Am I alone in regarding this as extremely cavalier and unsatisfactory customer service in the current world ?
It's highly unsatisfactory.
I suspect it is due to the distributors in many countries not being owned by the manufacturers of the equipment they're distributing. You'd think in this Internet connected world that a reconciliation with head office ("we do 8% of warranty repairs world wide, but only account for 6% of new sales, please send adjustment") would do the trick, but apparently not.
For similar and equally incomprehensible reasons it's cheaper for me to buy Canon lenses from the USA than it is to buy them from any of several retailers in this country. After allowing for shipping, customs clearance (and tax) on arrival the savings on lenses (but not bodies, interestingly) are worthwhile.
As if that wasn't enough, in some countries manufacturers (Nikon has been named, but I have no personal experience) refuse to service "grey" imports, even for a customer willing to pay for parts and maintenance. And if you buy secondhand, there's no way to find out if the equipment is "grey" or not. Ethical? I'd argue not. Does it make business sense? Not at all, unless you're the subsidiary propping up profitability short term with such practices, in which case it works ... mostly ... so far.
Computer manufacturers got a big wake up call with Usenet newsgroups even before the Internet. The camera manufacturers will realise -- eventually -- that their marketplace is worldwide, and change. Looking at how slowly Hollywood and the media companies (one of whom is now a camera manufacturer, please note!) are getting the message about differential DVD pricing (er, "region coding") don't expect action soon, however.
Disgruntled,
Giles