My amazingly clean lens was returned to me today. It turns out the extra $7.60 mentioned in my previous post on the subject was tax. Per the original authorization the price was $95 plus applicable tax. The final repair invoice breaks it down as:
| Summary of charges | |
| Flat Rate Repair Charge (Parts & Labor Included) |
$85.00 |
| Sales Tax | $7.60 |
| Shipping | $10.00 |
| Total Due | $102.60 |
I received back my original lens[1] and the following details were given for the repair (odd punctuation and phrasing original):
We have examined the product according to your request, and, it was
found that the part was deformed causing the focus ring to catch The
barrel,cam was replaced.Checked all, adjusted center/tilt/focus, cleaned
all factory specs.
I put the lens on the camera and verified that the focuser does operate in manual and auto modes, but haven’t verified with any test shots. In the end total outlay was $102.60 and total turnaround time two weeks exactly. This includes the 2-3 days it took me to print the RMA form and get it boxed up for shipment. Pretty responsive actually. The repair is warranted for six months, but only against the “same failure”.
Oh and did I mention that it is painfully clean? I feel I take pretty good care of the glass on my lenses, but factory[2] clean is pretty amazing. Not a spec on the glass, on the body of the lens or anywhere else. I’m guessing they use some kind of actual clean room for repairs, and I wish I knew what kind of cleaning tools. Of course, having the know-how [3] to take it apart and clean the individual parts probably helps too.
So overall Canon repair experience: pleased. I feel I got my money’s worth and the turn around was plenty fast. Perhaps it’s time to send the 20D in for general servicing…[4]
- yes, I recorded – photographed actually – the serial number [↩]
- or in this case repair facility [↩]
- Not to mention the confidence [↩]
- The automatic service estimate is “Unknown”. They do promise to ship it back at no charge if I decide the estimate is too high after they examine it. So it would only cost me the shipping to get the estimate. Hmmm… [↩]
June 18th, 2009 at 9:09 am
should have watched the ‘how it’s made’ episode on lenses I think it looks like hazardous bio lab they cleaned after every addition. pretty interesting