Not happy with Henry's camera shop at all!

[PrincessTrisha]

Stick with it and I hope that things work out for you.

To give you hope, let me tell you my camera story (although it involves Best Buy and Kodak).

I had bought a Kodak camera - the last one made with a glass lens (until last year). It was a sell off - purchased at almost 50% off from Best Buy. The guy talked me into the extended warrenty (about $70) that covered 2 years since the warranty on the camera from Kodak did not provide a lot of coverage.

Fast forward 18 months - the battery door had a crack in after about 2 months but since it never affected the use of the camera, I didn't bother with it. I carry my camera in a small samsonite camera bag and I left it on the kitchen table. I whipped around an knocked the bag off the table. When I picked it up, the battery door was completely off and broken into two pieces with the brass connectors in a separate piece. Even after taping it together, the screen was all blurry and I thought the camera was toast - and because I had knocked it off the table, I assumed that it was not covered under warranty. My dad talked me into taking the camera to Best Buy anyways (because I truly love that camera and was willing to pay to have it fixed). I was honest about how the damage happened, and Best Buy said that Kodak would not honour the warranty but they would send it anyways and Kodak could tell me if the camera was fixable and how much. After not hearing anything for 3 weeks, I called Kodak and they told me the camera had been shipped back to the store but couldn't tell me if it was fixed or anything. I went back to the store and low and behold, the camera was fixed - as good as new with a new battery door and they cleaned up the screen display (in fact I'm almost positive they replaced it because it looked "new").

So, keep a stiff upper lip and I hope that your story has a happy ending like mine did.

 

[shorecreast]

Hi,

I never buy extended warranties, they are such a scam. However, whenever the salesperson puts pressure on you to buy the extended warranty, just insist that they included it for free. That usually shut them up very quickly.

Good luck.

 

[PhotobearSam]

Since then I've been in 2 of the others that have opened up here in Ottawa and found the service anywhere from lukewarm to downright rude!

QUOTE]



Thank you for saying that. I used to live in Ottawa and visit often. Here in Moncton, there are not a lot of big camera stores so I was so excited on our last trip to Ottawa lasst month that I would get to visit a Henry's as when I left Ottawa it was still the Focus Center and Ginn photo.

So as we made our way through snow, we came upon the Henry's on Huntclub. I went in with over $1000 in my pocket ready to spend. I had a bunch of questions to ask and I could not wait to touch and feel all the cool stuff. Well, the person who served me was RUDE and would not discuss my options for lenses but was TELLING what I should want. (I told him I only wanted to take one lens to France and my nifty-fifte mm lens) He then asked what I already have and suggested I buy 3 lenses and not the one I wanted to ask about. He said "Well, if you don't want to change lenses often, why did you buy a DSLR?" He told me I should get used to using my 28-105 instead of getting something wider like I asked about...etc etc.

I hated my experience. I almost left in tears. I was so looking forward to shopping in that "TOY" store that when he was TELLING me what i wanted, I wass crushed. I spent all of $40. they lost a lot of $$$$ that day and I will never go back. I have had better service at Future Shop....if you can believe it.

I will not go back to that Henry's location...

To the OP. I am so sorry you are having this problem...Fight it...Good luck.

 

[Calrissian13]

Wow, all the responses you recieved from Henry's don't even make sense. It's been a while, but I worked at a camera store (Black's) for two years while I was in university, and I NEVER remember hearing anything about a slight knock damaging a camera. Dropping, yes. Tapping with a hand or being blown by the wind, never, even a point and shoot. While I'm no professional by a long shot, it sounds like an internal mechanical problem to me, which SHOULD be warranty covered.

I'm surprised the store didn't have the name of a local repair shop they could send you to, we always reccommended taking cameras to the professionals if we couldn't find a problem ourselves, and NEVER expected the customer to pay to send out the camera themselves for warranty repairs. That's just bad service all around.

So sorry you had to deal with this. Here's hoping it all works out in the end. In spite of the poor email response you've recieved, I've heard Nikon is usually really good with their service.

 

[Tiger926]

Update

Henry's in Toronto called to tell me that Nikon has detected "various visible body damage" so they will NOT repair my camera. A quick estimate is $225.00 plus tax. I am beyond angry. There is no visible body damage at all, and in fact, my Henry's store even wrote on the repair form that there is no visible signs of body damage.

I called Henry's back and spoke to a lovely woman, who says it's now her job to communicate back with Nikon to get the report of what damage they have discovered, and why they won't repair. I haven't heard back from her yet...

At this point, we are beyond angry with Nikon and Henry's as I did not damage my camera at all. It is just a frustrating situation all around as I know I am a beyond honest and ethical person who has had a camera malfunction that will not be repaired on a pristine condition camera, yet friends and people on Internet are relaying stories of dropping cameras and throwing cameras, yet their repairs were covered with no problems? Because there is a lens issue, which is probably the most common camera repair around, they won't fix it.

I am sad as that is a perfectly good camera that will more than likely be thrown in the garbage...

Thanks to all - I will update as I get more information, Tiger

 

[AndyKay]

I've been reading this thread since the beginning and just like to chime in with my own experience. To let you know where I'm coming from, I work as a Business Technology Professional at a Best Buy. Essentially, I work with business and do large scale orders, which means I need a through grounding in all the products we sell including the manufacturers warranties. In my time with the company I've witnessed pretty much any problem you could think of when it comes to cameras. Sometimes its the manufacturers fault, sometimes its the consumers.

Most consumers don't realize how little manufacturer warranties really cover, especially for cameras. The only piece of electronics that have it worse off for coverage would be camcorders. When you read the fine print you will probably come across a variation of the phrase "defective parts" in regards to what the manufacturer will replace (that's not even counting the fact the most warranties cover "parts and labour" but don't cover diagnostic fees, and shipping and handling). This in combination with the "limited" warranty through the manufacturer essentially guarantees you that when you open the package up all the screws will be in the correct spot and the camera will turn on and function at 100%. If anything breaks after that, the manufacturer legally doesn't have to do a thing, as their phrase "defective part" is subjective and gives them an out to say "no" to anyone without fear of breaking their warranty. Its mean and underhanded, but 90% of warranties are set up this way. If you ever lay money down to extend a warranty on a camera, your essentially paying extra money to guarantee that camera will work when you first open that box up.

Now this is just extended warranties and the manufacturers warranties. Protection plans or what have you is a whole other can of worms that I won't bother to get into today.

What I would do is look closely at the Nikon warranty (its been a while since I've read theirs) and see exactly what they do cover. Nikon might give you more freedom then what I have mentioned above, as I'm speaking about the average camera warranty, not Nikon specifically. If the warranty says they'll cover your damage, I'd make sure they Nikon holds their end of the bargain. MY advice would be to stick it out. I've seen plenty of customers win out a battle with a manufacturer just through persistence and endurance. Keep at them and don't let up.

 

[realfam]

We too had a very similar story to yours in the falls. My DW gave me a Canon SD850 camera last christmas (with extended warranty) from Henrys.
Last October we were on the Disney Magic and this camera decided not to work. So we were very upset, being on an expensive vacation with no camera. (we did use DD's cheap camera though)
Upon returning home, I thought no problem (with extended warratny and only being 10 months old), I'll just take it to Henrys to get it replaced.
Well there first response to me when I got there was, theres nothing wrong with it. The camera decided at that point to turn on once in awhile, but would only last a few minutes (just not reliable). I asked them for a new one or credit towards purchasing a new one. No way they responded (the manager at this point). They only thing they would do is send it back to Canon under the original warranty. Which completely makes the extended warranty a waste of money. My concern at this point was time (how long it would take since we were headed back down to Disney just before Xmas). Not a problem the manager explained, guaranteed back in 4 to 6 weeks (which was enough time). Well, december and 3 weeks of january came and went with no camera returned. I was just tired of fighting with them, but we did finally get it back at the end of jan working great and no charges.
I am not a Henry's fan at all. Things are all great while you are spending moneu there, but should you require any kind of service, they fail miserably. After our cruise we decided it would be a good idea to buy a second camera just so we wouldn't be left on vaction without a descent camera. November we purchased a Sony DSLR (which is an amazing camera), needless to say I did not buy it at Henry's. So they lost that sale, plus my sister bought one, so they lost that sale too. I figure it looks good on them.
So sorry to hear what your going through, but we know exactly what your going through. And I would pass along your story to any one who is thinking of shopping there. There extended warranty is garbage, and misrepresented in my opinion.
Good luck to you and I hope things move a little faster than they did for us.

 

[beavdisfan]

now you why most consumer's will never never buy an extended warranty.
i have been in the retail electronics buisness for 25 years and the extended warranty is the single biggest profit center in my store and the single biggest waste of money for the customer. i love selling them because the consumer almost never gets their invesment back.
good luck with the camera.

 

[Ham Ham]

In the past I've purchased a Best Buy warranty when my DD bought her first iPod 4 years ago and they sent us a Best Buy gift card no questions asked when we started to have battery issues. The prices of the shuffle back then was 149 and the warranty was only $29 dollars.

Also I'm big fan of Apple Care. For the iPods provides you with phone support and also covers the ear buds that come with it for two years. Every three months the rubber gaskets on the buds fail and apple replaces them no problem. Also have replaced two iPods through Apple Care. One of iPods was a custom order from Apple and we re-engraved FOC.

We also have Apple Care for our Mac Book, $299 and it has already cover the initial cost. Had a keyboard $300 replaced and the hard drive $200, back up that data folks I'm glad I do. Also includes full support for three years. I feel comfortable taking care of small issues with my Mac but sometimes a quick call to Apple saves me a lot of tinkering. I wish I could buy Apple Care for my iPhone but that's not available from Apple in Canada.

We recently purchased a 50" plasma from Future Shop. The warranty was 30% of the purchase price. We passed on the warranty.

As tone def posted earlier tale a look at what market place put together as the sin of addiction
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2009/seven_sins_of_the_marketplace/main.html

 

[Lizziejane]

I sure sympathize with the ordeal you're going through...but I am going to throw in a view from a different perspective.

I work in a camera store (not henry's). On the one hand you state there is no visible damage to your camera, but you also stated in your original post that the lens is crooked. Internal malfunctions do not cause a lens to become misaligned. An internal malfunction may cause the lens to stick, and refuse to retract, but they only become misaligned by knocking or pressure. An accidental powering-up of the camera while it is in a bag or purse, for example, could cause the lens to be "pressed" against something. Canon have made a few cameras now that while at first glimpse seem really inconvenient to turn on, but are actually a great idea because they don't get turned on by accident.

anyway, my point is, if a customer comes into our store with a crooked lens, we usually prepare them for the worst. Camera technicians can tell upon examination if the fault is internal or something else. If the answer is something else, it will not be covered by any warranty.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks for all replies. Until this happens to you, it may be hard to understand the whole process. I pressed on/off, lens didn't retract. Battery was dying, so I believe that this is where the problem might have occurred, or, perhaps as I laid it down on the Henry's counter. Seriously, I didn't maliciously or intentionally abuse the camera in any way, shape or form. A malfunction happened, but in the sequence of events (I powered the on/off several times as per the camera manual), perhaps that is where the lens got bent. I really don't know - all I know is that I treat my cameras like babies and this is what happened. We will never purchase another Nikon camera again, nor, will we shop at Henry's. It bothers me that they assume that the customer is guilty when the camera is in pristine condition - they have determined that lens errors aren't covered and that is that.

Like I said, the Henry's HELP warranty with the Nikon warranty was misrepresented to us. I thoroughly read everything, but words like 'intentional', 'abuse' or 'dropping' the camera didn't apply here, but oh how quickly we discovered they did apply. When we bought the camera it was "sturdy and strong", yet when you bring it in with a problem, it is now "sensitive." Henry's knows that most camera companies won't cover lens issues, yet they seem to cover lots of other intentional things - I read many stories on Internet and talked to some friends/family who got cameras fixed after intentionally dropping them. I can't figure it out except that the camera companies have determined or decided that lens errors can only occur from some type of jarring. As the Henry's staff said, the wind or the soft part of your hand can do this. WTH?

It has not been a good experience all around and this weekend, but as we said, there are much worse problems in the world to be dealing with. We are lucky that we can buy a new camera, so we are going to purchase a Canon G10, from somewhere other than Henry's. I am going to be in contact with both Nikon and Henry's corporate offices to express our displeasure as we are the best camera customers to have as we treat our stuff like gold (have never had to utilize a camera warranty before, and heck we've hardly ever had to utilize warranty service on anything before as we are that gentle on our stuff), are fairly experienced in camera usage, buy accessories and upgrade every few years. We are brand loyal if we are treated in a positive fashion, so both of those companies have lost a good amount of dough from us. Also, we are the tech savvy folks of our friends/family - they all call us for opinions, reviews, etc. and thus far, we have spoken to several people about Henry's and they will not be shopping there.

Basically, not a good experience for us. Like I said, we are very retail savvy, and trusted the way the Henry's warranty/Nikon warranty was presented to us. As I said, when we thoroughly read it and asked questions, we were given the answers they wanted us to hear so as to make a sale. So, you don't really know what you are dealing with until such time that you need warranty coverage. That is the biggest problem here...we believe both companies know exactly what they are doing in this respect and as the store manager said to me: "Most people just throw broken cameras out and don't pay for the repairs anway." This is the crux of the whole issue - it means lots of business for both Henry's and Nikon at the expense of the customer. In today's bad economy, I suspect more salespeople will be conducting business in this fashion.

Thanks for all opinions, Tiger

 

[Limmer]

I do have to chime in here. I do not believe that all extended warranties are useless. If is is represented accurately - an extension of the manufacturers warranty - then it can be very useful. The problem is that too many people don't really listen or the sales clerk is not 100% truthful. People come in and say "I bought the warranty so it should be replaced not repaired" or "I never dropped it" while the lens is shattered (I am not including you in that Tiger926).

I sell cameras and I truly believe in our warranty. I have bought it for all my cameras and all my staff buy it for theirs as well.

Camera lenses are easily damaged. That does not make it a crappy camera. It is the nature of a lens. While I have never heard of wind breaking a lens it is true pressure (from opening in a camera bag, someone leaning on it) can break it.

 

[Tiger926]

I do have to chime in here. I do not believe that all extended warranties are useless. If is is represented accurately - an extension of the manufacturers warranty - then it can be very useful. The problem is that too many people don't really listen or the sales clerk is not 100% truthful. People come in and say "I bought the warranty so it should be replaced not repaired" or "I never dropped it" while the lens is shattered (I am not including you in that Tiger926).

I sell cameras and I truly believe in our warranty. I have bought it for all my cameras and all my staff buy it for theirs as well.

Camera lenses are easily damaged. That does not make it a crappy camera. It is the nature of a lens. While I have never heard of wind breaking a lens it is true pressure (from opening in a camera bag, someone leaning on it) can break it.

I totally agree with you that years of people scamming has led to this. We are honest and would never try and seek warrany coverage if we had broken it ourselves, but Henry's and Nikon don't know us, so they have to go by what they see. Fair enough, and that is why we thought there would be no issues. There is no physical damage to the camera whatsoever in terms of scratches, bumps, bruises, etc., but because the lens is slightly bent, that's all that matters. The camera is an ok camera - it takes beautiful shots, but it is slow and according to Henry's, it is a bit sensitive, so we aren't interested in having it repaired (too expensive), nor, buying the same model.

Just like you said, there is a bad combination of forces here - dishonest and misleading salespeople and dishonest and misleading customers as to how their cameras have broken.

For us, it's frustrating, but we are very retail savvy and have the money to purchase a new camera, plus, we have the gumption to contact Henry's and Nikon, but what about the thousands of people who don't have these resources available to them? They would be out a lot of money and have no camera, and that is really sad, especially for young families who take tons of photos and rely on their camera to capture precious family memories.

I am interested to see if I hear from Henry's and Nikon today - they have done nothing to keep us as customers at this point, and that is very interesting considering the state of the economy.

Thanks, Tiger

 

[realfam]

when considering a new camera, serious look at the DSLR route.. lens are inter changable, plus the picute quality is 100% better, and the price have drop quite abit in recent months.

I totally agree with you that years of people scamming has led to this. We are honest and would never try and seek warrany coverage if we had broken it ourselves, but Henry's and Nikon don't know us, so they have to go by what they see. Fair enough, and that is why we thought there would be no issues. There is no physical damage to the camera whatsoever in terms of scratches, bumps, bruises, etc., but because the lens is slightly bent, that's all that matters. The camera is an ok camera - it takes beautiful shots, but it is slow and according to Henry's, it is a bit sensitive, so we aren't interested in having it repaired (too expensive), nor, buying the same model.

Just like you said, there is a bad combination of forces here - dishonest and misleading salespeople and dishonest and misleading customers as to how their cameras have broken.

For us, it's frustrating, but we are very retail savvy and have the money to purchase a new camera, plus, we have the gumption to contact Henry's and Nikon, but what about the thousands of people who don't have these resources available to them? They would be out a lot of money and have no camera, and that is really sad, especially for young families who take tons of photos and rely on their camera to capture precious family memories.

I am interested to see if I hear from Henry's and Nikon today - they have done nothing to keep us as customers at this point, and that is very interesting considering the state of the economy.

Thanks, Tiger

 

[sean-1966]

How about a e-mail campaign. I hate when companies get a way with this. Post a name and e-mail address of someone you've been dealing with and I, and I hope others, will e-mail on your behalf.

 

[Tiger926]

when considering a new camera, serious look at the DSLR route.. lens are inter changable, plus the picute quality is 100% better, and the price have drop quite abit in recent months.

Thanks, we were considering this (I even started a thread about it on Photography board), but our Panasonic FZ-30 is pretty much the closest thing you can get to an DSLR, without the lens coming off. A DSLR would be overkill in this respect. We really like having a P & S camera as well as our bridge camera as it allows us to take pretty much any kind of shot we need. You are right though that DSLR cameras have come way down in price! Hubby purchased a Canon G10 today from Best Buy at a great price. They matched Black's (who had it for $50.00 off), plus their price matching policy and we had a reward certificate to use as well. We have 14 days to actually use it to see if we like it. Wow! We have a 2 year warranty - 1 year Canon and 1 additional with Visa. I'll let you know how it works out once we play with it this Easter weekend.

How about a e-mail campaign. I hate when companies get a way with this. Post a name and e-mail address of someone you've been dealing with and I, and I hope others, will e-mail on your behalf.

Thanks, that is very nice of you to offer! I just spoke with Henry's in Toronto, and they are waiting for Nikon to call them back, and when they do, they'll return my call. Once I get that info, I am going to email both Henry's and Nikon. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again to everyone for your information, kind words and support! I really wanted to get people's opinions, as well as warn people about Henry's extended warrany (HELP) and their customer service, as well as find out if this is the norm with Nikon as it's our first, and quite possibly, our last dealing with them for quite awhile.

Tiger

 

[AndyKay]

As tone def posted earlier tale a look at what market place put together as the sin of addiction

Ugh. I'm not a fan of Marketplace. What they do when they come up with a segment is they set out a conclusion about what ever they are investigating and then edit all their footage to support their conclusions. Its pretty horrible journalism if you ask me.

 

[LSmith]

Ugh. I'm not a fan of Marketplace. What they do when they come up with a segment is they set out a conclusion about what ever they are investigating and then edit all their footage to support their conclusions. Its pretty horrible journalism if you ask me.

W Five does that as well...and the Toronto Star...I could go on and on.

 

[Lizziejane]

I think the problem here is that you don't, or cannot understand how the lens became crooked, therefore, you assume it must be the camera's fault. Seriously, saying a crooked lens is a warranty repair is like stating a flat tire on a car is the result of a faulty engine, therefore it must be covered by the manufacturers warranty.

I suspect what happened is something like this: the battery died, the lens wouldn't retract. You placed the camera in your bag carefully, "babying" it, while you recharged your battery. Somehow (not intentionally, or to your knowledge) pressure was applied to the lens (easy to do as it's vulnerable in this position), and it became misaligned. You popped in your new, refreshed battery and surprise...it won't work. If that's what happened, it's not a warranty repair. They would have opened it up and found nothing wrong inside...just the lens is crooked and therefore won't retract. That can only happen from a knock or pressure.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, I don't mean to. I sell extended warranties and I too believe in some (not all), and I have purchased them on my own camera equipment. I fully understand the workings of them, but I also understand the equipment I am dealing with, and perhaps thats the difference.

 

[LSmith]

"Somehow, not intentionally or to your knowledge pressure was applied to the lens".

By fairies maybe? Is she supposed to call in Forensics? Sheesh.