Not happy with Henry's camera shop at all!

[Tiger926]

Yesterday at my DD's tap class recital, my Nikon P5100 had a malfunction. As I hit power on/off, the lens would not retract. First time in 15 months of owing it, that I saw this, so I attemped to power off again, and no go. I thought it might be that the battery had just died (but I was able to get all of our recital photos), so I carefully brought it home and recharged battery and same thing.

At this point, I was devastated as the camera has not been knocked, bumped, etc. I'm a scrapbooker and treat my cameras (we have several digital cameras) like my babies!

Henry's was closed, so first thing yesterday, I brought it there thinking I would have no issues as 1) I bought their extended warranty plan which was said would cover everything except malicious or intentional damage and 2) I bought camera on my Platinum Visa card.

Once I got to the store, despite the fact that they said the camera is in pristine condition, no signs of tampering or impact at all, since it looks like it has been tampered with (the lens is a bit crooked), they are pretty sure they aren't going to fix it. At this point, I controlled myself from crying and reiterated to them that I powered on/off and camera malfunctioned. I did NOT drop or knock the camera at all. I was there for 30 mins and they decided that the store manager would look at it today, and get back to me. They said they are pretty sure that Nikon won't fix it either. The girl then said that anything as gentle as a hand tap could be considered impact. WTH? I left the store appreciative that the manager is going to look at it, but very angry at how they treated me. I totally know that people try and scam, but honestly, I am a beyond honest and ethical person, and if I had dropped it, I wouldn't have shown up there for warranty help.

At this point, I am l livid as my warranty is garbage and I might be out over $500.00 for a camera malfunction that was beyond my control. I have an almost SLR (bridge camera Panasonic FZ 30) and another Canon digital at home, but this Nikon is a great little camera and so I would really miss it.

I am known as a mini consumer advocate to family and friends, so this looks like it's going to be one of my toughest cases - I write, phone and email companies for positive and negative feedback and have had much luck in my life with this.

Anyone else had issues with Henry's? Wish me luck, Tiger

 

[Ham Ham]

Wait to speak with the manager yourself. See what she/he has to say on the matter. If the lens is crooked this may be the problems.
With cameras a slight bump can knock the lens out of alignment.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[angela1044]

My Nikon's flash was broken last November. For some reason it wouldn't pop up all the time. I had bought the camera from Henry's and it has the extended warranty. Nikon fixed the camera with no problem but I'm wondering if it was because I had had the camera for under a year.

Henry's should send your camera to Nikon and let them decide. I was told that there was a chance that Nikon would refuse but that was their choice no tHenry's.

I would wait to speak to the manager and if it is still a problem I would call Henry's head office.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks. My camera is approx. 15 months old - Nikon's warranty is 2 years, as is my VISA warranty and I have Henry's Extended warranty, so lots of coverage there.

The problem is that the store decides if it should be sent to Nikon and that is what I have a problem with. Cameras are full of small mechanisms, so I want Nikon to look at it and they can decide what to do with it. I believe a malfunction happened and they need to check the camera - what if this happens to someone else and I can alert them to a problem?

I am hoping that when I get home, there is a message waiting for me from the store manager, so we can take care of this.

Thanks for your responses, Tiger

 

[Winue]

I have had nothing but bad experience with Henrys. the staff has attitude, and they are all rude. I have started ordering things online, and if I need to see things first in person, I will go into Henrys, then tell them I will get it online from a different store, as their customer service is horrible. years of this, and they don't seem to care to change it.

 

[grover]

Which locations are you referring to?
We have had excellent service so far at the South Winnipeg location-very knowledgable helpful staff--no attitude encountered!

 

[sean-1966]

Thanks. My camera is approx. 15 months old - Nikon's warranty is 2 years, as is my VISA warranty and I have Henry's Extended warranty, so lots of coverage there.

The problem is that the store decides if it should be sent to Nikon and that is what I have a problem with. Cameras are full of small mechanisms, so I want Nikon to look at it and they can decide what to do with it. I believe a malfunction happened and they need to check the camera - what if this happens to someone else and I can alert them to a problem?

I am hoping that when I get home, there is a message waiting for me from the store manager, so we can take care of this.

Thanks for your responses, Tiger

If it's covered by Nikon warranty then Henry's has nothing to do with it. If they won't send it in send it in to Nikon repair yourself. BTW, I wouldn't hesitate to get a little snotty with Henry's over this. It's not up to them to decide whether to send it into Nikon for repair...

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks. Henry's manager didn't call yesterday as promised, so I'll give him today, and then go from there.

I'm not afraid of contacting Nikon myself as I have a 2 year warranty that expires in December 2010. As well, I can contact Visa.

We are not impressed with Henry's at all and won't be buying anything else from there. I have a 50.00 gift card to use though, so not sure about that.

I'll keep you all posted, Tiger

 

[MkyMws]

Don't ask them to send the camera, tell them the camera is under warranty & needs to be sent to Nikon for their evaluation, and as was mentioned before call Nikon if you have to.

As for the gift card give it as a gift to someone or donate it to a charity (you will gete receipt).

PS I would make sure the manager knows you aren't happy & won't be returning & neither will your friends.

good luck

tim

 

[two*little*birds]

Personally I would call Nikon, tell them what happened. You don't even have to deal with Henry's... a few years ago I had a problem with my D50 (which was bought at Henry's), so I called Nikon and they arrange a courier to come pick it up. A few weeks later, my camera arrived safe and sound - fixed under warranty, no charge.

I love Nikon, wouldn't buy anything else. Good luck, and don't give up!

 

[Tiger926]

I called Henry's as manager didn't call me and I spoke directly to him. He said he was busy, and didn't have time to call. He said he did look extensively at my camera, and commented that it's in pristine condition, but Nikon more than likely is not going to fix this problem. I again stated that I was not happy with that as I didn't drop or knock the camera whatsoever. I reiterated again what happened, and he said I could pick camera up and pay to send to Nikon myself as they might work more with me as a customer. I asked him why I spent extra money on the warranty, when it was doing me no good. He commented again that my problem was not a warranty problem, and I said I would pick up camera.

He then called me back 30 mins later as my hubby called him as I was very upset with the whole experience. Anyway, the manager decided that he would send it to Nikon on their expense (as they should be doing) and see what happens. He also suggested that I contact Nikon and explain the situation and that might help them along in repairing it at their expense.

He did say that a repair like that probably could cost $200.00. The camera cost $380.00 plus tax, camera bag and extended warranty of $69.99, so we have to then figure out what to do as the only other option would be to throw the camera out. Yikes!

I am hoping for the best. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world, but it is upsetting and frustrating to say the least.

I'll keep you all posted on what happens. Thanks for your responses, Tiger

 

[dancin Disney style]

He then called me back 30 mins later as my hubby called him as I was very upset with the whole experience. Anyway, the manager decided that he would send it to Nikon on their expense (as they should be doing) and see what happens. He also suggested that I contact Nikon and explain the situation and that might help them along in repairing it at their expense.

If I am understanding correctly the manager blew you off but will do something for your husband. That makes me boil.

 

[ferris198]

When I have had troubles with retailers in the past, experience has taught me not to deal with store managers but to go directly to the president of the company.
It works wonders.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks for all responses.

I emailed Nikon Canada last night in order to give specific details of my case, and received back a timely response this morning, that definitely was NOT from a Canadian person. Not only is the response full of grammatical errors, but the tech claims that my warranty is expired as Nikon Candad only warranties for 1 year. This is plainly incorrect as Nikon Canada has the longest camera warranty, currrently at 2 years. I emailed back a thank you for his/her time and let him/her know that this information was incorrect as this was one of the reasons that we, and several other people we know chose Nikon cameras.

We will see what happens. My hubby and I have decided that we will no longer purchase any more point and shoot cameras as they can and do break. Found all kinds of Internet situations that were just like ours, and camera companies (specifically Nikon) don't cover them as this is the nature of a point shoot. They seem to know about it, but exclude it from repairs as it seems to be a common problem.

We will see what happens over the next week. I am an expert in dealing with company contact (just received 2 emails last night from other companies that I emailed with thanks and concerns over the past few days) and if I can get service from the airlines and Bell Canada, then Henry's and Nikon Canada shouldn't be that hard - LOL!

In the grand scheme of things, it's not that major as people all around me have lost their jobs, but to us, it's a very upsetting thing.

Thanks to all, Tiger

 

[grover]

What a frustrating situation all around, I hope you get it all resolved in your favor!

 

[disneynuts777]

I am wishing you luck!!!
It is frustrating when we spend the extra money on extended warranties to only to find out that exclusions are a mile long. My extended car warranty was a total waste of 1200.00...lesson learned.

 

[Tiger926]

Update - Still waiting on hearing back from Nikon. Emailing them was a total waste of time as the agents were from U.S. Nikon and couldn't help me. Once this whole mess is over, I am going to contact Nikon Canada and express my displeasure at how they have U.S. reps answering responses on the Canadian site and they have no clue of Canadian warranties or policies.

RE: Extended warranty. We never buy extended warranties as we have 2 Platinum credit cards that take care of that for us, but this was relatively inexpensive and covers 5 years. It was presented that it would cover pretty much anything, except intentional abuse, so we really thought it would cover this issue. We mentioned our displeasure to manager, and once again, once this is over, we will be contacting Henry's corporate about this warranty as our store misled us on it. We did read all of the info (I'm an English teacher), but the usage of the words 'intentional' are at issue here.

Thanks, Tiger

 

[tone.def]

We mentioned our displeasure to manager, and once again, once this is over, we will be contacting Henry's corporate about this warranty as our store misled us on it. We did read all of the info (I'm an English teacher), but the usage of the words 'intentional' are at issue here.

Thanks, Tiger

If you watched Marketplace tonight on CBC, you will see that selling extended warranties falls under the Sin of Addition!

If Henry's was never able to help you in the first place, why on earth would they sell an additional warranty?!?!?!?! They should refund your money for the extended warranty for sure and if I were you, I would demand it.

 

[Tiger926]

If you watched Marketplace tonight on CBC, you will see that selling extended warranties falls under the Sin of Addition!

If Henry's was never able to help you in the first place, why on earth would they sell an additional warranty?!?!?!?! They should refund your money for the extended warranty for sure and if I were you, I would demand it.

I didn't see that Marketplace, but I've seen others. We totally know that most extended warranties are scams - this is like our 2nd one that we have ever purchased. They did misrepresent part of it to us, and when we questioned them, after having read through the entire package (store said most people don't do that, but I'm an English teacher, so I read everything), they assured us 'intentional abuse' was the key here. Despite us not having intentionally abused our camera, and it not having one mark on it, so the store can't prove that we did anything to it, they are pretty confident that it won't be fixed. They are so confident because they know that their warranty is mostly bogus, IMHO.

When we first bought the camera, it was marketed to us by store and by Nikon (we really researched the heck out of it) as to how durable it was. It has a magnesium body and a hot shoe on it to add an external flash. All of a sudden now that it has malfuctioned, it's suddenly very 'sensitive' and the wind or the soft part of our hand could have knocked the lens out. WTH? When the manager and his sales staff said this to me, I just about died laughing. They say what suits them at the time...

Like I said, I am known as a consumer advocate around these parts - I have contacted hundreds of companies, newspaper, Internet, etc. so I'm not afraid of a fight at all. In fact, I do it for us, as well as all of the other customers who have or will be experiencing the same thing. As a full time highschool teacher, and busy mom who takes care of 99.9% of family stuff, I just don't have time to do battle at the moment and for the way it's looking, it looks like it might be a big one...

I am sad for the simple fact that once again, honest customers like us aren't being given the benefit of the doubt for two reasons: 1) Years of customers' scamming has caused Henry's and Nikon to not warranty certain repairs and 2) Nikon seems to be using cheap parts (I'm sure they all do?) on a very expensive p & s camera.

I believe it's a camera malfunction, and if it wasn't and the wind knocked the lens out (while using it, not being knocked on the ground by the wind), then heck, I don't want that type of camera as that is just not a well made camera. Either way, I am going to demand that my warranty be refunded, and I am going to mention to anyone who will listen, that the Henry's warranty is not that great. From what I read on the Internet, lens errors/malfunctions are the most common repair, yet the store says it's not. They say that the most common repairs on p & s cameras are: buttons popping and screen errors (a software error, and not a scratch, as again, that won't be covered). I said that no one I know who has had a camera need repair, has needed these issues, and he said they fix them all of the time. I don't believe him, so I am patiently awaiting Nikon's response...

Thanks for all replies, Tiger

 

[momlady]

Tiger, I am impressed at how you are handling this issue. You go!! I will be watching for the outcome of this story and will continue to refuse any extended warranty offered.

I have been researching NIkon cameras as I am about to take the plunge from a point and shoot (although expensive) Panasonic Lumix (FZ-20 bought 4 years ago) to a DSLR. I bought it at Henry's and had wonderful service from my local store (and one in London where I was on vacation, had forgotten my battery charger, and walked into the store and asked them to recharge my battery -- which they did, free). 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!

What interests me as much as the service issue is that I have accidently abused my camera on numerous occasions -- banged it against a door, even dropped it on the sidewalk....and it still works like a charm. I've been lucky I guess if from what they say (LOL) a sneeze will knock the lens out of alignment!!