Canon's incredibly short warranty

[Michael7]

Are there plans for Canon to extend their factory warranties to what their competitors offer? Nikon, Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina all offer much longer factory warranties. It would appear that these companies are not afraid to stand behind their lenses.

Will we see a change? Does anyone else find it bizarre that a $10,000 lens has a one year factory warranty?

 

[Ryusui]

Yes and no.
I can't speak for the others, but my experience with Nikon turnaround time is poor at best. They usually take no less than 4-6 weeks to get repairs back (several have taken 2-3 months), where most Canon repairs have been turned around in 12-17 days. I think the longest Canon repair I can remember is around 21 days, from UPS pick up to drop off.

I think Canon could definitely do with a longer warranty. But seeing as how their service is apparently better than at least one major manufacturer, I think they're close to decently matched.

 

[Maui5150]

Short?

90 days is short, which is fine for Refurb... a year seems fine for me.

In general, if you are going to run into manufacturer issues, they are evident fairly quickly. Other issues tend to be wear and tear related.

For one of the companys that offers "longer"... Longer only matters if they "honor" it. Since I am new to DSLRs in the last two years, I did a LOT of research before picking the Canon camp. It would have been easier for me to go for one of the other brands since my father owned a few of their cameras. One thing I came across was a lot of service nightmares of either:

1) The company declaring it wear and tear and charging... i.e sorry, this was misuse, we can fix it, but it will be $XXXX

2) No ticky, no service - I also heard a lot of complaints of service REFUSING to service any pieces that did not have proof of purchase though an authorized dealer. This is regardless of age, but pretty much you bought used gear, you are SOL... They would not even SERVICE IT.

As an interesting comparison.... Take a look at the complaint board here for canon:

http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Canon

and here for Nikon

http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Nikon

Canon is ranked 12th, with over all POSITIVE

Nikon is 200 something... basically in the middle.

Length of Warranty is one thing. Quality of service, price of service, etc can be something quite different.

I found dozens of complaints like this one before going down the Canon road:

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/nikon-coolpix-s8100-black/4864-6501_7-34182242-14.html

Your mileage may vary, and I am sure there are similar stories on the Canon end too... But the more I searched, the easier I found it to find more for other manufacturers than Canon, and Canon, while shorter warranty seemed to be faster and more responsive with repairs, warranties, etc.

 

[Hillsilly]

I'd be more interested in an international warranty. No matter where you are, or where you purchased your lens, the local Canon repair shop should fix it. Canon can then run there own internal arrangement so that the cost of the repair is picked up by the regional distributor that initially sold the lens (which they should be able to identify via the serial number).

 

[Ryusui]

I'd be more interested in an international warranty. No matter where you are, or where you purchased your lens, the local Canon repair shop should fix it. Canon can then run there own internal arrangement so that the cost of the repair is picked up by the regional distributor that initially sold the lens (which they should be able to identify via the serial number).

+1

 

[squarebox]

though having a short warranty makes it an easier decision when buying grey market stuff...

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Its a financial thing. A business must keep a entry in its books for liabilities due to warranties for the life of the warranty. It drags down the bottom line. Canon keeps it as short as possible to make their financial reports look better than someone with a long warranty.

I'd like a longer one as well, but they do not come free, someone will pay.

 

[Maui5150]

Good point on the international.

HP is a company like that who drives me nuts. If you have ever made a purchase and financed from their HOME side of the company, you can not use that account to buy from the Small Office side and vice versa...

To me this seems ridiculous, since it is all the same company... So buy a cheap laptop one year, next year, you lust after a top monitor... sorry... we can sell you this crap 25" TN LCD Panel, but won't sell you the 30" H-IPS Panel unless you want to reapply for financing.... Yes, we see you have $5000 open credit... but that is on the home side.... This is the business side.

UPS did the same sort of things... because their shipping and billing systems were separate.

 

[candyman]

I'd be more interested in an international warranty. No matter where you are, or where you purchased your lens, the local Canon repair shop should fix it. Canon can then run there own internal arrangement so that the cost of the repair is picked up by the regional distributor that initially sold the lens (which they should be able to identify via the serial number).

When I travel, I make sure I have a proper insurrance for my equipment. That should cover repair...I think :-\


I also always register my Canon products at the Canon website. But I believe it is only for marketing purposes. Not for internationale service / warranty. It would be a good improvement for customers if that registration would give international warranty. To be honest, I think it will stay a marketing purpose

 

[D.Sim]

one year is hardly "incredibly short"... If Canon marketed it with a "30 Day Money Back Guarantee! If you're not happy with your purchase just send it back!", that'd be incredibly short, but 1 year is fine for me... (Granted, I'm in Malaysia and Canon here offers a 1+1 warranty if you register your purchase online...), but if there is indeed a problem with your lens from the manufacturer, you'd probably find out pretty quickly.

 

[revup67]

As far as the competitive goes, I do agree as well on that statement. Canon recently eliminated any discounts on repairs at the Silver Membership level as well. To help combat the lesser warranty however for a mere $20 you can get a Mack Warranty for (as I recall) up to 7 years if the lens is under $1000. Or if you prefer, here in the U.S. most credit card companies will double the warranty that you purchase or is included. So for example when I acquired the EOS 7D I had bought an extended 2 year warranty. I then called my credit card company (American Express) and inquired on this. I verified I now had 4 years (vs. 2) and was able to also to gather insight on the entire return process from A-Z which was quite easy.