Canon inc. help us
You spew out a grand total of 2000$ for Canon gear and, after a month of use, this is what you get - a faulty EOS 20D body that can’t focus properly. “No biggie - that’s what the warranties are for”, you’d probably think. All you have to do is get the camera to a certified Canon repair shop and, after a day or two, you get it back in full working order, right? Not really, at least not in Croatia! In Croatia, all you’ll get is a “kind” word (”You’re talking bullshit”) in no less than an official memo, a pinch of lies and untruths (”Your camera is working perfectly”, claimed after the shop employee admitted the existance of fault) and a lot (A LOT) of empty promises (”next week”, “next week”, “after the weekend”, “in a few days”…).
Or, you’re a photo-journalist earning a living with an EOS 1D and are just getting ready for your assignment trip to Olympic Games, Athens, when you notice a worldwide known, slight (but potentially critical for the assignment) bug in it’s behaviour. “There’s no cause for alarm”, you think, “that’s what the warranty and repair service are for”. Nope, you guessed it, NOT in Croatia! Because in this beautiful little country, your professional digital SLR has to wait in a queue, along with a hundred little digital compacts. “We’re terribly sorry, it can’t be fixed in less than two weeks”, they say. So, you take the faulty body to Greece with you and walk into a tiny little Canon repair shop there, explain the problem to an easy-going Japanese engineer who nods his head and gives you back your camera, fixed and fully operational, in a matter of hours.
Or…
Well, we could go on like this for quite some time. The point is - if you live in or ever come to Croatia, YOU could be NEXT.
If anyone high enough in Canon Inc. is reading this, please, PLEASE HELP US, CROATIAN CANON USERS.
As I’ve become a 20D user yesterday, I hope the thing doesn’t break and I don’t have to spend the rest of my life waiting for it to be fixed. Cameras are made to be used, not repaired.
Therefore, I fully support the effort.
As I’m still thinking of getting into dSLR world, I’d like to know if these arguments are strong enough to stop me from buying Canon product… I hope that someone on regional level will see this and take some action. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to choose some other brand.
Hi Mirko. That story is from me (Senn) and MDZ, am I right? :)