More Issues With the Canon Camera

Anyone in-the-know will understand how much trouble I’ve had with canon Ixus Izoom cameras.  I’ll say from the start I think they’re great because they start up quickly, are small enough to fit in my pocket and take really good photos, but unfortunately I’ve found the overall quality somewhat lacking.

The fun all started around last May when I brought a black one at one of the better camera shops in Hong Kong.  It worked really well for the first few weeks, but after a while when I turned it on it would show a “change the battery pack” error and shut down.  Through trial and error I figured out you can flick the battery thing open, take the battery out, put it back in, and suddenly the camera works (although sometimes I had to do this three or four times). 

This all got frustrating very quickly so I went to visit the shop for a new one, and was told that with Canon, there are no replacements for the Izoom and I had to take it to the repair centre myself.  Which I did, meaning two trips to the store and a week without a camera while it was being fixed.  To their credit they did a great job at repairing it, no more battery pack errors and it fired up every time.  To my dismay I lost it in a bar shortly after that, meaning pretty much all my efforts at getting it fixed had been wasted.

Zoom forward a few months, I’ve moved to London and need a new camera to take some pictures of Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace and the local Walkabout to send to my Mum back home.  I head to Tottenham Court Road, find a store, and whack down some cold hard cash (plastic) for a brand spaking new Ixus Izoom (if you’re thinking I’m mad given the problems with the first one, see my comments for buying it in the first place). 

The new one worked really well and without any issues for a while, then developed the same “change the battery pack” error.  I was horrified.  Two out of two cameras with exactly the same error?  Coincidence?  It couldn’t be happening!  To make it even worse the new one has some error messages the first one didn’t, namely the “E14” one that stops it from starting up as well.

Fast forward a few more months to earlier this week and I finally got around to fixing the new one (bit worried I’ll lose this one if it gets fixed too, same as the last one), I mailed Canon and await their response.  Here’s what I wrote:

Hello,

I have an Ixus I-zoom, which when turned on sometimes displays the "change the battery pack" error.  If I open the battery pack, remove the battery, then try again, the camera normally starts up (although sometimes this is after three or four tries of removing the battery).  On rare occasions, I get an "E14" error message, but the camera normally works fine the next time I try and turn it on after that particular error message.

Can you please tell me what I need to do to have this error fixed?

Unfortunately, this is not the first time I’ve had to repair a Canon camera with these errors because I had an identical camera last year with the same ones (particularly “change the battery pack”).  It went into the Canon shop for a week for repairs and worked fine afterwards, unfortunately it was lost shortly after that.  I find that when the iZoom works it is a very good camera so I brought another one, however I’m sure you can my disappointment at having the same error in the new one I’ve purchased over a year later, and having to go through the same process for getting it repaired.

Any suggestions you can offer in how I can have this error corrected (even allowing me to mail it to you for repair instead of having to go back to the shop) would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Saltwater

Let’s see what they come back with.  In the meantime, buyers beware!

Comments

[Saltwater]

Yeah I know what you mean, Aussie girls rock. P.s. I'm a bloke, not a chick though!!

[LeOgAhEr]

I Love you girls

Buy

[Saltwater]

Hmmm Canon replied. They're not giving me a new camera, but it turns out I can post it away for repair after all. I can feel a battle about who's paying the postage coming on.

Dear Customer,

In response to your recent enquiry with the Canon helpdesk, as it appears to be a hardware fault with the camera' please find below the list with the authorized service centers and the packaging instructions:

Packaging advice for returning products:
- Take note of your serial number
- Pack it very carefully and make sure it is covered by insurance
- Please ensure you enclose the following:
o The bill of sale and/or warranty details in case the product is under warranty
o Details of the fault/instructions for repair
o Your name and complete address details for the return of your product

A.J.Johnstone & Company Limited
395-399 Central Chambers
93 Hope Street
Glasgow
G2 6LD

Tel: 0141 221 2106
Fax: 0141 221 9166
Web: www.ajjohnstone.co.uk

Colchester Camera Repairs
6 Kings Court
Off Newcomen Way
Severalls Business Park
Colchester
CO4 9RA

Tel: 01206 843 322
Fax: 01206 843 323
Web: http://www.camera-repair.co.uk

H. Lehmann Limited
247-249 London Road
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 5AA

Tel: 01782 413 611
Fax: 01782 744 579
Web: www.lehmannsdirect.co.uk

Canon Ireland Ltd
Arena Road
Sandyford Industrial Estate
Dublin 18

Tel: 01 205 2400
Fax: 01 295 8141
Web: www.canon.ie

Yours sincerely,

Canon Support Centre

Should our answer not fully resolve your problem, please feel free to either re-submit a new query by clicking here, or alternatively call our support helpdesk at 08705 143 723 Monday to Friday from 9:00AM to 5:30PM stating the 7 digit reference number in the subject of this email.

We aim to answer queries as soon as possible. Responses on average take 2 to 3 business days (or the next working day if submitting on a weekend or public holiday).