A new episode in my experience with Canon products and the lie of customer service.
or: Why Canon deserve to fail as a consumer electronics company
A little more than a year ago, our Canon photo printer stopped working properly. We truly had not used it loads, yet it failed shortly after the warrantee year had elapsed. And no, I am sure I had lost the receipt.
I could not afford to go through the uphill climb of pursuing the fault through technical support. I started. I tried. But it was impossible. Their opening hours were 0800hs to 1800hrs Mon to Fri. Well, bloody hell! - I go to work during those hours, plus change. What happens when you call customer support about a failed printer or PC? They ask you to be sitting next to the device so they can diagnose the problem. Well, that wasn't going to happen.
I returned to the shop where I'd bought the printer. I was looking to buy a new camera at the time. I ended up buying a Canon DSLR. Canon DSLR cameras are, as far as I can tell, about the best, so I am not going to excuse myself for buying one of those. I saw that a newer Selphy photo printer was current. The man in the shop surprisingly (lol) said that hey were really good. So, not knowing anything about any other alternatives printers, I got them to swing a reasonable deal to include the new Selphy in the purchase.
Of course, ten months on and the fucking device has failed, and in exactly the same way that the previous printer failed. Canon's technical support hours have shrunk by an hour at either end of the day. The thing went wrong this evening. How am I going to contact them to get some help? They probably have a moat around their building with the drawbridge pulled up too.
All I can do to get any satisfacton is to publicise what has happened and my analysis of the situation. So you can be sure that I will.
Here is a copy of the message I sent through their online "Contact Us" function:-
To add insult to the injury, here is the acknowledgement page that I was greeted with after submitting my message:-
UPDATE 03-Dec-2012
Realising that the above was Canon's way of saying, "I'm not listening!" I decided to send my note to them again:-
This time I got a more positive web page as a response. Apparently I have a Serice Request ID":-
"Your Service Request ID is:1-627760970"
or: Why Canon deserve to fail as a consumer electronics company
A little more than a year ago, our Canon photo printer stopped working properly. We truly had not used it loads, yet it failed shortly after the warrantee year had elapsed. And no, I am sure I had lost the receipt.
I could not afford to go through the uphill climb of pursuing the fault through technical support. I started. I tried. But it was impossible. Their opening hours were 0800hs to 1800hrs Mon to Fri. Well, bloody hell! - I go to work during those hours, plus change. What happens when you call customer support about a failed printer or PC? They ask you to be sitting next to the device so they can diagnose the problem. Well, that wasn't going to happen.
I returned to the shop where I'd bought the printer. I was looking to buy a new camera at the time. I ended up buying a Canon DSLR. Canon DSLR cameras are, as far as I can tell, about the best, so I am not going to excuse myself for buying one of those. I saw that a newer Selphy photo printer was current. The man in the shop surprisingly (lol) said that hey were really good. So, not knowing anything about any other alternatives printers, I got them to swing a reasonable deal to include the new Selphy in the purchase.
Of course, ten months on and the fucking device has failed, and in exactly the same way that the previous printer failed. Canon's technical support hours have shrunk by an hour at either end of the day. The thing went wrong this evening. How am I going to contact them to get some help? They probably have a moat around their building with the drawbridge pulled up too.
All I can do to get any satisfacton is to publicise what has happened and my analysis of the situation. So you can be sure that I will.
Here is a copy of the message I sent through their online "Contact Us" function:-
This 10-month old printer will no longer feed the paper from the tray. This is exactly the same problem that my previous photo printer developed; it was a Selphy CP740. I feel like such a twit for trusting in Canon again and buying the newer model in the hope that it would work better.
This sort of design fault is inexcusable. What is also inexcusable are your hours of availability for telephone support, namely Mon to Fri 0900hrs to 1700hrs - when most people are at work and thus not in a position to call a tech support line. Indeed you have reduced your telephone hours by 2 hours per day since last year. What quiet days you must have on the phones in the Support Department.
I have described the problem in detail in my blog:-
- here http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=94
- and here: http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=107
I just wanted to print a photograph for my son. I have spent good money on two of your supposedly easy-to-use printers and I am thoroughly dissatisfied.
This sort of design fault is inexcusable. What is also inexcusable are your hours of availability for telephone support, namely Mon to Fri 0900hrs to 1700hrs - when most people are at work and thus not in a position to call a tech support line. Indeed you have reduced your telephone hours by 2 hours per day since last year. What quiet days you must have on the phones in the Support Department.
I have described the problem in detail in my blog:-
- here http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=94
- and here: http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=107
I just wanted to print a photograph for my son. I have spent good money on two of your supposedly easy-to-use printers and I am thoroughly dissatisfied.
To add insult to the injury, here is the acknowledgement page that I was greeted with after submitting my message:-
E-mail support
Important notice:
Due to ongoing technical maintenance, we regret that this service will not be available from 19:00 CET on 02.11.12 until 03:00 CET on 05.11.12.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
Important notice:
Due to ongoing technical maintenance, we regret that this service will not be available from 19:00 CET on 02.11.12 until 03:00 CET on 05.11.12.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.
UPDATE 03-Dec-2012
Realising that the above was Canon's way of saying, "I'm not listening!" I decided to send my note to them again:-
This 10-month old printer will no longer feed the paper from the tray. This is exactly the same problem that my previous photo printer developed; it was a Selphy CP740. I feel like such a twit for trusting in Canon again and buying the newer model in the hope that it would work better.
This sort of design fault is inexcusable. What is also inexcusable are your hours of availability for telephone support, namely Mon to Fri 0900hrs to 1700hrs - when most people are at work and thus not in a position to call a tech support line. Indeed you have reduced your telephone hours by 2 hours per day since last year. What quiet days you must have on the phones in the Support Department.
I have described the problem in detail in my blog:-
- here http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=94
- and here: http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=107
I just wanted to print a photograph for my son. I have spent good money on two of your supposedly easy-to-use printers and I am thoroughly dissatisfied.
The CP800 has gone back to you via the high street shop where it was bought. Two weeks on and I have receivd no information about the product, except that it is "still with Canon" when I called to find out the status.
This sort of design fault is inexcusable. What is also inexcusable are your hours of availability for telephone support, namely Mon to Fri 0900hrs to 1700hrs - when most people are at work and thus not in a position to call a tech support line. Indeed you have reduced your telephone hours by 2 hours per day since last year. What quiet days you must have on the phones in the Support Department.
I have described the problem in detail in my blog:-
- here http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=94
- and here: http://www.blogrant.co.uk/ViewItem.asp?Entry=107
I just wanted to print a photograph for my son. I have spent good money on two of your supposedly easy-to-use printers and I am thoroughly dissatisfied.
The CP800 has gone back to you via the high street shop where it was bought. Two weeks on and I have receivd no information about the product, except that it is "still with Canon" when I called to find out the status.
This time I got a more positive web page as a response. Apparently I have a Serice Request ID":-
"Your Service Request ID is:1-627760970"
