Greatly Disappointed in Canon

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Ken Ramos
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Greatly Disappointed in Canon

Post by Ken Ramos »

This is something that surprised me but maybe some of you already know this. I returned my four month old Canon 20D to Canon because of a bad sensor. It had dirt or some kind of debris that seemed to be embedded in the sensor and I had dark spots showing up on my images. Cleaning by any means did not even begin to remove these spots. So I sent it in with a breif description of my problem with a couple of photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph explaining each one (Alice's Resteraunt). Well Canon repaired the sensor and checked all functions and returned it to me in a very timely manner, no charge. :D However they also sent me a note with the camera and I recieved a full letter in the mail today, stating that the sensor is not covered by the manufacturer warranty! :shock: Good greif! The camera is only four months old and had a bad sensor when I purchased it. I even sent them a copy of my purchase receipt from B&H Photo to show how long I had owned the camera. Canon said they did it as a courtesy to keep their customer commitment. What commitment? You sell or market to someone a bad camera and then act like you're doing them a favor to fix it? Hmph! :x

Though the 20D is an excellent camera, I am greatly disappointed in Canons commitment to their customers. Maybe my next camera purchase will go to Fuji or Nikon, or Sony since they now have their own dSLR the Alpha 100 and I am not sure but I bet Sony's line of lenses to go with it are all Carl Zeiss too! :o

Anyway, I thought I would blow off a little steam about the service after the sale to Canon customers. :roll:

Mike B in OKlahoma
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Post by Mike B in OKlahoma »

That is very bizarre, and makes no sense. Can you post the exact offending text of the letter? If this verifies out, you might want to contact Chuck Westfall. He is Canon's technical representative in North America, and there is an email link to him on this page:

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0 ... tfall.html

No guarantee he can or will do anything, but he's been helpful with other people when they had problems with Canon (including me once). And appears to me to be an honest broker. In your case, your problem is "fixed", so you don't need help now, but might be nice to clear this up for the future.
Mike Broderick
Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Constructive critiques of my pictures, and reposts in this forum for purposes of critique are welcome

"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul....My mandate includes weird bugs."
--Calvin

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Hi Mike

The offending response was in the email that was sent before the letter arrived and was as stated in my initial post. The letter said only that the sensor was not covered by warranty. I thought Canon gave you a one year warranty on all parts and labor? Maybe I misunderstood my warranty card that came with the camera. :? Anyway the camera was fixed. Now I sent my 350D (Rebel XT) in for just a regular cleaning because I could not solve the dust problem with it. Now dust is just an expected hazard on the sensor and that I could understand not being covered by warranty but they politely responded that they would accept the camera for cleaning and were very nice about it. It too was promply returned with no negative replies as to warranty service. So what gives? Maybe someone or the technician at Canon was having a bad day, when he serviced my 20D. :lol:

However you would expect better from a manufacturer, after spending in excess of $1000.00 for their product and then having to buy the lens to go with it! :roll:

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Opps! I found the letter that came back with my camera, it wasn't in the email as I thought :oops: . Here is what is stated in that letter in part.
The service on your equipment has been completed. As a part of Canons commitment to its customers, you can be assured that your equipment has been returned to Factory Specificiations .

Repair Warranty
The problem necessitating this repair is not covered by the limited warranty for your product. Accordingly, this repair is being provided to you as a courtesy only.
Oh well, be forewarned as to Canons implied warranties. :roll:

Mike B in OKlahoma
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Post by Mike B in OKlahoma »

Hmm. Without digging into the warranty terms, I don't know. Still might want to bring this to Chuck's attention if it bugged you enough to post about it here.
Mike Broderick
Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Constructive critiques of my pictures, and reposts in this forum for purposes of critique are welcome

"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul....My mandate includes weird bugs."
--Calvin

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Mike B wrote:Still might want to bring this to Chuck's attention if it bugged you enough to post about it here.
I agree. My best guess is that somebody in repair did not take the time to understand that the problem was original and not just acquired dirt. There are other possibilities. But in any case, I'll bet that Chuck would want to know what happened, as seen by a (previously enthusiastic) customer, and I'll also bet something changes for the better if you let him know. Just my two cents worth... :-k

--Rik

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Well maybe I am over reacting to the whole thing. :roll: They did repair the camera free of charge and I do appreciate that and I suppose it was a courtious thing on their part but I feel something as major as a CMOS sensor should be covered by the warranty. It seems to me, however, that when I purchase a Canon product from now on, it is like buying a "pig in a poke." You're not sure what's inside but you bought it so your stuck with it. They may fix it for you however but they have the option not to unless you want to pay for it, even if the damage or problem is not your fault. :roll: Maybe I might drop this Chuck guy a line about it. The letter was not offensive but it still gave me a bad impression of Canons responsibility towards its customers.

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Ken... the sensor is most certainly covered by the warranty. Could it be that there was some very stubborn dirt or dust on the anti-aliasing filter that you thought was a sensor flaw, and what Canon did was a very thorough cleaning? (which would not be covered by a warranty).

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Charlie replied:
Could it be that there was some very stubborn dirt or dust on the anti-aliasing filter that you thought was a sensor flaw, and what Canon did was a very thorough cleaning? (which would not be covered by a warranty).

That's a thought there Charlie. :-k Could be I misunderstood their reply. Anyway the letter said that they made "a repair" as a courtesy and made no reference to cleaning the camera. When I had the 350D cleaned by Canon, they did so and told me it was covered under the warranty; so what's the difference in the two cameras? The main reason I posted this was to inform others of what Canons warranty covered on the sensor of a new camera. The problem itself had to originate during the manufacturing of the camera and not due to use or misuse by myself, so I would think that Canon would be responsible for cleaning and the correction of that problem. Maybe it is as you said and quite possibly is the reason for their reply. :)

salden
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Post by salden »

I think it is just a matter of misunderstanding. Canon assumed you sent it in for "cleaning" and you figured it was a sensor problem. I usually have good results from Canon. When I sent my D60 in for repair, they cleaned it and I did not even ask for that. They did not charge me for the cleaning.
Sue Alden

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

You and Charlie may be right Sue. Maybe I have misunderstood their reply. As I have said before...I'm getting old, set in my ways, and just plain grumpy and I still don't like television! :lol:

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Ken...
Anyway the letter said that they made "a repair" as a courtesy
I wouldn't put too much weight on that. I think there are a a few "form" answers and pieces of correspondence that these service departments use. Seems to me I recall scratching my head a little over the language on repair documents I have had from factory service departments.

twebster
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Post by twebster »

Hi ya' Ken, :D

I wouldn't be too put off by this response. I agree it may be a "canned" response. I sent my 70-300mm IS zoom in for modifications to fix a known issue with the lens. I admitted to the Canon Irvine repair facility that I had dropped the lens. They returned the lens to me after just 8 days, repaired, and at no charge.

Don't give up on them yet, my friend. :D
Tom Webster

Phoenix "The Valley of the Sun", Arizona, USA

The worst day photographing dragonflies is better than the best day working! :)

Ken Ramos
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
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Post by Ken Ramos »

I suppose you guys are right, it probably is an automated response generated by some cold heartless piece of technology. :lol: Seems as though everything these days lacks a personal touch to save time. Anyway the camera is fixed and I was not charged for the repair, so I suppose I should count my blessings instead of griping about them. :D

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