bamfordr Loc: Campbell CA

I’m convinced some of what appears to be incompetence is lack of on-going training. Great way to save money. Do it all with memos and documents. Then create time pressures that prevent (or discourage) in-depth research. Incompetence rears its head when the organization tries its best to educate/communicate and encourage quality work and the employee is not interested.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

I would send another email to them - titled 'COMPLAINT' FWD to Management! - include their response to the last inquiry and that you found the correct information. They should be aware that their scripts are not correct and need to be updated (or) more training is required. Reply from management is requested with contact info for further communications.

As a former Global Service Desk Manager for HP, this information would not be taken lightly as it damages the customer confidence and trust along with the company reputation.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Nowadays you gotta be a detective!

I remember a time where if I had any technical issues with any of my equipment, I could call the manufacturer or the distributor and receive a concise answer and a solution to any issues. I recall calling Graflex and Photogenic Lighting- even Kodak and being connected to the engineering department and speaking directly to folks who knew their stuff, to say the least.

These days, I have come to the conclusion that I have to do my own research, and begin a fact-finding process on my own.

Firstly, I will call the "official" source, however, if the results are unsatisfactory, nonsensical, seem illogical, or I am talking to a robot, an idiot, a lazy individual who won't go past his monitor screen, the process begins. I might call back a few hours later and find a competent agent. I check with other professionals, my dealer, and/or an independent repair shop and can usually find a solution through the "grapevine". I might go to other Internet sources, however, there are some sites that advertise "talk to a Nikon, Canon, or whatever technician or expert for a small fee, only to find another dummy!

Folk used to ask me what I learned during my stint in the army, perhaps a skill that I can still apply today. I learned to COMPLAIN- in my unit it was raised to an art form. Writing a concise, succinct, stinging letter complaint is my literary specialty. I find out who is the "big boss", there might be a few at various levels, and send them all a copy. Believe me, it might take a week or two but it works. If rarely, that doesn't work, I send a follow-up letter that is a little terser. The secret is in the "C.C:". Yes! I know we don't use carbon paper anymore but at the bottom of the letter C.C: Better Business Bureau, Professional Photographers Association, my lawyer's office, my dealer's name, and in some cases a government department that relates to the complaint, usually does the trick.

This has to be logical and realistic. The company is not going to produce software or firmware that doesn't exist or do the impossible, but, at least I will get a logical and believable answer. This is not to say that all the companies do not back up their gear with good service and information. Many of the smaller companies have been gobbled up by large umbrella corporations and in some cases the "red tape", bureaucracy, and automated "voice mail" entanglements cause frustration. Isn't it funny that the troubleshooting selections in the online "help" sites NEVER include the problem YOU are experiencing?

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

This I understand completely. As a fairly "typical American", I am only fluent in English and Profanity (and several British relatives would argue with that first part). Still having a hard time getting my head around this thread. My first comment was to sympathize and agree with the OP. No matter where one lives or what language he/she speaks, when seeking technical assistance from ANY manufacturer of goods we should expect that their Technical Assistance CSR will give us a truthful and, hopefully, helpful response. If they do not/can not, then they are a waste of our time.

When Product Changes occur, SOMEBODY at Nikon should have the job to inform the various CSRs who will be fielding questions on the topic. If that somebody does not, then they are incompetent. If they did and the CSR did not grasp the change, then the CSR is incompetent. If someone ... anyone ... cannot give the customer the "service" that the customer requires then IMHO they are in the wrong job and should for the greater good acquire the proper skills/knowledge or else find a job that they don't "suck at."

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

If it weren't for incompetence, there would be no competence at all!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

In an ideal world...
And they are not alone.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Spot on! All you have to do is try and read some of the posts on this site!

MJPerini

A couple things here, if you are a Global company selling products and providing support in many countries, YES the people interfacing with the customers in those countries need to be fluent in the language. Nikon is facing difficult times and has responded with round after round of cost cutting. They just announced they will no longer make any cameras in Japan. This incident is evidence that cost cutting has affected their customer service. Nikon has made some of the finest Cameras & Lenses ever made by anyone, so this is sad to see. They also recently stopped parts availability and access to technical service information and equipment to independent repair facilities. Despite's all this, they still make fine products, however their trend line is not a good one.

pego101

May I suggest a nikon employee has been poorly trained instead of nikon does not understand its cameras etc

smf85 Loc: Freeport, IL

There really isn’t. No compatibility with type A. Compatibility with some type B CFExpress cards is available but the speed faster relative to XQD is unknown.

He answered the question you asked, not the question you wanted.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Perhaps your title should have read, One person at Nikon does not understand the D850 Camera. Blaming all of Nikon seems a bit extreme to me.

Of course you do have the option of calling the provided 800 number and talking to a real human to complain about James W. Have you done that? It seems to me that would be mandatory before bad mouthing a company like Nikon.

Dennis

pego101

Does the original poster really think nikon does not know there products. Bad silly waste of time post.

aberthet Loc: San Clemente, CA

Nikon will certainly send you a follow-up questionnaire about their service. Let them know how you feel about James W.

Ollieboy

It's very simple. If you service a particular country, your service reps MUST speak without an accent as it only confuses the problem.. I have had to hang up on an Amazon calls due to the heavy accent of the rep. Where is the service in customer service when there is a communication issue. I don't give a rats ass if it's politically incorrect. I had enough of this including going through a drive thru giving English lessons.

User ID

Depends