if you always wanted to correct papers here's your chance

[jann1033]

my letter to canon head guys...the problem being i don't really know what to ask them to do since fixing the camera and or lens seems beyond the realm of capability...so any suggestions if this sounds too whiny, cranky,what ever and what should my demands be .i feel like a dumb grandma for some reason writing this but am really annoyed ...i know it's probably too long but not sure how much i can leave out without having to email or write them 20 more times to get them to understand the scope... thanks for any help..i wish i could link it somehow but i don't know how to do it.

"I am writing to you as I hope you can help resolve a problem I am currently having with my Canon Rebel XT and Canon 28-135 IS USM lens. Please bear with me, as the saga is lengthy.

I purchased a Rebel XT in June 2006. I had a few third party lenses that I previously used with my film SLR Canon Rebel but wanted something of higher quality so I purchased the 28-135 IS in July of 2006. I expected, due to the Canon name and reputation for quality photographic products, it to be a much better lens than the ones I presently owned. Even though Canon products usually cost more than their competitors, I thought I had a quality set up so I was happy with my purchases and set out to gain experience using a DSLR.

For a few months all seemed well until I noticed in late October /early November 2006 occasionally when I bent over to use the lens in a downward facing position or to take a macro shot the camera would not allow me to take the photo. The shutter would depress ½ way, allow me to focus but would not continue to depress to take the actual shot. Being a relatively new digital user I assumed I was doing something wrong and asked about it on a few photo website forums I frequent. One other person had a similar problem but didn’t know what was causing it. I started using other lenses I had that did not cause the problem and disappointed, stopped relying on the Canon 28-135 lens as my walk around lens.

By January 2007 the problem had progressed to the point I could not take a photo at all with that lens, the shutter would ½ depress but would go no farther so I sent it to Canon Factory Service. They said the IS was not working, replaced it and said they adjusted it to factory specs and returned it. Unfortunately when I attempted to use the lens it was no longer the sharp copy I had bought but very soft and in my opinion the photos were unusable. I sent it back, they returned it claiming they again had replaced the IS, the lens was still unusually soft. I sent it back again. It returned as sharp as originally but now with massive purple fringing. I returned it again. I talked with Mike in Customer Relations as I was getting irritated having to continually send this lens back. He was very helpful said he would look into the matter and later contacted me and said they wanted to check it out in New York and asked me to send in a CD with RAW photos straight from the camera. I made up a disk that night but received the camera the next morning. It appeared to have less purple fringing which I thought I would just fix with Photoshop post processing and it was still sharp. I decided to not take a chance of Canon destroying the sharpness and causing more purple fringing again so while disgusted it had taken almost 5 months to partially resolve the issue and annoyed it still would require some post processing, at least I thought I had a usable camera and lens. Of course by this time I had had to purchase other lens (Canon 70-200f4, Canon 50mmf1.8 and a third party 100mm macro prime lens) since I had gone for so long without a lens I could use for the focal lengths I had hoped to use the 28-135.

Unfortunately when I took the camera and lens out to shoot with, after about 40+ shots the camera again started to not depress the shutter to take the shot. The problem appeared to be the exact same problem I had sent it into Canon to be repaired 5 months previously. I changed lenses (to the 50mmf1.8 and 100mm, I don’t recall if I use the 70-200 or not) and didn’t have a problem using those lenses.

When the problem began this last time I was using it on a tripod and so had the IS off, I was not panning, I was shooting RAW but the buffer was not full, it did not say ”busy “ as it does when it is writing to a card, I was setting up a shot so not shooting in continuous mode or with the timer and allowing plenty of time between shots for the buffer to empty. It was in landscape position and not in macro. I had been using it with a remote previously that evening was not doing so when it started acting up. It was approximately 35mm focal length and I believe about f8. Nothing was blinking in the viewfinder (i.e. as it does when the shutter or aperture is not correct) I was in AV mode. When I replaced the 28-135 with the 50 it was basically all the same settings except obviously the focal length and did not appear to have the problem, as I was able to continue to take about 100+ more photos with the other lenses.

So once again, I contacted Mike at Canon. Mike was and has been very helpful in attempting to resolve this issue. Once again I sent my lens and this time the body as well, into repair. In the past I had been extremely hesitant to send in the body due to the fact they had not successfully repaired the lens and I did not want the body destroyed as well but obviously they were not able to or willing to fix the problem otherwise. A few days after I knew the package had reached Lake Success, I had not heard anything so I called . Mike had recently received word from Lake Success. Basically the problem as they see it is, although I have taken 1000s of shots with the camera and have used it probably close to every day since I bought it, I do not know how to use the camera. They say the problem is the buffer is full, the card is being read while I attempt to take the photo, I am panning and not allowing it to focus, in other words ”user error”…about the only thing they did not accuse me of is not having a battery in the camera or forgetting to turn it on. Now of course this would lead one to wonder if that were the case why do I suddenly not know how to use the camera only when the 28-135 lens is attached? They evidently have no answer for that either.

So the outcome of 5 months of headaches is as follows
1) I have no camera what so ever in my possession at this moment and so will have nothing to use to record a family occasion later this week. My warranty on said camera is now over so if it stops working in a month due to whatever is wrong now or it progresses to where I cannot use any lens with the camera, I will simply have lost $600.
2) I will likely not be able to use the lens I spent $400 on under a year ago that has been not working correctly, has been in the shop or has been in transit to or from the shop for the better part of the 11 months I have owned. I now question if the initial problem was ever addressed. I only used the camera one time for test shots between each return so I don’t know if I had used it more if the shutter would continue to depress after multiple uses. I find it very strange that somehow the problem would miraculously return the first time I attempt to use the lens for any length of time. At any rate, with the inability to use that lens, that will bring my loss to $1000.
3) I was planning on upgrading the Rebel body to a 30d or it’s successor in a few months. Now I am thinking of selling all of my Canon gear and replacing it with Nikon. I like Canon equipment when it works but what good does it do when you cannot get it fixed and Canon does not stand behind their gear when it doesn’t work? This means I will have a further headache of trying to sell my Canon gear and certainly cannot ethically sell either the Rebel body or 28-135 lens since I suspect one or both are defective.
4) I suspect a few times I sent my lens into repair they did nothing what so ever except perhaps give it a cursory glance. I think this last time is one of those times as well as the second time. So that means in my opinion they have robbed me of the use of the product I purchased as well as deceived me as to whether they actually attempted to fix the problem. Canon did not live up to their end of the bargain.
5) I find it appalling that after the second time I sent it in, I asked if they would refund my money since the lens was unusable and they refused. In my opinion a reputable company would have at least volunteered to replace an obviously defective nearly new product with another new working product. Instead I have been forced into a 5-month headache that is as yet unresolved.

I had hesitated to purchase a Canon product when I bought the Rebel XT. Years ago I had purchased a Canon Multi-pass printer/scanner/fax/ copier that did not work from the day I took it out of the box and took me two years of struggle with Canon Factory Service before they finally would replace it, unfortunately for me with an equally defective refurbished unit. Finally I just took a loss of the money that printer cost me (over $400 at that time) and threw it away and bought an HP PSC (for slightly over $100 on sale that has worked like a dream by the way). I did not want to deal with Canon customer service ever again so I was hesitant to purchase any Canon products. However, I liked the Rebel, it was well recommended by review sites and friends and I had lenses that would work and most importantly I hoped Canon had fixed their problems in Customer Service in the ensuing years. Evidently I was wrong. I find it interesting that the corporate philosophy of Canon says “ Kyosei also drives our commitment to establishing good relations not only with our customers, but also with the communities in which we operate.” but appears not to have trickled down to the level of making certain the individual customer is provided with a working product. I simply cannot afford to keep throwing my money away on Canon products that do not work and are not deemed important enough by Canon to stand behind and repair.
Respectfully,
"
i added the paragraphs again, for some reason it didn't keep the format when i copied it

 

[Master Mason]

jann,

I will be happy to read this over and offer feedback, but I will not have time until later this evening to do so.

 

[CheshireVal]

I kind of skimmed this because, to be honest, it was too lengthy to read without paragraph spaces.

But.... for a formal business or complaint letter, I'd agree that it's far too detailed. I would cut the majority of it. Explain the recurring problem you've had (briefly!), mention how many times it was sent for repair (which didn't fix the problem), and what you'd like to receive as a result of your troubles. Attach documentation if you have it. Get to the point in your first paragraph (briefly explain why you're writing) and offer a few more supporting details in your second paragraph. Your last paragraph should be devoted to what you expect out of the company now.

Definitely condense it to one page. As it stands, I doubt anyone at the company will take the time to read through this.

Good luck, and I'm sorry for your troubles.

 

[YEKCIM]

Jan,

Well said, IMO, and you are very restrained and polite in your comments, given the very obvious aggravation this has been to you.

I hope it does the trick.

~Ed

 

[AndrewWG]

So the outcome of 5 months of headaches is as follows
1) I have no camera what so ever in my possession at this moment and so will have nothing to use to record a family occasion later this week. My warranty on said camera is now over so if it stops working in a month due to whatever is wrong now or it progresses to where I cannot use any lens with the camera, I will simply have lost $600.
2) I will likely not be able to use the lens I spent $400 on under a year ago that has been not working correctly, has been in the shop or has been in transit to or from the shop for the better part of the 11 months I have owned. I now question if the initial problem was ever addressed. I only used the camera one time for test shots between each return so I don’t know if I had used it more if the shutter would continue to depress after multiple uses. I find it very strange that somehow the problem would miraculously return the first time I attempt to use the lens for any length of time. At any rate, with the inability to use that lens, that will bring my loss to $1000.
3) I was planning on upgrading the Rebel body to a 30d or it’s successor in a few months. Now I am thinking of selling all of my Canon gear and replacing it with Nikon. I like Canon equipment when it works but what good does it do when you cannot get it fixed and Canon does not stand behind their gear when it doesn’t work? This means I will have a further headache of trying to sell my Canon gear and certainly cannot ethically sell either the Rebel body or 28-135 lens since I suspect one or both are defective.
4) I suspect a few times I sent my lens into repair they did nothing what so ever except perhaps give it a cursory glance. I think this last time is one of those times as well as the second time. So that means in my opinion they have robbed me of the use of the product I purchased as well as deceived me as to whether they actually attempted to fix the problem. Canon did not live up to their end of the bargain.
5) I find it appalling that after the second time I sent it in, I asked if they would refund my money since the lens was unusable and they refused. In my opinion a reputable company would have at least volunteered to replace an obviously defective nearly new product with another new working product. Instead I have been forced into a 5-month headache that is as yet unresolved.

I had hesitated to purchase a Canon product when I bought the Rebel XT. Years ago I had purchased a Canon Multi-pass printer/scanner/fax/ copier that did not work from the day I took it out of the box and took me two years of struggle with Canon Factory Service before they finally would replace it, unfortunately for me with an equally defective refurbished unit. Finally I just took a loss of the money that printer cost me (over $400 at that time) and threw it away and bought an HP PSC (for slightly over $100 on sale that has worked like a dream by the way). I did not want to deal with Canon customer service ever again so I was hesitant to purchase any Canon products. However, I liked the Rebel, it was well recommended by review sites and friends and I had lenses that would work and most importantly I hoped Canon had fixed their problems in Customer Service in the ensuing years. Evidently I was wrong. I find it interesting that the corporate philosophy of Canon says “ Kyosei also drives our commitment to establishing good relations not only with our customers, but also with the communities in which we operate.” but appears not to have trickled down to the level of making certain the individual customer is provided with a working product. I simply cannot afford to keep throwing my money away on Canon products that do not work and are not deemed important enough by Canon to stand behind and repair.
Respectfully,
"
i added the paragraphs again, for some reason it didn't keep the format when i copied it

Jan,

I think that the above paragraphs should be replaced by a paragraph telling them what you expect in return for your troubles. I realize that it is somewhat understood that you want a working product here but I would state that in a way such as "I would like you to consider replacing this lens" or "At this point, I am hoping that you would consider replacing this lens and extending my factory warranty on the Rebel XT body". Something to that effect. My "flowery" writing isn't exactly with me today, but I hope you get the idea.

The rest of the letter is just fine. I think that anyone who will receive this will need the supporting data that it contains. I just think you need to get to the point of what you want after that and stray from the copier and 5 things arguments.

Just my 2 cents.

Andy (a *gulp* future Canon owner, maybe)

 

[GrumpyOne]

Couple of suggestions:

First, as others have noted, it's lengthy. That's not so bad since you cover (mostly) relevant information but it does mean that it's not likely to be read. I suggest that you make a summary and reference the information on additional pages. There's a reason why most newspapers use very small paragraphs, the average reader doesn't have the attention span for longer ones.

Next, if you have the info, reference specific trouble-ticket or case numbers. Reference specific serial numbers for the camera and lens.

What do you want them to do? You want a refund/a repaired lens/a new lens/an apology/etc.

If you have a video camera or a P&S, make a short movie showing you using the two lenses. "Here I am using a working lens <click>, <remove & attach lens>, here I am with POS lens. As you can see, I have waited more than long enough and am not panning."

Send the letter registered mail.

 

[Groucho]

I don't know if I'd bother making a video - I agree that it's very unlikely to be read all the way through unless they're in a very sympathetic mood. A quick skim is probably the best it'll get. A video attached somehow would be even less likely to be viewed... but then, I never worked in CS, so that's just a guess on my part.

I would actually put a summary right at the top - something like, purchased XT and 28-135mm IS lens, had problems that multiple returns to customer service have not addressed to my satisfaction. This way they'll know the main story immediately even if they do skim the details.

You may also want to make it clear, perhaps at the end, exactly what it is that you want from Canon. Ie, either fix it right - no excuses - or a refund. I doubt you'll see the latter so I fear your best hope is to rattle enough chains to make sure that it is fixed correctly.

I fear that at this point, no matter what, you will not be happy with the XT nor that lens, and you'll only be able to move on with a 30D and a different lens, or an entirely different system. If you do decide to sell, I would head for one of the Canon message boards and put in a very honest "for sale" message, and ask a reasonable price. Or, put it on eBay and detail your saga. Even with your story, I'm sure you can still get a decent price for it, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it because you'll have been upfront about the problems you've had.

 

[Master Mason]

Ok,

so i read your letter, I agree, you'll get a cursory read at best.

I would start out right from the begining with what you want.

"I am writing you to request a replacement of my 28-135 IS lens, because......"

Personal opinion only here, but I think your being a bit periniod about the body, it from my understanding works perfectly with everything but the 28-135 lens, so that leads me to believe it works just fine.

I would also cut down the information given about the printer, it is enough to say you had a bad experience in the past with canon repair with a printer you purchased. while it shows the bad experience it really isn't too useful for the current situation.

 

[jann1033]

Thanks for all the imput...the reason i didn't put in the case #s( every repair gets a new number) etc was the customer relation's guy said it was all in the notes documented under my phone number so they should be able to see exactly what has been done/not done. I 'll do some changing before i send it.

well i deleted any dead wood and copied and attached all the correspondence from Canon...to bad for them i re-read one letter and right it it they mention if it can not be fixed they have the option to replace with refurbished or NEW equipment with the same or additional features...so guess what i told them i want...NEW camera( since they kept claiming it had to be the body) and NEW lens...we'll see what happens. btw Customer relations guy sent them more info after i talked to him yesterday but i got my stuff back this AM ( along with a letter that basically said read your manual idiot) so fat lot of good that did I told them my demands in the second sentence so it should get their attention