Re: filmscanners: Nikon Service

[Arthur Entlich <artistic@ampsc.com>]

I hate to rain on your parade, and I honestly hope your scanner
continues to give you great service, BUT, don't you think that it should
not have been necessary to have your scanner sent  back to you in
basically a broken state?  And do you not also think that it was during
their first repair that they damaged something which caused the
catastrophic failure of the unit, possibly requiring the full
replacement of the innards (or at least they decided to go that course
as it was cheaper than trying to figure out what was wrong with it)?

Do you think Nikon would have been so helpful if this had occurred
earlier in the warranty period while the LS-30 was still an "in catalog"
item, rather than discontinued, where they have hundreds of used units
available for spare parts?

I'm happy that they serviced you well in the end, but I still see major
room for improvement.

I also think that Nikon might be responding to the dismal service record
that has been well documented on the internet.  Let's hope that's the
case.

Art 

Hersch Nitikman wrote:
> 
> A couple of weeks ago or so, I posted a message about the warranty service
> Nikon USA had given me on my LS-30, in glowing terms. They had repaired the
> intermittent banding, etc., that had been plaguing me. They had replaced
> the main circuit board, and on my first scan, those problems were gone.
> Immediately after posting the message, I scanned another image, and found
> the focus was way off, and I could not do anything to correct that! I got
> on their 800 number immediately, and was told that it would have to be
> shipped back. The lady promised to get a free UPS shipping coupon to me
> overnight. Actually, it was the morning after the next day when FedEx
> brought me the prepaid coupon.
> I repacked the scanner, and took it to our local UPS, and was promised it
> would go out by a UPS plane that night. Tracking confirmed that it had been
> delivered on the Friday following, 4 days after I had first received it.
> Two weeks later, I was informed it had been repaired, and shipped (by UPS
> Ground this time). When it was delivered today, I unpacked it, and
> connected it, and ran a test scan on Vuescan 7.1.6.  The first preview came
> out dark but the scan was perfect.
> I checked the packing slip, and they recorded the work done the first time,
> and added: Replaced Focusing Motor, Stage Motor, Photo-Interrupter
> (whatever that is) General check and clean, and Lube Stage Motor. It seems
> to me that I have a remanufactured scanner at this point! There is hardly
> anything else I can think of other than the optics that they haven't
> renewed, and there is clearly nothing wrong with them. The scans of some
> ~20-year-old negatives are just gorgeous...
> Other than their insisting on working on someone else's equipment while I
> was suffering withdrawal pains, I can't thing of anything negative to say
> about their service. I can only say that I am totally satisfied that they
> have made good on their promises. All that it cost me was the ~$11 shipping
> and insurance when I first sent it in. I also have a 90-day warranty
> extension, in case something goes wrong with the repair. I think I'm home
> free right now, and I now have over a dozen rolls to get developed, and
> scanned.
> Hersch