getting concessions from canon

[mstevensphoto]

Hi folks,
   I've seen a number of posts here and there about canon offering some concessions after complaining that repairs mandated new print heads that weren't really needed and wasted hundreds of dollars in ink and maintenance cartridges. I'm curious for anyone who was given any kind of credit, who did you talk to to get it? The basic phone support just says "thats the way it is" when I complain about going through three maintenance cartridges and taking full inks to 40%. I'm curious to know if there's someone with the ability to offer even a little maintenance and ink credit.
thanks!
Mark

[Dward]

I had repeated issues with my 8300, which began just after the warranty expired.   One of the problems involved a circuit board on the carriage, which I think was a common problem, so common that it looks like a manufacturer's defect.   The first visit failed to solve the problem, though the repair tech seemed quite competent and certainly pleasant to deal with.   The second visit solved the problem, but between the two visits, about half of my new 700ml inks was consumed.   I mentioned this to the tech, who said he would mention it to his boss.   The next day Canon wrote the usual survey email asking about the quality of the service.  I mentioned the expensive consumption of ink, but before that survey answer reached Canon, I got an email giving me tracking info for a box containing a complete set of 330ml cartridges and a new maintenance tank (which had also been used up in the repair).   I didn't ask anyone at Canon for the supplies----the tech must have convinced his boss that the decent thing to do was to send me some ink.

David Ward, Ph. D.
David V. Ward Fine Art Photography
www.dvward.com

[mstevensphoto]

that's pretty awesome! my tech shrugged his shoulders and said that's the way it goes

[samueljohnchia]

Hi Mark,

I have been facing problems with Canon iPF8410 printers (aka iPF8400).

Canon basically refused to acknowledge that the defects, attempted a botched repair and basically did and said a whole lot of unscrupulous things to me.

They replaced my printer with a brand new one, but it is defective also and I am still down. This time ink is not even firing and they suggest a print carriage replacement.

My downtime is totaling 4 1/2 months (seriously) as of today.

They have offered the following as compensation (less than what I asked for):

24 Ink Tanks (700ml)
4 Print Heads (PF-05)
2 years of additional warranty and the warranty to commence upon the delivery of the replacement machine. Here in Singapore Canon provides 3 years of on-site warranty, so I now have 5 years total.

Maybe this information is of help to anyone seeking compensation from Canon.

[mstevensphoto]

wow, sorry to hear you've got a bad 8400 out of the box! so far mine is great. 5 years warranty would sure be nice.

[deanwork]

Damn, that's bad. Were both of these 8400s made in China?

[David Sutton]

It may be who you end up talking to and the culture in that country. After moving house recently a print head went down on my 6300 (not unexpected). I wrote a letter of complaint to Canon about the difficulties of negotiating their phone menu and the annoyance having to talk to an American lady  . A senior manager rang the next day to apologise.
When the printer then wouldn't calibrate due to the suspected failure of the other printhead I negotiated the phone menu again until I got a tech chap in a nearby city. After a week of sending him scans of the output I was offered a 95% credit on the cost of that head (without my asking). Good. The printer is going like new.
David

[samueljohnchia]

wow, sorry to hear you've got a bad 8400 out of the box! so far mine is great. 5 years warranty would sure be nice.

I didn't get a bad one, I got TWO bad ones out of the box!  Both with the same kind of inking problems too. What's the probability of that? Isn't ink delivery problems Epson's arena?

My downtime is now 4.5 months. Not been able to print at all.

Damn, that's bad. Were both of these 8400s made in China?

Yes John, both of these 8410 (as they are called here in Asia, so they force us to use ink tanks for the asian market, different pricing from USA) are made in China.

Here is a little more information of the problems that have been happening which I posted as an update in another thread I started, as well as a warning to stay alert if you own one of these: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=89814.msg760199#msg760199

It may be who you end up talking to and the culture in that country.

David, I totally agree. In a country where people do not give two hoots about customer service, a job is just a job. To Canon I'm just a little tick. They literally told me I'm not important because they have other customers who purchased a $500,000 printer from them.

[deanwork]

Man, I've heard a lot of scary printer stores in my life but that's got to be the worst. I really feel for you. Just setting up one of these beasts is a major pain in itself. If they ever start selling those Chinese made Canons here in US I think I'll have to pass. What a strange world we live in where you get totally different versions of the same printer depending on the country you live in. One thing about the resellers here in the US that I've ever bought from is that they all try to help in a situation like this because it reflects badly on them. At least that has been my experience.

[samueljohnchia]

Man, I've heard a lot of scary printer stores in my life but that's got to be the worst. I really feel for you. Just setting up one of these beasts is a major pain in itself. If they ever start selling those Chinese made Canons here in US I think I'll have to pass. What a strange world we live in where you get totally different versions of the same printer depending on the country you live in. One thing about the resellers here in the US that I've ever bought from is that they all try to help in a situation like this because it reflects badly on them. At least that has been my experience.

Thanks John. The whole thing has taken years off my life. I've lost all my jobs and almost all my clients. 4.5 months is too long.

My dealer made a passing mention that he will try and use whatever authority he has to push Canon here, but he quickly admitted that they are no longer on good terms with them either. They used to sell something like 90% of all Canon printers in our market but about two years ago, there was a management change after Canon bought Oce and new screwed up people took over. So now my dealer carries no weight with Canon.

I also received this threat from Canon - if I ever try to ask for a replacement again, they may refund me and refuse to do business with me because their printers don't meet my standards or don't suit my purpose.