Nikon ordered to withdraw faulty cameras

Japanese camera giant Nikon was yesterday ordered to remove its D600 cameras

from sale at stores across the country.

The ruling was issued by the Huangpu branch of the Shanghai Industrial and

Commercial Administrative Bureau after a special“3.15”news program shown on

China Central Television to mark the International Day for Protecting

Consumers’Rights claimed they were defective.

Owners of the cameras said on the show that their pictures had been ruined by

mysterious black specks.

Nikon has sold about 48,000 of the D600 cameras in China’s mainland, the

bureau said.

Since last October, owners have made between 300 and 400 maintenance requests

per month, of which 70 to 80 percent were related to the repair or replacement

of parts.

Nikon was told by the bureau to handle consumers’complaints sincerely and

properly, and to provide a feasible solution as soon as possible. It was also

ordered to strengthen the management of its dealers and repair stores in China.

Officials will closely follow the case, it said.

At Nikon Imaging (China) Sales Co in Huangpu District, Hu Jiarong, a senior

manager, said it was too early to say whether the D600 cameras have a quality

problem. A change of the shutter assembly may remedy the problem, which Nikon

will offer free of charge, he said.

Alternatively, customers can have a replacement, Hu said.

Some online shopping sites, including JD and Yixun, have stopped selling the

cameras and are waiting for information from the Japanese firm on how to handle

refund requests. But the D600s were still available on Taobao yesterday.

In the CCTV program, staff at Nikon repair stores in Beijing and Hefei were

shown telling customers the specks were caused by dust getting into the cameras.

Owners, however, denied ever changing their lenses.

The show also suggested that Nikon customers in the United States received

better treatment than their Chinese counterparts. Some owners of faulty D600s

there were given D610s as replacements, it said.

Nikon said it released information about its after-sales service in February

and will continue to offer all of its customers in China a“high-quality and

standardized global service.”

Weibo users in China, however, said the statement lacked sincerity.

One person wrote:“If Nikon insists on double standards for China and the US,

it will be abandoned by Chinese users.”

Nikon ordered to withdraw faulty cameras