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Posted on 02/20/2012 11:06:31 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER
In mid-January, Nikon sent an letter out to independent camera repair technicians across the US, informing them that “it will no longer make repair parts available for purchase by repair facilities that have not been authorized by Nikon Inc. to perform camera repairs.” After July 13th, 2012, unauthorized repair shops will no longer be able to repair Nikon cameras
(Excerpt) Read more at petapixel.com ...
If my Canon DSLR breaks. I’m not taking it to “Joe’s camera. I’m shipping it to Canon.
That’s a good question. I do believe in buying local, though, and supporting my local camera shop where I’ve done my business for years.
Since there isn’t a licensed repair facility within 500 miles of my home, hopefully someone closer to me takes up the challenge.
After owning several Nikons, I came to agree with the statement, “Nikon owners should always own two, because one will always be in the shop”.
Most of the repair operations have marginal feedback at resellerratings, you may have to send it in more than once.
I've been selling some stuff on Ebay, once I squirrel enough cash away I'll get another Sony body. That should outlast me.
The repair business is sweet cash for auto companies, at least at GM (circa 1999 when I worked on this) and I assume others... Post market parts had 2 different prices, 1 for authorized dealers and 1 for parts stores/independent shops. Care to take a guess which one GM made pay more??
You got, your GM Dealer paid more for an ACDelco/EPIC part than Autozone did for the same part. In fact the price differencial was so great at times, that your local GM Dealer would go to someplace like Autozone and buy the part from them, because even with their markup it was still cheaper than ordering the part from GM directly for them. And you wonder why they went bankrupt.
Sony is quickly becoming just as bad. Try getting a PS3 fixed. My son jammed 4 DVDs into my brand-new Playstation. Nobody would touch it. "Gotta send it to Sony and expect to pay about $200." was the most common reply I heard.
Exasperated, I carefully fished out the jammed DVDs with a $0.99 dental pick.
“In fact the price differencial was so great at times, that your local GM Dealer would go to someplace like Autozone and buy the part from them, because even with their markup it was still cheaper than ordering the part from GM directly for them.”
No surprise there...
“So now they sell the computer codes for a price none of the small timers can afford?”
Actually, a lot of the critical codes are standardized for all cars and public. Then, the manufacturers often add their own codes (like bad window motor switch) - that gets tricky but I suspect that a lot of them can be found on the web.
“For cars, there tend to be lots of reliable aftermarket parts, especially for high wear items like brake shoes and windshield wipers. For everything else, there’s the local junk yard.”
Agree. I was just looking up the availability of parts for EMP-proof cars (i.e., early 70s and prior). It seems easier to find parts for them than it does for my late-model non-UAW cars.
“There are limits, of course, but the current philosophy of forcing customers to buy new stuff before the old stuff is slap worn out really sticks in my craw.”
For sure. Apple may have been the most notorious - when they charged you almost the price of the IPOD to replace the battery that was heavily integrated into the unit...and gave you no other option.
As a Camaro restorer, I can verify that you can build a new 67 from scratch without using any used parts, now that the Chinese have tooled up the complete body.
http://www.dynacornbodies.com/body-shells/camaro.php
Amazing...
Sony!
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