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Can someone advise on bogus repair claims and outrageous pricing?

Cheg
Apprentice

Can someone tell me why repair costs are so high, why cameras in one continent aren't servicable in other continents, and why it's so unbelievably expensive?

I post this on Canon Community US as we don't seem to have a UK subsiduary.

I have a G5X purchased in Japan. It's just over 2 years old and a memory card has disintegrated leaving a bit in the SD card slot. The card will no longer stay in, and I can't get the debris out (and don't want to prod about and risk damaging the camera). 

Canon UK say they won't service it as it was bought in Japan; that I'd have to take it back there. I asked why not, and the operator (reading from a script?) says they'd have a problem getting parts (not that parts would be needed; just to open it, shake out the junk, then put it back together). Thing is; when I was in Japan, the reason why i purchased this camera is because I handed in my G11 (purchased in th US) for repair. Its origin was never questioned, and it was never a problem.

Now, through a Canon repair center in England, my camera has been sent to Germany for repair. I've just got the quote, and at almost £300 is approximately half the price it cost to buy new. Whatsmore, they say the charge is for a new PCB and new optical assembly!! The camera was in good condition before I sent it; it turned on and everything worked, and the optics were excellent (I have dated pictures to prove it). Is it common practice to inflate repair costs like this?

I hope someone can give me a soothing answer as I'm nearing the end of my tether. My first camera was the Canon A1, and every camera since has been a Canon (T90, EOS 650s, Ixuses, S70, G7, G10, 5D Mk3, and more) but my loyalty is being severly tested!

5 REPLIES 5

John_
Authority

Hi there Cheg, I wish I had something soothing to say. What you could do is ask for the damaged or faulty parts back once the repair is over but my guess is they will either say they can't or will charge a ridiculous amount for shipping and handling. Not to irritate you more but I think repairs might only be warrantied for 90 days in which case if anything seemingly and logically related to the repair happens you will most likely get into another "anything is possible" repair situation. The pricing, although high, is in line with other companies. Not sure how they got to that diagnosis either. Perhaps bits of the card got into and damaged the optical assembly and other bits damaged a PCB or caused that failure. It sounds like an "anything is possible" diagnosis. I do not know if you will find this soothing but I think, in most cases, all the camera companies service policies and procedures are similar in this respect. As far as one country refusing to service a camera bought in another country, there may be legal issues there as well as the proper parts not being on hand. I am guessing but I think the majority of the parts are the same regardless of what country they come from. Anything else that comes to mind involves, would have, could have and should have. Canon does make good products, the service end of the business, all businesses are where one hopes for reasonable outcomes.

 

I must admit I find it equally frustrating that the costs to maintain equipment have been silohed like they seem to be.  Having always bought from authorized Canon distributors I would be very frustrated if I had to be denied service.  Most of my gear is out of warranty, so perhaps going to a competent 3rd party is the only answer.

 

In that scenario it seems to me that you are in the cusp of a cost/benefit dilemma.   As I understand it you are concerned that you will damage the camera if you remove the card from the slot (understandably) but if you have a tech look at it you are looking at possibly large repair costs and they will disassemble the camera anyway.

 

Frankly if it was me, I would be tempted to find a set of surgical or dental tweezers and or a narrow pick and (with the battery removed) see if I can remove the offending part of the SD card.  If you do then you may find that all is well, if not then they will charge you to fix it anyway.

 


cheers, TREVOR

"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris

kvbarkley
VIP
VIP

IF you go to ifixit, you can find repair guides for various cameras. If the tweezers don't work, you might be able to take the camera apart. I don't see a G5x, but they do have a G3x which looks similar.

Waddizzle
Legend
Legend

@Cheg wrote:

Can someone tell me why repair costs are so high .... ?

 

I have a G5X purchased in Japan. It's just over 2 years old and a memory card has disintegrated leaving a bit in the SD card slot. The card will no longer stay in, and I can't get the debris out (and don't want to prod about and risk damaging the camera). 

 

I've just got the quote, and at almost £300 is approximately half the price it cost to buy new. Whatsmore, they say the charge is for a new PCB and new optical assembly!! The camera was in good condition before I sent it; it turned on and everything worked, and the optics were excellent (I have dated pictures to prove it). Is it common practice to inflate repair costs like this?


I am having a disconnect here.  

 

But first, what about the memory card slot.  What type of memory card were you using that could actually begin “disintegrating”?  Was it a microSD card with an adapter?  If so, those are not recommended.

Back to the disconnect.  You say that the camera was in good condition before you sent it in, and that you have dated pictures to prove it.  But, if the memory card slot was rendered unusable, how could you take any photos?  Besides, if you could take perfectly normal photos, why would you need to send it in?  ???  

 

So, I am going to assume that the camera was not usable when you sent it in.

So, why the high charges?  I am going to speculate that there was a PCB failure of some kind, which caused the memory card to suffer whatever it experienced.  Isn’t possible that whatever caused the memory card damage, could have also damaged electronics in the optical assembly?

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

Sorry I wasn't clearer.

The memory card was an SD card.  They have been known to break from time to time. This particular one was taken from another camera (Olympus Tough, whichh I use on holidays as I use it in the water). (That camera, incidentally, also has bits of card in it which Olympus has identified and are fixing that camera for £50).

I put the card in the Canon only to send the data to my PC as I don't have the Olympus USB cable. The Canon read it fine). Having putting the card in my Canon, I couldn't get the original card back in.

Canon have now detailed the problem saying the contacts are screwed, and as they're on the PCB, the whole thing needs to be changed, I don't nelieve them, but don't see that I have a choice.

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