Genuine Canon warranty - did I get lied to?

[Fedgrub]

Hi everyone,

Just called Photo Continental in Brisbane about a 7D price. Really good, friendly service by the way.

When I got to the price for extended warranty, they said $248 for 3 years and that it covered accidental damage. Immediately, I remembered what I read about how MACK offers this. I asked if it was MACK warranty and he said it was. I asked if there were any other extended warranty options and he said that unfortunately there was a legislation change that meant that they cannot sell genuine Canon warranty anymore and need to use third-party warranty dealers who then outsource to Canon repair centers, and this change impacts all retailers.

He assured me that they are an authorised australian dealer, but the MACK warranty part worried me. I've read some less than favourable reviews on MACK and so wanted to avoid going with them. If I have to go with MACK I might as well buy grey and use MACK.

Anyone heard any truth to this change? Is it true the extended warranty that other retailers like JB sell you is actually MACK and they just don't use the warranty business' name?

Thanks

Matt

[Tannin]

Any retailer is free to sell you any warranty they like. So long as the warranty service is performed as per contract, nothing else matters from a consumer rights point of view. The retailer could, for example, carry the warranty in-house and simply give you a new camera if the old one breaks. They are perfectly entitled to do that, just so long as you get what you paid for. Of course, you are entitled to draw your own conclusions about the quality of service you are likely to get.

Does Canon even have an optional extended warranty scheme beyond the 12 month standard cover? I've never heard of one.

[reaction]

no such thing as genuine Canon warranty
extended warranty just means you send it to Canon and someone other than you pays for the repairs.
anyway, I wouldn't bother, use your credit card to double the 1yr Canon warranty for free.

[Xenedis]

As I understand it, if a Canon camera is purchased from a Canon-authorised retailer through Canon's distribution chain (ie, it wasn't a parallel or 'grey' import), then you automatically have a manufacturer's warranty, which lasts one year from the date of purchase.

I'm not sure if Canon offers extended warranties (like Tony, I've never heard of Canon doing so), but I suspect that any extended warranty, which goes above and beyond your default one-year manufacturer's warranty, is handled by the retailer or some other organisation on behalf of the retailer.

As far as I know, Photo Continental is a Canon-authorised retailer and would not be selling stock that has been sourced from anyone other than Canon Australia.

The fact that a retailer is Canon-authorised doesn't mean it cannot offer extended warranties.

[Tannin]

use your credit card to double the 1yr Canon warranty for free.

How does ths work?

[Mary Anne]

Buy your camera from someone else who don't use Mack then for the ex Warranty I have never heard anything bad about Mack I told you the repairs go to Canon
I bought my 40D from Digital Camera Warehouse years ago as I wont buy Grey Market Cameras and they were very cheap at the time.
Their ex warranty repairs go to Phototechnical Services here in Brisbane and my 40D went to them in March for a new shutter release switch
Lovely people, I said I could not get there so she told me to box it up and they paid the postage both ways gone less than one week.

I refuse to pay that kind of money for ex Warranties as my contents Insurance covers accidental damage..
You can always buy the cheaper Mack Warranty elsewhere.. So shop around.
I bought my 5D MK11 from Photo Continental last year and got the cheaper Mack Warranty..

[Fedgrub]

My credit card doesn't offer the extra year warranty unfortunately.

Thanks heaps for the tips guys, food for thought for sure.

[reaction]

Well, if you were in Sydney I'd be happy to put it on my card for you :|
May pay to ask some friends, a lot of cards have this feature.

[Fedgrub]

Well, if you were in Sydney I'd be happy to put it on my card for you :|
May pay to ask some friends, a lot of cards have this feature.

Appreciate the thought :)

Will ask some of my friends.

[MarkChap]

OK, a couple of things to clear up

1 - Canon DO, (as do Nikon) at times, offer an extended CANON warranty, this is normally only offered by Canon and the retailer for "Specials"
2 - Retailers, as Tony has said are completely free to offer any extended Warranty they choose, with one Cavaet, the extended warranty needs to meet the new consumer laws introduced in January of this year, nothing really for you to worry about, these should all have been fixed by now.
3 - Under Australian Consumer Law the manufacturer has a responsibility to provide a product that is "Fit for Purpose". SO what does this mean, if you buy a new Camera and it fails at say 14 months with a dead shutter, and you had only taken a token number of shots, say 5000, then it could be claimed that the Camera was not fit for purpose and Canon would have an obligation to repair that unit free.
What I am saying in number 3 is - Don't be fooled by the salesman in thinking that after 12 months you no rights, you do have rights. The choice is entirely yours if you want to take an extended warranty or not, but you do have rights after your first 12 months are over.

[unistudent1962]

I just bought a 60D and 15-85 from Ted's at Garden City.
I have bought from Photocontinental in the past, and they couldn't/wouldn't even come CLOSE to the price I negotiated at Ted's.
4 year extended warranty was $99 and includes an annual sensor clean in the price.
IM me if you'd like more details on who I dealt with at Ted's.

[ricktas]

I think this extended warranty is being blown well out of proportion. Get your gear with the standard manufacturers warranty. Do NOT buy an extended warranty and use the money to buy Insurance for your gear instead.

You are more likely to drop your camera, than need it repaired under an extended warranty. I see extended warranties as a huge rip-off, and never take them.

[Xenedis]

Sage advice.

Extended warranties don't cover "oops" moments or theft.

[ricktas]

Recent data from the 'insurance industry' suggests that 2/3rd of people who are offered an extended warranty in Aus, take the offer up. But less than 1% of those that take it up, ever need to make a claim against it. Makes you wonder who is pocketing a LOT of money here, that could be used for peace of mind for accidental breakage etc instead.

[Xenedis]

It's a bit like rust-proofing for your new car, except that comes with a pretty twenty-something blonde to try to sell it to you.

[Duane Pipe]

I think this extended warranty is being blown well out of proportion. Get your gear with the standard manufacturers warranty. Do NOT buy an extended warranty and use the money to buy Insurance for your gear instead.

You are more likely to drop your camera, than need it repaired under an extended warranty. I see extended warranties as a huge rip-off, and never take them.

My thoughts exactly rick, I have done it once but never again, If the item was to fail I think that it would happen in its first year. just my thoughts

[Tannin]

Recent data from the 'insurance industry' suggests that 2/3rd of people who are offered an extended warranty in Aus, take the offer up. But less than 1% of those that take it up, ever need to make a claim against it. Makes you wonder who is pocketing a LOT of money here, that could be used for peace of mind for accidental breakage etc instead.

May well apply to cameras, and perhaps other things. But it does NOT apply to laptop computers. Laptop computers are essentially impossible to repair (the cost of the parts makes it impractical in most cases) and they fail often - on a worldwide average basis, three times as often as desktop computers. When you buy a laptop, unless it's a cheap, cruddy, throwaway thing, do yourself a favour and extend the warratry to three years. Usually, a factory extension is the best. The number of people I see coming into the shop with a 15-month-old laptop computer needing a $1000 spare part is shocking. I see it all the time. So, whatever you think about extended warranties in general, never, ever buy a laptop computer without one.

[JM Tran]

May well apply to cameras, and perhaps other things. But it does NOT apply to laptop computers. Laptop computers are essentially impossible to repair (the cost of the parts makes it impractical in most cases) and they fail often - on a worldwide average basis, three times as often as desktop computers. When you buy a laptop, unless it's a cheap, cruddy, throwaway thing, do yourself a favour and extend the warratry to three years. Usually, a factory extension is the best. The number of people I see coming into the shop with a 15-month-old laptop computer needing a $1000 spare part is shocking. I see it all the time. So, whatever you think about extended warranties in general, never, ever buy a laptop computer without one.

I paid a few hundred bucks more for 3 years extended warranty on Apple Care for my macbook pro - as I work with the laptop around the world and need that worldwide support and servicing should anything go wrong when I am shooting etc. So that makes sense to me in a business perspective.

But getting 3 or 5 years Mack warranty on a camera is stupid, to put it bluntly. Who would actually use that particular camera for 5 years or even 3 yrs, especially in an age when technology and prices are constantly evolving? Most - majority of people - would upgrade to something newer before that time runs out. Unless you can transfer an extended warranty to another product.....

[Tannin]

^ Well, I would. I still use my six-year-old 20D regularly, and it still takes great pictures. I have no idea on the value in extended camera warranties. I don't have enough data to arrive at an informed opinion. I can only provide useful data with regard to computers. These fall into several classes:

Standard desktops. Normally come with two year warranty as standard. But cheap and easy to to repair, and tend to be quite reliable, so it doesn't matter a great deal. Not worth spending a penny extra on longer warranty, though it is worth spending on better quality.
Proprietary desktops (Acer, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, etc.). Generally fair reliability, cost to repair varies - can be expensive, sometimes very expensive. But don't buy a longer warranty, buy a decent computer in the first place instead of one of these under-powered toys.
Very cheap little laptops (netbooks and such). You'd be mad to pay extra. These are throwaway items.
Normal and premium laptops. Always buy the extended warranty or buy one that comes with a good long warranty in the first place. Always.

[Fedgrub]

Didn't end up buying the extended warranty. But on the subject of insurance - I took a look at adding it onto my home and contents and its not too bad but stand alone insurance for cameras that I saw was quite expensive.