This is the second installment of my broken Canon 24-105mm F4L lens and associated err 01.
So I took my lens into the Indonesian authorised repairer of Canon products called Datascrip today in the city of Bandung and I had a very poor experience. Very poor.
As I expected, they need to take the lens away and conduct diagnostics on it to determine the exact nature of the fault. Also as expected, they wanted a flat fee for this diagnostic check. But what was unexpected was the size of the fee and a little quirk that I’ll get to in a moment. Firstly about the fee. The minimum wage in Indonesia is about $120 per month. As skilled workers, the technicians looking at my camera would be lucky to get anywhere near $500 per month. I’m already 95% certain of the fault in my camera and I am not a lens expert. Yet the repair centre wants to charge $75 or the equivalent of 1/3 of a month of labour at minimum wage or 3.5 days labour at the higher salary.
Well, if that was the end of it, I’d probably complain anyway, but it isn’t. The quirk is that because I bought the lens outside of Indonesia, Canon’s authorised repairer Datascrip doubles the labour charge. Essentially an extra fee for being a white guy as no Indonesians are going to buy their gear overseas as it’s already cheap here. So the price becomes $150 and we don’t even know what the fault is yet. That is how much my housekeeper gets paid for 3 months of work. That’s more than what a department store worker gets in a month. Hell, it’s more than what the person serving me at the counter gets in one month. It borders on stealing. And people don’t forget when they are treated poorly. Canon is treating its customers in Indonesia poorly.
The other thing is that it will take 2 weeks for them to figure out what the problem is. So I buy a professional lens and it breaks in a manner that it shouldn’t. That sucks hard. Secondly, Canon wants to charge me exhorbitant prices for diagnostics and possible repair, far above going rates in Indonesia. Angry. Thirdly, they don’t want to provide a speedy service — instead they are going to take all that money of mine and then take their sweet old time. Well I have this to say to you Canon. Fuck you.
More to come if and when they decide to tell me what the problem is.
19 June 2014 – The other day I found a guy who can repair this error for $18 plus parts! He’s located in the Indonesian city of Bandung and the name of the shop is Toto Camera and Lens Serivce. Address is Jl. Laswi (between Jalan Gatot Subroto and the railway line – enter the alleyway next to the photo shop which is on the west side of the road. This photo shop is not Toto. Follow the river until the bridge and turn right. Continue ahead down that alley until you see the camera repair sign) Telp. 022. 7330 738 0812 2030 202
3 replies on “Canon 24-105mm F4L – The Repair”
That would launch me into a tirade of epic proportions. Thanks for bringing attention to this corporate greed.
Yeah, upset me a bit. 🙂 The most frustrating thing is there is no way around it. Quite often you can do things in the cheap, but this time no. Unless I was willing to take it an unauthorized repairer in which case anything is possible.
Most after sales in Indonesia is utter crap, that is why Canon cameras and lens are cheaper in Indonesia compared to Singapore. I am pretty sure Datascript do not have the latest high tech equipment as Canon Singapore. I’ve heard nightmares on how people wanted to fix their lens and came out worst, one guy had his 70-200 2.8L Mk2 fixed at datascript but now the problem is that the lens won’t open at 2.8! amazing! so in it goes until God knows when or what’s wrong with it. Warranties in Indonesia is a crap shoot and I bet if you have stuff from Panasonic, Sony, Olympus they would just hold on to your stuff and give an excuse of “We are waiting for the parts from Singapore”
My suggestion is to get a cheap flight to Singapore and go to the Canon Service Center at Keppel building. Take a morning flight at 6 a.m, go straight to Canon, and they will informed you in about 1 hour of what’s wrong with your lens. They are waaaay more professional than Datascript.