MicroSD

[Amish Solanki]

I figured I'd post up whats been happing, just to keep a log incase this happens to someone in the future.

Well I knew it would be a bit of a hassle with FS, but thats the fun of it as well right?

Called up canon, spoke to a nice rep there. He said I did all the testing by using two different cards, and trying them out. He said there are two places to send that camera to, either Canon in Calgary, or another place somewhere in Surrey. I went to the FS in richmond instead, and spoke to the lady there. She gave me the run around (not wanting to deal with it) and gave me a number of local places to call. I told her that I already spoke with Canon and they said there were TWO places only that could fix it, but she was sure that there was local places. I took her word for it (it was sunday) and on monday, called the places, which of course, one didn't exist, and the other only fixes DIGITAL cameras.

Its been a busy month with weddings for me (I shoot weddings/photography), but I finally got around to going into the original FS today. Why?

Well sometime in the last week or two, I spoke with FS customer service that deals with their product plan. After carefully going thru the fine print, it seems as though IN THE CASE that they do REPLACE my camera with another one, that my extended warranty is gone. WTH? I just bought the camera in June, and to have the $200 gone down the drain because of a fault the camera had WHEN I initally purchased it? I don't think so. Also the guy I bought it from WROTE on my receipt that the replacement warranty is valid thru-out the whole 3 years, and never explained that it would be gone if the camera was replaced. Anyways the guy on the phone said to speak with someone at the original store to have them 'emend' it specifically for me.

So I went to the original store today, and spoke with someone there, who pretty much 'pushed' that point aside for the time being. He said lets first send it to Canon and see first if they want to replace it, OR fix it, and go from there. Also the original salesperson I bought it of wasn't working today, and he said that he would be able to most likely honor my replacement warranty for the whole 3 years, so I would not need to REPURCHASE the warranty if I did get a replacement.

Phew, I bet that makes no sense? :P

So anyways they took the camera, and only the camera (they didn't even want the original box, which kinda scares me), and said it may take about 2-3 weeks.

I'll update down the road once I find out what goes on.

[Amish Solanki]

So I spoke with FS today, as its been a month to find out the situation on my camera, and they said that Canon has fixed the camera, and will be sending it back. So hopefully it should be back this week, and we'll see how it runs.

[Ryan Plaisted]

Have you received your replacement? Did they fix it? I am having the same problem with mine.

[Amish Solanki]

Nope, still waiting for it to come back to FS. I'm starting to think they are BS'in. Regular mail doesn't take this long from Calgary -> Vancouver.

I'm probably NOT going to call however. Hopefully if it takes 2 more weeks, it'll be 60 days since they had it, which means new camera for me.

[Amish Solanki]

Bleh, so FS called me today finally, saying that the camera is back.

[Amish Solanki]

so the story continues.

Picked up my camera yesterday, battery was dead, so I couldn't test it in store.

Charged it over night, and went to test it out today.

1) There is a piece of hair inside the glass element in the optics. This was not there when I sent it in.
2) The reason I sent the camera in the first place was because the miniSD wasn't working. The service report from Canon states they replaced the RIGHT PCB board. I go to put a miniSD card in the slot, and it won't go in. WTH right?

There is a PIECE of black PLASTIC covering the slot in the inside. It won't budge. SO again my camera must go BACK to canon. This is becoming a joke for a camera I bought end of June, and has been at Canon since mid July.

[Amish Solanki]

more story time ;)

So I called FS today while at work to speak with a manager, but they were busy, and said one would call me back (yeah right). Of course I didn't get a call back, so in the evening I went down.

I went to the CS desk and asked the girl for her manager, I said it'd be easier that way. So he comes, and I explain the issue, saying I just picked up my camera 2 days ago, but couldn't test it out instore, as the battery was dead.

Long story short I tried to tell him that if they send it back to Canon this should be within the first 60 day time limit, as its the same/similar problem, that the miniSD slot doesn't work. He said that if they send it back, it would be starting a new 60 days. BS!

He kept being sympathetic, however refused to budge. So I told him that I called the PSP (product service plan, where I have my extended 3 yr warrenty) and they said to take it into the store where they would be able to make sure it stays in the same 60 day period.

He goes, there is a very slim chance, and started bringing up how the PSP is not futureshop and a 3rd party insurance company, trying to blame them. I told him when they sell the PSP, they sell it as a FUTURESHOP EXTENDED warranty. He was just trying to get around the fact.

So I told him to call the PSP up and see what they have to say. He got another rep (CSR manager) some young girl to come out from the back to make the phone call. She called them infront of me saying that they told a customer to come in to get a exchange. At this point the manager was gone, so I stopped her there and asked if she knew what the issue was, she said no. So with the PSP rep on the phone I re-explained to her the problem here, and that if the camera is going back to Canon, is should be within the initial 60 exchange warranty as it was never fixed since I first sent it off. After a few minutes of chatting on the phone, she got off, and said "yes you're right".

She did say they still did have to send it away (back to Canon), and IN the case that the camera is not back in my hands by the 18th (or at least back in the store) then to call PSP and they will go ahead to process the exchange.

So that leaves till next thursday. If I don't hear from FS, I get a new camcorder. The funny thing here, is I've spent more time dealing with this issue than actually using the camcorder :P

(is anyone actually reading this, or should I stop posting about this issue?).

[Chris Soucy]

Yes, people are reading it, and, well, what can they say?

Hey, you took a punt and it seems to be going completely "t**s up". What recourse you have in Canada is beyond me.

My recollection of the place was that if there was a serious issue, they would fire the staff responsible, have the manager hanged (publicly), replace whatever with new (their cost) and take out full page adverts in the local press to appologise for their s***w up.

Seems to have changed since I was there.

Perhaps a lesson to be learnt here - Caveat Emptor.

Cheap is good. Super cheap is asking for it.

Ergo, if it's too good a deal to turn up, it's too good a deal, full stop.

No help to you, of course, but what can we say?

Good luck and I (we) hope there is a happy outcome. Just don't do it again!.


CS

[Andrew Plumb]

Yup, still following the thread. FS isn't exactly known for their customer service, eh?

Here's to hoping you get a new camera for all your troubles!

[Amish Solanki]

Heh, thanks for the comments guys. Just wasn't sure if anyone was reading or not :P

Well its technically been 62 days since I first sent in the camera. No word from FS yet. I'll call their 1800 tomorrow evening and start the process. We'll see how they try and screw me now :P

[Amish Solanki]

So I ended up calling FS 1800 on the friday (31th) and spoke to a rep there and explained the problem. At first he said to deal with the store, but once I spoke with him about the issue, he said he can deal with it. In total I was on the phone for about 35 minutes. Over half the time he had me on hold. In the end, he said that he's forwarded the issue to his supervisor, who would call me back on Monday on how the exchange would be handled.

Of course Monday comes and goes with no phone call. I called on Friday (oct 5th) and spoke with another rep. He looked at my account, and said that a supervisor did look at the account, and approved the exchange. I asked why I didn't get a call back, and he said that there was no notes to call me back, so I asked how was I to know that I was going to get a exchange then?! ??

Anyways, he went ahead and started up the exchange for me. He did have to send a note to Canon depot to have them send the camera back to the store before I can get the exchange done.

I clearly asked him about the exchange process and how it works. I explained to him that the HV10 is no longer manufacture or carried by FS, and the next model is the HV20 which is several hundred more. He says that as per the PSP agreement, it is a FEATURE TO FEATURE exchange, in which they must give something of EQUAL feature or BETTER. He said regardless of the price difference, if the HV20 is the next model up that is the one they will have to exchange me to.

I looked at FS HD camcorders and there are cheaper ones (Sony models) however none of them record to miniDV, so I'm hoping i'm in luck getting the HV20.

[Amish Solanki]

So I decided to call FS today to see if the camera was in yet since I hadn't heard from them. Go figure they say the camera is in. 1 hour later I get a phone call saying that the camera is in.

So after work I head down with all my papers in hand. The lineup at the CS desk was insane. I waited 20 minutes. When I finally got a rep to talk with I explained to her that I was doing a warranty exchange. I handed her a piece of paper with the exchange reference number given from PSP.

She goes over to the computer on the back wall and looks things up. At that point a manager (call him Manager1) comes by. She calls the back (warehouse) and asks them to bring the camera up to the front. She mentions something to the manager and he comes up to me and looks over some of the papers, then looks over at the computer monitor. He goes okay, so we don't have any miniDV cameras, but we can give you a DVD one. I tell him I don't want a DVD camcorder, I want a miniDV one. He walks away without saying anything.

The rep from the warehouse brings out the camcorder, and the first rep helping me out, opens up the package, and pulls out the forms. Heres the FIRST interesting thing.

Looking at the paperwork, I see they NEVER sent the camera to Canon. All this time they kept telling me they did (Canon in CALGARY) however it was sent to some authorized dealer in Surrey. The DATE IN at that dealer says Sept 24th, and date STARTED was Sept 26th. Ie: already over the 60 days.

Manager1 comes back and says to the rep give him a instore credit, he doesn't want a DVD camcorder and we don't have a miniDV one. So I say excuse me, and he says we'll give you a instore credit, we don't have a miniDV camcorder. So I tell him 'yes you do, you have the HV20'. His response is that it is not the same camera its a 1080P and the HV10 is a 1080i. I laugh inside.

EXCUSE me? No its not. He assures me that it is. I tell him to go and bring the box here and I'll prove to him that its NOT. So he walks away.

While he goes away the rep calls up PSP to confirm the exchange. While on the phone she gives the TAG number but not the exchange reference number, so I tell her, I HAVE the number here (it was in her hands). So she then gives the number to them, and they have to email her the authorization. But her email doesn't work, so she gets it emailed to another manager (manager2) there.

The email comes in, and manager2 gives it to her. She then asks me to wait and she walks away. Then over the PA system I hear her voice and she's calling manager2 to the 'staff room'. I turn around and see him walking there, and I also see manager1 walking towards that room. So I patiently wait for another few more minutes.

She eventually comes, with manager1. He comes to the desk and opens up my HV10 box, and goes thru all the contents, and matches it up with the manual to make sure everything is there. Then he walks away. Then out of nowhere (I was preoccupied watching him) the rep pulls out a brand new HV20 box and puts it on the counter. She starts typing away on the computer and printing out receipts, etc etc.

Then she goes 'okay, your $200 warranty is fulfilled, and you have the option to purchase another one'. AHH no. I tell her no, and she says yes its fulfilled. I advise her again to call PSP and that I have a recording on my phone from my cellphone call with PSP (I did record my phone call) and the rep EXPLAINED it clearly that because it is covered under the 1yr warranty of the manufacture that the extended warranty doesn't get fulfilled. She shows me the email that PSP had sent her and says that I'm getting a 'mint' condition camera not a 'open box' like my HV10. I said thats REGARDLESS of the issue and so is the price, thats the reason I PURCHASED the warranty because as they so stuff down your ears when you make any purchase that its totally covered. So I tell her I don't care, you call them.

So of course she picks up the phone and makes her second call. She explains the issue. A few 'ah huh, yup, okay, yes' then she hangs up and says 'ok'.

Now she goes well the $199 only covered your purchase on the HV10 because it was purchased at $599, the HV20 cost is $1200, so you have to pay the difference. I ask her what the difference in warranty is, and she says $60. At this point I had been in the store for 1 hour, so I just say YES I'll pay it.

Funny enough, while she was on the phone with PSP the 2nd time manager1 walks by and briefly looks over everything, but doesn't say one thing. I think he was moreso wondering why I was only going to be paying $60 extra.

Anyways, so we complete the transaction and I tell her that I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a hardass (I wasn't at all, I was super calm) but I told her I've been without my camera for 3 months. She says she understands and that she doesn't get effected by it?

So after we're done, I walk to the desk on the way out for them to bag my camera, and demag it. Thats when I noticed I had her pen in my hand. So I run back to her desk to give her the pen. She had her back towards me, and she was talking with manager1 who was saying 'why did he only pay $60!?' So she tells him that BECAUSE of 'THEIR' rules if its under the first year, then the extended warranty is NOT considered fulfilled.

I pass her the pen, and walk out with a brand new HV20 on charge!

So 3 months later was it worth it? Yes/no? Hmm hard to say. The HV10 was a great camera, and would of still been perfect for me, but the HV20 is so much nicer!

I still however will be writing a proper letter and mailed it to FS head office. Their system is so backwards. The store was doing EVERYTHING in its power NOT to give me a camera (just as I had suspected) whereas PSP gave me the truth. For the manager to say 'give him a store credit'. DO you think thats what I wanted? I didn't wait 3 months for nothing, Otherwise I would of done that right from the start.

For him to say that the HV20 is a 1080p and not 1080i, wow. He really needs to do some research. And to thing out of all of that I never got ONE 'we're sorry'. It was almost like pulling teeth from them. So time to RTM, and have some fun once the camera is charged.

Hope you guys enjoyed the story. If anything else comes from this i'll make sure to still write up here. This has been my 'journal' throughout this whole mess.

[Amish Solanki]

So I ended up posting my story on the Future Shop Forums.

Low and behold, I got a email from one moderator on the forum (who works at the Best Buy/FS HQ). He is going to get a CSR rep that responses directly to one of the presidents at the Canadian HQ to contact me about the issue, so we'll see what happens. I'm just glad to see that sometimes our voice is heard.

[Andrew Plumb]

Nicely done! It took three months, but you got the better camera out of it.

Now you can spend all that money you saved on accessories. ;-)

[Amish Solanki]

Originally Posted by Andrew Plumb

Nicely done! It took three months, but you got the better camera out of it.

Now you can spend all that money you saved on accessories. ;-)

Haha, true. I think if anything I want a mic to run on the hotshoe. Maybe its just me but I find the camera itself quite noisy. I'm thinking about the DM-50, unless someone can recommend else wise.