My camera was received (according to my UPS tracking) on April 23, and took until I emailed on the 30th when I emailed NPS for me to even get a status update. And from there I was told to email or call the main repair number because NPS didn't have access to repair data, which seems, quite honestly, ridiculous. How is your professional arm not able to check the status of one of your flagship products?
Now I'm a power user, I'm shooting literally hundreds of thousands of photographs a year, and I own in excess of $30,000 in Nikon gear. In addition to the D4, I own a D3100, a D3s, a D810, and 6 lenses and four speedlights. Additionally, since 2006 I've owned a D70s, D200, D300, D700 and D3, and 3 other expensive prime lenses I've since sold. Guys, I'm all in. I'm not switching to Canon, I love your products and recommend them in my workshops. I hope that the fact that I'm so invested isn't being taken advantage of with continued poor customer service.
Please understand that I'm not writing this after one incident. In the past it hasn't been unusual for cameras to be returned to me repaired prior to even receiving a repair authorization. Now I appreciate the quick service, but as a working pro, I need to know the status of my gear so I can budget my time and funds accordingly.
Routinely I hear from Canon shooters that they'll send gear in to CPS on a Monday and have major repairs fixed and back in their hands by Thursday or Friday. Now, they pay annually for their CPS memberships, something I'd gladly do for my NPS membership. I love free stuff as much as the next guy, but also understand that great customer service costs, and my time and gear is more valuable than a few hundred dollars annually.
Let me share one final story: my medium format dealer, Capture Integration, has on multiple occasions reached out to me to offer support for questions I've posted in a medium format message board. Things I've been too embarrassed to ask them, or about gear I haven't even purchased from them (or hadn't at that time). It's not unusual for me to post on this message board and within 30 minutes have a personal email from their customer service team. Now I know medium format is a niche market with less users (like buying a Bentley compared to a Toyota), but that's the level of customer service that I'd hope NPS would aspire to. (dl)