Canon Singapore

[carteki]

Okay my 6 month old camera is not working properly. We won't go into the story of how I was only able to take pictures for 1 day of a 4 day trip to Siem Riep or how I was fortunate enough to have a friend who lent me his camera for a once in a lifetime trip to Concordia in Pakistan.

They [Canon] maintain that the problem is not theirs and therefore not guaranteed (remember this camera is 6 months old) and send me an SMS quote saying it would cost $220 with GST to repair which was agreed when i phoned them to approve the repair. I now get a message saying I can come and pick up my camera and its going to cost me $292.

My question is - can they do this? At no point have they informed me, or have I approved the extra $72.11.

Sorry - EXTREMELY annoyed with Canon - their service is bad, even by Singapore standards.

[x9200]

I had very and repeatedly good experience with canon service but last time I needed them was a few years ago. Maybe they got worse in the meantime.
You have not approved the higher price so I would laudly and angrily insist on the one you approved. Request to see somebody in charge. Should help.
Out of curiosity, what was the problem with the camera?

[nakatago]

I used to work for Canon (R&D, though) and we hate Canon Marketing Southeast Asia (under which service centers are also under) with the heat of a thousand, burning suns for various reasons, one of which, is even they're screwing the people under the same "family."

That said, the service center probably charged you in the ballpark of 160 for service charge and other charges for parts. The "repair" paradigm nowadays is to replace the smallest part you can take out with desoldering which probably is a circuit board (or a mechanism). Either way, they should have asked you for anything outside the initial diagnostic they did when you brought in your camera.

However, I know a guy who truly repairs cameras (DISCLAIMER: no other affiliation other than a satisfied client). He repaired a lens and a flash for a fraction a service center would charge but does more that what those bozos would do. He does real repair--replace an IC (not an entire circuit board) at most or fix some gears. I'd mention his name but he doesn't want that many clients because it's starting to overwhelm him.

[ecureilx]

Sorry - EXTREMELY annoyed with Canon - their service is bad, even by Singapore standards.

I am a canon user, and I dropped my IS lens, which cost me more than 4,000 $, and the Gyro went haywire .. this is long before the current generation of DSLRs propagated the market.

Canon said "Not covered under repair" and quoted me 1,900 $ for the repair, and true, I asked around, including my good friend, P & G in Adelphi, who repairs and sells second hand SLR stuff, too said not everything is covered under warranty

What is your problem again ?

[x9200]

This is a standard approach for all the accountable manufacturers of the general CE goods to replace the whole modules. None of them fix it on a single element level. I bough an Onkyo AV receiver (middle range) that worked as it should exactly over the 2y long guaranty period. Shortly after it stopped working and the authorized Onkyo service wanted more less as much as I paid for the new one these 2y back just to replace a single board.
On the other hand Canon was the only one that fixed for free my broken 4y old camera 3y after the guaranty period The only thing Canon Singapore has failed me so far was to properly calibrate my photo printer, but they tried few times

[carteki]

Thanks guys for the feedback. I am sort of okay - but not really - with paying for the repair - it is a grey area, they say its my fault that what seems like a drop of water entered the casing (I have a Canon underwater housing too, which is also under guarantee) but they're not willing to listen to that one and I say how - I don't remember it happening and a single drop shouldn't give such grief (it definitely wasn't immersed). The problem with the camera is that the flash is draining the battery so fast that I can only use about 5 mins per battery (and I didn't take my charger to Siem Riep hence I could only take pics for 1 day).

But the issue now is that they quoted me $220 which I approved but it seems they're expecting me to pay $292! I already have them on non-compliance with GST laws in Singapore, what else do they want.

Seriously I've spent more than the value of the camera on additions - lenses and underwater housings etc. I am so tempted to sock it all in and get a REAL camera.

[x9200]

I you don't have anything about this additional $70 in the paper you signed at the time you passed them your camera then I would not pay it. Some companies got a hello fee (i.e. $150 Sony with their laptops) just for opening the device but I don't recall anything like this for Canon (at least these few years back).

[ecureilx]

I you don't have anything about this additional $70 in the paper you signed at the time you passed them your camera then I would not pay it. Some companies got a hello fee (i.e. $150 Sony with their laptops) just for opening the device but I don't recall anything like this for Canon (at least these few years back).

the additional fees should be the diagnosis fee, and they always ask the customer that should they need to diagnose (i.e labour to find out the problem for quoting the final cost) such diagnosis or investigation cost is chargeable.

Canon and a lot others are very serious in seeking customer approval before opening the box and spending time, and if the repair is not feasible, they will still charge for the effort.

whether it was one drop or many drops is immaterial .. and you could have soaked it by simple condensation forming due to climatic conditions ..

that's my 2 cents

[x9200]

From my past experience Canon charged you with the diagnostic fee only if you refused to take up the repair. If you agreed it was waved. The fee last time I used them was $30 IIRC.