Authorized Camera Service

Hate to have to give Authorized even one star. I’ve sent my 24 – 70 2.8 Nikon zoom lens to Authorized in Woodland Hills twice now for a loose barrel which obviously affects focus. Both times I received it back it remained loose. Aside from shoddy repair the customer service was very subpar.
Save your time and effort and deal directly with Nikon for quality repairs.

My Nikon 18 – 200 lens would not autofocus, so I took it and my D300 to Authorized Camera Service. I thought the time had finally come replace the whole outfit. Authorized repaired, cleaned and realigned the lens and cleaned, and adjusted the camera body, and incredibly the cost for the entire operation was under the estimate. I’ve trusted ACS with my cameras since the 70’s, and have always been very pleased with their service. Highly recommend!!!

I have been a pro shooter for almost 2 decades. I have been going to Peter and ACS for just as long. I couldn’t be happier with the service, level of professionalism, technical knowledge and customer service there. They are always kind, considerate, and attentive to my needs. My camera is my livelihood, I will not trust it to any Joe Shmo out there!
They used to be right off Coldwater which was only about a 15 minute drive for me, but then they moved and quite frankly although the 45 minute drive is not something I look forward to, its worth it to me because I always feel like it’s in great hands and I know its being done right there!
They try and get my camera back in as timely a fashion as possible — always.
Sometimes parts have to be ordered and it takes a little longer than I would like but such is life.
I wouldn’t think of going anywhere else quite frankly.
Thank you Peter and ACS for the professional quality of service!

I walked in with my D40 with spotting on my images. I was told that my lens just needed cleaning or there may be dirt on my view finder. I was told all it needed was to be cleaned and it should be perfect.
I got a call the very next day that my camera was ready. I went to pick it up and it is clean as a whistle! No spots on my images and nothing on my view finder. I am happy!

I wish there was a 0 star option.
On December 2 2014, we dropped our Nikon D3 off with these folks on a recommendation from a fellow photographer. We were concerned about the potential cost of the repairs, but they assured us they would call us back the next day with an estimate to get our approval before beginning repairs.
Dec 5. We called them because we still hadn’t heard from them about the estimate, they said they had replaced one part and were waiting on another to arrive. We were a little bothered that they didn’t get our approval before beginning work, but they told us the price would only be $ 250. They told us the camera would be ready in about a week and they’d call us to come pick it up.
Dec 12. We never heard from them so we called and they informed us that they replacement part they were waiting on had arrived, but they still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the camera. It was a Friday, they said they’d call us back Saturday or Monday with an update.
Dec 15. Monday afternoon we called them (because yet again we still hadn’t heard from them), they were profusely apologetic for not calling, but said they had figured out what was wrong and that they’d call us back with the new price.
Dec 16. After no call from them (again) we called them back for an update, they said they’d look into it and call us back.
Dec 17. We called them (they have never once called us). They said they figured out the problem and the camera would be ready in a week (which would be Christmas Eve), they said that they’d be closed that day and Christmas, but would be open the Saturday after Christmas and we could drop by to pick up the camera then. The new price was quoted as $ 300.
Lo and behold, we called on the 27^th and got no answer. It turns out they’re not even open on Saturdays. It was at this time that we looked up their Unilocal reviews with horror.
Early the next week (either the 29^th or 30^th), we called and we were told that the warehouse, from which they were going to pick up the part needed, was closed all week and wouldn’t be open til the week of 1÷5−1÷9. When we questioned why we had been told to pick up the camera on a saturday (when they’re closed saturdays) the woman with whom we were speaking became very aggressive and refused to answer.
Jan 6. We decided to pay them a visit in person. They were very apologetic and promised us that the camera would be ready to be picked up on Jan 7.
Jan 7. We called and were told the part they are waiting for (now it’s being delivered whereas before we were told they had to pick it up directly from the warehouse) still hadn’t arrived. They claimed that they couldn’t get in touch with Nikon for an ETA on the part, even though we had been able to contact Nikon twice to file complaints about this place.*
Jan 8. We stopped by and picked up our camera as-​is. We had already called another shop and had planned to take the still broken camera there instead. Later that day, though, ACS called us (for the first time since this whole debacle began) to say the part had been delivered and offered us a discount if we came back.
Jan 9. After much consideration we brought it back. I asked the woman who was there if I could have the price and eta in writing. Confused and hesitant, she called the owner (?) Pete and had me speak with him. He confirmed the price and eta, and told the woman behind the counter to put it in writing for me. Much to her apparent chagrin she took a scrap piece of paper and wrote «$ 200, eta Jan 10» just like that. No names, no camera model, no part name, no signature. That piece of paper was completely worthless and after she wrote it she said bitterly, «Well that’s what you wanted right?»
I do not know why this woman works here, my guess would be she’s either a relative or family friend, because she clearly does not understand or know how to write out estimation forms.
We got a call (our second from them in total) that afternoon saying the camera was finished, we picked it up and paid in cash (because after all this there was no way we trusted them with our card info).
Regardless of the discount, I will never take my camera to this place in the future.
*Nikon has said that even though the store is «Authorized by Nikon» it’s not a part of Nikon and therefore there is nothing they can do about it.

If I can give it half a star I would. I brought my D300 in to get the «err» message looked at. I brought it in once to get it repaired and it took about a month to get it back. I used it a few months later to take pictures of my daughters’ dancing and I got the same error code again. Luckily it was under warranty so I brought it in again. After three months of waiting for parts, I got it back again. Well, brought it home and got the same error code after trying it out. I’ve contacted the credit card company to stop the charge process and will be contacting them and Nikon regarding this.

I dropped my Nikon golf laser range finder at their office back in November for a repair or replace from Nikon. I called them around the beginning of January to get the status of the device and the guy said he’d get back to me right away… well, it’s been over three weeks since that call and I still haven’t heard back from them! I don’t what the problem over there is, but I would not go there again and I definitely wouldn’t let them get their hands on anything expensive; you might never get it back!

Let us begin by saying every communication has been initiated by US even though we were repeatedly told we’d be contacted with further information.
Ahem.
This is nothing but a den of liars. Liars and thieves. We dropped off our Nikon camera over a month ago for an HDMI port repair. After not hearing anything for over TWO weeks, we have called several times and did not get the camera back in time for the holidays AS PROMISED. Petie Boy, we are still waiting. It has been over a month. Each contact with them has ended with more empty promises and dashed hopes. We are consistently told different times when the part should be arriving and the BLAME AND SHAME has been placed on Nikon now. Who knows when we will be able to take photos of loved ones again? «Hey family, anyone remember Christmas 2014? Nope. We don’t. Pics or it didn’t happen.»
Thanks Pete. (for nothing).

Had to wait 6 months for a (1 – 2 week quoted) basic repair. The owner, Peter, told me they had to send my equipment to Nikon about 5 months into the repair (without my permission). I called Nikon about 2 weeks later and they said that they hadn’t received anything under that description. Basically, Peter will tell you anything just so he can be left alone. Although he ended up comping the whole thing, the fact that I waited 6 months was beyond unacceptable. Over those 6 months, I rented that same equipment probably 5 times. (Over $ 400 in rentals) Disgusted by this place. Go elsewhere.

Brought in my camera over 2 months ago and was told it would take less than a week to fix. Finally got it back after having to keep hounding them over and over. They said it was for a part on back-​order. I’m fine with that, but they only made one attempt to call me regarding the issue. No apologies. Nothing. Total attitude on the phone too when I called asking about it. Never again. If at all possible, bring your camera somewhere else. Shame that this is a place recommended by Nikon.

Peter went out of his way to get my lens repaired even though the parts were back ordered from Nikon. Thanks for the great customer service!

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE SERVICE!!! Nikon really needs to think about revoking this as an authorize repair center. This is definitely not a place for a professional to go to get professional service.
Every single time we go here we get the run around, even for a basic lens realignment we can never seem to get a straight story or an accurate time. «One more week», «Should be ready tomorrow», «Nikon is still looking at it», «it’s drop damage», and then it’s «OH it’s under warranty», and then a week later «No it’s not covered». How many times are you going to use the same excuse? Did you not remember you gave me the same story with my other 3 lenses I brought there?
SUCH BS from Pete and the staff. Why can’t you run a straight forward and honest business. We are losing money having to rent lenses while you fool around with toys all day. GET ME MY STUFF ON TIME AND FIXED PROPERLY!
If you’re a serious professional don’t even come down the street, if you’re a prosumer with a fancy little toy by all means take your chances. Bring your fly swatter.

I took my Nikon D40x here for repair. The technician was able to look at it, and determined that it was the lens and not the camera. He told me the cost to repair the lens was about the same as if I purchased a new lens.
I really appreciated their honesty.
I decided to have my camera cleaned while I was there. The camera now works like brand new.
I would use this business again and would recommend to my family and friends.

I have been using Authorized Camera for years. I live in Bakersfield and we have no one around here who is authorized to work on Nikons or even clean them. So most photographers just ship them out to be cleaned. I do not trust the postal service with my cameras so I prefer to drive down and they have always had my cameras clean in the same day that I drive them down to them.
I have also had them do some repair work as well and have never had any problems with the work that they have done. Otherwise I wouldn’t drive an 1 ½ to them to have my cameras clean. I have been using them since 2007.

I scratched the plastic focus screen and need to have it replaced. the repair was completed as promised. I needed to take the camera back to the shop to clean out some spots on the screen. It was taken cared in a couple of hours and free of charge.

I’ve used these guys 3 times now for various repairs and maintenance. Here’s the short and sweet:
They do a great job and their prices are reasonable in my opinion for certified Nikon work.
However, they are not the fastest around and sometimes communication is lacking.
I like them because they are local and they do the work in house.

Adding one star because I got my camera back after 4 months. YIKES!!!
But the communication is terrible with this company. I had to call a number of times just to check in on the process.

I called in 8/22(Monday) to see if my nikon D50 could get a repair I had bought it at a yard sell but a day later it stopped woking. The shutter wouldn’t close. I took it to a different repair place a while back ago and they screwed up my camera ever more. I asked how much diagnostics would be and they said free so I brought it in that same day. (the other places I researched wanted any where from $ 40-​$ 100 for diagnostics & some places required 1 – 2 wks to «check it out» so this was a better choice)
I dropped it off and the owner Pete, assured me that he would call me within 48 hours to let me know the issue and repair cost. While my camera was with them I came across these reviews and got extremely discouraged and scared. I was thinking that my camera would take weeks if not months to be repaired.
Two days later I didn’t get a call so I called them. Pete informed me that the shutter was broken and so was my mirror so he said the repair would cost $ 200. I was happy because in prior shops i was asked for $ 160 plus $ 100 of diagnostics and another shop the manager told me it wasn’t worth fixing might as well I am buy a new camera. So this price pleased me. Best of all he said that since he had one of my parts in stock he could have my camera ready by the end of that week or the week following. I agreed for him to make the repairs and began to expect to get my camera 2 weeks later.
Around 12pm on Friday ⁸⁄₂₆ I get a phone call from Pete telling me that my camera is ready for pickup! ONLY 4 Days AFTER I dropped it off!!! I was so happy! I Picked it up and he told me he replaced the shutter, the flash board and the mirror and he cleaned it. all in all it was $ 208.56 and the camera works great! The receipt says the labor was $ 100 and the parts were $ 100. Those prices are affordable!
I love this place because everything was done beyond the time expected, it was well done, and they had friendly service. I just wanted to review this place to balance out the negative once here. I had a positive experience maybe I got lucky because he only had to order one part? But based on my experience I would DEF recommend you coming here if you need a NIKON repair! :D

In February 2011, I took my Nikon D7000 into Authorized Camera Service in Woodland Hills, CA for service. I was told my repair would be completed in 7 – 10 days. At the end of the 10 days I called to see if my camera was ready to be picked up and I was told that it was just going to be sent to Nikon in El Segundo for service.
Days and weeks went by and my camera was not fixed. I would periodically call ACS for a follow up and they would give me no information about when my camera would be ready. They were quite rude over the phone, like I was bothering them to inquire about my own camera.
I called Nikon directly to inquire and was told that since I had taken my camera to ACS, they could not give me information on my own camera since it was under the authority of ACS. But they told me that if ACS would email them authorization I could follow up directly with Nikon. Seemed like an easy enough thing to do.
I made several calls to the ACS and spoke to the owner Pete and asked him to contact Nikon on my behalf and he said he would but he never did — which only added to my level of frustration about not having my camera back. He always sounded irritated and bothered when I would speak to him.
Because my camera was so new, the replacement parts were on back order — something the Nikon rep finally told me.
Over a month after my camera being with Nikon, it was finally fixed and returned to ACS where I went to pick it up.
Pete brought the camera out to me and I asked him a question about the focusing system on the camera. The focusing system was not working properly when I sent the camera in and in fact the AF/​M switch was replaced. Instead of giving me an answer, he went rifling through my Nikon D7000 box, picked up the unopened manual that was still in shrink wrap and said sarcastically and rudely that maybe if i took time to open the manual I could figure it out. I informed him that the unopened manual he was holding was the Spanish version and that I had well read through the English version. Pete did not apologize for what he had said, only just gave me a blank look.
Pete and ACS are terrible representatives of Nikon and customer service. I would never use their service again or recommend them to any other Nikon users.
If you want to be treated rudely and with disrespect than Pete and ACS are your team.
From now on, I will only deal directly with Nikon at El Segundo if I need service.

This place was recommended to me by a friend after Nikon said they couldn’t repair my lens because they didn’t have the parts anymore.
I called before I came by because it’s about 70 miles from me. The guy on the phone was really helpful. I told him the situation and he said they could look at it and see if they could do anything.
So, I drove all the way out to the SF Valley, which I despise. When I walked in, I was greeted by this goofy looking guy that had all the charm of Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons. I told him the situation and since I told him Nikon didn’t have the parts anymore, he basically switched off to anything I asked about fixing it. I honestly don’t think Nikon checked my lens out and told him that. He reluctantly did one lame test and said it was no good. I reiterated exactly what I feel the problem is, but he pretty much came up with all these responses to not touch my lens. I asked him another question and he answered sarcastically. Just funny how you can tell what a person is going to be like by just their appearance. It’s not stereotyping, it’s fact.
In the end, my lens still works and what I think the problem is, I guess I will have to try and fix it myself since no one seems to want to help me.