Canon 70D died

[carsonart]

My 70D that is only 1yr 1/2 old died all of the sudden.  I have only used it lightly and have taken very good care of it.  I tried another battery thinking that may be the probelem.  Even a brand new Canon battery did not turn it on.  Just no juice, nothing.  I sent it to Canon service center, and they sent me an estimate for $224.  I called to ask what the problem was, they said they still dont know, that  was just to take a look and fix the issue if there is one.  If it is something with major damage they will contact me with a different estimate.

It worked perfectly fine one day.  I charged the battery back up, plugged it it, and just never turned back on again.  I haven't even paid off the camera yet on my best buy card, so I have a real problem with Canon charging me anything so soon, and for an obviously lightly used camera.  

Has anyone had a similar issue before?  Is having Canon do this my best option?  I read another post of someone who fixed themselves, but I'm of course leery not knowing exactly wha the problem is.  Plus I have shoots lined up, and need to act fast.

I wish they had a better program to just trade up or something, if I'm spending money anyway.

[nithinkumar15]

I agree that any company's objective would be PROFIT but it should be done by delivering highest quality product and superior customer service. In this thread, people are mainly concerned about the camera's life.

One of the common cause for error 80 that I came across is PCB board failure. I remember facing a PCB issue with iphone 5 motherboard failed after warranty time. Initially, they quoted me $280 for replacement device. I got it diagnosed and found that it had no liquid or physical damage. Since this not my fault and PCB deteriorated itself upon my usage, my ticket got escalated and Chief Engineer gave a free replacement as they further investigate the issue.

They could have ignored me to my fate as it happened out of warranty period. But they didn't do that. No matter where they purchase the components, but it's still sold as Apple's iphone. When this happened, Apple launched iphone 6 and the device I'm talking about is Iphone 5.

What I'm saying is if there is 1-2% failure rate, that's when company should step up and take the responsibility if it wants to gain wider consumer markets. I always believed Canon to be one of those elite company who would never ignore their loyal customers. But after thoroughly going through the community, and my own personal experience I got now words.

[geenuistick]

I say we all tweet @CanonUSA everyday until they address the issue. A little social media shaming for asking hard-working people to pony up $$$ for something that's obviously a quality control issue.

[KSPaul]

Scott from Canon called back to say they think the problem is caused by using non-Canon batteries. The Canon LP-E6N  is 7.2v, 1,865ma but the aftermarket batteries I used are 7.4v, 2,600ma and 2,800ma. Does this wash with anyone else's understanding of electronics? He offered a discount on the repair if I send the camera back to them for repair. If that's the case, why aren't we seeing a similar level of problems with the 80D?

[isidroco]

Not true, a lot of cameras failed using original battery. Besides 7.4v vs 7.2v is less than 3% difference, not enough to fry regulators, besides 7.4v would quickly drop below 7.2v after a few minutes of usage.

They say that so as to blame users and avoid a percentage of complains.

What about the cameras that failed with no other battery than the original?

[KSPaul]

Just spoke with a retired Air Force and Boeing electronics whiz and he says the 7.2v vs 7.4v battery claim is bogus. As before, I'm very disappointed in Canon, but not enough to switch my system of eight bodies and 15 lenses.

[nithinkumar15]

Today I received an email from Canon repair service with a whopping amount of $454 (including labor + parts). I'm sure there is no liquid or physical damage to the camera. PCB damage happened on its own. I seriously doubt Canon's reliability from now on. The camera didn't even live 2 years. Can anyone confirm if there is a free repair in Brazil so I can give a call to customer service and check my options?

Thanks,

Nithin

[isidroco]

Nithin, yes, mine was repaired there, but in my case I had to use a brazilian friend:  you will need a brazilian address, and a brazilian tax payer (CPF)  number (you don't need to be a citizen to obtain that number).  You will probably need some portuguese to fill in and understand forms.  I ended up buying a used T3i for much less of the repair price in the meanwhile.  Procedure in Brazil can take up to 6 months. Camera must be shipped from within brazil to canon from any post office there and will shipped back to your BRAZILIAN address. Shipping is also free both ways.

So you should try to get someone in Brazil to do that for you and send your camera to him.

Maybe you can try to complain and ask for a repair discount given that the broken motherboard is their fault.

[nithinkumar15]

After detailed discussion, they agreed to give me 35% discount on the labor which will bring down the price to $375. Even If I spend the repair costs, I'm sure the problem would repeat itself. Rather I save myself this amount and let go the camera. Canon lost my trust both interms of customer service and product quality. 

[KSPaul]

Canon obviously isn't addressing this in a comprehensive and coherent way – nor in a way that serves the Canon brand. I was offered a 25% discount on repair to replace the pcb in my 70D but Canon Brazil has chosen to do the repair free for affected owners in Brazil. Canon blamed the failure of the pcb in my camera on aftermarket batteries in spite of the fact that there are numerous failures of the 70D pcb using nothing but Canon-made batteries. Canon has changed the repair part available to non-Canon technicians but continues to deny there's a flaw in the 70D's design or manufacture that has led to an unusually high number of very premature failures. Maybe Canon needs some sort of comprehensive, coherent and unified protest in the form of a Facebook page or website collecting data and experiences for the camera-buying public to see and share. Across the web there are several key phrases (Error 80, won't turn on, overheating, non-lead solder, etc.) that I believe all point to the same issue. Has anyone verified that the 70D used lead-free solder? If not, anyone have suggestions for doing so?

[dfansler]

I can easily start a Facebook Page and will do so. I hope everyone on this thread will join...