We purchased a digital Nikon camera for our son in September for his birthday. Two months later the lens got stucked. We were unable to use the camera. Best Buy, were we bought the camera, was kind enough to print a copy of the receipt and we mailed the camera back to Nikon. They send us a bill to fix the camera for 105.59, the price we paid for the camera. They did not honor the warranty that should be ok for one year.

I advise everyone to never buy a camera from Nikon. It certainly is my last time. There are many brands out there, why settle for one that does not stand by their brand and cannot wait to stick their hands in your pocket three months later...

I am a professional photographer with over 20 years experience and have owned dozens of Nikon products. Over the years I have attempted to take them to the Nikon Facility in Torrance for repairs. Often their repair estimates are double or triple the actual value of the item! One instance I had a mal functioning flash. Nikon estimated the repair to be around $180!! (the value of the flash was approx $100 as a used item), and told me it something inside was damaged and had to be repaired. I refused the estimate and had one of my assistants review the flash. He said all that was bad was the contacts and that everyone knows all you need to do it clean them with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol and a pencil eraser. He did. It took 2 minutes and the flash then worked perfectly. Needless-to-say I felt nikon was simply trying to take advantage of me. As a result I found a local small repair shop who charged 1/3 the fee for any future repairs.

Recently I phoned Nikon tech support for issues I was having with my Nikon film neg scanner, (Nikon coolscan 8000). I was first asked for the serial number and was then informed the scanner was "out of the repair warranty". I said I know and from this point I was given the estimate costs breakdowns form "out of warrranty" repairs. From this point I was given a list of estimate costs ranging from $35 to clean it to $225 maximum for a major repair. I was also told although I was required to pay shipping TO the repair facility in New York,(I am in Caifornia!), that shipping would be paid by Nikon for the return of the item. I spent $80 to have the scanner professionally packed and shipped. 2 weeks later I received an estimate from Nikon of $375!!! ($50 of it was for shippiing!!!). Needless-to-say I was enraged!!. When I phoned Nikon repair in New York they could not explain the charges and simply said someone in customer service gave me the wrong information!! I told them I wrote down everything I was told prior to sending the scanner out and that I would have NEVER agreed to send it knowing it would cost me now $450 to repair something that is now not worth more than $500!!! This situation has happened to me numerous times before and I know of other professionals who have also experienced the same situation with Nikon!

When I called to speak with someone at Nikon about my situation and expressed my frustration he simply laughed at me when I said I would file a complaint with Consumer Affairs? I feel Nikon is taking advantage of us consumers, grossly underestimating repair costs and then slamming us with outrageous bills once they have the product in their possession and there is nothing we can do about it! I was lied to about the estimate coersed to send it t the repair facility and now I am stuck.

I refuse to pay this estimate and now they refuse to send the product back without my paying the $50 shipping fee!!