Getting ripped off of my camera guarantee
July 12, 2006 4:59 PM   Subscribe

Do I have a leg to stand on regarding the guarantee on my camera and what do I do about it if I do ()

I bought a Canon Ixus from Jessops store (in London, UK, a run-of-the-mill high street photography chain store) about six months ago. It has now failed utterly. I only bought it from Jessops because I had vouchers for half the price and no other camera store would redeem them. Anyway jessops are refusing to repair the camera under guarantee because they claim "impact damage". Now while I may have dropped the camera some months back I have certainly not dropped it anytime recently and certainly not anytime prior to its utter failure. they now want £128 to repair the camera which is, ironically, £10 less than the value of the vouchers which drew me to the shop in the first place.

I should mention that I have had the camera in my pocket for most of the last six months and I am extremely keen on its ability to nestle in my pocket and be fished out at any and every situation - in short I am keen on it, although less keen now that its apparent how fragile it is

Should I contest the charge/pay up even though i can barely afford it/get the camera back and get it repaired elsewhere/etc.etc.?
posted by criticalbill to Shopping (10 answers total)
 
Response by poster: A bit more info

It is the IXUS 750. It has failed in that the lens stays stubbonly unveiled even when it is off, which I have been told is a typical fault with these cameras. The screen also remains black and there is an error code which I have forgotten.

It cost £280 retail, ie. just under half what the repair will cost me, although as I say i paid £140 with these vouchers
posted by criticalbill at 5:02 PM on July 12, 2006


Well, you did drop it.

Save up for a new one.
posted by zadcat at 5:12 PM on July 12, 2006


Here in the US Canon has a pretty good reputation for standing behind their warranty; I have sent my camera back and was happy with my experience. Have you contacted Canon UK?
posted by TedW at 5:14 PM on July 12, 2006


Response by poster: Ted - what do i say to them? Do I get the camera back from Jessops (they say they cant guarantee it to be in one piece when it returns, just as they cant guarantee that £128 is the final repair price) and then take it up with Canon? Won't they just refer me to the retailer?

Zadcat - surely £300 buys you more than minor bang several months before failure
posted by criticalbill at 5:26 PM on July 12, 2006


No, you should get the camera back and send it back to Canon (maybe contact them first, just to get an estimate).
posted by bshort at 6:06 PM on July 12, 2006


I would get the camera back (and insist that it be in the same state you gave it to them in), then call Canon with a description of your problem. If they want you to send it in then they will give you the information. It is still quite possible they will say you are not covered; another concern is that if Jessops disassembled the camera, they may have voided the warranty. I have no idea what your recourse at that point would be as that is getting into the realm of consumer protection laws.
posted by TedW at 6:42 PM on July 12, 2006


As far as I know under UK law it is the responsibility of the shop that sold it to you to deal with all warranty claims whilst in that period. At least that is the experience that I have had with other goods. Many manufacturers will tell you to send it to the shop where you purchased the item. It's probably worth contacting Canon but they may not do much. I would also ask the shop to put in writing the reason why they believe it is impact damage, that said if it has been in your pocket for the last few months it may have suffered quite a bit of damage. I saw an article somewhere, related to Ipod failiure, that stated that although guarantees may only be for 1-2 years, products sold in the UK should be designed for a lifetime of 6 years. I can't remember where I saw this but it was online, and googling may help... If you can find this you might have some recourse as you could argue that the product was not built well enough to be practically used for 6 years.
posted by MrC at 8:39 PM on July 12, 2006


My cousin had a terrible problem with Canon's customer service. She took them to small claims court because she was so pissed, and they spent way more on flying a rep from NYC to LA than they would have on just replacing the damn thing. She lost, too. Boo.
posted by radioamy at 8:49 PM on July 12, 2006


I'd definitely get it back from Jessops and send it to Canon with no explanation other than that it's stopped working. Hopefully they'll just treat it as a routine repair and not make any fuss.

As far as I know under UK law it is the responsibility of the shop that sold it to you to deal with all warranty claims whilst in that period

Almost all manufacturers include their own warranty since they're probably going to end up repairing it anyway. And your legal rights have nothing to do with warranties. If it fails after an unreasonable period time the shop has to replace it, warranty or not.

saw an article somewhere, related to Ipod failiure, that stated that although guarantees may only be for 1-2 years, products sold in the UK should be designed for a lifetime of 6 years.

No, you've got that backwards. Every product has to last a reasonable period of time, which could be anything. The retailer stops being liable for damage after 6 years, even it's reasonable to expect it to last longer than that.
posted by cillit bang at 10:02 PM on July 12, 2006


My experience with Canon USA is similar to TedW's. I would deal directly with Canon before trying to hassle with a retailer (especially one that is acting so dickish). Even if Canon says the failure is your fault (and if it is "a typical fault with these cameras," they may well fix it for free) their repair rates are very reasonable. They fixed my out-of-warranty Powershot that had been eaten by an MRI machine for about $115 US.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:29 AM on July 13, 2006


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