
think not.
Members of the Society of Photo Technologists (
www.spt.info), which
has represented independent camera repair shops for 50 years, are
asking everyone who has anything to do with Nikon to urge the company
to rethink this new policy. You can write to: Arnold H. Kamen, Nikon
Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747-3064. You can phone
631-547-4200. For all of Nikon's talk about high tech, they don't
provide a corporate email address on their website (
www.nikonusa.com).
I've been an avid Nikon user as a hobbyist and published professional
since the 1970s. I can remember when you weren't a pro unless you used
a Nikon. I can also remember great customer service for repairs and
parts; of course, some of that dates back to the old EPOI days. I've
been doing AI modifications since the 1980s. Those modifications don't
require any parts, so I likely won't be affected personally by this,
but with my longtime loyalty to the brand, it saddens me that Nikon is
taking this path. I hear many repairmen urging regular Nikon customers
to switch to Canon. Nikon just isn't what it used to be.
William Sampson
www.aimodification.com