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Rant: I will never again deal with Canon

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amateurvisuals

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Hello all,

Around Christmas time I posted a thread in relation to my first camera. I bought the Canon t5 Rebel as well as a lens directly from the manufacturer. Long story short, It's 1-15 and I have yet to shoot a photograph with the camera. I was on hold for 3 hours, the associate spelled my name wrong. Called back, they sent my rma label to the wrong address. I still have yet to even rma the camera. Their support team in every department is god awful and I just want everyone to be warned.
 
amateurvisuals said:
Hello all,

Around Christmas time I posted a thread in relation to my first camera. I bought the Canon t5 Rebel as well as a lens directly from the manufacturer. Long story short, It's 1-15 and I have yet to shoot a photograph with the camera. I was on hold for 3 hours, the associate spelled my name wrong. Called back, they sent my rma label to the wrong address. I still have yet to even rma the camera. Their support team in every department is god awful and I just want everyone to be warned.
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Neither in this thread or your other thread do you say anything about a problem you are having with the camera.

If it's your first digital camera, it could be user error solved with a simple answer.

Did you get it directly from Canon...why aren't you dealing with the dealer where you bought it...maybe they can help you get it working, or if there is an issue with the camera/lens they can do a simple swap.
 
amateurvisuals said:
Hello all,

Around Christmas time I posted a thread in relation to my first camera. I bought the Canon t5 Rebel as well as a lens directly from the manufacturer. Long story short, It's 1-15 and I have yet to shoot a photograph with the camera. I was on hold for 3 hours, the associate spelled my name wrong. Called back, they sent my rma label to the wrong address. I still have yet to even rma the camera. Their support team in every department is god awful and I just want everyone to be warned.
Click to expand...
 
Hmmmm....I just sent in a 300mm f4L lens for some cosmetic repairs (I bought the lens used at half the new price knowing that it had cosmetic issues), but the estimate for the repairs were more than I had expected. The lens functions perfectly, so I declined the repair. They sent it back with no shipping charge, 2nd day air. That's the third time I've dealt with Canon's service team and the third time that I have nothing but good things to say about their service.

David
 
amateurvisuals said:
Hello all,

Around Christmas time I posted a thread in relation to my first camera. I bought the Canon t5 Rebel as well as a lens directly from the manufacturer. Long story short, It's 1-15 and I have yet to shoot a photograph with the camera. I was on hold for 3 hours, the associate spelled my name wrong. Called back, they sent my rma label to the wrong address. I still have yet to even rma the camera. Their support team in every department is god awful and I just want everyone to be warned.
Click to expand...
Very sorry to hear that. Good customer service is important, but any company will occasionally fall on their face... when they do it can seem like everything is going wrong and it is easy to get wound up over stuff that normally you would let go (my surname is frequently spelt wrong and I've just got used to it over the years).

Trouble is, that when a call seems to be going bad and the person dealing with it is lacking in experience/confidence they can start getting jumpy and make more mistakes. I have found in such circumstances that maintaining a firm-but-fair approach with the person I'm dealing with works best - ie don't lose your rag, but let them know that you are not satisfied with the way things are going. Ask to speak to their supervisor if they say they can't do any more for you - often escalating a problem can help get it solved.

The whole bad customer service thing can leave you with a very bad taste in the mouth, but 'never' is a long time. Even if you don't want to use them again, make sure they know what they have done wrong (otherwise they will not improve), and try to stress the main bits rather than the annoyances like them mis-spelling your name, that may just cloud the main issue.

best of luck with getting it sorted out - I'm not sure what an rma label is - maybe that is a more common term in the states (assuming you are in the states due to the camera being called a Rebel..)
 
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I don't dispute the fact that you are having some sort of problem with Canon customer service. Every large company will occasionally screw up. Even the very best ones will. Even companies that routinely win awards for customer service still get a few customer complaints.

It just doesn't make sense to take one anecdotal event and assume it means a company is terrible. Maybe something else happened here, and your description is too vague and incomplete for anyone to tell. Some facts are clearly missing.

Sometimes a new user might think they have a problem when they simply failed to read the instructions. Other times, they really do have a problem. It's just hard to tell based on your sketchy description.

Industry leaders like Canon don't get to be industry leaders by doing a bad job. If your experience was typical, then Canon just wouldn't have the largest market share. They have too many competitors. Market economics simply wouldn't allow it.
 
Bob Janes said:
amateurvisuals said:
Hello all,

Around Christmas time I posted a thread in relation to my first camera. I bought the Canon t5 Rebel as well as a lens directly from the manufacturer. Long story short, It's 1-15 and I have yet to shoot a photograph with the camera. I was on hold for 3 hours, the associate spelled my name wrong. Called back, they sent my rma label to the wrong address. I still have yet to even rma the camera. Their support team in every department is god awful and I just want everyone to be warned.
Click to expand...
Very sorry to hear that. Good customer service is important, but any company will occasionally fall on their face... when they do it can seem like everything is going wrong and it is easy to get wound up over stuff that normally you would let go (my surname is frequently spelt wrong and I've just got used to it over the years).

Trouble is, that when a call seems to be going bad and the person dealing with it is lacking in experience/confidence they can start getting jumpy and make more mistakes. I have found in such circumstances that maintaining a firm-but-fair approach with the person I'm dealing with works best - ie don't lose your rag, but let them know that you are not satisfied with the way things are going. Ask to speak to their supervisor if they say they can't do any more for you - often escalating a problem can help get it solved.

The whole bad customer service thing can leave you with a very bad taste in the mouth, but 'never' is a long time. Even if you don't want to use them again, make sure they know what they have done wrong (otherwise they will not improve), and try to stress the main bits rather than the annoyances like them mis-spelling your name, that may just cloud the main issue.

best of luck with getting it sorted out - I'm not sure what an rma label is - maybe that is a more common term in the states (assuming you are in the states due to the camera being called a Rebel..)
Click to expand...
It hasn't been occasional. My first job was in telecommunications. I know what to expect. I have dealt with a person from each department. I have been transferred back and forth between customer care and tech support. I'm not technically declined. I first sent it off to the repair center. Took 2 weeks to get there and be processed. I called several times to find out the status. Note: During this time period I had worked out something with the local newspaper to shoot a few photos. I lost a couple bucks there and lost my reputation with them as well. Flash forward a month I tell them to send the camera back so I could RMA and get the hell away from Canon and the disastrous customer support. Two weeks to ship it back from California to Oregon. The 4 agents I talked to just during these two weeks, all they had to say was, "well why did you ship it to the repair center if you wanted to RMA it?" Because I thought it would be a smooth process. They were extremely rude. I'm not sure if Canon pays their support agents poorly or what, but there is no enthusiasm or anything close. It's just been a disaster. I rarely actually take the time to rant about a company. I counted the total agents from every dept.: 19. All of them were awful. I went into it with low standards and was thoroughly disappointed. All of my friends shoot w/ Canon and I explained to them my experience and I will educate every photographer on this experience and hope that they choose another manufacturer in the future. One less customer is one less customer.
 
Marty4650 said:
I don't dispute the fact that you are having some sort of problem with Canon customer service. Every large company will occasionally screw up. Even the very best ones will. Even companies that routinely win awards for customer service still get a few customer complaints.

It just doesn't make sense to take one anecdotal event and assume it means a company is terrible. Maybe something else happened here, and your description is too vague and incomplete for anyone to tell. Some facts are clearly missing.

Sometimes a new user might think they have a problem when they simply failed to read the instructions. Other times, they really do have a problem. It's just hard to tell based on your sketchy description.

Industry leaders like Canon don't get to be industry leaders by doing a bad job. If your experience was typical, then Canon just wouldn't have the largest market share. They have too many competitors. Market economics simply wouldn't allow it.
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You mention a job to do something for a newspaper. If you make any money at all with photography, you should have a Back Up Camera.
 
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DaveOl said:
You mention a job to do something for a newspaper. If you make any money at all with photography, you should have a Back Up Camera.
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Yes. This topic is getting really weird :-)

Is amateurvisuals expecting us to solve this problem?
 
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What does DOA mean?

Did it not power up?

Still don't understand, if it was truly DOA, why it wasn't returned for an immediate replacement or refund.

As soon as they didn't want to offer a replacement or return call credit card company and dispute.

So what exactly was wrong with the camera when you took it out of the box?

Oh, and when I ever get an RMA they email me the label. Why would they mail you the label?
 
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amateurvisuals said:
Marty4650 said:
I don't dispute the fact that you are having some sort of problem with Canon customer service. Every large company will occasionally screw up. Even the very best ones will. Even companies that routinely win awards for customer service still get a few customer complaints.

It just doesn't make sense to take one anecdotal event and assume it means a company is terrible. Maybe something else happened here, and your description is too vague and incomplete for anyone to tell. Some facts are clearly missing.

Sometimes a new user might think they have a problem when they simply failed to read the instructions. Other times, they really do have a problem. It's just hard to tell based on your sketchy description.

Industry leaders like Canon don't get to be industry leaders by doing a bad job. If your experience was typical, then Canon just wouldn't have the largest market share. They have too many competitors. Market economics simply wouldn't allow it.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
amateurvisuals said:
I appreciate your reply and your need for more in-detail information.

I spoke to 19 agents. Assume one call center of Canon holds 100 associates. 19% of the employees were awful.
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No, you only spoke to 19 people, and you say they were all awful. That's a 100% failure rate, not a 19% rate.

That in itself seems statistically impossible. But I suppose it could happen. Are you sure you aren't exaggerating or projecting a problem you had with one or two people to everyone you spoke with?

Whenever you feel everyone else is wrong and you are the only one right, there is a good possibility you failed to communicate your problem accurately, or failed to follow their return instructions.

Big companies don't become industry leaders by cheating their customers. It has never happened before, and it will never happen in the future. They become successful by creating good products and serving their customers well. It's not like Canon has a monopoly. They have lots of competition. If they were as bad as you say they are they would be long gone.
amateurvisuals said:
My first job growing up was a call center position. General rules at a call center environment:

-Build a relationship with your customer

-Satisfaction to question

-Good surveys

-Good call flow, clear and good tone
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amateurvisuals said:
They failed on every topic. I was transferred back and forth. Shamed for having problems with their process. I decided, due to their extremely awful service to RMA the camera instead of repair. I still had to wait 3 days for them to process it and send it back. Then I had to pay to ship it AGAIN, to Canon. To this day I still do not have the money back in my account and I want a working camera.
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I wonder why you ordered the entry level kit? Every Walmart and Target store sells the Canon T5 with kit lens for around $399. If you bought it from a retail store, you could have walked back in and got a refund on the spot. No call centers to deal with. No RMAs.

Did you save $20 or something? Was there some good reason you chose to make it harder for yourself?
 
Marty4650 said:
I don't dispute the fact that you are having some sort of problem with Canon customer service. Every large company will occasionally screw up. Even the very best ones will. Even companies that routinely win awards for customer service still get a few customer complaints.

It just doesn't make sense to take one anecdotal event and assume it means a company is terrible. Maybe something else happened here, and your description is too vague and incomplete for anyone to tell. Some facts are clearly missing.

Sometimes a new user might think they have a problem when they simply failed to read the instructions. Other times, they really do have a problem. It's just hard to tell based on your sketchy description.

Industry leaders like Canon don't get to be industry leaders by doing a bad job. If your experience was typical, then Canon just wouldn't have the largest market share. They have too many competitors. Market economics simply wouldn't allow it.
Click to expand...
 
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