Don't send your gear to the Nikon Service Centre in South Africa. Better yet, don't buy Nikon gear if you live in South Africa..

An excerpt from one of my email responses to the company should suffice:

"I received your email, only I was so disappointed by the response at the time, I didn't feel it deserved another.

To be honest, when I see words like 'tirelessly', 'strive' and 'pride', all I see is the same garble I see from so many people and companies these days. Indeed, I'm sure that I could probably find multiple messages I have received, from various companies, that would have jsut about the same wording as yours. Now, I'd expect this from smaller companies but not one as large as Nikon. Or is what others say, true - that larger companies care less. In any case, are those words really meant to comfort me? I'd really rather see action.

The technician who handled the repair may well be one of your most experienced. Thing is, I am one of the most experienced in my field - on a global scale - but even I make mistakes. Everyone does. Don't you think it would have been more appropriate to ask to see the equipment again, for a re-assessment? Furthermore, your research into my issues was either incomplete, or your sources were questionable - you failed to mention certain issues, and you mentioned one that never existed.

Why am I getting around to sending this email now? Well, I have just, for the second time, sent in equipment to the same service centre, and, yet again, I have experienced issues. In this case, again for the second time, I sent someone in to collect my equipment, only to find that the centre didn't hand all of my gear over. I trust this will be resolved but I am reminded of why I was so upset the first time I dealt with this particular service centre. Despite being warned by yet more people of the incompetence apparently so common at the centre, I went against my better judgement and gave it another shot.

As for the repair job done on the equipment relating to the first time you got in touch with me: I bought a new lens not long after the repairs, both as a result of disdain, and a lack of confidence in the supposedly-repaired equipment. As a result of needing repairs on that newer lens, I have recently used the older one (after not having used it since the initial repairs), only to find that, as I could have guessed, the problem still persists.

I'm guessing professionals often remind you of the fact that they can do damage to your company's image by spreading bad word, and I'm sure that will often be to hopefully illicit action on your part, but, without such desire, I also want you to know that I will make every effort to pass on the bad word about the service I have received from the South African service centre, and I will make an effort to steer all relevant clients toward one of your competitors if considering buying gear.

On a side note, I do want to point out that certain staff in the aforementioned service centre are wonderful to deal with, this is not an attack on everyone there."