Buying an American camera from Canada at DVinfo.net

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...

Steven Davis · December 17th, 2007, 04:24 PM

I figured I would throw this out, it doesn't answer your question, but I figured it was humorous to say the least.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317171,00.html

Kit Hannah · December 17th, 2007, 04:43 PM

That IS funny...

As to pixel problems with the 110's, we only have had 1 dead pixel in all the cameras we ever had, and we believe it was due to us renting it to the local university. They had to fly with it which meant that it had to go through X-ray twice, which from what other people say, can cause dead pixels.

The problem with shipping out of the country is that they very well may be x-raying packages crossing the border, which means that it may have affected the sensors. Even if it were just sitting by the machines, it could have affected it, thus giving you the dead pixels.

I'm glad to hear that your experience was good though. We had a few problems with JVC back when we had some of their standard def stuff, so what we did was got these regional sales managers on the phone and threatened to ditch them and go with Sony. THAT got their attention.

BTW: We're moving from HD-110's to EX1's anyways....... Hoping that the new cmos sensors will not be as vulnerable when we need to fly.......

December 2nd, 2007, 02:08 PM	#1
Adam Rosadiuk Tourist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Montreal. Canada Posts: 3	Buying an American camera from Canada 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...

December 17th, 2007, 04:24 PM	#2
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	I figured I would throw this out, it doesn't answer your question, but I figured it was humorous to say the least. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317171,00.html __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

December 17th, 2007, 04:43 PM	#3
Kit Hannah Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, California Posts: 528	That IS funny... As to pixel problems with the 110's, we only have had 1 dead pixel in all the cameras we ever had, and we believe it was due to us renting it to the local university. They had to fly with it which meant that it had to go through X-ray twice, which from what other people say, can cause dead pixels. The problem with shipping out of the country is that they very well may be x-raying packages crossing the border, which means that it may have affected the sensors. Even if it were just sitting by the machines, it could have affected it, thus giving you the dead pixels. I'm glad to hear that your experience was good though. We had a few problems with JVC back when we had some of their standard def stuff, so what we did was got these regional sales managers on the phone and threatened to ditch them and go with Sony. THAT got their attention. BTW: We're moving from HD-110's to EX1's anyways....... Hoping that the new cmos sensors will not be as vulnerable when we need to fly.......