Adam Rosadiuk
December 2nd, 2007, 02:08 PM
Hi, I'm a longtime lurker, first time poster. This is a superb forum and model for what a professional online community can be. I just wanted to share my experience buying a JVC camera cross border, and what I needed to do to send it back to the U.S. for service.
I bought my JVC GY-HD110 in December 2006. I live in Canada and was surprised to discover that JVC America and JVC Canada are essentially different companies (JVC Canada is owned and operated by JVC Japan). What does this mean? It means that an HD110 in Canada is $2000 more expensive, and Canadians are not eligible for the JVC America battery promotions.
So I opt to buy online from B&H. Quick call to Canada Customs and I discover that there is no duty charged on digital video equipment. I order happily from B&H, and get my camera in two weeks. Great deal, great service.
BUT, the big downside shopping cross border is that if I need to get my camera repaired under warranty I need to ship it back to the US. The JVC service centers in Canada will fix my camera, but they won't honour the warranty.
Well...what are the chances of getting a faulty camera? I don't know, but I got one. My HD110 has 8 dead pixels and severe (though infrequent) SSE at no gain.
First, I have some trouble getting in contact with JVC Pro. No answer through e-mail, and when I call the 1-800 number, a recording tells me that the number is not available from my calling area. I have to call the 1-800 number using Skype. From there I get the number of the nearest American service center, and I call to let them know to expect my camera.
It costs me $35.00 to ship the camera UPS from Montreal to the Pinebrook NJ service center. UPS package the camera for me and charge $5 (recommended). I declare, on the customs sheet provided by UPS, that I'm shipping the camera for a warranty repair, and I include a copy of my receipt from B&H. It takes a week for the camera to get there, three weeks to fix, and a week to get back to me.
The excellent and very friendly reps at the service center were extremely worried that I'd get brutalized by customs on the way back, but I verified with Canada Customs that warranty repairs are also duty free. I made sure that the service center included a commercial invoice in the package, and that the invoice clearly stated that it was a warranty repair.
JVC shipped the camera back to me no charge. And, yes, there was no duty getting it back to Canada.
So, moral of the story: you can definitely buy JVC cross-border, and with the Canadian dollar the way it is now, it's a tough deal to resist. That said, if your camera is your livelihood, that $2000 premium charged for buying in Canada might be worth developing a close relationship with your local dealer. I think this was something fellow Canadian Tim Dashwood mentioned in another post. But $2000!
I think buying Canadian might also be a good move if you can find a dealer who will let you 'cherry-pick' a camera. It really seems like getting a good HD 110 is the luck of the draw.
When I got my camera back from the service center, everything was great and I was in love with my camera again. A week later, another dead pixel. But that's another post...
I bought my JVC GY-HD110 in December 2006. I live in Canada and was surprised to discover that JVC America and JVC Canada are essentially different companies (JVC Canada is owned and operated by JVC Japan). What does this mean? It means that an HD110 in Canada is $2000 more expensive, and Canadians are not eligible for the JVC America battery promotions.
So I opt to buy online from B&H. Quick call to Canada Customs and I discover that there is no duty charged on digital video equipment. I order happily from B&H, and get my camera in two weeks. Great deal, great service.
BUT, the big downside shopping cross border is that if I need to get my camera repaired under warranty I need to ship it back to the US. The JVC service centers in Canada will fix my camera, but they won't honour the warranty.
Well...what are the chances of getting a faulty camera? I don't know, but I got one. My HD110 has 8 dead pixels and severe (though infrequent) SSE at no gain.
First, I have some trouble getting in contact with JVC Pro. No answer through e-mail, and when I call the 1-800 number, a recording tells me that the number is not available from my calling area. I have to call the 1-800 number using Skype. From there I get the number of the nearest American service center, and I call to let them know to expect my camera.
It costs me $35.00 to ship the camera UPS from Montreal to the Pinebrook NJ service center. UPS package the camera for me and charge $5 (recommended). I declare, on the customs sheet provided by UPS, that I'm shipping the camera for a warranty repair, and I include a copy of my receipt from B&H. It takes a week for the camera to get there, three weeks to fix, and a week to get back to me.
The excellent and very friendly reps at the service center were extremely worried that I'd get brutalized by customs on the way back, but I verified with Canada Customs that warranty repairs are also duty free. I made sure that the service center included a commercial invoice in the package, and that the invoice clearly stated that it was a warranty repair.
JVC shipped the camera back to me no charge. And, yes, there was no duty getting it back to Canada.
So, moral of the story: you can definitely buy JVC cross-border, and with the Canadian dollar the way it is now, it's a tough deal to resist. That said, if your camera is your livelihood, that $2000 premium charged for buying in Canada might be worth developing a close relationship with your local dealer. I think this was something fellow Canadian Tim Dashwood mentioned in another post. But $2000!
I think buying Canadian might also be a good move if you can find a dealer who will let you 'cherry-pick' a camera. It really seems like getting a good HD 110 is the luck of the draw.
When I got my camera back from the service center, everything was great and I was in love with my camera again. A week later, another dead pixel. But that's another post...