So you can say that this blog is the result of frustration. Or maybe it is the result of common sense, which seems to be lacking from companies and individuals lately. Let me try and explain to you readers, what I mean.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in Las Vegas NV, for a show I attend every year. Of course my wife had asked me to bring her back some presents, and of course I had to visit the nearest mall (The Fashion Show Mall, on Las Vegas Blvd) to get her things. And naturally I didn't miss the chance to visit the Apple Store in that mall, from which I purchased an Apple Might Mouse, two iPod Touch's for my twins and Apple Aperture, a professional software for managing, editing and organizing pictures. Overall, I can say I spend over $650 in that store.
While I was in LV, I also purchased a camera, from Adorama. It was a Nikon D40X camera, refurbished by Nikon. I was told that refurbished equipment are covered by Nikon's warranty for 90 days. I also asked some friends if I should buy a refurbished camera and all their opinions were "by all means, that equipment has been back once, they want to make it nice and push it out the door in excellent shape, so that it is off their back" or something to that extend. I did try the camera out taking a few pictures inside my hotel room and outside my window, but nothing serious, since I had my Nikon D700 with me and I was using that camera for my job, so I just snap some shots to verify that the camera was working OK, which it did.
Of course, since I had Adorama ship me the Nikon D40X camera, I thought it would be a good idea to add another small point-and-shoot camera in the box, so I bought myself a Canon PowerShot S90.
When I returned back home (I live in Athens, Greece), I installed the software in my iMac computer and started using it to organize my pictures. Due to my week-long abscence there was a lot of catching up I had to do, so it was a few days before I got to try out my new toys.
And here is where the fun begins. As soon as I took the first pictures with the D40X I could see that there was something wrong. The white balance was way off, especially in direct sun light, where everything was showing up ... green.
That was the beginning of my frustration. I started investigating Nikon warranty policies, only to find out that if I wanted my camera repaired, I had to return it to US. Come again? There is a Nikon representative in Greece, why should I return it to US? Ahhhh because Nikon has some strange policies, which separate this world into regions. If you buy your Nikon camera in one region and need to have it repaired in another region, well, then your camera is a "grey market" camera according to Nikon, and they won't touch it. The Nikon warranty is not "worldwide", it's regional. US, Europe, Asia, etc.
So, let's see what we got here: we got a camera that has been refurbished by Nikon USA, who eventually didn't refurbish it very well, and who wanted me to pay $150 to have it sent to US, so they have a second go at fixing it, while at the same time the local Nikon rep can fix the camera for much less, but they can't do it because the camera is considered to be a "grey market item". So is Nikon stupid or what? We keep hearing that the world is now a large market, and there sure are examples about that. But it appears that Nikon likes to play games with its customers, by segmenting the world market to regional ones. Interesting marketing approach.
Luckily, the local rep is much more intelligent than the mother company. They took my camera in, had it fixed in less than a week, and charged me 40€ for that, a very reasonable price, if you ask me. So all is well, when it ends well? As far as the D40X is concerned yes, but why should I have to pay for the repair? Why isn't Nikon warranty international. What if I go for vacation to US and the Nikon I have with me fails? Why is it so irrational to expect Nikon US to fix it for me, either under warranty or with payment?
Nikon is not alone in embracing stupid business practices.
Take Apple for example. Remember that Apple software I bought from Apple Store in Las Vegas? Guess what? It didn't recognize the images that my new Canon S90 produces. To be more precise, it doesn't recognize the raw image files that the S90 produces. Well, that is an issue, but it was nobody's fault but mine, I should have checked the specs of Aperture to make sure it supported that camera, before I put down my $200 for it. Or I should have bought a different camera.
Being a software tech guy, after some research I found a way to "persuade" Aperture to recognize the CR2 files that S90 produces, and I was a happy camper. Until next day, when I saw Apple's announcement of the new version of Aperture, which included support of the S90, plus about 200 new features. Since I had decided to stick with Aperture for editing, managing and organizing my pictures (I am perfectly happy with Aperture as a program), and since I wanted to have the new version, I decided to upgrade my software right then and there. It should have been something simple right? After all, Apple is supposed to be at the forefront of technology, so there should be a way to do such things on-line, right? Not so fast though, not so fast.
First of all, most software companies, when they announce a new version of their products, they allow those who bought the previous version a few days before, to upgrade for free. Not Apple though. Apple wants $100 for Aperture upgrade, even if you bought it the day before the new version was announced. You have to pay $100 for the upgrade. OK, I could live with that, $100 is not a big sum, so where do I get to download the upgrade??
I went through the various ordering pages in Apple Store, only to reach the check-out page, where it became obvious that Apple insisted to be paid with a US credit card. Now, if Adorama can check on-line my Amex and verify it, and sell me cameras, why can't Apple do the same?!?!?
I thought that maybe it was a site problem and decided to call Apple and order the upgrade. Ah guess again. I was informed that I couldn't order anything unless I was going to pay it with an American credit card. The very friendly customer service agents suggested that I contacted the Apple Store in my country, the only problem with that, is that ... there is no Apple Store in my country. Then I got another bright idea. I could (maybe) call an Apple Store in EU and order the upgrade, after all EU is a unified market, so there shouldn't be a problem ordering the software from UK, right? Nope, that's not possible. Apple Stores cover only the countries where they operate, not the rest of Europe. Ahhhh and where am I supposed to go to order my upgrade?
Burried somewhere deep inside Apple's site, I found a link to a customer service telephone number for Greece! Hurray!!! I thought I had found the solution to my problem. Unfortunately, the next morning, when I called that number I was informed that all I could do, is wait for a couple of months, until the local Apple representative imports the upgrade and starts distributing it to the local shops, and then go and buy it from a local shop in Athens. Huh? Come again? Why the Americans can have it in 2-3 days and I have to wait two months? Especially when I want to get that software to support my new Canon camera?
I understand that Apple can't open an Apple Store in every country and that Greece is a very small country to support a local Apple Store (or isn't it?) but if there is no Apple store in this country, I should have the ability to order on-line the Apple items I need, from another country's on-line store, like Apple UK or Apple Italy or Apple Uganda, who cares? Why is Apple ignoring their Greek customers?
I do not consider myself a big Apple customer, but I own an Apple iMac, a MacBook, two Apple iPhones, two Apple iPod Touch's and some Apple software. In other words, I've invested in Apple quite a lot of money. Why is Apple ignoring me? Why is Apple not giving me a way to get what I need from them? The same for Nikon, I have invested much more money to Nikon over the years. I currently own the following Nikon equipment: F2A, F5, D700, D40X, six Nikkor prime manual-focus lenses (16mm/3.5, 24mm/2.8, 28mm/2.8, 35mm/2, 50mm/1.4, 105mm/2.5, one Nikkor prime AF lens (50mm/1.4), and five Nikkor zoom lenses (18-35mm, 24-85mm, 70-300mm, 18-55mm DX, 55-200mm DX), a couple of Nikon SB-800 speedlights etc. Why can't I have my Nikon equipment serviced anywhere on this planet?
Do you know how I feel about Apple and Nikon? I'll tell you how I feel.
I feel cheated. I feel betrayed. I feel as if someone is laughing at me behind my back. "We took your money when you bought our products, now shut up and live with all the hassles we impose on you. Why should we give you support? Why should we make your life easier?". That's how I feel. And the crazy thing is that I do not plan to stop buying goodies, from either of these companies. Why? Because I like their products, and somehow I am trapped in their brands. That doesn't mean that I am not frustrated with them.
Am I venting? You bet I am. So now you know how this blog got started. I am sure you will wonder, how it will continue and what it will be about.
Well, to be frank, I am not 100% sure yet. I plan to write about my experiences with computers and cameras in here. I plan to bring you my experiences with software and hardware used in photography. I plan to talk to you about new and old things, as you saw, I own some cameras that were build before some of you were even born. I am going to talk to you about something we all love, the Internet. In general, I am going to talk to you about .... Computers and Cameras.
So, welcome to my little corner of the blogsphere. I'll be happy to see you around.
No comments:
Post a Comment