Just Need to Vent about Canon and Manfrotto

So Canon and Manfrotto have gotten me rather upset recently. I don't want to turn this into a this brand vs that brand debate, but I appreciate the service I have had with Sigma way more now.

First up, Canon.

I purchased a refurbished camera from them when they had that 10% off refurbished products. After 5 days, I noticed it had not shipped yet so I sent them an email. They responded the next day which told me

"at the present time our sales system is not available to review your order. The system should be available within the next 1-2 hours. You may contact our Supplies and Accessories department for order status. They can be reached at 1-800-OK CANON (1-800-652-2666) between 8AM and Midnight (Eastern Time), seven days a week."

Ok, what kind of service is that? They couldn't wait a couple hours for their system to be back up to reply to my email?

Whatever, I have been really busy lately so I haven't had a chance to call them so after over a week, I email them again saying the order still "pending shipment." Two days later and I still get no reply.

So at this point I have some time so I decide to call their number, which according to the email I got earlier can be reached "between 8AM and Midnight (Eastern Time), seven days a week."

Well... I call them at 1:30PM eastern time and the automated message on the phone tells me they are closed. I don't get it... is 1:30PM between 8:00AM and Midnight? Yes. Is Sunday one of the 7 days a week? Yes... Why are they closed then?

Now for rant number 2... Manfrotto.

I have a Manfrotto 488RC2 which developed a huge crack on the ball portion of the ballhead after about a year and a half of use. I emailed Manfrotto and they said to send it in and they would fix it. I sent it in, I know they got it fast because I have a delivery confirmation.

I sent it on the 1st of March, it was confirmed delivered on the 3rd of March. I emailed the person who replied to my request for service, the Service Repair Supervisor, when I had shipped it. Now 20 days after I had sent it, not a single peep out of them. No email confirming they had received it, no emails or calls updating me on how the process is going. I honestly figured it would be fixed by now.

Now contrast this with my Sigma experience. When I called them during hours they claimed to be open, I got a really nice person on the line. They kept me updated on the whole process. It was a total of LESS than a week from when I sent my lens (not when they received it) to when I got it back... THAT is service.

I used to work for Apple and we would do our best to help out our customers and Canon and Manfrotto have disappointed me so far. Maybe my expectations are too high due to my background, I don't know.

Ok... I feel better... rant done for now.

Vendors who have hoards of gearhead customers need not give s*** as long as you give bucks.
Welcome to USA - United Scam of America !

umm...as for canon...i don't know if you saw...but there was this thing called an earthquake...

DreDaze wrote in post #12056674
umm...as for canon...i don't know if you saw...but there was this thing called an earthquake...

I am internal to Canon so I can't say definitively for sure, but I am pretty sure their US operations are independent of their Japanese operations.

Anyways, I finally got through to someone in Virginia (not Japan for emphasis) and they told me they due to the price of the order (high price that is) I should have received a call from someone to confirm it. She said they usually call the day of the order. Well, I checked my phone numbers I have with them and they are all correct, yet I have not received any calls. She told me to call them on Monday and ask for someone who can authorizes these things.

I guess I have to wait another day. Before they can ship.

I agree with you on your frustrations, but it's every company at some point. You had good customer service from Sigma, but then I can tell you about the time they shipped my lens and camera to a guy in Idaho, along with his repair. Thankfully he was honest and contacted me because Sigma showed they shipped it back to me.

(Not to change the subject, but....) I asked in another thread but you might not have seen, where are you ordering your HorusBennu items from that you have mentioned a few times?

MGW172 wrote in post #12061439
I agree with you on your frustrations, but it's every company at some point. You had good customer service from Sigma, but then I can tell you about the time they shipped my lens and camera to a guy in Idaho, along with his repair. Thankfully he was honest and contacted me because Sigma showed they shipped it back to me.

(Not to change the subject, but....) I asked in another thread but you might not have seen, where are you ordering your HorusBennu items from that you have mentioned a few times?

I think that is the case. I've been amazed at CS level with some companies, only to find my next dealing with them to be substandard. I think most companies are so cost-conscious and have cut staffing to the bone that they have lost the ability to deliver consistent results. That is certainly true of the company I work for, in a totally unrelated industry.

I'm not excusing poor service in any way, but I think we (consumers on a whole) may be getting what we are asking for >> cheapest possible goods with all else being secondary.

MGW172 wrote in post #12061439
I agree with you on your frustrations, but it's every company at some point. You had good customer service from Sigma, but then I can tell you about the time they shipped my lens and camera to a guy in Idaho, along with his repair. Thankfully he was honest and contacted me because Sigma showed they shipped it back to me.

(Not to change the subject, but....) I asked in another thread but you might not have seen, where are you ordering your HorusBennu items from that you have mentioned a few times?

I have bought them all off of this guy on eBay called "cameramate2010" There are other sellers of Horusbennu ballheads on eBay as well, I am sure anyone of them are fine. I generally just search "horusbennu ballhead" in eBay if I am looking for their ballheads.

mpix345 wrote in post #12061542
I think that is the case. I've been amazed at CS level with some companies, only to find my next dealing with them to be substandard. I think most companies are so cost-conscious and have cut staffing to the bone that they have lost the ability to deliver consistent results. That is certainly true of the company I work for, in a totally unrelated industry.

I'm not excusing poor service in any way, but I think we (consumers on a whole) may be getting what we are asking for >> cheapest possible goods with all else being secondary.

I totally agree, I was just stressed when I made the post, a lot of school/work/family stuff going on all at once. As I mentioned before, I worked for Apple for a bit and we had bad agents, no doubt about it, many good ones, but there are always bad ones. Canon actually JUST called ME to confirm which was nice, I didn't have to call them. The agent I spoke to was very nice and sociable. He apologized which was a nice bonus. I should see my camera within the week.

My 50D CLP ordering experience was a bit frustrating as well. I've placed an order over the phone on Sun, and instead of giving the Cust. Service rep all the info I've provided an order # I've previously placed with Canon so that he could pull up my address and contact info. He found everything, I gave him my credit card info and got all the confirmation emails I've expected within an hour after the call. Monday was a holiday, so I was expecting the camera to be shipped out Tues AM. I've checked the status online and there were no changes up until Weds. afternoon when I've decided to call. When I've reached the CS I've been told that my billing info wasn't correct and someone should have called me....anyways, we figured out that the rep. who took the initial order made a one digit typo in the apartment number, so that was fixed and the order was on the way. I guess the shipping label was printed out as the order was placed, so Fedex tried to deliver the camera to the incorrect apartment in my building but I saw the truck and found the Fedex driver before he left. At least the mint 50D with low shutter count made up for some of the frustrations with ordering from Canon.

This should be in the POTN Lounge and not the Market Watch Forum. Just sayin'....

Feel free to ask the mods to move it if they agree the lounge is the proper forum.

Update on Manfrotto: They apparently got finished working on it and shipped it out on the 17th, two weeks after they received it. The shipping should take a whole week to get to me so on Thursday. Significantly slower than my Sigma experience, luckily I have tons of ballheads sitting around so I don't really need it fast.

Update on Canon: They called me yesterday and got my information. They should have sent it yesterday, but I haven't gotten an email so I am assuming they have not. I expect to get an email saying they sent it today... we shall see

EDIT: Ok, they have sent the camera. I am slightly disappointed they choose to use as basic of shipping as possible as it won't be here for another week. You would think if they goofed and didn't call me for over a week they would at least upgrade my shipping.

So just to onfirm; you have been lazy to call the whole week ( I do not buy that I've been busy.... ) called them on Sunday and freaked out they were closed ?

Just from skimming the CLP threads over the past few months, the issue of phantom confirmation phone calls on high-price orders seems very common. If customers weren't so intent on keeping track of their orders, I wonder if Canon would ever ship the products at all.

themadman wrote in post #12070504
EDIT: Ok, they have sent the camera. I am slightly disappointed they choose to use as basic of shipping as possible as it won't be here for another week. You would think if they goofed and didn't call me for over a week they would at least upgrade my shipping.

You didn't ask.

I had to call them to "release" the order too but it was probably because my address is different from my shipping address.

I asked if the camera will get here by Friday (it was last Wednesday that I called), and the lady said she'll upgrade to 2 days to make sure it'd arrive on time. It sure did...1pm Friday.

last wedsday. I sent my Canon 7D for repair, error 20. i got an email when they received it. they fixed my camera even when I didn't have my warranty or receipt(I explained the situation). I got my camera back on Saturday by Fedex express.(The package arrived even before I got an email giving me the tracking number.)

Honestly I cannot complain about their service. I am a CPS member tho.