DISAPPOINTING Canon USA Service (1 Viewer)

[MountainCorvid70]

Although I have been a proud member for a number of years, I have only rarely posted threads, as I rather enjoy reading the countless insightful, informative posts by other members on myriad topics. However, I have never felt more compelled to post than now, after just examining my recently serviced Canon 10x42IS (serviced by Canon.) I am not prone to hyperbole, but I am finding it difficult to articulate the degree of disappointment in Canon service. At this moment the words that come to mind are SHAMEFUL, CARELESS and UNPROFESSIONAL. Did I mention DISAPPOINTING?

Background:
I took a tumble down a steep, rocky hillside back in July that resulted in my 10x42IS bearing the brunt of impact (thankfully, I walked away with only a few scratches and a bruised ego). The unit‘s shell, however, suffered severe cracks and breakage near to the focus wheel, as well as several very deep scratches in other areas. Surprisingly, given the binocular struck several large boulders, the optics and IS appeared to be fine, but I knew that the electronics would eventually be damaged if I didn’t have the compromised shell repaired, so off to Canon it went. I knew the repair would be costly given what I have read here and elsewhere, but decided on the repair nevertheless.

Well, $490 (plus shipping and insurance) bought me several new shell components, battery compartment, prisms and “cleaning,” but with unacceptable and very obvious debris sitting behind the objectives. When I move the binocular I hear pieces of Lord-knows-what rattling around inside and can see some of the debris just moving around on the internal glass (this was NOT the case prior to shipment to Canon). To add insult to injury, the focus wheel sticks in one point in the rotation (it WAS buttery smooth), with me having to exert a measure of force in order to continue turning the focus wheel, and I hear a very disconcerting “clunk” when I near close focus. Not to mention that the objectives were so oily and fingerprinted that their condition suggests they were handled by a sticky-fingered toddler. HMPHHH…some “cleaning.”

I cannot believe that a company with Canon’s apparently good reputation would allow such poor work out the door, particularly after forking over nearly $500 for an out-of-warranty repair. I’m so disgusted at the moment I’m considering selling my Canon SLRs and lenses, not to mention the 10x42IS.

By the way, the box was undamaged and the unit well-packed, so this could not be the result of some mishap during transport. I am now forced to spend another small fortune on shipping and insurance in the hope that Canon will service them properly (professionally). Has anyone else had a similar experience with Canon USA Service?

 

[Binastro]

That is shameful work.

If one sells all the Canon cameras etc. what then?

Would Nikon, Fuji, Olympus always give high quality service?

I have had varied Canon service.
The U.K. Canon service has been first class, except for a Canon copier when the response from Canon was disgusting. The Canon person I talked to refused to even discuss anything with a mere retail customer.

Leica service very good.

Minolta excellent when they existed.

Fuji response not good.

Nikon varied.

Sony untested, although they helped recently with a T.V.

There are some very competent technicians in the U.K and Europe, but fewer than in past times.

Personally I would not have tried to get a repair of something so badly damaged, but that is because of past experience dropping a camera 16ft onto concrete.

Regards,
B

 

[MountainCorvid70]

That is shameful work.

If one sells all the Canon cameras etc. what then?

Would Nikon, Fuji, Olympus always give high quality service?

I have had varied Canon service.
The U.K. Canon service has been first class, except for a Canon copier when the response from Canon was disgusting. The Canon person I talked to refused to even discuss anything with a mere retail customer.

Leica service very good.

Minolta excellent when they existed.

Fuji response not good.

Nikon varied.

Sony untested, although they helped recently with a T.V.

There are some very competent technicians in the U.K and Europe, but fewer than in past times.

Personally I would not have tried to get a repair of something so badly damaged, but that is because of past experience dropping a camera 16ft onto concrete.

Regards,
B

Thank you for the response. My suggestion that I might sell my Canon gear is admittedly knee-jerk, driven by my anger with the shoddy service for my 10x42IS. Given that service experiences have varied and across manufacturers suggests quality control standards are lacking, that one’s experience is based on the attentiveness or lack thereof of the technician assigned to service the kit.

Hindsight being 20/20, I should’ve sold them “as is” to help fund the purchase of a new binocular (a Canon 10x42IS refurb is $1200 in the US; the “repair” cost nearly $500).

It will be interesting to hear Canon’s response to this situation. I suspect they will want to charge an additional service fee, in which case I might be stuck with it, as I do not want to throw more money at this.

First world problems…

 

[Stevenkelby]

Thank you for the response. My suggestion that I might sell my Canon gear is admittedly knee-jerk, driven by my anger with the shoddy service for my 10x42IS. Given that service experiences have varied and across manufacturers suggests quality control standards are lacking, that one’s experience is based on the attentiveness or lack thereof of the technician assigned to service the kit.

Hindsight being 20/20, I should’ve sold them “as is” to help fund the purchase of a new binocular (a Canon 10x42IS refurb is $1200 in the US; the “repair” cost nearly $500).

It will be interesting to hear Canon’s response to this situation. I suspect they will want to charge an additional service fee, in which case I might be stuck with it, as I do not want to throw more money at this.

First world problems…

My instinct would be to throw more money at a lawyer sending them a letter of demand.

Go nuts on social media too and send them links to everything. Have you uploaded a YouTube video yet?

Best of luck getting a satisfactory result.

 

[etudiant]

Hi MountainCorvid,
Sadly, I'm not surprised by your experience, it mirrors my own.
I tried the low threat alternative, write to the head of Canon USA to ask for redress after an obviously failed repair.
I got special CEO tagging for my return package, which repair was equally ineffective. After two more iterations, my glass worked again, but I discovered that it was no longer waterproof as condensation accumulated inside the objective lens covers.
So I bought a replacement new one and retired the old for backup.
My guess is that the technicians in Canon's service centers are unfamiliar with these binoculars, as they are a very peripheral part of Canon's business.
So they are probably trying to repair the glass using manuals that have been poorly translated into Janglish. This does not excuse the sloppy cleanup
your glass received, but is consistent with my experience.
Repair of the Canon is not a good option imho. Canon wants $500 just to check out the glass, better just spend $1300 and get a new one.

 

[master5]

I took a tumble down a steep, rocky hillside back in July that resulted in my 10x42IS

is there no photo after the damage?

 

[MountainCorvid70]

is there no photo after the damage?

Unfortunately, I did not capture a photo of the damage to the binocular housing. The most obvious damage was to the plastic around the focus wheel being broken into several small pieces. The focus mechanism did not turn smoothly as a result (and the fog/waterproofness was obviously compromised). There were also a number of seemingly superficial scrapes and dings to the binocular's housing.

UPDATE: I sent the unit back to Canon with a long letter expressing my dismay at the poor condition of my binocular when received from Canon service the first time. Canon did seemingly service the binocular properly the second time, as the focus mechanism works crisply and smoothly. Canon also replaced the binocular's housing, as it now appears like new. (However, I don't know if it was repaired to Canon's fog/waterproofness standards). I remain puzzled and disappointed, however, that the unit had to be sent back to Canon when it was obvious it was not serviced properly the first time, especially after remitting $490 for the repair!

 

[mikeho]

I see that this is a very old thread, but in case it might be useful to anyone, I want to post the following:

I have a pair of Canon 8x30 IS that had stopped stabilizing. I had sent them to canon for an estimate. They wanted to charge me nearly the price of a new pair, of the current model, to fix them. I declined.

Google lead me to a small shop in California that repairs cameras, binoculars, etc. They fixed it for less, and did a perfect job.

Their website: https://www.videocamrepair.com/

Mike