Nikon has issued a recall on some of its battery packs for the D100, D70 and D50 cameras.
The battery pack can experience a short circuit causing it to overheat and possibly melt, posing a potential hazard to consumers. There have only been four confirmed reports of incidents of the problem worldwide, and while no injuries have taken place, Nikon Inc. has initiated this recall of the affected lot numbers as a reflection of its commitment to safety and product quality. We are asking that owners of the affected battery packs return them to Nikon Inc. for a free replacement.
Fair enough, things happen.
But there is one big problem. Nikon wants the camera owner to register on the internet, wait for packing and postage to be sent, then return the defective battery before Nikon sends the new battery. Only once Nikon has the old battery will they will send a replacement — “within approximately 7-10 days.”
Excuse me! What if you want to use your camera in the next few weeks while all this shipping back and forth is going on — say for Christmas photos. No luck — unless you buy a new battery at retail ($40 or more) in the meanwhile. Nikon warns you (in bold), “If you have an EN-EL3 battery pack with one of the lot numbers listed above, you should immediately stop using it and remove the battery pack from the battery compartment.”
If I have a camera registered with Nikon (I do) and I claim to have one of the potentially dangerous batteries (I do), I think they should send me a new battery as soon as I sign-up for it, along with the packing and postage to return to old one.
Here’s the list of recalled batteries.
Update: Nikon will charge your credit card for the new battery ($49), send it with the return packaging, and then credit your account when the old battery is received. That seems reasonable, though I will leave my rant above as written.