A1 USA's warranty at DVinfo.net

Jason Livingston · December 29th, 2006, 10:30 AM

Can anyone who purchased a XH-A1 in the US tell me if the Canon warranty is an international warranty or USA-only?

I'm living in Japan now but I'm currently in limbo deciding between living in Japan or returning to the US in the near future. I know I want an A1 but I'm having a hard time deciding whether to import an A1 from the US (probably with a Mack extended warranty) or to buy it locally, mostly due to warranty and customs issues.

I know Mack warranties cover 3rd-party repairs abroad, but I'm wondering if Canon Japan would repair a US model under the regular US warranty. I heard from Kaku Ito that the Japanese models come with a Japan-only warranty, so I'm guessing Canon USA won't even try to service a Japanese model. :(

Thanks!

Anthony Leong · December 29th, 2006, 10:54 AM

How long will you be living in Japan? If you decide to live in Japan for a couple of years then it make sense to buy a Canon XH-A1 from Japan. But when I was in Japan in June 2006, it seem to me the Canon gears were more expensive after you exchange the dollars to yens.

Chris Hurd · December 29th, 2006, 11:02 AM

My recommendation is to buy locally in Japan. If you decide to move to the USA, you can simply sell the camera in Japan before you move and pick up a new one in the USA after you get here. Hope this helps,

Matthew Wilson · January 2nd, 2007, 10:34 PM

I recently had an interesting conversation about warranties with a Canon Service Center rep in California. I was asking specifically about how they handle the warranty work on gray market cameras. He told me that as long as one has an invoice showing when and where the camera was purchased, Canon will warranty it, no matter where it was from. I believe his exact words were "As long as it's a Canon product, it's covered." Seemed odd to me so I worked him over pretty good about it and he was firm in his answer. I'd be curious to hear from anyone who has had direct experience in this type of matter.

BTW, the Canon Irvine folks have some of the best customer service I have ever seen, in any field. Took my H1 in for a pixel fix and they went over the whole cam and clean the heads and shipped it back to me in 3 days. They even pay for overnight shipping.

Michael Bartolo · January 3rd, 2007, 01:19 AM

My understanding is the same as Mathew's and is a distinguishing characteristic of Canon products. They seem to be willing to honor the worldwide warranty regardless of where the item is purchased. This is just the opposite of other manufacturers, Nikon in particular, that will not touch in the USA a grey market camera that does not bear USA serial numbers.

Allan Liang · January 3rd, 2007, 02:46 AM

Really? They must be generous over in the states. I just rang up Canon this afternoon enquiring about worldwide warranty, and they said that they didn't do it. Which blows, because I want to buy the XH-A1 from America because I can save about $1500AU.

Brad Tyrrell · January 3rd, 2007, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allan Liang

Really? They must be generous over in the states. I just rang up Canon this afternoon enquiring about worldwide warranty, and they said that they didn't do it. Which blows, because I want to buy the XH-A1 from America because I can save about $1500AU.

S'pose that's why?

December 29th, 2006, 10:30 AM	#1
Jason Livingston Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 71	A1 USA's warranty Can anyone who purchased a XH-A1 in the US tell me if the Canon warranty is an international warranty or USA-only? I'm living in Japan now but I'm currently in limbo deciding between living in Japan or returning to the US in the near future. I know I want an A1 but I'm having a hard time deciding whether to import an A1 from the US (probably with a Mack extended warranty) or to buy it locally, mostly due to warranty and customs issues. I know Mack warranties cover 3rd-party repairs abroad, but I'm wondering if Canon Japan would repair a US model under the regular US warranty. I heard from Kaku Ito that the Japanese models come with a Japan-only warranty, so I'm guessing Canon USA won't even try to service a Japanese model. :( Thanks!

December 29th, 2006, 11:02 AM	#3
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	My recommendation is to buy locally in Japan. If you decide to move to the USA, you can simply sell the camera in Japan before you move and pick up a new one in the USA after you get here. Hope this helps, __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

January 2nd, 2007, 10:34 PM	#4
Matthew Wilson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 259	I recently had an interesting conversation about warranties with a Canon Service Center rep in California. I was asking specifically about how they handle the warranty work on gray market cameras. He told me that as long as one has an invoice showing when and where the camera was purchased, Canon will warranty it, no matter where it was from. I believe his exact words were "As long as it's a Canon product, it's covered." Seemed odd to me so I worked him over pretty good about it and he was firm in his answer. I'd be curious to hear from anyone who has had direct experience in this type of matter. BTW, the Canon Irvine folks have some of the best customer service I have ever seen, in any field. Took my H1 in for a pixel fix and they went over the whole cam and clean the heads and shipped it back to me in 3 days. They even pay for overnight shipping. __________________ MW

December 29th, 2006, 10:54 AM	#2
Anthony Leong Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: United States Posts: 93	How long will you be living in Japan? If you decide to live in Japan for a couple of years then it make sense to buy a Canon XH-A1 from Japan. But when I was in Japan in June 2006, it seem to me the Canon gears were more expensive after you exchange the dollars to yens.

January 3rd, 2007, 01:19 AM	#5
Michael Bartolo New Boot Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 21	My understanding is the same as Mathew's and is a distinguishing characteristic of Canon products. They seem to be willing to honor the worldwide warranty regardless of where the item is purchased. This is just the opposite of other manufacturers, Nikon in particular, that will not touch in the USA a grey market camera that does not bear USA serial numbers.

January 3rd, 2007, 02:46 AM	#6
Allan Liang New Boot Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 9	Really? They must be generous over in the states. I just rang up Canon this afternoon enquiring about worldwide warranty, and they said that they didn't do it. Which blows, because I want to buy the XH-A1 from America because I can save about $1500AU.