What’s your problem? I’m not cool with my Nikon Coolpix

Question: My husband and I recently bought a Nikon Coolpix L-22 camera. It cost about $100. We had been using it for a week when I noticed the screen was suddenly half white. It was the strangest thing, because it just spontaneously happened.

Nothing had taken place to damage the camera. It hadn’t been dropped, smashed, kicked or hit. We’ve owned many Nikons and given many as gifts, so we assumed Nikon would replace it.

Not only did Nikon not believe us for a minute, but they thought we were rather rude not to accept their special offer to fix it for half the regular price. That would have been $50, plus shipping. We declined because we couldn’t believe they weren’t honoring the warranty — and besides, the price of the same camera new had gone down to $63.

Nikon said the repair wasn’t covered by the warranty, because we had caused it to happen. But the fact is, we didn’t. Can you help? — Claudia Krich, Sacramento

Answer: If your camera stopped working as the result of a defect, Nikon should replace it promptly at no charge.

I reviewed the correspondence between you and Nikon, and thought you handled this pretty well. You tried to contact the company in writing, asking it to repair or replace the camera.

Nikon sometimes responded, and sometimes it didn’t, which forced you to resort to calling it. I think that’s where the process broke down. When you’re trying to resolve a problem like this, getting everything in writing — especially any communication with a supervisor — is important.

I wouldn’t recommend buying the extended warranty on this or any camera. The technology becomes obsolete long before the warranty expires, so you’re not only insuring a purchase that is essentially worthless – you’re also enriching the company. (Point-and-shoot cameras like the Coolpix are just a category above disposable.)

Your camera came with a limited one-year warranty that covered parts and labor, but didn’t extend to any damage caused by negligence. I asked Nikon about your camera and it confirmed that your warranty was void because of damage to the unit.

“This is due to an impact, and is not something that just happens on a camera, as it requires a good amount of force or impact for this to happen to an LCD screen,” a representative told me.

Bottom line: The company is under no obligation to fix the camera.

Nikon apologized for the “miscommunications” without you, but reiterated its offer to replace the camera for $50, not including shipping.

  • Carl

    I once had a Nikon Coolpix camera. Within a few months the battery door wouldn’t always stay shut and sometimes the batttery would drop out. I discovered that the camera body was really weak and had somehow bent a little. I sent it in the Nikon for warranty repair and was shocked that they wanted over $100 to repair it, citing damage, just as in the article. That’s BS. It’s a portable camera, it’s going to be in pockets and purses, and it will be dropped. Nikon doesn’t stand behind their camera products and I would never buy another Nikon product.

  • Charles E. Jenkins

    This is another reason why I would not buy a Nikon product.

  • http://twitter.com/3sarkar m sarkar

    Many credit cards will cover accidental damage, &/or give certain protections for 90 days from purchase.

  • noah

    I don’t get it. Do you think Nikon should have to replace your camera if you drop it and it breaks?  That seems like your fault.  The issue here is what happens if the customer claims not to have done anything to break it.

  • Jim Zakany

    We had been using it for a week when I noticed the screen was suddenly half white.-and-
    “This is due to an impact, and is not something that just happens on a camera, as it requires a good amount of force or impact for this to happen to an LCD screen,”

    They must be helluva good engineers to diagnose impact damage without looking at it. Everyone knows that it’s unheard of for cheap LCDs to fail. My guess, though, is that the ribbon connector to the screen is loose on one side – probably from not being seated correctly in the factory or from a faulty connector.

  • Andi330

    We used to get calls like this at the cell phone company I worked for. Bottom line is, if you drop it, get it wet or whatever, you broke it. It wasn’t defective and the company isn’t obligated to pay for it.

    Why are you calling Nikon anyway? If you’ve only had it for 1 week, you are likely still within the return period at the store. Take it back and tell them it was defective. Unless there is visible damage to the camera, they should exchange it for you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1556838763 Nancy Marine Dickinson

    I’ve never been a big fan of Nikon anyway.  When I was looking for a DSLR for my journalism, I intentionally stayed away from Nikon because of complaints such as this.

    The Cool Pix is somewhat of a loss leader with Nikon hoping you’ll fall in love with their products and buy a more expensive model the next time, usually within the first year of owning a Cool Pix.  People tire pretty quickly of the point and shoot cameras and want something more robust as their photography skills improve.

  • Andi330

    I still want to know why they are going straight to Nikon if they only had the camera for a week. Most stores have a return period of at least 15 days if your device is defective before you have to go back to the manufacturer. That makes me think that device shows signs of damage or being dropped.

  • Carl

    I agree if you drop it in the pool or toilet that’s your fault. But a consumer camera or phone should be designed to withstand an accidental drop or fall.

  • Andi330

    That all depends though. I mean if you’re saying it was in my pocket, and it fell on the floor, I agree, at least the first time or two, it shouldn’t cause the device to stop working. Even then, where you drop it will factor in. If you drop it on your carpeted floor, fine. If you drop it outside on the asphalt, maybe not. The reality is, regardless of what consumers want, these are getting to be fairly sophisticated electronic devices. (Even the inexpensive ones.) People know that dropping their laptop on the floor (even a carpeted one) can cause problems, but they ignore the fact that the works inside their digital camera or cellphone can be just as delicate. If anything, the laptop is likely a bit more rugged than a camera or a cell phone. Both are designed to be portable. But people tend to be much more careful with a laptop than they are with their cell phone or their camera. Why? At least in part, pricing. I cringe every time I drop my iPhone, because I know this could be the time the screen shatters. I keep my camera in a camera bag unless I am actively using it. 

    Regardless, the thing that makes this particular complaint smell funny to me is the fact that the customer called Nikon instead of going back to the store. If she’d only had it for 1 week, she was likely inside the return period for the device. All she should have had to do was go back to the store and advise them it was defective. At that point the store should have either offered an exchange or a refund. That she called Nikon instead tells me that she either A) bought the device from a store with an extremely poor return policy or B) did physical damage to the device that would have been visible to store employees, and as such, decided to try to get Nikon to fix it, in the hopes that they wouldn’t notice.

  • http://twitter.com/mviron Michael Viron

    I would say that there are some point and shoots (such as the Canon Powershot SX series), that are just as good as a full-on digital SLR.  While it is true that the point & shoots generally don’t give you the flexibility of interchangeable lenses, the higher-end point and shoot cameras can give you weight savings and a lot of what you would see with a higher-end DSLR at 1/4th the cost (the SX series starts in the $230 range, although they are often on sale for much less than that).

  • http://twitter.com/mviron Michael Viron

    Chris – I would have to say that the comment about point & shoot cameras being just above a disposable camera doesn’t apply to all of them.  I’ve taken pictures with the Canon Powershot SX130IS that are just as good as the ones I took with a DSLR that was loaned to me.

    I know eventually I will have to upgrade to a DSLR to have more lens versatility — but the SX series cameras which start at $229 can be just as capable as a DSLR in most cases.  Since most of the time, I’m hiking / walking to wherever I’m taking photos, it’s a lot easier (not to mention lighter) to carry a point & shoot than it is to carry a full-on DSLR.

    Time will tell — I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the photos I’ve been able to take with the SX130 so far.

  • Anonymous

    How about returning it to the place of purchase? Perhaps it was a “restock” item that someone else damaged and returned? A lot of the big box places will take items back if they are defective within 30 days.

  • Emersonbrandi

    The Nikon Coolpix takes great pictures – when it works.  I had a higher end model of the Coolpix and twice within the first 4 months the lens retractor stopped working.  It happened out of nowhere – absolutely no damage had occured to the camera.  It was completely unreliable.  I will never buy Nikon again.  Canon has proved to be very reliable over the years and takes fantastic pictures.

  • Carl

    Agreed. I’ve had much better experiences with Canon cameras than with my Nikon Coolpix.

  • Andi330

    My suspicion is that it was dropped, or otherwise shows some sign of the damage the OP says never happened. Why else go straight to the manufacturer when the OP was likely within the original return window (even if, like Best Buy they only had a return window of 14 days). The only other explanation is that the customer bought the thing while out of town at a locally owned business (which isn’t mentioned in the article). 

    Of course, that says something about the Nikon rep too. I don’t know Nikon’s policies but I have worked in customer service for a major cell phone carrier in the past. If still within the return time, my first advice to the customer would be to return the device to the store and ask for an exchange under that company’s return policy not to tell the customer they must have dropped it.

  • Grenadine

    I have a Nikon Coolpix as well.  I bought one and had to return it in the first week because there was something wrong with the LCD, to the point that I couldn’t take pictures.  After a few weeks, the replacement ALSO had something wrong with the LCD — it has what looks like black “spatters” or dots on it.  They don’t come out on the pictures, and I can still see the LCD well enough to take pictures, so I just left it — since this was already a replacement for my original camera.