580EXII Repair - Bargain or ripoff?

My 580EXII wasn't working right. I shipped it to Canon for repair. They appear to charge a flat rate of $184.

I got my flash back. They replace 2 parts:

• Case Ass'y, Accessory Shoe
  
• Reflector Ass'y
  

Did they charge you for parts?

n1as wrote in post #16618796
My 580EXII wasn't working right. I shipped it to Canon for repair. They appear to charge a flat rate of $184.

I got my flash back. They replace 2 parts:

• Case Ass'y, Accessory Shoe
  
• Reflector Ass'y

Was my repair worth $184 or did the flat-rate nature of the repair mean that I financed someone else's more-extensive repair?

- Keith -

Your assessment of the "flat rate" process is likely not quite comprehensive enough.

Flat rate repairs negate the need for inserting a very costly up front diagnosis for a "spot on" estimate.

Eliminating this troubleshooting estimate, requiring a very skilled and costly technician, significantly reduces the repair costs for almost all patrons.

Often making something absolutely fair to all, results in making it far more expensive to all, much slower to all, and a millstone that can sink an entire operation.

If Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Pentax, etc cannot make most repairs via a far more streamlined flat rate methodology they might not do repairs at all.

This is is one of the major reasons most local camera gear, and other technical items, repair houses are are long out of business. The "sophisticated" pre-repair estimate on highly technical gear is just far too costly.

Enjoy! Lon

The did not charge for parts. A quick internet search reveals that the parts would cost me about $75. That leaves about $90 for the labor charge.

How do I feel about it? I feel ripped of. I'm guessing it took a tech about 45 min to make the diagnosis & repairs. 45 minutes of labor plus $50 in parts (which is probably what their cost was) doesn't come close to the $184 it cost me. But, those are guesses. I might be off.

Shop rate for cars, electronics, etc is anywhere from $90 to $130 an hour for manufacturer repair facilities. Every business adds a percentage to a part. Pretty standard and based on what I have read you are in the ball park on that one. No fun but you are not being ripped of as compared to the next person.

Costing is much more than a simple "what do the parts cost us, how much do we pay the technician?". Factor in:

• Cost (to Canon) for warranty on the repair.
• Insurance (of your product) while on their premises.
• Return shipping charges.
• Packaging materials for return.
• Salary of person packing your gear for return.
• Overheads and general cost of maintaining a US repair facility (light, heat, premises insurance, telephone, stationary, etc).
• Local taxes for providing the facility.
• Training costs for technicians.
• Salary for technicians while training hence not earning money for the company.
• Employee insurance costs.
• Public liability insurance.
• Cost of holding the parts in stock at all.
• Cost of diagnostic machinery (whether or not it is used on your particular job it has to be available).
• Even the costs of booking the equipment into their facility / booking it out for return / raising an invoice / bank charges for processing your payment.
• Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
• Then there is the small matter of profit - no-one stays in business for very long if they do jobs at cost.

It is flat rate so you knew what the repair cost was going in and they fixed the problem. PLUS your repair is under warranty now.

While I would not like to pay that I don't consider it out of line.

n1as wrote in post #16618853
The did not charge for parts. A quick internet search reveals that the parts would cost me about $75. That leaves about $90 for the labor charge.

How do I feel about it? I feel ripped of. I'm guessing it took a tech about 45 min to make the diagnosis & repairs. 45 minutes of labor plus $50 in parts (which is probably what their cost was) doesn't come close to the $184 it cost me. But, those are guesses. I might be off.

I think you're underestimating/missin​g a couple of things - firstly the time taken to analyse the problem & work out what needs replacing (you don't say exactly what wasn't working, but this step can often be the longest part of an electrical repair)
Secondly after replacing the part/parts, next step should be test to confirm correct operation - again it could take a bit of time to do properly to test all the functions. Canon do have speciallist test equipment but it wouldn't suprise me if flashes need to be tested by the tech.

Whortleberry wrote in post #16619143
Costing is much more than a simple "what do the parts cost us, how much do we pay the technician?". Factor in:

• Cost (to Canon) for warranty on the repair.
• Insurance (of your product) while on their premises.
• Return shipping charges.
• Packaging materials for return.
• Salary of person packing your gear for return.
• Overheads and general cost of maintaining a US repair facility (light, heat, premises insurance, telephone, stationary, etc).
• Local taxes for providing the facility.
• Training costs for technicians.
• Salary for technicians while training hence not earning money for the company.
• Employee insurance costs.
• Public liability insurance.
• Cost of holding the parts in stock at all.
• Cost of diagnostic machinery (whether or not it is used on your particular job it has to be available).
• Even the costs of booking the equipment into their facility / booking it out for return / raising an invoice / bank charges for processing your payment.
• Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
• Then there is the small matter of profit - no-one stays in business for very long if they do jobs at cost.

Well said! I think it's a good price too for flash that was not working and now is... I recently sent my 430 in and the cost was less than a replacement, so I was happy..

n1as wrote in post #16618853
The did not charge for parts. A quick internet search reveals that the parts would cost me about $75. That leaves about $90 for the labor charge.

How do I feel about it? I feel ripped of. I'm guessing it took a tech about 45 min to make the diagnosis & repairs. 45 minutes of labor plus $50 in parts (which is probably what their cost was) doesn't come close to the $184 it cost me. But, those are guesses. I might be off.

You feel ripped off because you think you are?
Do you expect people to work for free? If so give back your salary for a week.

if you want people to value what YOU do as a professional then you need to value what other true Professionals do.

jb_browneyes wrote in post #16620076
if you want people to value what YOU do as a professional then you need to value what other true Professionals do.

This.

I'm sure Canon tries the best to minimize costs as much as possible, because minimizing costs and elevating great customer service is the bread and butter of any good company.

n1as wrote in post #16618853
The did not charge for parts. A quick internet search reveals that the parts would cost me about $75. That leaves about $90 for the labor charge.

How do I feel about it? I feel ripped of. I'm guessing it took a tech about 45 min to make the diagnosis & repairs. 45 minutes of labor plus $50 in parts (which is probably what their cost was) doesn't come close to the $184 it cost me. But, those are guesses. I might be off.

Why do you feel ripped off. Did you know what was wrong and how to take apart the flash and fix it. If so, you should have done it yourself. If not, pay the price or go out and buy a new one.......Your attitude sounds like your entitled........nothin​g is a free ride in this world........Fix it yourself or pay someone else....pretty simple concept.

^^^like^^^