In 2003 I bought a Canon A80 4mp camera. Paid a rather princely sum compared to today's prices. I've always liked it, it takes AA batteries, has a flip out and twist screen so you can view the image if you hold it over your head or if you are trying to compose a shot in front of the camera which is really handy, even if it is the size of a postage stamp, also has a view finder, CompactFlash mem card. My brother also bought the identical camera about a year later. It served me well until about a year ago when the image started streaking & distorting and it basically died.



I tossed it in the shelf and bought a new Canon Powershot A1100IS. Recently my brothers camera died in the same manner. He started to look for a replacement and ran across a little blurb about the imager problems Canon had on various models of their products which led him to the Canon site and a tech bulletin. There was a manufacturing defect with the imagers supplied to Canon on a number of models.



Mind you the cameras are 7 years old at this point.



Canon customer service answered the phone on the second ring.



Canon sent a pre-paid shipping label via email for each camera.



They repaired both of them. Mine had had a dented top cover where I had dropped it, they also replaced the top cover.



They returned them each via FedEx.



Total out of pocket expense, ZERO!



13 days from contacting & door to door turn around.



Lets face it, anything electronic more than 5 years old is old technology. Who keeps a cell phone for more than 2-3 years? For them to do this for ZERO out of pocket expense for the customer is arguably above and beyond any expectations. In addition, they emailed and mailed a hard copy of receipt, repair status & return shipping with tracking information.

I'm lucky to live just a few miles from their Service Center in Irvine, CA.    Fast service and reasonable prices.   Firmware upgrades for 0$.

I had the same experience with a different model camera.  Needless to say I was very impressed when it was fixed for free and returned within 10 days.  My next camera was a Cannon also after the excellent customer service I received.

I wish that I got a Canon.

I have a Nikon D40X, but I've heard from many, many people that Nikon is really a stickler when it comes to warranty service. Plus Nikon lenses are a lot more expensive for nearly the same capability.

One saving grace for Nikon though, nobody comes close to their speedlight system.

I had an A80 also, great camera. I dropped it once after having a few years and it stopped working. I sent it to Canon and they fixed it and sent it back NO CHARGE. You don't find customer service like that much anymore.

 

That's pretty badassed CS, and I'll keep it in mind when my Sony digicam goes to the big electronic graveyard.

Did the same thing with the old S500 that started acting up.

That is amazing.  Did they require a receipt or anything like cabelas does?

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Nope, no proof of purchase required. Didn't care if I was the original purchaser or not.



 

My first Canon camera was a FTb with manual focusing and match needle exposure control.  I still have it and it works like new........batteries have been discontinued.  I have 10 Canons now and have never had a malfunction of any kind.  I was in Germany in 1972 when I bought the FTb and Canon offered a free cleaning and checkup at the audio club.  A Japanese technician took the camera apart, cleaned and reassembled it in less than ten minutes.

I had the exact opposite experience with Canon.
I had a $200 camera that broke so I sent it in for repair, they told me it would be almost $200 to fix it.
It was just out of warranty, by like a month.
I really didn't expect them to fix it for free but i thought it would be like $50, it wasn't broken all that bad.

My heavily used Canon A75 developed a problem with the image sensor, called customer service they sent a return label, fixed the problem and replaced some other parts to make the camera look brand new, cost to me ...... ZERO.

Lucky. Our 1.5 year old Canon camcorder failed internally (mech failure, it had less than 4 hours of use on it...). Canon quoted us $60 more to fix it than we had paid for it new...

ETA: Dur, Canon, not Nikon.

I have had the same experience with Canon CS on the professional side.



Always top shelf.

Yep. Top notch service. Only brand of camera I buy.

Wish i had the same luck. bought a rebel digital body back in december, but the images come out fuzzy. if you blow them up to max resolution, they are out of focus.

sent it into canon, took them almost 2 weeks to get back to me with an estimate of over $200, for a camera that was under warranty.

Called them and got them to wave the repair fee, took them another week to fix it and ship it back. Took it out of the box, slapped a lens on it, took a few test shots, and the same fucking problem is still there.

its going back again. I am less than impressed.

Glad your deal worked out!

These were Sony made sensors & the adhesive used failed.  Lots & lots & lots of affected cameras from Canon, Nikon, Sony & other brands.  Usually looks like a smeared green or purple image.  Like the OP found out its a N/C repair.

The other atta boy for Canon is the 5D mirror issue.  Camera has been out of production for several years but Canon still repairs the falling off mirrors for FREE.

OP glad your getting your millage out your camera,


7mm