I just got my 70-200VRII back from Melville and have a few comments on their latest changes. They e-mailed the estimate in a timely manner and said they would follow with a mailed version which has yet to show up 10 days later. Their log-in to check status is much worse, in addition to the old info, account name and service order number they now want e-mail address and you have to agree to their terms and conditions every time. Really? Just to check on the repair status of MY lens? Total repair time was about normal, 2 weeks door to door.
The lens was sent in when the VR started knocking in portrait orientation in the middle of a shoot. I tried the usual things and oddly, in horizontal position, it seemed fine. The knock could be felt thru the lens barrel, something definitely happened.
The lens came back today packed better than in the past though the box was somewhat flimsy. The plastic bag the lens was wrapped in had a bright sticker on it which said to call Nikon Tech with questions before sending the item in as many things thought to be problems are "normal". Seriously??? The paperwork listed that they had replaced the VR assembly and checked the usual things like focus and lens alignment etc. They also included a copy of page 19 and highlighted in yellow the section "Notes on using vibration reduction". Seems to me that they think I'm an idiot or maybe a moron who doesn't know enough to let the VR shut off before powering down the camera or, for that matter, not turning the camera off before changing lenses. Maybe I could understand these little jabs at my intelligence if they returned it saying nothing was wrong, but they replaced the VR mech and I seriously doubt they would have done so if it wasn't broken!
Way to go Nikon, give us a 5 year warranty then insult us when we need to use it! Maybe they should just shoot themselves in the foot, I know I'm going to start thinking of other photo options for my future and things like this all get consideration. [wd]