Does it pay to mail off a camera for repair?

[BridgeTea]

I miss my camera! It got dropped on the cement porch by a little ornithology enthusiast I know and love. She was trying to hook it up to a tripod for her bird shots when it bounced off the cement. :glare: It's a digital, a Canon PowerShot SX110 IS, and while I know nothing about photography, this camera was easy for this techno-dinosaur to use.

 

I am in the boonies, with one camera shop an hour away. Without a clue what could possibly be wrong with it (it powers on but then nothing), how do I "talk" to one of the gazillion mail-away repair places? It looks like they want a ba$ic amount to just look at it (understandable), but then what? How quickly might the price for repair and mailing jump up to the cost of a new camera, which IIRC would be $250.?

 

Any advice? Mail off and hope I don't get soaked, or suck it up and buy a new one?

Thanks!

[RegGuheert]

Bummer. I would purchase a new one. The camera you have is $129 shipped from Amazon right now. Sorry.

[BridgeTea]

Reg, your link went to a different camera, but I appreciate you checking for me. My model is $300. on there today.

 

I still will probably end up buying a new one. I just can't see sending off the camera along with $78 to look at it, followed by who knows what for a repair bill. Sigh...we were rough on electronics at our house this year. I lost my laptop, also, which won't be replaced anytime soon, and we had to get a new DVD player. Hey, at least MrTea is employed, and for that I am definitely grateful.

 

Well, I am really just wishing I could join in the photo threads here and on another forum. We got some awesome snow today and I want to share, too, darnit!

[tuckabella]

The battery died on our camera while the lens was still sticking out. DH put in on the seat, forgot about it, and then sat on it. I brought it to a camera repair place today and they said it's $90 to fix/look at it if simple, but it's about $120 for the camera to get a new one. I will be purchasing a new one.

If I were you, I would wait until a trip to the city was planned (if you have another camera, that is).

 

So sorry!

[BridgeTea]

Tuck, sorry about your camera, as well. I hope you get a replacement soon!

 

Well, I've had to save for way more important things. I can do it again. =)

[plimsoll]

I looked at B&H Photo Video (one of two mail order places I use - the other is Adorama Camera) - the newer model of your camera, the Canon Powershot SX120 IS, is available for 200.00. Here's a link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/643182-REG/Canon_3190B001_PowerShot_SX110_IS_Digital.html

[courtney.byrum]

I looked at B&H Photo Video (one of two mail order places I use - the other is Adorama Camera) - the newer model of your camera, the Canon Powershot SX120 IS, is available for 200.00. Here's a link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/643182-REG/Canon_3190B001_PowerShot_SX110_IS_Digital.html

 

Same price at Best Buy too.

 

We paid for the service/warranty through BB when we bought our camera almost 3 yrs ago and when DS decided to kick it this spring the warranty came in handy. Ours would take pictures but the viewfinder was a mess, super blurry. They sent it off to repair for free and I had it back within 2 weeks I think. We have a Canon Powershot S3 IS.

[Tam101]

Call Cannon directly! I got through right away when I had a question about repairing my daughters camera. They were very quick and responsive!!! It was only a little over a week from the time I put in the mail till we had the camera back. Hers was still under warranty and all it cost us was postage.

[Karen FL]

My son dropped my Kodak camera on cement too. I mailed it away for repairing. It was only two weeks old. My son handed it to me and let go too quickly. :( It worked for eight more months and then it stopped working. I paid $69 for the repair. They returned the camera to me in a bout ten days. For me, it was worth eight more months since it was a brand new camera.

 

Now I have a Cannon. :)

Edited December 10, 2009 by Karen FL
Let out a fact.

[BridgeTea]

Plimsoll and Courtney: Thank you for the info on the 120 model. If I buy new, yes, that's the one I'll go with, so thank you for the heads up on the price. I hadn't gotten that far yet. :)

 

I've never been a "pay extra for the extended warranty" person, and now it's biting me in the patootie. I need to start rethinking that. I think I'm just old enough that it seemed like stuff used to last forever, so I am always a little shocked that stuff breaks so easy nowadays. (First microwave and coffee pot lasted 20 years. Now I'm lucky if I get more than a couple years out of them.) But bouncing a camera off cement and expecting it to work is probably asking a bit much!

 

I called Canon. The base cost for repairs is $98. for mine. For $200. I can have new...hmm...looks like I'm buying new. With a warranty.

 

Thanks for helping me think this through. I really appreciate it!

 

- Bridget, who loves beans and rice and it's a good thing because I can't stop breaking stuff!

[Tap]

I shipped a camera off for repair several years ago. It came back with a new problem and I didn't realize right away (before digital). They wanted my to reship it back (at my own expense again) and claimed that since it wasn't part of the original repair job, they would charge me the base charge again (maybe $100 then). I decided to just deal with it.

 

It was a huge waste of $$ and time. A $500 camera had over $200 worth of repairs and it still doesn't work right. I hope things have got better since then but it makes me very leery of shipping electronics off for repair.