Nikon parts supplier

[jhawk1000]

After a few days looking around my home for the battery door for the D200 without the MB-D200, it was obvious that I needed to order a new one since I was never going to find the original which had been put safely away to never be found again. I wanted to use the camera without the MBD200 but needed the battery cover to do so. Well, the fun begins. I go to the mecca of all things for Nikon according to some, eBay. I just don't get good vibes from the merchants there since they want too much for the part and too much for shipping and handling. I go to the web and finally find a familiar name which I had bookmarked years ago, "Boca Photo". They show it in stock through their sister company , "Precision" , the price is right, the shipping is right and after all, the company was in my bookmarks for several years. Had to be good.
Get online, add the battery door to the cart, check out with my credit card and, bang, an immediate email showing the order had been processed and would be sent as soon as possible with an assurance that my card will not be charged until the part ships. Mind you, this was on 2/4/09. On 2/11/09 I send a very nice email asking about the order and wishing information about whether or not the part was in stock. No answer. Send another email on 2/12/09, no answer. Send another email on 2/13/09 and again no answer. Call the non toll free number, get an answering machine during business hours with the message that I can expect a return call---get no return call. Send another email on 2/16/09 asking for the courtesy of a return message. Finally on 2/17/09, email comes saying that the part shipped. No sorry it took so long, no sorry but we were too busy to answer your emails or phone calls, nothing but a confirmation that after 2 weeks, a part had been finally sent. I do not have the part yet, almost don't care if I get the part but do not want to go through this with this merchant again. I went to resellers ratings and this firm has a 3.75 rating mainly for not paying attention to customers and slow shipping. I think they are honest and will finally send the merchandise but their customer service sucks.

Mel

[Jeff Perry]

Mel, no offense, but why didn't you store the battery cover door in the slot made for it on the grip (the part that slides into the battery compartment)?

Jeff

[jhawk1000]

Quite frankly, I put it in one of those clear plastic compact flash holders and was going to put it in the grip and just forgot. This new one will immediately go into the grip.

Mel

[Jeff Perry]

Well, if your like me, I have different camera bags all over the place, and can never keep track of filters, batteries, CF cards, even lenses that I am absolutely positive, get up in the middle of the night while I'm asleep and move from one bag to another.

Jeff

[dougjgreen]

FYI, I had the same issue with the used D80 that I bought with a battery grip. The original owner had lost the battery door, and I needed to replace it to use it without the grip. The interesting thing is, a couple of ebay sellers had them on sale for $16.99 with free shipping. That seemed high to me for a piece of plastic that actually costs a few cents to make. I phoned Nikon's USA service center, and they told me that the parts were $3.69 plus $3.50 shipping. So I bought two of them, directly from Nikon, figuring that at that price, if I broke one when installing/removing it to put the grip on, it would be good to have a spare.

Moral of the story, Ebay sellers wanted $17 for one of them, Nikon themselves charged me $11 for two of them.

[jhawk1000]

I generally try to order from Nikon but lately, the hassle of finding the part number, the phone number, and then calling seems to be more than I want to do. But your point is very well taken since I also have found gigantic markups on parts when they go to eBay. How about the 10 pin covers that can sell for as much as $5.00 per cap. Now this is capitalism at it's greatest. I try to stay away from ebay deals since I find much of the smaller purchases are not bargains because of the outrageous shipping costs or because of a whole bunch of counterfeiting.

Mel

[dougjgreen]

Originally Posted by jhawk1000

I generally try to order from Nikon but lately, the hassle of finding the part number, the phone number, and then calling seems to be more than I want to do. But your point is very well taken since I also have found gigantic markups on parts when they go to eBay. How about the 10 pin covers that can sell for as much as $5.00 per cap. Now this is capitalism at it's greatest. I try to stay away from ebay deals since I find much of the smaller purchases are not bargains because of the outrageous shipping costs or because of a whole bunch of counterfeiting.

Mel

The Nikon service rep on the phone was more than happy to look up the part number of the D80 battery door for me. I admit, I did need to find the phone number of Nikon USA Customer service myself, because they haven't yet implemented telepathy technology into their support services. Fortunately, Nikon does list it prominently in their website - which, again, one would need to find - but of course, Google is your friend.

[brucky]

Originally Posted by jhawk1000

I think they are honest and will finally send the merchandise but their customer service sucks.

Mel

We could probably start a whole new thread here. I have read a lot of the Nikon forum and I find that the advice often given is to go online or to a large department store. As you, I looked intot this and found they are either more expensive then the local specilist camera shop or have little or no knowledge (perhaps interest) of the products.

I have found a local shop I use. They can get any part for nikon (and for that matter any major brand) and it ussually only takes a couple of days to get here. They're happy to ring suppliers and find all the delivery info for you on the spot. The only time it has taken longer than a couple of days is when this bit your after is still on the boat from Japan (or China these days). Not only that, there service is great and they try and match your new purchases with your current (and hoped for) future purchases.

What about for older and out of production 2nd hand gear. Again a good local store ussually has a range of 2nd hand bits and bobs.

I suggest that you leave the online stores and the big department stores and go back to supporting the small shop owners that know what their doing and able to help you.

For me I will stay using the local photoshop. It would be interesting to know what other people think about service and prices at the specilist cammera shop verse the online or large department stores.

[jankerson]

Sorry to hear that.

Does sound like Duct tape use 25,568..... j/k

Hopefully you will get your door soon.

[Jeff Perry]

brucky, that's a very good idea, IF you have access to such a photo/camera shop. Sadly, most have been pushed out of the way because of the cut-rate deals from mass marketing stores. In SW Florida, I have to travel over 100 miles to Tampa to find a decent camera store. In my film days, decades ago there were two first-rate camera shops, carrying everything you needed. Both are gone.

Even the chain's like Ritz and Wolfe, fail to keep stock. We have a very good Ritz in Naples, but they never seem to carry what I am looking for. They really cater to the needs of consumer photographers as opposed to the pro-sumers and pro needs. They are very willing to order something, but at that point, if it is a $1000 lens it is much cheaper and faster for me to order on-line from B&H or Adorama and not tax. For consumabele, like paper na dink, mass merchandizers are always abetter price.

Sad but true...

Jeff