CPS Members--How is the Quality of Repair?

[picturesque]

<p>Recently, I sent my 5D in to Canon Irvine for a major overhaul--shutter replacement, mirror box replacement, and anything else that needed replacement, which turned out to be the big dial plus a few other parts. Being a wedding photographer, I planned for the absence of the camera for a lull in my schedule.</p>

<p>The camera went in, and came back, in (I thought) very good time--about a week and a half including shipping. I tore the package open upon receiving it, and of course, put in a battery and turned the camera on. I've previously noticed that technicians do a final test of the camera with no CF card in place. So I shot an image, then turned the "Shoot without CF card" setting to OFF, and put in a CF card. I was greeted by a "No CF card" message, even though I had a CF card in place. Yes, no matter what I did, I could not get past that message, and hence, could not get very far in testing anything else.</p>

<p>So I call Canon Irvine and get set up to send the camera back. I got a prepaid shipping label and instructions. So far, it was irritating to find I had to send the camera back, but otherwise, I thought the procedure was reasonable. Then came the unreasonable parts.</p>

<p>First, the label can take up to 2-3 days to appear in your e-mail. Then, after you get the label, box up the camera and send it off--regular UPS ground, by the way--which takes 3 days, Canon claims it can take another 3-5 days for them to get around to opening the box. In my case, 'something happened' (rep's description) and there were supposedly pallets of broken photo gear stacked up at Canon to be opened. He also told me he couldn't even contact the Irvine facility because the 'lines are down'. Finally, I get another Work Order number and my camera is entered into the system.</p>

<p>I get the camera back the following week (overnight--that's good) but this time, when I test the camera (CF card recognized), the main dial is dead. Does not do anything it is supposed to do. Now, I call Canon, complain louder, bypass the prepaid label, and just sent the camera back today. Even though I ask if I can get my repair expedited, seeing as how this is the 3rd time I'm sending it in, and anyway, how can these things get past final checks if the gear is 'brought to factory specs?', I am told no, they can't expedite shipping or receipt of my gear, nor can they give my gear to their senior or most expert repair people.</p>

<p>I know that if one joins CPS, one is supposed to get expedited repairs. That's great. My question is--are the repairs done right the first time? Are the repairs done by expert repair people--repair people separate from ones for the 'masses'?</p>

<p>In any case, my repair job should have been expedited, and done right, even if I just had a Canon point and shoot in for repair.</p>

<p>I haven't heard a lot of good things about CPS, and I really don't care about most of the benefits. Perhaps the CPS labels on my box 'might' have meant a bit shorter turnaround, but that isn't even my main concern.</p>

<p>Does anyone know, or can report their experiences with CPS repair <strong>quality</strong>?</p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>Unfortunately, Nadine, I have had similarly frustrating work done at Irvine, once as CPS and once not. Turnaround is faster, though now there are levels of CPS I think you need to look into their terms and conditions.</p>

<p>My new, in 2005, 24-70 had the front of the lens fall off, apparently there was a recall and they were fixed under warranty quickly. Trouble was I was not in the US and the transit time added up to a joke, that transit issue wasn't all Canons fault, though they did refuse to ship via my personal Fed-Ex account. What really hurt was it did the same thing a few weeks later. That was under the then CPS.</p>

<p>My 16-35 got dropped and snapped. It is a simple repair for Canon but when they put the lens back together they didn't align something and it became an 18-35. I didn't have time to deal with it promptly and when I did send it back to them they charged me again, in full. I could suffer that if I didn't now own a 16-33 according to my EXIF. That was not under CPS.</p>

<p>So other than faster turnarounds my experience has been that actual workmanship levels have been equally dire under CPS and as a regular customer.</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>Maybe tech pay is so low recruitment of skilled and fully conscious employees just ain't happening. Good help is indeed difficult to find. </p>

[peter_simpson1]

<p>I don't think necessarily that it's good help that's hard to find, so much as it is that they're not paying enough to keep the good help. A good repair facility needs to have good management, and good management means you need to reward your top performers and get rid of your deadbeats. It also means you need enough people to handle the workload. The workload may be the problem here...techs who feel pressured to complete as many repair orders as quickly as possible may take shortcuts. It's hard to set staffing levels when the workload varies wildly, you have to plan for the average, otherwise you're either paying people to sit around, or you can't meet your throughput targets.</p>

<p>Of course, the other problem is how you see your customer. If you do every repair as if your reputation rides on it, customer satisfaction is important, and you're committed to getting it right the first time, well, that costs a bit more. Canon corporate may not consider that a priority. Unfortunately, if that's the case, the attitude eventually trickles down to the folks running the repair facility and to those doing the work...</p>

[larry_gindhart]

<p>Through the years I've had at least fifteen repairs done by Canon at the New Jersey and Virginia facilities. In all cases the repairs were done well, completed in a timely manner, packaged carefully for shipping and returned promptly after the repair was complete.</p>

[david_wu6]

<p>I've been luck enough to have only one instance with Canon's repair service (NJ location for fixing back focusing of a 5D kit), which met my expectation as a Canon customer (happen to be a CPS member). But I doubt there is a different quality level for a CPS member though. Any return for re-service, either from a CPS member or from an average customer, will cost the same amount of more Canon's money. Faster turn around time is probably what a CPS member is getting. Your experience is probably a random, unfortunate instance.</p>

[steven_crist]

<p>I've sent a body and a flash in for repair on separate occasions. Both times I've had good service and no complaints. This was the New Jersey service center. In your case doing a test of the camera without a card inserted (obviously) doesn't fully confirm proper camera operation. If this is their normal procedure it needs to be changed.</p>

[picturesque]

<p>Thanks for all the info, everyone. I should add that I read the CPS description pretty carefully, and I never saw anything about quality of repair, or that technicians working on repairs for CPS members are any different from the 'regular' staff.</p>

<p>Anyone else with Canon Irvine experience? I guess I could opt to send stuff to NJ, even though I'm in California.</p>

[peter_langfelder]

<p>I used the Irvine center once for repair of the focusing mechanism on my 100 f/2. The lens works ok although I do have a weird feeling it used to focus more accurately before the repair... but no proof.</p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>I am very sorry all, I had a complete brain fart! I had all my work done at the Jamesburg NJ service center, not Irvine CA.</p>

<p>Sorry for that, Scott.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>I had pretty good luck with the Newport News, VA facility. They repaired a couple of my lenses, returned them with over-night shipping and included a return shipping label. This facility is only about 40 miles from my home, so the turn-around time was really short, less than a week.</p>

[bill_dewberry]

<p>I have found the work at the Irvine facility to be marginal , I expected much better.<br>

Its a very very busy place.</p>

[thomas_kerns1]

<p>I have had a number of repairs done as a CPS member at the Irvine facility. The only time not everything was fixed the first time was when I had some work done on a 1D mark2, including a new shutter. The shutter was still working, but it had over 300k actuations on it, so I decided to replace it while I had other work done.<br>

Unfortunately they did not have the shutter in stock, and so shipped it back after completing the other repairs. They did however say they would contact me when they had the shutter in stock, and fix it for free.<br>

True to their word, in a couple weeks, then emailed me with a prepaid label, and I shipped them the camera and the replaced the shutter free of charge. I must say I was pretty impressed.<br>

Even up here in Alaska, the turn around time has been very fast. Including shipping both ways and repair time, the camera or lens has only been out of my hands for about 5 days.<br>

Tom</p>

[al_berger]

<p>I have been a CPS member since 1986. I have had several repairs done over the years by the Irvine, CA facility. Until this year I have NEVER had an issue with the repairs done there. In March they repaired my EF 70-200 F2.8 L IS lens for the first time. Got it back and called telling them the repair made the lens worse. Sent it back and they called an admitted a mistake. They repaired it a second time. I then called and sent it back along with my 1D MII so they could correct the focus. I made the mistake of sending my EF 16-35 F2.8 L, which was sharp with my body for reference. They "FIXED" the EF 16-35 F2.8 L and sent everything back claiming some softness was preferred. I now have a EF 16-35 F2.8 L that is SOFT on everything and Canon claiming it is set to specs. And a EF 70-200 F2.8 L IS that I have to apply level 4 sharpening on just to get an ok image. I have never had to apply in camera sharpening to get good images in the past. I have shot 1D bodies since 2001 with great sharpness. This merry-go round is making me dizzy. On the phone with them again today as I type this message.<br>

Bottom line is I don't trust the techs at Irvine as far as I could throw them.</p>