On Board Flash is a Joke

I'm a professional photographer by trade. I purchased the Coolpix 5400 as a fairly small and light weight camera I could easily take on vacation. During the day in bright light, it's fine but as soon as the light of day fades, so does the performance of this rather pricey camera. The on-board flash is horrible! With subjects close by (i.e. within 10 ft) the flash washes everything out. Beyond that distance, the flash is a joke. Using an accessory flash unit would defeat the purpose by I bought the camera in the first place. Don't waste your money. Buy a Canon! The little 2.1 Meg Canon I purchased earlier does a way better job than this joke Nikon. I guess the joke's on me, isn't it?