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Archive 2012 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]

  
 
BluesWest
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


I am also discontinuing my use of Canon equipment past this point,

If you think this kind of problem is unique to Canon's customer service, then you are living in a dream world. Customer service in every industry category is dodgy, at best, so changing over your camera gear to Nikon (or Sony) will not make you immune to these sorts of issues.

John



Aug 03, 2012 at 12:38 PM
speedmaster20d
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


When CPS sent you the estimate form did they list your filter as "included accessories" or not?




Aug 03, 2012 at 12:44 PM
dgdg
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


Sorry that happened - stinks.
I agree, when one of two parties are not willing to own up on who did the damage you would take the steps others outlined in various places above
1. persist with customer service until you know they will not budge.
2. hopefully anything high dollar is insured, so you would contact your insurance agent. Should not matter if you cannot prove who damaged it.
3. If the first option fails and you have no insurance, then you could file in small claims court. I agree if they internally know they are probably at fault, they would likely settle. You have to weigh the cost of lost time at work (even if you only file the claim that does not go to trial) with the money you stand to gain.



Aug 03, 2012 at 12:47 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


LeTiger wrote:
Based on my experience, I am no longer recommending Canon to others, the process was just too tiring to put anyone else through. (on the same note, I will not be using USPS for high-dollar shipments anymore, though I really do like to support them, as once they're gone, UPS and FedEx prices will inevitably creep upwards)

I am also discontinuing my use of Canon equipment past this point, as the process of sorting this out has no appeal to me over the long term, and one of their "pro" lenses, over normal usage scenarios lasted me under two years
...Show more

I had a similar experience with a different business recently, in which what I regarded as poor treatment led me to react in a not-so-helpful manner, which I suppose could have been excused by my understandable anger about the situation. However, I resisted the temptation to blame the entire company for stupidity and incompetence (more on why below), called back, took a very deep breath, assumed that the person I talked to might want to help me solve my problem... and it turned out that once I spoke person-to-person with someone the problem was solved, and turned out even better than I had hoped. Actually, this happened twice just this past week.

I (finally, I hope) learned this lesson after I embarrassed myself quite publicly and quite foolishly by following a different path a few years back. Something happened - and the details are unimportant - and I jumped to the conclusion that the "corporate entity" with which I was dealing was stupid, didn't care, was unethical, and was perhaps trying to cheat me. It was as plainly obvious to me - perhaps more so, since I only had one entity to blame and you have two - that "these people" were terrible, horrible people and that they needed to be outed after they failed to fix my problem.

I have a fairly active online presence with tens of thousands of people who follow me these days in one or more of several places. So I posted something kind of like what you posted in the material I quoted above. I was angry - with justification! - and I wanted to let the world know about these terrible people. It is possible that a few thousand people saw my post in which I railed against this entity, told a long fully-detailed story much like yours, marshalled all of my evidence of their poor behavior, mentioned individuals (not by name, thank God!) with whom I had dealt, and more.

Only then did I finally start to calm down and go back and think this through a bit more rationally. At about the same time, a genuinely concerned representative of the "entity" contacted me to try to make things right. I began looking more objectively at what had happened and the way I had responded and discovered, to my horror, that I had been wrong. I ended up having to find and retract much of what I had posted in this very public way, and felt that I had to offer a somewhat humiliating and demeaning public apology and disclaimer.

Like any company, Canon and your shipper can make mistakes. You may decide to no longer use Canon or your shipper, but that isn't going to solve anything - no other company is going to be any more perfect than they are, and there is no less likelihood of such a problem with Nikon or Pentax or Sony or whoever or with any of the many other shippers that you could deal with.

I would begin by accepting that it may take some time and some personal calls to attempt to work this out, especially since the exact timing and blame for the damage is unclear and because both the shipper and Canon could, as you have, reasonably believe that someone else caused the problem. You have been and will be inconvenienced, at a minimum, and the final outcome cannot be known. But if you opt out in anger right now, there will be no good outcome for you. If you keep trying to find the person or people at both companies that may understand and want to try to resolve this, there is some hope. And like me this past week, when I was ready to scream (and, yes, post about my anger) about the situation I mentioned at the start of my reply, you might even find that the problem can be resolved in a reasonable way.

Good luck sorting this out.

Dan

BTW, there are other practical lessons for all of us here. Make sure that you have good insurance coverage on your equipment with broad coverage. (I'm often amused by people who invest in UV filters for "protection," but who fail to buy real protection from an insurance company.) Fully insure your equipment when you ship it, or accept that risk that you take if you don't. Photograph and otherwise document the equipment at the time of shipment. Follow the Canon shipping instructions that say to not include other items such as filters and batteries and so forth when you ship.

Edited on Aug 03, 2012 at 01:01 PM · View previous versions



Aug 03, 2012 at 12:59 PM
jstephens62
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


I have had similar problems with Canon Irvine. I think their communication with their customers is poor, as in this case no real explanation for why the repair estimate almost doubled for no apparent reason. I had a body that I had to send back 3 times for the same repair, then sold it (with full disclosure to the buyer) at a loss. I found the whole process of dealing with Canon Irvine frustrating, and while I would not dump Canon I would look for a competing repair facility with which to do business.


Aug 03, 2012 at 01:00 PM
jay tieger
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


When I had trouble with another tech company whose customer service failed to honor their warranty contract commitment I posted their response on that company's community forum...

....and an executive representative monitoring the forum read my report and contacted me...and the exec offices of the company who contacted me directly and resolved the problem...

...and so you might consider a similar approach by posting your story here:
http://www.facebook.com/CanonUSA

Someone from Canon executive offices may read it...at least other Canon customers will...

Just thought I'd offer this option...good luck....



Aug 05, 2012 at 10:47 PM
marcus riley
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


I've twice had larger issues with Canon (but also had many great experiences), and both times, the only way anything was ever resolved was when I went over the service center people and contacted the higher customer service execs based at Canon's headquarters. Both times, I got the run around from the service center managers (one actually told me once that my 50mm f1.8 couldn't physically be adjusted any farther that it already are, so there was nothing they could do to fix it, even though it was under warranty. He finished by suggesting next time I spend a little more on a lens and buy the 50mm 1.4 instead), I contacted the Canon HQ customer service and immediately had a resolution.

Despite some frustrations and sometimes having to fight a little too hard to get something fixed, Canon has taken care of me so far and I hope they will step up and work things out for you as well.



Aug 06, 2012 at 07:49 AM
Deborah Kolt
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


From extensive experience, I would bet that USPS is the culprit. I regularly receive boxes marked "fragile," containing porcelain, and each and every time they arrive, I hear the "thunk" as they are dropped onto my porch. Sometimes they also hit the door on the way down. And this is from the guy who has to face me; just imagine how they are treated by those handling them en route. Damage does not always show up on the box, in fact, where breakage has occurred, the box has looked fine. The heavier the item, the more susceptible it is, which is why I always offer to pay extra to have heavy items double boxed, with cushioning material in both.

It has been explained to me that USPS insurance does not include coverage for impact breakage. Until it does, I doubt handling will improve. One supplier I use now videotapes their packaging, to prove the piece left their hands intact.




Aug 06, 2012 at 09:07 AM
rprouty
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


You could try this approach






Aug 06, 2012 at 04:48 PM
harrygilbert
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Canon/USPS broke my lens: What to do now? [UPDATED]


FWIW, I recently sold and shipped a very good lens. I thought I packaged it well, in a plastic bag, totally surrounded by foam peanuts, in a double wall corrugated box. Took it to my local UPS store. When I mentioned I wanted it insured for $2,500, the manager insisted that they re-package it. They opened and repacked MY box with more foam peanuts (all 6 sides), then put THAT box into a bigger box with more foam peanuts on all 6 sides.

The manager told me that more merchandise is damaged because of poor / insufficient packaging than careless handling, and that if damage occurred, my success at resolving and collecting a claim would be greater because UPS packaged it.

My advice: whenever you ship anything remotely fragile / valuable, have it packaged by a professional. I have come to know and trust my local UPS store and their personnel -- your experiences may differ.



Aug 06, 2012 at 08:15 PM
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