Most recently I needed a minor repair of a Canon 7D.
It took them about two weeks.
I'm a CPS member.
It is specified in the contract, that the repair time is six days or less.
Finally I got the camera.
I had to return it immediately as it had a misalignment issue.
I week or so later, one of my flash units died on me.
I took it to the Service.
They promised that they would phone me when the repair is done.
They never did.
Finally I phoned them.
Than they said it was ready a couple days ago.
I went and picked it up.
It worked for a few days, now it is dead again.
I have to tell you that if I did not have so much money invested into Canon equipment, I would switch to Nikon in a split second.
Have you realized, that there is only one Service for the entire Country now, located in Mississauga?
Montreal and Vancouver locations are gone. I'm very very dissappointed of Canon.

That does sound bad -- is this the norm with Canon Canada? I had pretty good service with Canon USA on the two occasions I've used them.


Brian

Thanks Brian.
It might be the new norm.
I had really good experience about four years ago.
I dropped off the camera back then and got it delivered to my door within three days, repaired. They were very polite and the job was well done.
Something went wrong since.

Yeah, my last trip for repair was about 3 years ago -- the shutter on my 1DsM2 was bad and they fixed it within a week.

It may be that due to the economic situation they may have cut back on staff and the work is now being done by less qualified techs and they have less time to do it. I don't know this for a fact but that is the way companies do things these days...


Brian

Sounds like Canon New Zealand. Last time I had to deal with them I ended up getting a lawyer! That has led me to probably venture into the Nikon world with my next purchase.

There can always be some kind of problem it seems no matter what brand one picks. I wouldn't be so eager to switch brands unless the equipment itself was better suited for your needs. I mean you just hear horror stories all the time from across both sides of the river I think one would be chasing their tail.

Karl--what level CPS member are you? I suppose on one hand this shouldn't matter, but then again...
I have been a platinum member, (the 500 dollar a year tier), and it so paid for itself one year-- several if not maybe five times over--in return investment, that I consider it one of the best investments I ever made. I had major damage and thought I was looking at a total loss and /or damaged goods that would never meet specs again. I believed I was to be looking at 5000 or more in repairs.

What happened was as follows:
I sent everything in and got everything back in 3 days. My total cost was 400 dollars. I have no idea how they accomplished all that they did for that price. I also had called while they had the equipment, and asked what could be done and how much it would cost for a new ring mount, as the old one was getting sloppy,--and the focus distance window plastic was cracked. Also the lens to camera mount was sloppy and worn. They didn't get back to me on those three things I called about, but when the lens came back on the 3rd day, everything, including a new mounting foot was new and replaced. It all looks like new equipment now and performs better than before as far as image detail and sharpness. They fixed everything including a new stabilization unit, all new exterior metal skins, main mounting cylinder barrel assembly and mounting ring, foot, ring mount assembly, bench alignment, cleaning, focus distance window. All for 400 dollars???? Now if being a platinum member had anything to do with all this than that's something to certainly weigh in in one's considerations when joining CPS. And like I said, I got everything back in 3 days sharp--no over-nite shipping costs to me either. Well I was so happy I could have cried.

I just mentioned my experience so that others know things can and do go the other way too.

Maybe sometimes it all simply depends on the quality and consciousness of the workers. This happens any and everywhere--but should be brought to the company's attention if bad--such as in your experience.

Maybe there is a problem with Canon Canada. It shouldn't be but WTF. You certainly bear witness to some sort of deficiency.

I sent my stuff, and always have sent my stuff to Canon repair in New Jersey. Is it possible you could use them and not be required to use canon Canada?? Maybe it might make a difference.

But CPS platinum members will get better service, cheaper repairs, and other perks. That being said, to my mind, all repairs regardless of what CPS tier level, or for even non cps members, should be on equal footing quality wise. But maybe there is a difference--

It would be interesting to hear about others experiences at the different tier levels as CPS members.

Paul

Well, I don't know what CPS service is like but with non-CPS service it took more than a month to fix a lens and get it back to me I seem to recall that while I was waiting, thinking the repair was in progress, it was not. A couple of items they could have contacted me on and it would have helped to speed up the service. But it seemed they take their time on such things. I forget the details now since it was back in Summer 2009.

Had a couple of cameras sent in at about the same time. So, when my camera/lens is at Canon Canada...I do not assume they are actually working on it after a number of days or a week has passed no matter what the guy on the phone says. It may still be sitting on a shelf. Next time, I am going to follow up with them more diligently.

Someone at Canon Canada told me that there are certain times of the year when repairs will take longer and other times when it will be quicker....I forget the details now. That was nice of them to share.

Sometimes....I imagine often for certain items....they will send to a sub-contractor to repair. I know they did this with a flash I sent in. Only found out it was done by a sub-contractor (Sun Camera in Toronto) when I received the item back. Any flashes that need repair, I now send them directly to Sun Camera....quicker and less expensive too. I understand with CPS, you need to send directly to Canon Canada.

Back in 2009, I was told that Canon Canada in Montreal only did repairs for compact cameras as repairs for DSLR's and lenses were being done in Mississauga. I did not know they had closed the outlet in Montreal if what you are saying is correct.

In a situation such as yours, the best way to deal with it is by talking to a manager there and explain what happened. I am sure a manager will be able to get to the bottom of it. They want happy customers and may not always be aware of a particular situation until a customer brings it up. The best way is to explain calmly what happened. And see what happens.

Did Canon send most of their technicians to London for the Olympics? If you saw the photo of their camera and lens loan room, I'm sure they had a ton of equipment that needed micro adjustment. That might be the problem.

I've never had any major issues with Canon USA and I've used both the Irving and NJ repair facilities. I'm sorry to hear about your experience.

Really depressing experience.

I have only used CPS once this year to get my 1D IV checked & cleaned. I sent it to Irvine and got it sent back the same day. Last year I had a dented front ring replaced on a 70-200 in under a week.

I do wonder if Canon is preoccupied with the Olympics.

--Gib

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, I just had my new to me 500f4 and a 100 Macro (non-L) serviced by Canon Canada CPS, the 500 was cleaned and bench tested, no charge, the 100 needed a new focus ring and that was done after the part was ordered from Canon (USA I think). Very quick service and things work fine.

S.

Maybe just my bad luck with these two most recent rapairs.
The previous two repairs, one 70-200- f4.0 L IS lens that needed an internal part to be replaced was done in two days, no charge as it had a recall I assume. (They did not tell)
The other one was a 40D about four years ago, shutter replacement was done in three days, both worked well.
I'll go back on Tuesday and try to talk to the manager.

I returned the flash unit and managed to talk to the Supervisor. (The Manager was not available I was told.)
She was very polite and apologized for the inconvenience they caused. However, she emphasized that this time of the year they are very busy and can't keep their time line for repair.
She was surprised that the repair work wasn't done properly twice in a row.
Well, we will have to see how it works out this time.

I just got it back. It took them only two days this time. It was delivered, no charge and it works!!!

I've always had good service. Recently sent a camera in and it was serviced immediately. Had it back within a few days. Doesn't sound like the norm but did sound bad.

I'm hearing and reading that everybody gets good service in US.
As I mentioned, that was my experience a few years back here in Canada as well. They discontinued the operation of services in Monreal and Vancouver which puts more load on the only remaining service located in Mississauga.
Anyway, I had to return the flash unit second time. It still did not work properly. Meantime one of the ladies, (she is super nice) talked to the manager on my behalf as I couldn't get through, and I'm getting a brand new flash and and got an apology. Everything is good if the end is good. I only wish I did not have to go through this and the flash had been fixed right on the first time.

I'm reading this post and i gather Canon USA is better that Canon Canada?

Wow - what a headache; glad it at least ended satisfactorily!

If you're getting a repair on an out of warranty item, try Sun Camera Repair in the GTA instead. I had my 1Dm2 repaired there a few years ago. Apparently, Canon farms out a lot of the repair jobs to them anyhow.

Another vote for Sun Camera. Haven't used them in a few years, but they were solid when I needed repairs.

Karl

Your experience with Canon Canada matches mine. I had to send in a camera body for repair under warranty (I was told it needed a 'motherboard') and they had it for six weeks with no real explanation of why it was taking so long. Finally after several phone calls, a young woman called me and told me that since the repair was taking so long (and wasn't expected to be done for another week) her manager had authorized sending me a new camera (her words). When I asked whether that meant a brand new never used body or a refurb she wasn't sure but after putting me on hold she came back and said it would be a refurb. I politely declined the refurb and insisted that they fix my camera and return it to me. A week later, I got 'my' camera back (it was the same serial number on the body) but when I took a few pictures and checked the metadata, I found someone else's named imbedded as the user.

Not wanting to return it yet again, I hung on to it but the autofocus has never been right ever since.

Moral of this other other stories related to Canon Canada repair services seems to be avoid them like the plague. I too have heard good things about Sun camera repair services and will deal with them in the future if needed.