There's an interesting article on PetaPixel about Australian professional photographer Matt Granger and his experience with the Sony A7 cameras and the level of support you receive when you own Sony gear in Australia.
His experiences seem to mimic mine in Canada, the quality of service from Sony Canada is abysmal at best. I've had a number of items that have needed repair, and every single one of them took more than 12 weeks to get back to me, and one of the items I haven't seen for 6 months.
I tracked all of our Canon repairs when Lens Rentals Canada was open, and 90% of the repairs done by Canon Canada took less than 2 weeks door-to-door.
From Matt Granger
“It all comes down to service,” Granger writes. “For many types of my work the gear itself is suitable for me. The sensors are quality. The images and video are outstanding. For other work I have never used them (rough conditions, tricky focus).”
“But with service like this – I just can’t use them at all.”
Service isn't going to be great every time, but it should be more often than not. In Canada, I recommend joining the Canon Canada CPS program, even if you're not a professional, you can qualify for the Gold level of service and support.
The quality of image that the Sony system can produce is outstanding, but I don't feel it's worth being without a camera or lens for months if something goes wrong.