Any guess as to what the damage (to my wallet) will be?

[Greg Donovan]

I sent my GL2 away today to get the tape drive replaced due to the Remove Cassette error, and included a couple of more service items to get a quote for.

Anyone venture a guess as to how much? I'm not going to go for it all if it's rediculous, but it would help for future resale for sure.

1. Fix Remove Cassette error (from what I read it should be $50USD or so - I'm in Canada by the way, camera is gone to the Quebec service centre)
2. Repair damaged microphone. Seems to only be the outer surround of the mic, it's loose and dented, the mic works fine. If Canon wants a lot to fix this, I won't do it.
3. Camera cleaning. This seems obvious to me if it is getting sent away, I don't expect it to be too bad, except that I also requested a quote for a lens cleaning, as there is dust in the lens. That I'm expecting not to be worth it, but I didn't figure it could hurt to find out.
4. Hour meter checked. They don't actually charge for that, do they?

I'm not super concerned with anyone giving me a good estimate, I'm just more or less curious to see what you guys think it'll cost. See who guessed the closest when I get the quote.

Here's my guess:
1. $50-$70 (problem is definitely in their database - tech center didn't even try to troubleshoot it over the phone, just gave me the service depot address)
2. $50ish If they replace the mesh surround, I can see that. If they want to replace the whole mic to do so, I'm guessing it'll be out of my price range. I have no intention on dumping hundreds into an aging camera.
3. Honestly no idea for a regular camera cleaning, but I have a bad feeling that they will want $200-$300 to clean the lens. Not going to happen for that money.
4. That had better be free.

Any other guesses from anyone? I hope it isn't gone for too long.

Greg

[Mark Williams]

I would estimate around $250 based on my prior experience with a GL1.

[Chris Hurd]

Typically it is appx. $250 to crack open the camera, do whatever needs to be done and put it back together.

That rate is somewhat standard no matter which camcorder manufacturer it is.

[Greg Donovan]

$282.70 CAD. Shipped back, all parts included.

I've got a new mic, new tape drive assembly, they stuck an eyecup on it (I ordered one from their parts distributor as Canon directed me to, but I haven't been billed yet and I don't think it's coming anyhow). The lens I'm not sure about. Something is telling me it's a refurbished lens, and not the same one cleaned. It's cleaner than before, but not spotless.

I'm thinking it was swapped out, which could easily be done by their techs, while actual lens disassembly would be far more difficult and time consuming.

One odd thing is that I was instructed to ship the camera to the Quebec depot, yet when it came back it came back from the Ontario depot. The online status only changed to being shipped today.

I'm not super impressed by the month wait (though really it was only a bit over 3 weeks, took over 5 days for them to get it from me via snail-mail), but definitely am by the quality of the work, especially the cleaning. I thought I was getting a new camera at first and went looking for the couple of permenant flaws I knew of on the camera. It wasn't dirty when I sent it either.

Definitely made my day getting it back.

Greg