Don’t buy a Z8 directly from Nikon, customers say

According to posts on Reddit, it seems that quite a few customers have had their Nikon Z8 (buy here) orders cancelled, some without any reason provided whatsoever. The only thing these posts have in common is that they were all ordered (or pre-ordered) directly from Nikon itself. This doesn’t appear to be an issue with other retailers – or, at least, not enough of an issue that people are posting about it.

The posts typically say that the customer placed their order, received confirmation of their order and then suddenly received emails letting them know that their orders had been cancelled. The issue appears to stem around bank or credit card authorisation, but exactly where the blame lies isn’t quite clear.

One user pre-ordered the Nikon Z8 on the first day in anticipation of a round-the-world trip beginning on June 7th. On Thursday, May 25th, they received an email telling them that their order had been cancelled. When they called Nikon to follow up, they were basically told, “Yeah, it happens”, with not much more of an explanation after that.

When I called, the dude on the phone was like “well that sucks, go get it at Best Buy”

– Fishhook007

The user made another pre-order and after a call to Nikon, they were told that they’d get their old place in the queue back but they’re not confident that they’ll receive the camera in time now.

Nikon Z8 Preorder Cancelled
by u/Fishhook007 in Nikon

In response to this post, other customers commented with their own similar stories of ordering direct from Nikon only to have them cancelled without warning or much of an explanation. It’s unclear whether the cancelled orders are the fault of Nikon or the banks and credit card companies.

It happened to me as well. Bummed about it. I pre-ordered from B- &H now with the hope that I won’t have this issue with them. But now I’m in the back of the line.

– Cold-Island-6338

The common thread with each of the customer reports is the banks and credit card companies. Being such a large amount and a purchase that’s perhaps a little out of the norm for their usual spending habits, many of the transactions were flagged as fraud. This is understandable and perhaps expected, but why does the problem appear limited to only Nikon’s direct sales? Why aren’t we seeing the same issues regularly popping up for B&H, Adorama, WEX, or other large camera gear retailers?

A similar thing happened to me. I preordered on announcement day and I received the order cancelled email this morning. My bank flagged it as potential fraud, and texted me immediately. I was able to text back to allow the transaction to go through, but Nikon would have to run the payment again. I called Nikon and the rep told me that there’s nothing they can do after a transaction is cancelled. They can’t simply run the payment again. From the cancellation email to the call ending with the rep all happened in less than 5 minutes. So now I’m back in line waiting on a backorder. I’m a NPS member, but only time will tell when the order will be fulfilled. The rep said I was the 8th person she talked to today with the same issue.

– Over-Medium2552

Another user, bettie-rage, documented their experience in another post on Reddit.

My bank assumed my Nikon z8 order was fraud and cancelled it!
by u/bettie-rage in Nikon

Again, people commented, responding with their own personal accounts of ordering directly from Nikon. And it seems like this isn’t a new issue, either. Users also reported having their pre-orders cancelled last year when the Nikon Z9 (buy here) was announced.

Nikon’s dumb ordering system means I can’t buy a Z9 from them
by u/Wildcat84A in Nikon

Even cameras that weren’t on pre-order and had been available for several years have seen orders cancelled, such as this customer’s Nikon D500 (buy here).

Nikon themselves canceled my order of a D500. Has this happened to anyone else?
by u/TDB4421 in Nikon

In the grand scheme of things, it probably isn’t a massive percentage of Nikon orders that are seeing cancellations, and the banks and credit card companies do seem to be the commonality between the reports. But Nikon’s follow-up to the cancellations doesn’t seem to be that great if the customer accounts are to be believed.

Whether the blame does indeed lie with the banks and credit card companies or with Nikon and how they process the orders isn’t clear. But what is quite clear is the advice often given in response to such reports. If you want an increased chance that your pre-orders will go smoothly, make them with local camera shops – if you happen to live somewhere lucky enough to still have one – or through online retailers like B&H or Adorama.

Have you had your Nikon online store orders cancelled?

[via Nikon Rumors]