Consider this email: "I got the estimate today for my D800 AF repair; it's listed as a B2 repair and they want to charge me $245 for the repair as I did not include the bill of sale. I called and asked them if there were any D800's out of warranty and they insisted that it was procedure. I was bucked up to a supervisor who also insisted that I needed to send them a bill of sale."
Let's see, the camera has a NikonUSA sticker on it, the serial number starts with 30, the camera has only been out for a couple of months, the camera was registered immediately on purchase on the Nikon site, need I say more? In short, Nikon's customer support has always been on the poor side, but making customers jump through hoops to service a known problem is just pathetic. Oh, did I mention that the person in question was an NPS member and someone who has taught photography for 30 years? Just how many students do you think he might influence as to camera decisions?
Long term readers (and those that have my books), note that I've always said include a copy of the receipt when sending your camera in for repair. The above email is one of the reasons why. Shouldn't be that way, but it is.
Oh, and the kicker: this isn't the way it works in Japan. Try bringing your camera into any Nikon repair station in Japan and note the difference in attitude, attention, and service. If Nikon doesn't think the way they handle American customer support will ever come back to haunt them, they are probably wrong.
And the just as bizarre update: the dealer faxed Nikon a copy of the invoice signed by the store manager. The customer called Melville. At first they couldn't find the fax. When they later called back they said that they would "re-evaluate the request for warranty repair and consider a change." Consider? The customer did as the company requested. What is there to consider?
I talk about frictions when I do business consulting. NikonUSA is so full of frictions (as is Nikon corporate) that I'm not sure I could list them all in a 64-bit document space. Frictions are additive. Eventually, they completely stop a customer from buying a brand. The only way you get that customer back is by applying lubricant (lower prices, more features, lots of direct marketing, etc.). Frankly, we US Nikon customers put up with a lot of frictions. Nikon View NX 2.5 was available throughout most of the world yesterday, but not from NikonUSA. Friction. Given that the US represents over a third of Nikon's sales, you'd think that we'd get less friction, not more. But you'd be wrong.