NO Extended Warranty in Canada from Canon!?

[HKYcountry]

As some may know, I have been debating whether or not to buy a IPF8400. For those who don't know, I am in Canada and the price differential between the Canon and Epson options I am looking at is substantial at the moment (Canon is approx $1800 more expensive)

I thought I had my mind made up and settled on the Canon, when to my shock, it appears that CANON does NOT offer the 1 or 2 year extended warranties here in Canada. This, according to the three different retailers I have contacted (to be fair, none of them sounded sure or confident in their answers)

There is no mention of it on the Canon Canada site. In fact on Canon Canada's site, on each individual large format printers page there isn't even a "service and support" link, a link that can be found on the US sites printer pages.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/professional/professional_printers/imageprograf_series/imageprograf_ipf8400

http://www.canon.ca/inetCA/products?m=gp&pid=19424

I have to wait until monday to try and phone Canon direct.....but should this be something to be concerned about? If the IPF 8400 (or any large format canon printer) only has the 1 yr mfr warranty without the extended wty even as an option....is it still worth rolling the dice?

Would anyone on here buy a large format printer (from any company) without extending it to the 3yr max coverage?

[Justan]

Interesting. In a couple of other another threads some interpreted a lack of extended warranty options as “proof” that the company planned to pull out of the market. [rolleyes].

Be sure to check out local reprographics houses and printer/copier vendors for service contracts.

Would anyone on here buy a large format printer (from any company) without extending it to the 3yr max coverage?

I’ve bought 2 of them without an extended warranty and have no regrets. If I ever need support after the OEM warranty expires, there are several options available ranging from diy to 3rd party or even factory support for a fee.

[HKYcountry]

That's good to hear. I definitely didn't take it as a sign of Canon "pulling out of the market"....I honestly just see it as, Canon is still "entering" the market in this equipment category and probably has more to do with "service" companies being a little more spread out distance wise up here.

I also find it interesting that on Canon's USA site you can easily access the imagePrograf through both the "consumer and home office" section and "professional imaging" section....whereas on the Canon Canada site the imagePrograf lineup is only listed under "consumer and home office".....pro imaging section here, takes you to the Oce lineup of massive flatbeds. Oce-Canada recently "amalgamated" with Canon and is now supposedly operating under the name "professional Printing solutions group".....so maybe that has something to do with this as well. Canon Canada focus may be on the flatbed models as a business/industry solution so they view the imageprograf market as too small here or logistically the cost (due to distance) for techs just doesn't make sense. The market here may be mainly comprised of individuals as opposed to business and that could factor in.  I'm sure I could get service from Canon after the legally mandated warranty...it will just cost me $120-$150/hr. Like you said though....the Canon's are fairly DIY friendly and there are always 3rd party solutions.

[Luca Ragogna]

I've been running an ipf8400 for the last year and a bit. I'm not really worried about the warranty being a year. Heads are by far the most likely point of failure, they're user replaceable and the replacement heads come with their own 1 year warranty.

[HKYcountry]

Excellent....that really does seem to the sort of response I have been receiving in my posts and messages. Tomorrow is the last day of the rebates, etc on both the Epson and Canon printers.....so tomorrow I am ordering and right mow I am leaning heavily toward Canon.

[HKYcountry]

**Update**

Just got off the phone with Canon Canada and it is true....there is no extended warranty option in Canada on the large format printers. The rep told me that the way things are setup up here, Canon leaves it up to the dealers discretion. Meaning there's no offer from Canon but authorized dealers may offer their own extended warranty/service plans (sort of the same way bestbuy or futureshop does it)