I'm in the Twilight Zone with Canon Warranties right now...any advice?

SportsNut

All,

First, let me write this: I want to apologize. I am an avid sports photographer (mostly for free for my friends and family--it's my hobby) and I had joined this site back around May or June of last year. Almost immediately, I got attacked for reporting that I go inside the fence at 7/8-year-old baseball games to shoot for parents (with everyone's permission). A couple people really got after me for that and I left the site because of that. I came here to be part of a community and felt like I was attacked unduly, and I didn't need that kind of aggravation in my life.

I'm going through an issue with Canon right now, so I came to the site today for the first time since June; I was going to do a search about my topic when I noticed I had a whole heap of messages from DGRINners that asked me not to leave the site because of a couple bad apples. I hadn't seen those at the time. I feel bad that I never knew those were there. There were a large number of folks that said they supported me and apologized for the attacks. I appreciate that, even though that was quite a while back.

I was under a lot of stress at that time (just retired from the Air Force, getting a new, and moving across the country to buy a new house). I realize now that I was too quick to bug out. I'm sorry for that.

Now that I'm more settled, I'd like to once again start visiting DGRIN regularly. Most of you folks are great people, and have a lot of experience and great advice. It's a great site, despite a few opinionated folks that can't mind their manners.

Again, I'm sorry that I didn't have more faith in the average DGRINner. Enough with that...I was hoping you all could help me with this issue:

I bought a 300mm f/2.8L USM IS back in June. I've only had it out about 10 times or so (soccer). Almost immediately, I noticed that the little metal piece that screws down from the lens hood to clamp onto the lens was loose. About 2 weeks ago, it fell off completely...just fell apart in my hands.

I contacted Canon and described the problem. They told me to send it to the service center in New Jersey. I did that last week. Today, I get my lens hood back, un-repaired. And I got an e-mail. It said the warranty does not cover "accessories." Can someone tell me if that's right? I talked to a manager there and he said he was going to look into it deeper and call me back tonight.

I'm a little upset about this. This lens hood is not an accessory, it is a integral part of the lens. Not only that, but a new one costs $400! I just can't believe Canon is giving me the runaround on this. The part is probably a $20 part, or less. You'd think they'd have the courtesy to take care of that for me considering I paid $4,100 for the lens.

I got the lens at B&H Photo (net).

I'd appreciate any advice you might have.

ziggy53

Do try to work with Canon repair. I suspect that the repair of the clamp is not too expensive.

The lens hood is an included accessory, not an integral part. While I agree it's probably not worth $400 (what they charge) it is not a trivial part either as it is cast and machined.

You might also see if the part can be repaired locally. It sounds like the threads have been stripped or somesuch. A machine shop may be able to repair for much less than the $400 to replace. A high-school shop might even take it on as a project for free.

Next time it would be prudent to report any problems as soon as you notice them, rather than wait months until failure.

Good luck with the hood and good shooting.

SportsNut

ziggy53 wrote:

Do try to work with Canon repair. I suspect that the repair of the clamp is not too expensive.

The lens hood is an included accessory, not an integral part. While I agree it's probably not worth $400 (what they charge) it is not a trivial part either as it is cast and machined.

You might also see if the part can be repaired locally. It sounds like the threads have been stripped or somesuch. A machine shop may be able to repair for much less than the $400 to replace. A high-school shop might even take it on as a project for free.

Next time it would be prudent to report any problems as soon as you notice them, rather than wait months until failure.

Good luck with the hood and good shooting.

So you think that the hood comes with no warranty? That seems awfully strange to me that such an important part of the product (and expensive part of the product) has no warranty.

When I noticed it was loose, it still worked. I didn't think much of it at the time. It's not the threads that are stripped; it's hard to describe in words, but the flat metal piece that guides and clamps onto the lens body came off of the threaded piston. It looks like it was held on by a rivet-like end; seems to me it either broke off or wasn't done right in the first place.

I'm awaiting the supervisor's call tonight. He was going to see what he could do and call me back.

At this point, it's the principle to me. A top-shelf company ought to cover their top-shelf products when it comes to defects. I've probably used that lens a total of 5 hours (so far--can't wait for Spring!), hardly enough to consider that normal wear and tear.

Thanks for your response. I'll keep working at Canon. I sure hope they can do something. I hate to think of a bandaid fix for my prized lens.

Zanotti

Bummer, I bet they cover it.

In the meantime, there is always duct tape!..........





Z

ziggy53

Zanotti wrote:

Bummer, I bet they cover it.

In the meantime, there is always duct tape!..........





Z

Don't laugh. Gaffer's tape is mighty handy. clap In a pinch I'll use whatever I have to get the job done.

('Duck' tape "is" the Boy Scout survival tool of choice. )

kdog

Are you saying that Canon didn't call or email you BEFORE they sent it back to give you the option of paying for the repair? It seems especially poor to send back the equipment un-repaired, and then email you. I'd be furious.

No luck getting a hold of a supervisor yet? If he gave me the line that it's an accessory and not covered, I would explain that you called in advance and were told it was. That was the case, wasn't it? I agree completely that a mechanical failure on the hood like this should be covered if the hood shows no sign of being abused. I can't believe Canon would create ill-will over such a minor repair of a very expensive piece of equipment. Not good customer relations at all.

theinlawjosie

That certainly is a bummer. From everything I have heard Canon is a good company to deal with, I'll bet they will work something out with you. It does seem somewhat odd that they won't cover an accessory that was packaged with the lens. I work for a cell phone company and we warranty chargers and batteries......we even warranty leather cases and they are definitely not an integral part of the device. we don't include the accessories with replacement phones, but we will cover them if need be. I would think Canon would take a small loss (a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY small loss) to hang on to a loyal customer.

SportsNut

kdog wrote:

Are you saying that Canon didn't call or email you BEFORE they sent it back to give you the option of paying for the repair? It seems especially poor to send back the equipment un-repaired, and then email you. I'd be furious.

No luck getting a hold of a supervisor yet? If he gave me the line that it's an accessory and not covered, I would explain that you called in advance and were told it was. That was the case, wasn't it? I agree completely that a mechanical failure on the hood like this should be covered if the hood shows no sign of being abused. I can't believe Canon would create ill-will over such a minor repair of a very expensive piece of equipment. Not good customer relations at all.

Nope, they didn't call or e-mail. I gave them all my info, and even taped a tag to the lens hood with my information. They just returned it and I got a vague e-mail. As near as I can tell, they're saying they don't even do that kind of work, warranty or otherwise. I guess that's why they just returned it. What bothers me worse is that I told the customer service folks EXACTLY what was wrong and they told me to send it in. I spent my own money to pack it, drive it to the Fedex place and ship it. I am still shocked by their lack of attention to this. Still no word yet. The supervisor I talked with assured me he'd get back to me. I'm still waiting. I'll give him until tomorrow and then I'll call up and start over.

You're right on. I can't believe it, either. Such a minor part and minor cost. I can't believe they want to upset a good customer like me over something like that, but a couple of the folks I've talked to seem to care less.

Man, I tell you...customer service has just gone down the toilet just about everywhere. I guess they make so much money that they don't care about little guys like me...

SportsNut

theinlawjosie wrote:

That certainly is a bummer. From everything I have heard Canon is a good company to deal with, I'll bet they will work something out with you. It does seem somewhat odd that they won't cover an accessory that was packaged with the lens. I work for a cell phone company and we warranty chargers and batteries......we even warranty leather cases and they are definitely not an integral part of the device. we don't include the accessories with replacement phones, but we will cover them if need be. I would think Canon would take a small loss (a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY small loss) to hang on to a loyal customer.

That's what I would have thought, too.

I could see their point if it was a $20 hood or something, but that's a high-quality, expensive lens hood, and it's made to use with the lens, it's not an aftermarket piece of junk.

I'm still shocked that I'm having this issue with them.

I just wrote B&H a note to see if they'd do anything. It's worth a shot. Maybe they can do something at Canon...who knows.

Canon never even offered to sell me a part to fix it. I must have got a hold of their worst customer service agents they've ever had. Either that or the whole company has gone downhill.

NeilL

Yep, makes you wonder what goes on in some people's minds sometimes. They must think service means doing customers a favor... if they are in the mood, that is!