Faulty Canon IXUS camera - engineer report needed

ohab

I bought a Canon IXUS digital camera 22 months ago for £150 from PC World. It no longer works unfortunately - the fault when being turned on reads : lens error restart camera.

In order for it to be considered for replacement / repair under the Sale of Goods Act, PC World have advised me to obtain an engineers report detailing the nature of the fault - in essence, if it is wear and tear, then as I understand it, it won't be covered by SOGA. I asked if they had any engineers to recommend, but drew a blank response. All that they require is a report on company headed paper, detailing the engineer and their qualifications, together with a contact number. I of course have to pay to obtain the report, but, on the rare occasion the situation is upheld, the money would be paid back.

Does anyone know of an engineer / company that can do this sort of thing?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

somethingcorporate

When I worked in Jessops we used to get asked this a lot. Either ask in a a local camera shop or pop in and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Lirin

Engineer's report will be around £100-£150- those are the current prices nearest me. There are a few places that will do for less, but repair is specialised, and takes a while.... An MIIE engineer could do it for you.
IXUS are prone to lens errors, they have a double encased barrel system to make the lenses stronger but a weaker mount. If the camera's dropped, lens tapped hard (believe me, takes very little), it's usually enough to throw the barrel out and cause it to stick. Even very slightly sticking or rubbing can bring up the lens error, so can a grain of sand, if near the sea salt or moisture damage......

I'm not saying you've dropped or damaged it- just that it's very easily done usually, and will be something PC World will use to argue.

I've normally cut out the middleman and would go back to Canon- they will charge a repair fee, voided if it's a genuine fault and not an operator fault, but I've usually found them very nice to deal with.

deanos

Cant PCW sent it to there own engineers, in other threads i have read about Currys they charge £60 for the report on TV's and they do in in-house, PCW are part of the same group and use the same engineers etc

Hintza

http://www.ajjohnstone.co.uk/

Send it to these guys.

However you had better be sure you haven't dropped it or got sand in the lens, they will know.

Lirin

Once had a guy try return a camera to a shop I worked in- he'd owned it for half an hour.

When we took the batteries out, water flooded out. He'd put the camera in his backpack, under a 2ltr bottle of water which leaked all over it.....

ohab

All very useful - and constructive. Thank you.