Exorbitant repair costs, Canon Australia

[benherman]

So a few weeks ago I took my 24-105mm f4 L IS to Canon at Ryde to get it repaired. It was making some noises and not working after a single photo was shot. I haven't used the lens that much over the last few years and it had sat unused for a year since it started playing up because I didn't have funds to gets it fixed. Only recently been able to afford luxuries.

So Canon had moved premises and no longer have a face to face service department which I had used several times before (the last time I refused to have my 50mm f1.4 repaired for $250 when I could buy a new one for $415). They still sent a nice service guy down to me and I explained the issue and said no rush, thank you etc. I was also told they would ship it to me for free which was really nice. They said they would email me details of the repair cost before going ahead with it. Great!

I got a letter (snail mail) from Canon today, which detailed

Estimated work: upon inspection Diaphragm assembly found faulty
Quote to dismantle unit, supply and fit listed part, adjust as required, reassemble, check and test all functions
yG2-2189-000 Power Diaphragm Ass'y
Labour $337.00
Parts $70.92
GST $40.79

Estimated total $448.71

Reading up on interwebs it seems pretty common, I usually recommend canon gear and used to like this lens, (I even had my work buy a copy) but now I am quite cranky about forking out more than half of what the lens is worth to fix one component.

They also want to charge a $50 quotation fee which wasn't explained when I talked to the service rep.

Any words of wisdom? I won't fix it myself, I was thinking about selling it, but my wife enjoyed using it in the past.

 

[Aichbus]

I can report the same from Canon Germany. Had my copy of 2.8 16-35 L II sent in because all of a sudden it had become really soft in the corners. (no physical damage had occurred). They said it would cost € 650 (new: € 1,350) to repair. I said, ok do it, because I had no choice. They weren't able to repair it, so finally they sent me a new one for that price. The new one was fine, but needed an AFMA correction of -12. So at one point, when I sent in other gear to be checked I sent that in as well and only asked that the AFMA was corrected. After that, it was softer again. I sent it in several times but it never became so sharp again as when it was new. After 1 year, it got really bad again so I sent it in again and then they said they had to replace some unit and it would cost me € 450. I am really fed up with this type of lens, but more so with Canon's service.

 

[Otara]

I think thats about right for electronic repairs, the problem is you read about USA Canon policies so its quite a shock when you find out how different it is in Oz, and apparently Germany as well. I had similar for the 50 1.4, and didnt even bother to get a real quote when my 7D finally went, the rough estimate at least saved me the $50 quote.

Otara

 

[sama]

If repair costs that much in your country, sell it online as parts (with full disclosure) and buy a white box same item. (from kit set) I assume that you can sell it for $350 and you only pay up to $300-$350 for a new/like new lens.
There are a lot of DIYers who will buy to repair it if the problem is diagnosed. The part costs $20 to $60 depending on sources.

 

[DRR]

Respectfully, sometimes things cost more to fix than they're worth. That's not the fault of the repair company or the result of overcharging, sometimes that's just the reality. A car accident for example can incur much more repair cost than the car is worth. Unfortunately that's just the reality.

The good news is that even a broken lens is worth a fair amount for parts. Couple this with the fact that this particular lens is often available white-box, for as low as $600, and you can replace the lens for less than the repair cost.

Broken equipment is never fun but that's why I carry insurance.

 

[Logan]

what would it cost to fix the problem yourself? in this case, probably the cost of a new lens. you just banked 200 dollars, be happy! take the wife out to dinner! happy wife, happy life!

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Labor costs are a driving factor when major changes are made to a lens. How did you determine that the repair costs were overpriced? Did you know how long it will take to repair it and recalibrate and adjust it?

It isn't always just a matter of taking a lens apart and putting in a new part, the lens may then have to be completely calibrated and adjusted. If it takes 3 hours of tech time, its going to cost big. Even if its a cheap lens, the tech does not want to take a cut in pay.

One way to look at it is that you get a completely refurbished lens. You also might find a independent repair shop, or even be able to ship it to Taiwan or Hong Kong for repairs and save.

In the USA, they now seem to have adopted flat fee repair prices for different levels of repair, with a minimum at $200-$300 and more, depending on the lens. It can be disappointing to have a little used lens fail, and then get a big repair cost, that's for sure.

 

[dgatwood]

This isn't a laptop, where half the cost of the device comes from a single part. It's a lens. You'd expect repairs to never cost more than a quarter the cost of the hardware. If they do, you're getting screwed, and you're better off parting it out and selling the pieces on eBay for twice what it costs to buy a replacement lens. It takes longer, but if you're seeing five hundred bucks for a lens repair, there's some massive pocket padding going on there.

No matter what, a repair shouldn't take three hours of a technician's time. if the lens really took that much time to calibrate, it would cost a lot more than that to sell it to begin with. I'd expect Canon to just replace an entire lens group, then send back the pieces for remanufacturing, where the parts of the lens group get put back together and calibrated in an automated fashion, just like they do during manufacturing. This leaves just a handful of calibration adjustments that technicians actually make during most servicing. I could be wrong. If I am, then Canon needs to rethink their service procedures.

 

[benherman]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful thoughts. I'll be contacting canon before I authorise the fix and may end up not feeding them this time.