The battery cover of my Canon 12x36 IS III binoculars broke a few weeks ago. This made the image stabilization temporarily nonfunctional.
Since our local camera shop no longer does this kind of repair and I read online that Canon charges $250 for the repair, I decided to fix the problem myself by closing the battery door with the a piece of heavy-duty plastic tape (the duct-tape method) and voilá it worked fine again. I had no problem with the tape coming off, but I will need to scrape it off and reapply a new piece every couple of months or so when I change the batteries.
I also went ahead and bought a new pair of the same binoculars (I really like them).
However, my husband (also a birder) who really likes everything to be ship-shape and functional suggested that I still try to get the old ones repaired anyway.
So, I called Canon and asked them if it really cost $250 for the repair. Even after lots of wheedling they refused to give any estimate at all over the phone. I had to send them in to their official repair center and they would send me an estimate. So I did.
The estimate was $275, with a six month warranty on the repair work.
I am totally on the fence as to whether or not I should have the work done. The quote just seems outrageous to me, given that I can get the old bins functional again with duct tape and I now also have the new bins, which of course, are perfectly fine. But it just somehow feels wrong to “give up” and have them sent back. My lovely husband is not helping me decide. He is fine either way.
We can certainly afford the repair. I’m just not sure it’s the best use of our money and I hate feeling ripped off. But I don’t really like using duct tape and “giving up,” either.
What would you do?
Since our local camera shop no longer does this kind of repair and I read online that Canon charges $250 for the repair, I decided to fix the problem myself by closing the battery door with the a piece of heavy-duty plastic tape (the duct-tape method) and voilá it worked fine again. I had no problem with the tape coming off, but I will need to scrape it off and reapply a new piece every couple of months or so when I change the batteries.
I also went ahead and bought a new pair of the same binoculars (I really like them).
However, my husband (also a birder) who really likes everything to be ship-shape and functional suggested that I still try to get the old ones repaired anyway.
So, I called Canon and asked them if it really cost $250 for the repair. Even after lots of wheedling they refused to give any estimate at all over the phone. I had to send them in to their official repair center and they would send me an estimate. So I did.
The estimate was $275, with a six month warranty on the repair work.
I am totally on the fence as to whether or not I should have the work done. The quote just seems outrageous to me, given that I can get the old bins functional again with duct tape and I now also have the new bins, which of course, are perfectly fine. But it just somehow feels wrong to “give up” and have them sent back. My lovely husband is not helping me decide. He is fine either way.
We can certainly afford the repair. I’m just not sure it’s the best use of our money and I hate feeling ripped off. But I don’t really like using duct tape and “giving up,” either.
What would you do?