Wow. And I thought I was obsessive.
I can understand that you spent a lot of money and would like as much
info as possible on your equipment but I think if it arrived in good
shape, looked new in the box, didn't have finger prints and is what
you expected to receive, I think I'd be pleased and just use and
enjoy it.
I am a loooong time Canon shooter and thank goodness only have had to
use service once. I was pleased with the treatment I received.
It seems as if you've gone out of your comfort zone in ordering from
this new company but I think you'd do well to just shoot the heck out
of the camera in the warrenty period and look for legitimate
problems. If some show up, return it. If not, keep shooting.
You have a great camera....enjoy it.
Lea
On Oct 24, 2005, at 8:24 PM, Joseph Chamberlain, DDS wrote:
Dear colleagues:
Last week I purchased a Canon EOS 1Ds Mk II. I usually purchase my
photo
equipment from BH Photo in NY and have come to rely on the equipment I
always receive from them since they maintain a huge inventory.
This week BH is closed for the Jewish holidays and I couldn't wait
since I
needed to purchase the camera for an event this past weekend. On
Friday I
purchased the camera at a large reseller in Los Angeles that shall
remain
nameless for ethical reasons. I have no reason to doubt this
reseller but
wanted to have some assurance that the equipment was new and not
something
that had been opened before and handled by numerous customers.
I remember that a while back we had a discussion on this forum about a
feature available in many high-end pro cameras that allowed the
owner to
have access through the menu of how many times the shutter had been
released.
I called Canon and was told that this feature is not offered for
any of
Canon's cameras. I then asked the customer service agent to check the
camera's serial number to verify if the camera was indeed a new
camera that
had let the company recently. The only piece of information the
agent could
share with me was the fact that no call had been made to customer
service on
that serial number, but this is hardly an indication of whether the
camera
is new or not.
I am very happy with the camera and have no reason to doubt the
reseller who
sold it to me. However, it is only natural for a customer to try to
obtain
some form of guarantee or assurance when buying a product such as
this. I
would expect Canon to provide better service and support to its
customers
than that which I received over the phone. This type of support
would be
reprehensible if one received it for an issue involving a point-and-
shoot,
200 dollar camera. This is definitely not the way I would expect
Canon to
stand behind me as a customer when I am buying from the company a
camera
with accessories in the price range of a new car.
Another thing that concerned me was the statement made by the customer
service agent about being considered acceptable to have a certain
number of
dead pixels on the sensor. I asked him what would be the best way
for me to
verify if there were any dead pixels so I could exchange the camera
for
another one if any were present. His claim was that Canon considers
it to be
within the range of acceptability (meaning the camera will pass its
quality
control inspection and reach the customer) if up to approximately
11 pixels
on the sensor are dead. This is not what I would like to hear from the
manufacturer after purchasing a camera as expensive as this one.
Any ideas ? What is your opinion on the dead pixel count ? Is this
true and
the standard for the industry ?
Since the reseller had claimed that the camera was shipped to its
store from
Canon's warehouse the day before I went to purchase it I also tried to
verify if it was indeed true. According to the reseller the camera
came from
Canon's warehouse located in Lake Success, IL. I also asked the
customer
service agent to verify this information but he informed me that he
had no
means to verify if the camera had indeed left the warehouse on that
particular date. What kind of company is this that seems to have
such poor
control over its own inventory and database ? I would expect a
company such
as Canon to be able to track one of its products with the serial
number and
tell where the camera was, the address it was shipped to and when.
I have contacted Canon's technical support department in the past
and have
been quite disappointed. The "specialists" I spoke to were far from
being
the true knowledgeable specialists I was hoping to reach. But the
customer
service I've just received over the phone is insane.
Since I am discussing my new camera and Canon's service and support
I will
try to avoid carrying the subject over to other areas but only wish
to add
that it seems to happen to other companies as I just recently took
a D70 I
own to Nikon's own service center for sensor cleaning and received
one of
the worst services I have ever received for any product (with the
possible
exception of Dell computers). What is going on with these companies ?
Whatever happened to good, quality support and service ?
Please forgive me for the longer post but I am "venting" here and
wish to
get your feedback on how to make sure my camera is indeed a new one
that
hasn't been played too much with.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Dr. Joseph Chamberlain
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
lea murphy
www.whinydogpress.com
