Lack of Quality Control on Canon Refurbished Lenses

Just bought 24-105L and 50mm f/1.4 refurbished from Canon Store and both of them came with one very very thin and long scratch marks on front lens element. Not sure if this is an anomaly or Canon just lacks quality control on refurbished products. Also worthwhile to note that both of front elements were just a tad dirty. I guess this was from some kind of residue left by cleaning solution that Canon used during the cleaning process.

When I spend greater than $1,000+ on refurbished products, I expect some level of quality control. Both of these lenses came with a red punch in mark. I guess that is Canon's way of marking refurbished products now days. Both of these puppies are going back, but just wanted to see if this is something unusal or not.

Wow sorry to hear that. This is the first time i have heard about something like that. i hope they exchange the lenses for your or fix the problem somehow

This is the first time Ive heard a bad thing for a Refurb lens, I bought 3 and looked new
You can return them immediately with the Canon 14 days policy
Return them and exchange them, they will make it right

I am guessing that you tried to clean the long and thin scratch off the front element and that is how you "found" how dirty the front element was . I too would be very upset at their apparent lack of quality control. Send em back,tell them try again!! And do better this time on the QC!!!

Does anybody know the 14 Day Return start ? Is it from delivery or from shipping date ? They shipped on 20th and I received on 23rd. So I am assuming I have unil 6th Aug to return Lens.

Joe Ravenstein wrote in post #12847880
I am guessing that you tried to clean the long and thin scratch off the front element and that is how you "found" how dirty the front element was . I too would be very upset at their apparent lack of quality control. Send em back,tell them try again!! And do better this time on the QC!!!

I put on filter the second lens came out of the box. So didn't initially notice it.

After looking in detail I initially thought that the small line was just something dirty or residue. Then I tried cleaning front element with microfiber cloth and with ammonia and alcohol free solution. Very gently though. Also you could only see scratches when viewed in bright sunlight. Scratch is a scratch never the less. I know it doesn't affect image quality at all, but why get something which is inferior.

Give them a ring and start the return/exchange process. They're nice people to talk to, very customer focused. I've gotten 3 lenses from them and all have been perfect.

^ This
Call them
They will make it right, Canon service in general is very nice
My guess the return is 14 days from the receiving day, but even like that , I am sure they will listen to you and fix it

ateet wrote in post #12847770
I expect some level of quality control. Both of these lenses came with a red punch in mark. I guess that is Canon's way of marking refurbished products now days. Both of these puppies are going back, but just wanted to see if this is something unusal or not.

can u show how this punch mark looks? i though you couldn't tell a refurb from new

john_galt wrote in post #12848400
can u show how this punch mark looks? i though you couldn't tell a refurb from new

I found it on one of mine, it's on the plate that attaches to the camera, there is a tiny indentation next to one of the screws that holds things together; on the refurbished lenses it got some red goop in it - on the non-refurbed models it's clean and shiny.

14 days starts from the day you receive the lenses. You have another 14 from the day you obtain the RMA number for them to receive the lenses.

good to know, thx. something else to look for when people advertise teir lens "like new" in the classifieds. wonder why they just started doing this now though

Curious to know about your exchange experience! Keep us updated

just got my 17-40 today....like new. Only did that after positive experiences getting 24-105s from them.

QC? Really. Sore topic for me.. QC does not really exist in today's economy. Most companies don't do QC because it costs them manhours to perform it & no matter how well they do it, there are other factors that could cause damage anyways- so nowadays- it's almost all on the customer anyways. It's just cheaper for them not to; besides the customer might check it out anyways if they are concerned- and the customer will bring it up if they are unhappy, so why do it in the first place?

The only place QC still exists are where regulations require it, & that usually means that without it people's lives are on the line. If there are no regulations requiring it, why do it ? At least that is the opinion of most beancounters..

Of course, there are some places that do pseudo-QC.. You know, power it up and make sure it starts, or that there is an actual lens in the box, or 15 screws in the package, etc... Mostly, it's about quantity control more so than quality control.