I got my camera back today! Hooray!

I kept copious notes of the whole process, for the benefit of other Canon users who may run into the “E18” error that ***I experienced|http://prwdot.org/?p=archives/001725***:

The Timeline

April 19: I contacted Canon customer service, and spoke to a representative named Donna. After discussing the E18 error on my camera, she entered my personal information into their system, and told me to send the camera in to the Powershot service center, using a traceable, insured shipment method, along with a letter explaining the problem and a copy of the original receipt. As my camera was still under its original 1-year warranty, she said that the problem would most likely be fixed at no charge to me.

April 20: Sent camera via FedEx 2 Day from Mail Boxes, Etc. I included a detailed letter which noted the name of the representative I spoke to, all of my contact information, and the serial number of the camera which I was sending.

April 22: Camera delivered to service center in Elk Grove Village, IL

April 26: Canon performs initial inspection and evaluation of camera.

April 28: Canon completes their repairs to my camera.

April 29: I receive an acknowledgement from Canon that they will be performing the repairs to my camera at no charge to me, under the terms of the 1-year warranty.

also on April 29: Canon sends my repaired camera via FedEx 2-Day.

May 3: FedEx attempts to deliver package to our apartment, but nobody is home, so they leave a Door Tag.

May 4: We sign the Door Tag and FedEx leaves the package later in the day.

The Results!!

I must say, Canon was very meticulous in repairing and returning my camera. Not only did they return the camera, but they also returned the letter and receipt I had originally sent. In addition, they removed the mailing label from the package I had sent, and returned it in their package.

They included a letter with their package, with details of the service they performed. A couple of excerpts:

“The service on your equipment has been completed. As part of Canon’s commitment to its customers, you can be assured that your eequipment has been returned to Factory Specifications.”

“Replaced the optical unit.adjusted,updated,cleaned and ck all functions.”

Canon seems to have done an excellent job bringing the camera back to factory specifications. In fact, it is performing even better than before. When the lens retracts, extends, and zooms, it’s much quieter and smoother than it was when I originally purchased it.

Now that I have had the camera repaired through the warranty, it has a new “repair warranty” which lasts for the next three months. So hopefully, if anything else happens to the camera, it will be soon. I expect that it will be fine, as long as I don’t drop it or bump it or anything like that.

Let the [digital] photography resume! 🙂