GRRRR Canon so called warrenty!

Looking for some advice on the following problem:

Basically i sent my (at the time) 3 month old 17-40mm lens off to be repaired. The problem was the lens was locked in autofocus, and the switch to set manual focus no longer did anything.

After receiving no information from canon for about 3 weeks now i've just given them a call. Only to be told the PCB board was corroded, and the replacement cost would be £109. Now this is a new lens, and i know that it has never had so much as a drop of water on it! All my lenses are looked after very well. Of course this meant nothing to them and I was told to pay up or they'd keep the lens.

Not very happy to be honest. But do I have any other options?

Contact head office ask to speak to someone with a bit of authority and explain what Canon gear you have what you have in mind for purchasing in the future. Explain in no uncertain terms that your gear has never been out in the rain etc and demand your lens repaired without cost or you will take the matter further.
Let us know how you get on, I would not pay a penny if I knew for certain my lens had never been in the rain.
Cheers Ricky

That's pretty shocking! But before I go any further...is the warranty is valid for the country you are in now? It sounds pretty daft but if you are in the UK and have a USA warranty then Canon are well within their rights to charge you for repairing the lens.

Aside from that, as far as I understand the law...(I'm by no means an expert, just had five years in camera retail)

When you bought the lens you were given a warranty by Canon stating that the equipment would correctly for a period of 12 months from the purchase date - within reasonable limits.

If a part has become damaged it is either:

Canon's responsibility to fix it
or
Explain to you (I would request a hand signed written letter) why they don't feel they have to honour the warranty.

It sounds like you are the start of the process so I wouldn't get too worried over it just yet...you may have just had the misfortune of dealing with a new and over zealous engineer.

Keep us posted!

By the way - Canon can't just keep the lens, it is your property, and effectively holding your wallet to ransom! You are well within your rights to ask for it to be returned unrepaired and send it to an independent camera repairers that are authorised Canon repair centres (this is very important!), somewhere like H Leimans would be good...that's where we used to send out stuff...but check that they are still an authorised Canon repair centre.


*edit* just reading the above post while I was writing this..

Personally I wouldn't ring head office and start explaining to them your problem or saying what equipment you will buy in future. With respect to rickydiver, the person as head office won't have a clue what's going on with the repair centres, and will refer you directly to them...and telling them what equipment you are going to purchase is only going to make them shake their head in despair. Anyone can say what they are going to get and it dilutes the issue at hand - getting a lens repaired without having to pay for it.

Thank you for the replies. So far they've made no comment about the location of purchase regards the warrenty. Only that the warranty did not cover corrosion so therefore I would have to pay.

I just said I wanted to wait to get a second opinion on the matter and they said that was fine, but if i wanted the lens back unrepared I would need to cover the costs of postage and them looking at the lens, although he couldnt tell me how much this would be. I'm thinking I might just write them a letter outling my thoughts, maybe that will have more sucess....

I think all lenses are covered under international warranty , in any case the lens is just 3 months old and is covered by the sale of goods act , trading standards will advise you.

Edit to add. even if they say corrosion isnt covered under warranty you would still have recourse under the sale of goods act , in that you would have a reasonable expectation that the lens would still be working after just 3 months of normal use . dont agree to the repair and put it all in writing keeping copies yourself.

Aren't L lenses supposedly weatersealed? If so then why the corrosion? Also, have you been sold a used lens?

The sealing is only completed when the lens is mounted on a 1 series body.

The lens was brought new.

Also they have not asked whether the lens was used with a 1 series. I dont think it makes much difference to them really.

It's just annoying because I know that the lens has not been subjected to any conditions that would cause corrosion. Of course I have no way of proving this though.

Where did you get the lens from? Who was the seller? If it was a gray import it is possible that the lens was not kept in a suitable environment during shipment/ storeage etc.

Can you send the lens back to the seller? Perhaps get recourse from your credit card company?

I would've returned to where I purchased it - as said previously sale of goods act should cover this problem. The place that sold you the goods should replace or refund.

Edited - yes the credit card company are your other option. My folks bought windows from a company that went bust after a few years and the credit card company paid up for repair/replace as my folks paid the deposit by credit card.

Good luck anyway - keep us informed of progress.

I brought the lens from a well known & respected person who imports lenses into the UK. I've emailed him to let him know about the problem so we'll just see how it goes. He sells loads of lenses so I think if it were a problem with his storage there would be a lot of posts about it around the net.

Is there anyone on here who can confirm as to whether a faulty PCB board would cause the malfunction of the manual/auto focus switch?

I've never stripped a lens down but having stripped down and repaired various electronic gizmos, I'd say yes. Any Printed Circuit Board that takes an input from a switch that becomes faulty could stop reading input from the switch.

Then you should be OK here - anyone who was concerned about his reputation should at least cover the repair costs IMO - perhaps he got let down by his supplier?

Just heard back from canon after i sent my letter. They are still not going to repair my lens out of warranty. Guess I am going to have to contact the seller. I cant believe they wont warranty it!