Sam can't get his 6-month-old Casio camera repaired under warranty because Casio's U.S. repair center says the camera has been opened. Sam writes that he's even sent in copies of his fingerprints to compare to the inside of the camera, but so far Casio won't budge. We have a particular dislike of Casio and won't buy from them again due to their incompetent repair facilities, so we sympathize with you, Sam. Since he's getting nowhere with Casio's customer service, he's written the following letter to their Executive Customer Service and their Complaints Department in Japan.
]]>Sent via Fax & Mail to: 973-537-8972 (Casio- Dover, NJ)
Sent Via Mail to: 6-2, Hon-machi 1-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8543, Japan
To: Casio President Kazuo Kashio, Executive Customer Service, and Complaints Department:On April 24, 2008 I purchased a Casio EX-F1 camera from Sandrian Camera shop in Clinton, NJ (USA). I loved the form factor and the capabilities of this truly remarkable product. On October 5,2008 I tried turning on the power to my camera. It would not power on and only a red status light would blink on and off. As the camera was only six months old I took comfort in the fact that I had bought it new from an authorized Casio camera shop, thus the 1 year warranty would cover this glitch.
After contacting Casio I was instructed to send in the camera, insured, at my expense to Casio's repair center in Dover, NJ (USA). About five days later I was sent an email stating that the estimated cost of repair is $470.75. Assuming this had to be a mistake I called up Casio only to be told that the warranty is voided because the camera appeared to be dissembled and a finger print is located inside. Outraged, I began a search to contact some level of executive customer service or higher management in Casio.
Eventually after leaving messages with Casio's technical representative and customer service I was told that a senior technician would take a second look at the camera. Two days later I received a phone call from Adrienne, a customer service rep telling me that Casio would not honor the warranty and my two options are to pay $14.95 to have the broken camera shipped back or pay $470.75 to have the camera repaired. Either way my camera's warranty is voided.
As a consumer and avid Casio camera user (numerous of the exlim series) I took a chance and immediately bought your flagship camera immediately after it came out. I now fear this to be a mistake. On both fronts I am at a loss to Casio's position to not stand by their product and to not honor the warranty. Now my only options are to pay for a camera that should not have been broken in the first place, and not have any warranty on it? I did not open the camera at any point in my short six months of ownership. I did not let anyone open the camera, and it has always been in my direct possession.
Using logic, why would any one open up a $1000.00US camera that is covered under warranty? I am not a technical person, I am a marketing manger, I wouldn't even know how to open it.
I bought the camera brand new and I can have, if necessary the camera shop (Sandrian, Clinton NJ) write a letter stating they sold me a brand new camera. Casio should stand on its reputation and stand behind its product and once again restore a consumers faith to purchase Casio products again, which I am confident Casio will do.
Left with no choice I will have open up a case with the Better Business Bureau (USA). I am consumer looking for options as I have reached no resolution with Casio. As an avid camera user I am a member of numerous web blogs, camera groups and consumer protection websites. While I am sure my case is an isolated one, I will begin to explain my predicament and course of action to [anyone] who will listen. As a consumer, how can I stand behind any Casio product in the future if I know for 100% fact I never opened the camera, [never] gave it to anyone to open, and bought the camera brand new from an authorized agent? I purchased your flagship camera in the correct manner (not grey market), and I have followed the correct channels to have the camera replaced, and all Casio has told me is either pay $14.95 to ship back my broken camera or pay $470.75 to have it repaired (again with a voided warranty, when in reality it that should have more then 6 month left on it ).
I am looking for any assistance. I hope I can resolve this issue with Casio as soon as possible and once again restore my faith to continue to recommend and purchase your products (as I have avidly done in the past). I simply want a 100% functioning Casio Ex-F1 with full intact warranty. If there are components inside my camera that Casio would not represent as a brand new (when I purchased it), I expect Casio to replace the camera with a brand new one. I took a chance in buying Casio's first attempt into entering a higher end camera market. I hope that I can continue to do as I had in the past and voice positive remarks and convince others with my opinions to purchase your products.
Thank you for you time.
Sam
Casio Camera user since 2002
I bought this camera only to discover their 1080i claim is a joke - try editing one of "their" 1080i files - good luck!
The way to get even for their scam is to sue, but sue them in small claims for 2-3 times the amount of the camera; you just need to look up which state their US operations are headquartered in, then go to the secretary of state website and look up their "service agent." Send your small claims notice to them after writing a letter (to which they likely won't respond). Go to court. If they do not show up, the judge will likely award you the full amount of your claim. Since Casio doesn't have sovereign stores, you could either put a lien against one of their properties, or legally seize real property from their distribution plant, say cameras or something - that will certainly get their attention. Be sure to call the press when you enter there premises with the sheriff in tow. You may suddenly find a bend over backward apology from those at Casio who (of course) "had no idea that you were being mistreated." Good luck.
]]>I am feeling the same pain you went through with Casio Customer Service.
My daughter's Casio Z80 was only 5 months old when it failed. I returned it and they will not cover it under warranty.
I too spoke with Adrienne and according to her she spoke with upper management ( assume either melissa or Benson)and they still would not honor the warranty.
What I can not believe is that they would go out of there way to have such poor customer service. For them the camera probably only cost a few dollars. So instead of satisfying a customer, they prefer to anger them.
]]>It seems like they are being really penny wise and pound foolish, as you can see a general air of customer service that punishes the customer for buying their product.
]]>The funny part is, if you were to sue them in small claims court. And the finks didn't settle before trial. They would have to bring proof that the end user had opened the camera. Would be pretty easy to do with a fingerprint. I'm fairly certain there are fingerprint analysts that work freelance. Of course usually when a company comes up with a BS excuse for voiding your warranty and you sue in retaliation they become VERY apologetic.
Mind you though, alot of these repair facilities are just third party contractors and aren't involved with the main company (even if they make it transparent). I bet these service centers get a kickback for denied warranty claims.
]]>First off thank you consumerist for publishing my story. I have been in contact with the highest levels of Casio America and they will be covering my claim under warranty. Once the right people found out things moved around quickly. I spoke to Benson and Melissa from the Dover Office NJ and they have really worked everything out. Please keep up the great work with the website you put power back in the consumers hands.
Sam
It doesn't seem like your camera is on the list. You might give it a try anyways. Also, Canon has a customer loyalty program that allows you to exchange old (broken) cameras for refurbished older generation (one model behind) cameras for excellent prices:
]]>Yeah, but can it take 60 frames per second? It also takes high speed video. This Casio camera is a very niche camera.
]]>There are ample resources online for "Repair Manuals" and you can use this as a guide for accurately disassembling your equipment.
When I dropped my Nikon Coolpix a few years back, I suffered with the lack of backlight for a few months. Then I searched out a repair manual in effort to see if I could swap out some parts. I bought a broken one on ebay for $5, replaced the screen and resold the parts camera to others for like $10.
When it came time to replace it, I sold it on ebay for $100 because it was completely functional and still took great pictures.
Obviously the repair techs can put them back together, so there has to be instructions somewhere!
]]>How is a broken lcd the company trying to get one over on you? They can go out, or get dead pixels, but they will not break essentially it's liquid sandwiched between a piece of glass and a piece of plastic. what cracks is either the front piece of glass or more often, the back piece of plastic. But they break as often as a window just "breaks." It's one of those things that are virtually impossible. When I worked at HP the only way you would get a free lcd if you sent in your laptop with a broken one was to have the enhanced damage protection plan. And before anyone tries to use a BS "it got hot and cracked" excuse, there would be other melted parts on the computer before that would happen as the back plastic doesn't crack when it gets hot, it just melts and won't leave a noticable crack, the front glass is what would crack/spider, but in order for it to get hot enough to make the glass that weak, there would be melted plastic everywhere.
and spill damage was mainly left of to the discretion of an under trained tech. which kinda depended on how much work he wanted to do that day
]]>You know, unless you dropped it, no 35mm SLR made before (let's say) 1990 would require the use of a one-year warranty. We've gone from cameras that didn't need batteries and worked under most conditions without fail to devices that can - after 6 months - completely refused to operate.
For $14, Sam is getting a doorstop returned to him. How ironic.
]]>Message:
I read with great disappointment Casio's stance on the case detailed here:
http://consumerist.com/5062689/casio-voids-warranty-claims-theres-a-fingerprint-inside-new-camera
As a former Casio customer I will now be re-thinking my purchase decisions.
It is interesting to note the positive feedback offered for Canon, Olympus and Nikon.
Doesn't common sense suggest Casio take a different path on this consumer complaint?
--Larry F Alexander
]]>How so?
]]>This is just like the Apple laptop where the tech found "water marks" on the inside of the case and promptly notified the customer they weren't going to cover repairs.
It seems to keep coming down to the customer's word against giant mega-company. Sad, too.....Casio used to be a really cool and innovative company.
]]>There's a difference.
]]>Don't forget they both start with the letters "Ca", as in Calcium
]]>Even more than people tend to purchase cars from the same manufacturer for years unless given a good reason not to, I notice a great affinity for buying the electronics from the same manufacturer. Not only the cards and accessories and cross-compatibility are more consistent, I tend to have less of a learning curve if sticking with similar designs.
HOWEVER- if a company pulls something that I find deeply immoral or dishonorable such as SONY's "rootkit" criminality, Best Buy's thuggery, or an incident like the OP is relaying to us - then that company is on my personal blacklist - avoided unless no other option is available. And, I will share these stories and warnings with friends and families and others. Just hearing what Casio is putting the OP through has given me a good reason to ignore Casio products and also to let others know how Casio is handling their "warranties."
BTW - isn't a "warranty" a legal obligation of the manufacturer? By doing what they have done, wouldn't that be a breach of contract?
]]>Agreed about the Canons, I've used them for years after killing anything SONY and have never been happier with the quality. I have an old S300 that wouldn't die - gave it to my dad, then a couple years later bought him another slimmer Canon and have the fully-functional S300 back.
]]>Then - go buy a Canon or Nikon.
]]>Buddy;
Mine's an A85. At least a dozen PowerShot models were affected; here's a link to Canon's service notice.
The only thing I know about Canon that bugs some people is that if they find dirt or sand in the lens or camera they use that as evidence for not normal wear and tear and refuse the warranty repair.
Casio on the other hand, you need to pay shipping both ways and that crosses the line in my book.
]]>Unlike many of the posters here, I am definitely not a Canon camera fan. A few years ago I purchased a new Canon Optura 20 camcorder. Right after the 1-year warranty expired the iris started sticking wide open, washing out the picture. A Google search showed that many other Optura owners were having the same problem. Obviously, this was a design flaw but Canon denied all responsibility and wanted $200+ for a repair that others who tried it said didn't last. Canon's still cameras might be ok but I'll never know because I'll never buy another Canon camera product.
]]>So far, I am a Canon fan. However, once I learn that Canon is taking the low road, I will look to another brand.
]]>@DrJimmy: I just hope you notice that this was a casio not a canon though teh headline was misleading for a while.
]]>"They are never there to hurt the customer"
That's certainly not true. I used to work for an electronics retailer, and they used -any- excuse to weasel on a warranty. The view was that any time you could deny service, that saved the company money, and the returns people were drilled on all the things to trip people up.
The worse things got financially, the more "creative" they got in denying service to people who had paid for warranties. They denied computer returns for failure to return all the packaging. (ie plastic bags and the diagram sheet that went on top)
At some companies, these things are there to hurt the customer.
That retailer is out of business now. I was so happy to find another job.
]]>Koji Kimura
General Manager of Service Division
Casio America, Inc.
570 Mt. Pleasant Ave.
Dover, NJ 07801
Fax 973-537-8931
]]>@CharlieInSeattle: QFT. You can get an Canon XTI with a few lenses for about 300 less than that at this point.
]]>@DrJimmy: Which powershot? I have an A610 that went south a few weeks ago and I've seen that the problem I'm having is similar to others. I didn't bother to complain because the camera is over 3 years old and I've since upgraded to an XTI.
]]>I LOL'd.
]]>I'm a lifelong Canon man, but service like that is part of why Nikon has been one of the best camera manufacturers for decades.
]]>Canon is repairing my out-of-warranty Powershot digital cam at its own expense; seems a vendor sold them a truckload of faulty sensors.
I've shot Canons since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, and you can have my Canons when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers.
Stick to your guns, Sam. Casio will eventually do the right thing, and probably give you some free stuff too.
]]>@Chris Walters: Thanks... I was shocked since I've had nothing but awesome experiences with the very few unfortunate times requiring a camera serviced by Canon.
]]>*deal - not tell
]]>It's called loss prevention. Somewhere along the way Casio's Operations and/or Accounting people were under fire from Sales because numbers were down and nothing as of yet had been implemented to offset return dollars they were facing each quarter.
Moisture-sensitive labels, tamper-proof labeling, and obvious no-nos in the warranty are ways to prevent over-zealous returns departments and disgruntled workers from hurting the company's bottom line. They are never there to hurt the customer, but sadly they can and when you tell with low to mid-level customer service they can only offer you what they are told to offer you.
In most cases, companies will yield to reason and logic, but you have to present yourself not as a problem but rather a knowledgeable consumer that will not back down until their concern is addressed. This letter sets that tone.
]]>This is another great way for manufactuers to void a warranty without really trying:
You opened it- we found a fingerprint inside.
You spilled liquids in it- the moisture sensor was activated.
You broke the LCD- not covered.
Any one of these are great because as soon as it's your fault, then they get to ship the broken one back and never have to worry about it again.
]]>I can't speak for their cameras, but I love my Casio SK-1 kepboard.
]]>Long story short, they broke the camera at the repair center before they could even look at it, so they sent me a brand new one without me even asking. I just got a letter and a new camera, plus coupons. I was blown away by that.
]]>Sorry everyone, "Canon" was my mistake. I've corrected it, but for some reason Gawker's servers are being very slow to refresh cached posts today (a typo from my first post this morning is still showing up to a lot of readers).
With any luck the corrected Casio-only version will start appearing soon...
]]>Get the CSI: NY folks on this case. But be sure to use the modern day ones, not the crew from Life On Mars, otherwise it will take a couple of weeks to get a result back.
]]>As far as I know, Casio and Cannon are two different companies with both being Japanese being the only connection between them.
]]>The letter should be linked to articles about how to write and effective EECB.
It is thorough, well written and contains a specific and reasonable request and outlines what the consumer may do if not satisfied.
Note that there is no "I'll never buy your crappy product again. You've lost a customer" or similar. Sam makes it clear he was an advocate for Cannon and will continue to be, assuming fufil their warranty obligations.
I hope we'll have a follow up to know if Sam was succesful.
]]>Paint me confused too...I own an awesome Canon and would never use any other camera.
]]>You can't flame the wrong company for another's actions.
]]>