Factory Service Center Complaint

[mgsipa]

This is in regard to Repair ID: [Removed personal information per Community Guidelines]

I turned in my Canon 5D MkII in to my local Canon FSC for repair after my toddler pushed the camera off a table and the mode dial was damaged but not broken. Nothing else was damaged, and the drop was not big. I was quoted $211.89 for the repair, which included $19.99 for the Mode Dial, Labor, and $129 for an 18-point DSLR Maintenance Service, which he said was mandatory with my service. I questioned the $129 charge, but was told it was a requirement included in the repair. If this was a lie, please discipline your employees when they lie.

Today I received a revised estimate of $316.67 without an explanation. I called the Canon FSC and was told that a technician determined that I need a whole new Top Cover and that my USB connections are damaged and need to be replaced. Again, please discipline your employees when they lie. The top cover does not need to be replaced, nor were the USB connections damaged at all. I have photos from before I turned in the camera showing that none of these were damaged. I've been lied to before, but this takes the cake. I've taken cars to mechanics that were more honest.

I was told that all these parts are needed for my camera to be returned to it's original factory specifications, but I NEVER ASKED for the camera to be returned to original factory specifications. I only asked for the mode dial to be repaired. Your service is tantamount to taking my car in for an oil change and having the mechanic revise my request to include a complete engine restoration that I didn't ask for.

Please know that we don't live in the 1970's where things like this were easily swept under the carpet, and I don't intend to allow it to be swept under the carpet.

[mgsipa]

This is a text from a service manager there. As you can see, they require THEMSELVES to service the camera back to original factory specs whether you're asking them to or not. I don't need them to do that. I need them to replace a $19.99 mode dial and that's all. If it takes $316 to repair a $19.99 mode dial, then Canon products are worthless in my opinion.

Here's the message:

"Thank you for providing us with additional information. We can certainly understand your concern over the revised repair estimate. Our Factory Service Center requires that all cameras be repaired back to the original factory specifications and tested by our factory trained technicians, to ensure the camera is in proper working order before being returned to you. We'd like to offer you a 20% discount off the labor charge. Just let us know if you would like to move forward with completing the repair and we'll get the repair estimate updated for you. -TR"

[Waddizzle]

"I''ve found the mode dial itself, sold separately from the top cover for $19.99 online, but I'm not confident that I'll know how to take the old one out and put a new one in. What I do know is that the dial and the top cover are not one piece."

This is what money is for.  Pay the professionals to get it done right.  I have no doubt that you can find the dial sold by itself.  I have seen it, too.  But, the dial is also sold as part of an entire assembly that covers the top of the camera, which would include the LCD on the other side.

[mgsipa]

Jr, I didn't come on this forum to have anyone solve my problem. I came to tell others about my experience.

[Waddizzle]

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@mgsipa wrote:
This is a text from a service manager there. As you can see, they require THEMSELVES to service the camera back to original factory specs whether you're asking them to or not. I don't need them to do that. I need them to replace a $19.99 mode dial and that's all. If it takes $316 to repair a $19.99 mode dial, then Canon products are worthless in my opinion.

Here's the message:

"Thank you for providing us with additional information. We can certainly understand your concern over the revised repair estimate. Our Factory Service Center requires that all cameras be repaired back to the original factory specifications and tested by our factory trained technicians, to ensure the camera is in proper working order before being returned to you. We'd like to offer you a 20% discount off the labor charge. Just let us know if you would like to move forward with completing the repair and we'll get the repair estimate updated for you. -TR"

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I say bite the bullet, and get several more years of use from your camera.  I agree with Ernie, 100%.    Factory refurbished cameras are as good as new, if not better, because they have been hand tested and calibrated.

[mgsipa]

Wadwizzle, no it is not. You can buy the Mode Dial post by itself. I understand that it can ALSO be purchased as part of a complete top assembly, but I don't need a whole top assembly because none of that is damaged. I also understand that I can buy a mode dial as part of a whole new camera altogether, but I don't need a whole new camera, only a $19.99 mode dial.

Bottom line, if the company that produces the camera from the tiniest screw to a complete product says they can't replace a mode dial without replacing half my camera with it, then I suspect that company's intentions. What would have happened if I lost a screw? "I'm sorry sir, but that screw is part of an entire assembly which we'll need to replace for $316". This is absolutely ridiculous.

[mgsipa]

Some of you guys are way too accepting of 'bait & switch' tactics. I have to wonder why.

[Waddizzle]

"Wadwizzle, no it is not. You can buy the Mode Dial post by itself. I understand that it can ALSO be purchased as part of a complete top assembly, but I don't need a whole top assembly because none of that is damaged."

Uh, that is pretty much what I said.  You can buy it alone, or as part of the top assembly.  Good Luck.

[ebiggs1]

"I say bite the bullet, and get several more years of use from your camera."

This is the way to go.  Maybe a little hard to swallow but you will have a nearly new camera.  A darn good camera.  If your camera has some years on it as a 5D Mk II has to, it is well worth the C&C which is probably around $200 bucks by itself.  You are getting that included for nothing.

Consider this.  The mode dial is connected to a complicated switch potentiometer.  It is possible that got damaged in the fall and sudden stop.  In my business I couldn't take the chance something inside there that got cracked or messed up.  I know one thing for certain.  It would fail you at the most inopportune time!  Learned that one the hard way.

[mgsipa]

They are not repairing the potentiometer. They want to replace the top cover because it has a couple of scratches on it. That is it, and that is all. Please stop making it seem like a bargain. It's not a bargain. It's a bait & switch tactic, simple as that.

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

OK, fine.  It looks like you made your decission.   Call them up and request them to return it to you as is.

Then call Midwest Camera Repair and ask for an estimate.  They will do it on line.