Canon printer... and my warranty treatment...

[Sweetride01]

Hi all,
not sure if there is a section here to discuss stuff like printers, but thought that the accessories section seemed appropriate.
I bought an iP4500 back in October. Ever since it has been playing up, flashing the light on the magenta tank, and asking me to re-insert. Most times this did not solve the problem though. Canon Helpdesk said it could be the printhead, and to send it for warranty service. So I sent it off to the warranty centre in Woking, CRC Tasktron, who were very helpful, and covered the shipping both ways. Within 3 days of sending it, I got a replacement. To my surprise though, it was a used (presumably repaired model), which is more scratched up than my old one, and a bit dirty. Inside, the bottom foam pad (that catches the excess ink???) looked to have quite a bit of ink on it. This annoys me because I was very careful with mine, and it has had to deal with a very light printing load (only about 3 pictures and <150 pages of print). Who knows the "miles" on this replacement...
So, should I suck it up, or call them and complain?

[klynam]

1 vote for call and complain

[dpastern]

Ring them, ask for the manager, express your disgust, arrange for it to be sent back, if not go to the small claims tribunal and have Canon given a rap on the knuckles for their poor customer service. I'm seeing a lot of this of late from Canon and it really makes me wonder...

Dave

[adblink]

I would call and complain as well. however I doubt you will get a brand new one. Most companies give you refurbs or repaired units as replacements, this goes for things like printers even hard drives

[dpastern]

I think most fair trading departments (at least in Australia) would regard a unit as described as being "used" and non reasonable for a replacement of a faulty unit. Not sure how it would go in other countries. The problem with modern consumer laws are (imho) that they do NOT protect the consumer enough. As far as I'm concerned, such a customer should be fully entitled to ask for their money back, so that they can stay stfu to the manufacturer and take their money elsewhere as a sign of unhappiness with the product/support/service. I suspect that if this was put in place, and reasonably governed by an independant body, then manufacturers would start to offer better quality products and be better and providing after sales support/service, rather than having a stfu from them to the customer...

Just my very honest, and as usual, blunt opinion.

Dave

[Sweetride01]

I'm filling in an online survey from Canon about my satisfaction with the repair process. One of the questions said:

"Some companies offer their customers an immediate exchange product rather than waiting for a repair to be performed - and Canon is investigating the suitability of this initiative. This exchange product would be the same model as your original product and will be of similar age and previous usage level (or new in some cases) and would be yours to keep in exchange for your product.

If Canon had made this option available to you, how likely would you have been to accept an exchange product rather than wait for your recent repair?" (although they sent me the exchange).

In other words they admit that they are quite happy to replace your 3-month-old printer with one that is possibly older and more heavily used.....

I'm gonna call tomorrow...

Edit:
They asked at the end what they could have done to improve my satisfaction with the repair process, so I gave this analogy:
"I would have liked to have received a new printer, or had my own one repaired. If your car were to have a transmission fail, would they offer you another of similar age that might have been neglected more? I don't think so. While I appreciate the fast turn-around, I would have appreciated more a product that is returned to my satisfaction."

Well, I suppose at least they are paying a bit more attention to customers now (I presume) by giving a satisfaction survey...

[Sweetride01]

I thought that given it's now nearly 4 years on, I'd post an update:

I did eventually complain about getting a refurb that was in comparatively poor condition, and they apologized and sent me a brand new printer. I'm glad of this, because my iP4500 has worked flawlessly for the past 4 years, printing off thousands of pages of text. And it still looks and sounds better than the refurb they had sent me. Had I stuck with it, I have a feeling it would have failed before now, but out of warranty, meaning I'd have needed to buy a new one early.

The real test for my printer could come next month, when I plan to print out around 8000 pages for a survey. Will this be its last print job?? :(

[isoMorphic]

I did eventually complain about getting a refurb that was in comparatively poor condition, and they apologized and sent me a brand new printer

Lucky you i tried to get a used replacement for a brand new Pixma 9000 MKII that was jammed and could not accept the print head. They refused to replace it with a new one even after my refusal to accept refurbished and considered mine used even though the ink and print head were still sealed. I ended up sending it back to Adorama who got me a proper replacement and plan to stick with Epson in the future.

[nathancarter]

8000 pages? I'd be taking that to Kinko's or some other copy shop, it would be way faster and more cost-effective.

Anyway, thanks for the update.

[Sweetride01]

8000 pages? I'd be taking that to Kinko's or some other copy shop, it would be way faster and more cost-effective.

Anyway, thanks for the update.

I checked Staples here in the UK, and they charge about 7p/page, whereas I think I can do it for 4p/page. Even if the printer died, it would still be cheaper. (It would be ironic if the printer died doing this, as my research dissertation is on recycling of category 3 WEEE... which includes printers!)

But as for faster, you're definitely right! Maybe I should calculate the time for 8000 pages... maybe 11 hours at 5 seconds/page?
:)