A bit of feedback regarding my experiences with purchasing this lens.
The eBay dealer was ShutterBlade - they do a lot of auctions of photographic stuff, and I had previously unsuccessfully bid on 300mm lenses auctioned by them before...
When I went back to grab contact details to chase them up on my issues, I went and read some of their feedback. I had noticed that they had 99.9% positive ratings or something so never really thought much about it. Of course, with thousands and thousands of transactions, this actually means dozens of negative feedback! I got a bit worried when I read quite a few pieces of feedback around items not being in the described condition, and issues with organising refunds and arguments over who was responsible for paying return shipping etc etc. But I thought, I would send them a polite email and see what happens.
My original email was:
Hi, this is regarding the item:
Nikon Nikkor AF-S 300mm 2.8 ED Lens for D300 NR 88242 - Item Number xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The ordering process was easy, the shipping was very fast and the package arrived in good shape. The condition of the lens is generally as stated on the auction, however I have tested the lens and have the following 3 concerns which are NOT mentioned on the auction description.
1. Rear lens cap not included
2. The tripod collar locking knob is broken. You can tighten the knob down, however the collar still rotates.
3. The lens has problems focusing closer than about 5 metres. It hunts very slowly and frequently gets "stuck", at which point the only way to get it to autofocus again is to manually focus it further than 5m and try again.
I'm not really bothered by #1, but #2 and #3 have a pretty severe impact on functionality.
I am willing to have it checked out by a Nikon service centre - will you cover the service fee to resolve issues 2 and 3? Otherwise you would have to cover listing fees, and update the item description etc.
Regards, and hope to hear from you soon,
Des.
Their response:
Hi there,
The rear lens cap was included and was shipped on the lens, the front cap was not included as indicated in the auction:
Auction Includes Only the Following: Lens, hood, rear cap, leather case, strap
The tripod collar did not have any problems when it was sent to you, so I am not sure why you are experiencing this issue now. According to the manufacturer specs the lens should focus down to 3m, so I am not sure why it is not.
Unfortunately, we are not set up for repairs. If you would like, you may take the camera to a local repair shop and get a free repair estimate. Please do not pay for any repairs until you have consulted with us first. Send us a copy of the free repair estimate. Depending on the cost, we may be able to assist in the repair cost or we will determine if it is best to return the item for a refund. Our warranty period expires on August 23, 2009. The estimate must be received no later than that date. You may want to consider getting it repaired locally because Nikon may take up to 8 weeks to provide an estimate and that is an unacceptable amount of time for the estimate.
Or, you may simply send the camera back to us for a refund.
Please let me know which solution you would prefer. I apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused you.
Thank you and have a great day!
I thought this was actually a very fair response, even down to suggesting a local repairing to hurry up the quoting process.
I sent a further email when I was able to work out what the AF problem was:
Hi, I have run a few more tests. It turns out that the AF issue was restricted to only one body that I first tested the lens with. It appears that the AF sensors may have had a lot of dust on them as the problem looks like it is ok now that I have blown all the dust out.
I am happy to tolerate the other two issues, however it would have been nice for the description to mention them.
to which the reply was:
Hi there,
I am pleased to hear that the AF issue has been resolved. We can offer you a partial refund of $50USD with regard to your remaining two concerns. This offer is valid until July 31, 2009.
Thank you and have a great day!
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
I am super-happy with this outcome, and feel that ShutterBlade did everything that was expected of them. Thankfully it didn't need to get to the stage of getting repair quotes etc, so I can't say if that process is as smooth.
So the sum total:
I got the lens for $2820 AUD delivered.
I didn't get stung for GST at customs.
I won the auction at 5:50am on Monday and had the lens on my desk at work on Friday morning.
I received email feedback within hours.
I accepted the $50 USD partial refund and it was credited to my account first thing Monday night (Monday AM their time).
Upon inspecting the non-locking tripod collar, I noticed the pin was slightly bent, so I "corrected" it by means of a short sharp tap with a hammer to remove the bend.. and it now locks! You have to screw it very tightly down, but it locks.
I replaced the missing rear lens cap with one of my spares.
Thumbs up to all parties involved
