Hi there
I'm looking at a new imported panasonic lens from an ebay seller based in the UK, London. They have been established since 2003 in that market and have excellent feedback. I'm not worried about the seller.
They say the item has a one year Japan Panasonic warranty.
Is that warranty not worth the ink it's printed since I'm in the UK? i.e. would it simply not be honoured or would I have to jump through hoops to get anything done if the lens became faulty?
Anybody's experience with this situation greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Nick
Do you discover here a Mr. Panasonic in this forum? ^_^
Why is it so hard to ask the source or the company who had to deal with a faulty lens? How could we know what this 14 year long reputation of a grey importer means? And at least - even if one says here "buy it, Panasonic will deal with you in the most pleasing way you can imagine" what is this advice worth if it comes worse to worst?
Send a mail to Panasonic UK, ask them about this warranty.
Sorry, I'm biased. My eBay learning lessons happened a decade ago and I have no wish to renew them. I simply don't trust sellers you only get an e-mail address from. Even if 85% of them do a good job and help their customers.
Before I purchased the Nikon D750, online grey market, I sent a mail to Nikon France with the D750 link address from the seller. In this case Nikon replied that the D750 would have a one year warranty here where I live in France and the second year would be covered in the country of sale (through the seller)
There is of course the magic 14 day return period from the seller which is invaluable, here if you are not happy for what ever reason you can return the item for an exchange or a refund, if the seller doesn't offer this service go elsewhere.
Most of these grey market sellers sell out of China/Hong Kong or wherever and have a depot/ service base in Europe be it, UK/France/Belgium, so returns don't generally have to go back to Asia. Once I returned a de-centered Tamron A011 to the seller, I think I had to return it to a base in Luxembourg for inspection/check, I was sent another the whole process took 14-20 days. The Nikon D500 was also returned (AF probs.) and I was sent another in the same space of time, both times I had the return postage reimbursed. I was a happy bunny! I have never had to put to the test an actual warranty! I'm told that Asian warranties work but you have to wait longer.
Nikon USA seems the most stringent when it comes to grey market, they often won't repair stuff even if you offer to pay. Nikon Europe seem far more accommodating, so send a ad. link from the seller to the company who makes the product if you want to be sure, if you get a positive response, "print out" the received mail and put it with the sales receipt, "as proof of their word". So grey in the States with Nikon is maybe a no no!
Choose a seller who operates through a major chain, as per Amazon etc.
Many sellers operate through say Amazon, Priceminister or whatever, there you have the best protection, as the payment goes through them and is "held" until the 14 day return period is up, after which Amazon will pay the seller, that prevents the seller turning his back on you, if you're not happy the seller doesn't get his money, this means the seller is at your bec and call until you are happy.
I would never buy from an unknown seller that didn't operate under a major chains protective cover!
You have to factor in the grey market savings verses a lesser warranty, if your saving 25-30% on say a lens, only you can decide whether you want the full golden manufacturers guarantee (which may cover you for several years) or the lesser one from grey market.
I find you can often buy grey market "new" for the same price as a "used" product and in the case of Nikon/ Sigma/Tamron and many others, their warranty "isn't transferable" to you anyway, so in the used market comparison, grey is a better way to go!
Many disagree with my views of grey... from so far 3 camera bodies.....3 lenses...no problems!...
I've saved well over two grand! but it could have been different......... so, yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice!
Let's hear some other viewpoints!
Products purchased grey to date:
Pentax K3......Nikon D750.(UK model) ......Nikon D500......Tamron A011/ Tamron A022.....Samyang 14mm F2.8
Sendung back a body and a lens is "no problem" to you? Well, in that point we might have different ideas of "no problem". BUT: Although I bought not grey, that doesn't mean, all my Nikon stuff just was fine. Here Nikon itself created the problems, be it design, assembling or adjusting. The repairs went smooth, but very lengthy and only after I asked for a lens to replace a new 300/4 PF E because they were waiting for spare parts from Japan, I got an 80-400.
Of course, the 300 was so new and all lenses had the same flaws.
Long story short: a genuine warranty by the manufacturer and the official importing seller don't mean "no problems at all".
I just don't want to have a third acting party in between. Here in CH I send the items in trouble directly to the import service, be it Nikon (3 years warranty, needed twice) or Sigma (lifelong annually service, parts are extra), Fuji (don't even know how long the warranty is). With a grey import, it could be that the manufacturer tells me to send the item to the seller and let them deal with it. Meaning: You probably wait a wee bit longer.
There are dealers here in CH who are better stocked than the official import service.
And dave, you're wrong in terms of "...and in the case of Nikon/ Sigma/Tamron and many others, their warranty "isn't transferable" to you anyway...": the warranty of Nikon is for the product, it is not personalized to the seller. So all my buyers of my used gear got the rest time of the warranty. The only "non-transferrable" part was the registration of the items to their "My Nikon" account. But since there are no benefits from that... Nikon's idea of "attractive offers" is like 50 francs less than their official price which is still 100-150 more than the normal street price.
Quote:
And dave, you're wrong in terms of "...and in the case of Nikon/ Sigma/Tamron and many others, their warranty "isn't transferable" to you anyway...": the warranty of Nikon is for the product, it is not personalized to the seller. So all my buyers of my used gear got the rest time of the warranty. The only "non-transferrable" part was the registration of the items to their "My Nikon" account. But since there are no benefits from that... Nikon's idea of "attractive offers" is like 50 francs less than their official price which is still 100-150 more than the normal street price.
I've tried many times to find out the situation on Nikon's S/H warranty policy and all I've found is mixed answers, and I've tried just now again, it seems impossible to find a response "from Nikon" as to whether they cover an under warranty camera after having been sold on, I have never found anything on line but doubt, from varying sources. At least they don't want to officially commit themselves!
I am very happy to be wrong here, as S/H, IMHO, should not invalidate a guarantee on a product.
If you have something written officially from Nikon JoJu, about transferable warranties, please post a link on this thread, I'm sure it will interest many, there seems to be a general belief right or wrong about Nikon's stance on this point.
The situation seems to be variable as to your location in the world:
Sending back a product anywhere is obviously not devoid of grief.......... but in my experiences with service departments it's quicker than for example, returning a faulty de-centered lens for service......Tamron 17-50mm---10 weeks, Sigma 10-20mm......the same delay.
A return to the seller is kinda like a little less suffering!
Thanks guys for all your replies
Quote:Do you discover here a Mr. Panasonic in this forum? ^_^
Why is it so hard to ask the source or the company who had to deal with a faulty lens? How could we know what this 14 year long reputation of a grey importer means? And at least - even if one says here "buy it, Panasonic will deal with you in the most pleasing way you can imagine" what is this advice worth if it comes worse to worst?
Send a mail to Panasonic UK, ask them about this warranty.
Thanks Juju. I didn't spot the Mr Panasonic member. I did actually contact Panasonic UK before putting up my post, and as you point out it wasn't so hard. I've included their response below.
I thought I would ask on these forums as well just to get people's experiences.
PanaUK say that a Japan Warranty is only honoured in Japan. It'd need to be sent back there for any repair etc
Quote:<p style="font-family:arial;font-size:13.3333px;">In regards to your query, I would like to advise that if the warranty specifies that this is a Japanese one, the unit will need to be shipped back to Japan for the warranty repairs. As Japan does not offer an option for World Wide Warranty.
<p style="font-family:arial;font-size:13.3333px;">You can also check this information on the following website from the table that explains the Countries that provide this option:
<p style="font-family:arial;font-size:13.3333px;">http://www.panasonic.com/uk/support/warr...ation.html
<p style="font-family:arial;font-size:13.3333px;">
The ebay shop has not replied to my question to them. Imagine that... Upshot is I won't be using that ebay seller.
In the many years that I have owned bodies and lenses I've never needed to call on a warranty, but it's nice to know it's there.
Quote:Hi there
I'm looking at a new imported panasonic lens from an ebay seller based in the UK, London. They have been established since 2003 in that market and have excellent feedback. I'm not worried about the seller.
They say the item has a one year Japan Panasonic warranty.
Is that warranty not worth the ink it's printed since I'm in the UK? i.e. would it simply not be honoured or would I have to jump through hoops to get anything done if the lens became faulty?
Anybody's experience with this situation greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Nick
For the most part, Panasonic has very high quality control and more than likely you'll never need service. On top of that, by me, the brick and mortar camera stores are gone. Anything I buy will require more hassle than stopping by a store for an exchange. Even then, unless you purchase an extended warranty through the store, after ~3 months you'll have to deal with the manufacturer for repair. For me purchasing these extended warranty so I can exchange it directly with the store is too expensive and generally not worth it.
Having said that, my view point is how good of a deal is it? If it's just to save a few bucks, I would go with a reputable dealer. Following the bathtub curve, if it's going to break it will happen early on while you can still exchange it.
I just bought a Panasonic lens on amazon. It was a grey market lens. On top of that Amazon offered me a free gift card with the purchase that I can instantly apply to the purchase. The bottom line is the lens cost 1/3 the non gray market lens.
It comes down to where your comfort level is.
Good to know the Panasonic position.
I've only had a look at Sigma UK's position in the past. They will only service a lens if it has had applicable taxes paid. Presumably they can tell from the serial number where it originated from. If not an official UK/EU sourced product, they will accept other proof of import tax payment. It doesn't shut out grey imports totally, but if your reason for a grey import was to dodge taxes, this will kill that reason. I suspect the only way most grey importers get their pricing low compared to official sellers is by, let's call it optimisation of import tax levels.
<a class="bbc_url" href="http://snowporing.deviantart.com/">dA</a> Canon 7D2, 7D, 5D2, 600D, 450D, 300D IR modified, 1D, EF-S 10-18, 15-85, EF 35/2, 85/1.8, 135/2, 70-300L, 100-400L, MP-E65, Zeiss 2/50, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300/2.8, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Olympus E-P1, Panasonic 20/1.7, Sony HX9V, Fuji X100.
I bought a new Canon EOS M on eBay, it came from Germany and I have not worried about warranty. Now, 3.5 years on, the camera still does its thing. For the amount of money I saved, no wonder I did not worry about warranty.
I also bought a new Canon EF-M 22mm f2 STM for it at the same time, but from a different seller, I think it was from Malaysia or Singapore. Together with a EOS adapter, the lot (camera, batteries, lens and that adapter) cost me around €200, I forgot the exact figure. The lens came without warranty of course, and without official box. It works as it is supposed to still.
In 2015 bought a EF-M 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM for my EOS M too, from eBay (from a Japanese seller). New, no warranty, very low price ($58 + $18 shipping), pretty nice standard zoom with good IQ and I do not worry about warranty.
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