Extreme Wait With Local Repair

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I have a Digital Rebel which, not a month afterwards, developed
problems--the secondary mirror failed. I had it done by a local repair shop
to get it fixed. It was a camera I bought USED, that is why I couldn't get
it fixed under warranty.

Trouble is, it's now been a month and it STILL isn't ready. They keep
telling me Canon is that slow to ship them the necessary part; it's a
relatively simple fix apparently, but the part seems to be taking a LONG
time to get shipped out.

Is this normal? Or is this repair shop blowing smoke? Any way to get Canon
to hurry it along faster if it is taking so long?

LRH

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Larry R Harrison Jr" <noone@noone.com> wrote in message
news:34ght4F4b2fgoU1@individual.net...
>I have a Digital Rebel which, not a month afterwards, developed
>problems--the secondary mirror failed. I had it done by a local repair shop
>to get it fixed. It was a camera I bought USED, that is why I couldn't get
>it fixed under warranty.
>
> Trouble is, it's now been a month and it STILL isn't ready. They keep
> telling me Canon is that slow to ship them the necessary part; it's a
> relatively simple fix apparently, but the part seems to be taking a LONG
> time to get shipped out.
>
> Is this normal? Or is this repair shop blowing smoke? Any way to get Canon
> to hurry it along faster if it is taking so long?
>
> LRH
Hi there.

I had some experience a few years ago, working in a local Camera Repair
Shop.

Getting parts, from any company, can sometimes be a real problem, but most
of the time it is fairly quick. Most repairers place Parts Orders by Email
or Fax, once a week with the Companies, for any parts they need, and they
usually get delivery within a few days. They do not normally place an order
for just that one part which your Camera needs, because as you can imagine,
most parts are pretty small, and often fairly low value, and the amount of
paperwork generated could rapidly become horrendous for both the Companies
and the Repairers.

Canon are not any worse than any of the others, but the worst experience I
can recall, was with Canon.

It was a Battery Door, cost to replace was then about £5. This door was for
a Camera which had a weakness in the hinges, and was well known for needing
new Battery Compartment Doors. We used to order them a dozen or so at a
time, but we had run out. We Faxed an order to Canon, but they did not have
any in the UK. They tried to get some from the European Main Depot, they
had none. The Europe Office tried Canon Japan, who did not have any, and
worse had none on order. So an order needed to be placed, with the Company,
who had the contract to make these doors and certain other parts. I think
it took about 3 months for these doors to be made, shipped to Japan, and
then sent on to Europe. Because of the weakness in the hinges, we could not
even recycle a door from another unrepairable Camera.

Canon of course, denied anything of the kind, could happen , but what should
have been a 5 minute - on the spot - repair, turned into quite a marathon.

You could give your nearest Canon Service Facility a ring, and ask them. I
have nearly always found the Service Staff of the Companies quite easy to
talk to. My successor caused quite a stir, when she was having problems with
one of the big 3, and actually got to speak to the Service Manager and then
his Boss the General Manager. It did not help much, but she felt a lot
better after giving them both a severe talking to.

Roy

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Roy" <royphoty@iona-guesthouse.co.uk> wrote in message
newsOFEd.452$um2.44@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> "Larry R Harrison Jr" <noone@noone.com> wrote in message
> news:34ght4F4b2fgoU1@individual.net...
> >I have a Digital Rebel which, not a month afterwards, developed
> >problems--the secondary mirror failed. I had it done by a local repair
shop
> >to get it fixed. It was a camera I bought USED, that is why I couldn't
get
> >it fixed under warranty.
> >
> > Trouble is, it's now been a month and it STILL isn't ready. They keep
> > telling me Canon is that slow to ship them the necessary part; it's a
> > relatively simple fix apparently, but the part seems to be taking a LONG
> > time to get shipped out.
> >
> > Is this normal? Or is this repair shop blowing smoke? Any way to get
Canon
> > to hurry it along faster if it is taking so long?
> >
> > LRH
> Hi there.
>
> I had some experience a few years ago, working in a local Camera Repair
> Shop.
>
> Getting parts, from any company, can sometimes be a real problem, but most
> of the time it is fairly quick. Most repairers place Parts Orders by Email
> or Fax, once a week with the Companies, for any parts they need, and they
> usually get delivery within a few days. They do not normally place an
order
> for just that one part which your Camera needs, because as you can
imagine,
> most parts are pretty small, and often fairly low value, and the amount of
> paperwork generated could rapidly become horrendous for both the Companies
> and the Repairers.
>
> Canon are not any worse than any of the others, but the worst experience I
> can recall, was with Canon.
>
> It was a Battery Door, cost to replace was then about £5. This door was
for
> a Camera which had a weakness in the hinges, and was well known for
needing
> new Battery Compartment Doors. We used to order them a dozen or so at a
> time, but we had run out. We Faxed an order to Canon, but they did not
have
> any in the UK. They tried to get some from the European Main Depot, they
> had none. The Europe Office tried Canon Japan, who did not have any, and
> worse had none on order. So an order needed to be placed, with the
Company,
> who had the contract to make these doors and certain other parts. I think
> it took about 3 months for these doors to be made, shipped to Japan, and
> then sent on to Europe. Because of the weakness in the hinges, we could
not
> even recycle a door from another unrepairable Camera.
>
> Canon of course, denied anything of the kind, could happen , but what
should
> have been a 5 minute - on the spot - repair, turned into quite a marathon.
>
> You could give your nearest Canon Service Facility a ring, and ask them. I
> have nearly always found the Service Staff of the Companies quite easy to
> talk to. My successor caused quite a stir, when she was having problems
with
> one of the big 3, and actually got to speak to the Service Manager and
then
> his Boss the General Manager. It did not help much, but she felt a lot
> better after giving them both a severe talking to.
>
> Roy
>
>

Roy with your experience repairing digital cameras would you conclude that
any one brand was much worse than or better than the others? Would you
comment on the relative reliability of the various brands?