Beware bad customer service Canon Direct

[expatinasia]

ON the other hand, businesses like Amazon have a sensible approach: Secure the payment then ship. I regularly use Amazon US with a French visa card and delivery adress in China, never had an issue.

Yes me too, never have any issue with the big merchants like Amazon.co.uk, B&H etc. and that is despite my IP being in one country, card from another and often the shipping address somewhere else.

Still, like you, I can also understand why merchants do have to be careful, especially the much smaller ones. And I won't even touch paypal, so any merchant that only accepts that will never get my business.

[LSV]

Sorry about the bad experience, but has anyone noticed that Canon has recently increased (improved) the warranty on re-furbished stuff to 1-year limited instead of 90-days?

[Rienzphotoz]

A US credit card being used in Panama WILL raise eyebrows ... I worked for a US bank for 3 years and when processing requests for renewals or new credit cards we were instructed and required to inform the customer to let the bank know if the customer intends to use it outside the USA or even in an other state of USA, anytime during the validity of the card including short trips etc ... when the customer calls and provides such information we were required to log that info in our system to enable the customer use the card without any issue ... when a CC is used from a place that has never been used before, the system generates "red light". My bank in the middle east immediately calls or sends a text message when my CC is used outside my normal "zone". People should take the time to learn about the dos and don'ts of how to use their credit card before blaming Canon.

[Grumbaki]

when the customer calls and provides such information we were required to log that info in our system to enable the customer use the card without any issue

Yeah, even better idea. Go abroad = white list the country with your bank.

That also works for lots of internet stuff like gmails and such.

[expatinasia]

People should take the time to learn about the dos and don'ts of how to use their credit card before blaming Canon.

That's all well and good, but it varies from country to country, and bank from bank, and is not quite as simple as you make out.

Still, I do not think the OP is blaming Canon, I got the impression he is more unhappy with the lack of communication on the issue (which I am guessing here, may have allowed him/her to use a different payment method).

[jdramirez]

 they are screwy.  I  have to call to make a fake order to fix some problem with their system,  but I  have to do it while I'm at work...  so  yeah...  they don't make it easy on the customer.

[Rienzphotoz]

People should take the time to learn about the dos and don'ts of how to use their credit card before blaming Canon.

I do not think the OP is blaming Canon,

Looks like you and I are reading different subject titles ... the subject title I read for this thread says "Beware bad customer service Canon Direct" ... not sure what you consider "not blaming Canon", but that title, to me, clearly says that the OP is blaming Canon, especially when it is the very first post by the OP and disappears for 4 days.

[kirkcha]

Sorry about the bad experience, but has anyone noticed that Canon has recently increased (improved) the warranty on re-furbished stuff to 1-year limited instead of 90-days?

Yes, I confirmed with Canon before I bought a new lens last week that it has been changed to 1 year.

[Rienzphotoz]

Canon has recently increased (improved) the warranty on re-furbished stuff to 1-year limited instead of 90-days?

Yes, I confirmed with Canon before I bought a new lens last week that it has been changed to 1 year.

That is great news.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Kind of paradoxal isn't it? the world wide web businesses dont like people to actually be worldwide...

Businesses don't like and can't afford to be ripped off.  Its unfortunate, because I would love to sell world wide.  However, a charge initiated in another country with a US card or vice versa raises a red flag, and its a big one that is hard to miss.
 
The crooks keep innovating and one misstep can put you out of business if you are a small seller. I get about 100 fraud e-mails a day due to my online store.
 
This is bad for the customer, and therefore bad for the business.

Card fraud isn't businesses matter, it's between customer and their banks. Other payment mean (like the dreaded paypal) are another matter...

Its a business matter for me.  When someone pays my business with a stolen credit card, my business loses!  The customer gets his money back, and the crook gets my merchandise plus I get fined by the CC company.  Its the same for every company.
 
As far as PayPal, I have no issue with them with 10's of thousands of transactions, they make good on fraud as long as I am smart enough to read the rules and follow them.  Its the same for things I buy, they make good and refund my money if something goes wrong.

[dstppy]

Honestly, reading through all the drama, and possibly 30%+ of my yearly transactions being online:
1) Cancellation without notification is just amateur hour
2) Cancellation based on IP not matching country when CC address/ship address really needs to be written in ToS
3) Yeah, all that's good to know, but the OP went about it in kind of a snit . . . sooo it takes away from the sympathy angle

The 1 year thing may make me consider Canon actually . . . up until this moment, the 90-day warranty wasn't worth it in my opinion.  Lens Rentals customer service and products are my choice for used lenses.  Each one I've bought has been spot-on when I tested AF on the lenses, and it's nice to know each lens is hand-tested by someone who purposely writes up and rates the lenses.

Now, you want useless CSRs from a place that is reputable enough I'll still buy from them? NewEgg, hands down.

[awinphoto]

No offense, but if i'm selling something on ebay or craigslist or whatever and someone is asking me to mail to panama (or nigeria or another country for that matter), red flags start whirling...  especially when the funding and IP address (in canon's case) doesn't match up...  I can see their concern.  The fact they didn't contact you is a shame, but surely you can see where canon got concerned..

[expatinasia]

People should take the time to learn about the dos and don'ts of how to use their credit card before blaming Canon.

I do not think the OP is blaming Canon,

Looks like you and I are reading different subject titles ... the subject title I read for this thread says "Beware bad customer service Canon Direct" ... not sure what you consider "not blaming Canon", but that title, to me, clearly says that the OP is blaming Canon, especially when it is the very first post by the OP and disappears for 4 days.

It is bad customer service. Sorry, but there is no way to sugar coat that.

From the first message of the OP:

They are always out of stock. Two days ago they became available and I ordered immediately. Today I called as I had received no shipping notice and was told me order was cancelled due to a "hard reject" of credit card. The CS woman would give no info, no reason and when asked why I was not notified she said "we don't do that ........

........ Although my order was form a US card, with a verified US billing address and shipped to that same address, it was still cancelled."

Now forget the logistics, but if you had purchased something from Canon, B&H or Amazon, or one of the other big companies, and it was cancelled, but the company did not even bother to send you an email, wouldn't you be a little annoyed?!

That is bad customer service, and that is what the subject line is about.

Even if it was a boiler plate email telling the guy/gal to (insert word of your own choice) off, that would be better than simply ignoring it all together, especially if it is true that it is on a US cc, using a US address which is the same as the US billing address.

Good customer service would have been to contact the person by email, hold the item for 24 or 48 hours and tell them that there are issues with the order and could he/she please contact them asap or the order will be cancelled.

[Rienzphotoz]

People should take the time to learn about the dos and don'ts of how to use their credit card before blaming Canon.

I do not think the OP is blaming Canon,

Looks like you and I are reading different subject titles ... the subject title I read for this thread says "Beware bad customer service Canon Direct" ... not sure what you consider "not blaming Canon", but that title, to me, clearly says that the OP is blaming Canon, especially when it is the very first post by the OP and disappears for 4 days.

It is bad customer service. Sorry, but there is no way to sugar coat that.

From the first message of the OP:

They are always out of stock. Two days ago they became available and I ordered immediately. Today I called as I had received no shipping notice and was told me order was cancelled due to a "hard reject" of credit card. The CS woman would give no info, no reason and when asked why I was not notified she said "we don't do that ........

........ Although my order was form a US card, with a verified US billing address and shipped to that same address, it was still cancelled."

Sorry, but I rarely believe when the very first post of a new member is warning forum members about Canon with a subject title "Beware" and then does a disappearing act. Seen a few posts like these in CR where "new" members mysteriously show up only to bad mouth Canon or their service in his/her very first post ... makes me wonder about their intentions. Assuming OP's claims are true, I'd be happy that Canon did not honor my card being used from a different country (especially red alert countries in the banking world) ... credit card fraud is very real, banks & vendors lose billions of dollars every year due to CC fraud and the affected customers get a hit on their credit rating and it takes a lot of effort for the customer to rectify his credit rating. If the OP thinks it is poor customer service from Canon for not informing him, it is even poorer approach by the OP for not providing prior intimation to his bank of his travel to Panama ... had he done that, he would have not faced this situation. It is amusing how people don't want to take responsibility for their own actions (or the lack thereof) and always like to blame someone else.

[Grumbaki]

Its a business matter for me.  When someone pays my business with a stolen credit card, my business loses!  The customer gets his money back, and the crook gets my merchandise plus I get fined by the CC company.  Its the same for every company.

Holy Bleep, your local banking regulations blow hard! Where I used to work in that field the cost of fraud is between bank and CC company. Business due diligence isn't questionned as long as they have standard banking SDKs on their website...Then I get your point but still...

As far as PayPal, I have no issue with them with 10's of thousands of transactions, they make good on fraud as long as I am smart enough to read the rules and follow them.  Its the same for things I buy, they make good and refund my money if something goes wrong.

I read from sellers about a way to cancel the payment and paypals pretty much screws the seller. I only use it as consumer but that was conveyed to be by reliable sources.