Thursday, January 15, 2009

I Hope That You Can Help Me


Years ago a teacher that I work with told me about a little trick she used to get results when needing help for a problem. It is like this, when someone answers the phone....Hi, this is Heather, how can I help you?....You say their name and then this...."I hope that you can help me."
Well naturally that person wants to be the one to help you and it works every time.

Except for my camera.

I bought my camera back in August. I was in love. It had zoom! But I noticed right away that I was getting a ton of blurry shots. Pictures that should have been pretty easy were all blurry. The trouble was every once in a while I would get an amazing shot.
Like this....

or this....
And my all time favorite picture....

But for every one of those, there were 50 ones that were blurry or soft. Shots the camera should have gotten but were missed and gone forever.
I was convinced it was something I was doing wrong so I let my son and his girlfriend check it out over Thanksgiving. They had the same results so I came home ready to take the lemon back. I marched into Target and said to the manager, "I hope that you can help me."
She smiled really big, eager to be the one to help me. Then took one look at my receipt and said that she could have helped me 10 days ago but not today. And she wouldn't budge. I would have to send the camera back to Canon.
I came home and called Canon. So of course I said, "I hope that you can help me." Sure enough if a gal named Heather didn't fall all over herself trying to be the one to help me. We troubleshooted and it was determined that the camera needed to take a trip to the Canon repair shop. She would send me a shipping label.
A few days go by and no shipping label. I call Canon and get a very disagreeable young man named David that told me that they never send you a shipping label. It was against company policy...and could I hold.
So I held.
He came back on the line to tell me that they would go ahead and send one but, once again, it is against their policy.
Off to Canon my camera went. They replaced the lens. The camera came back and I couldn't wait to start taking pictures. But still a lot of blurry pictures. My son thought it sounded like something was wrong with the shutter. It was so slow you could hear it clunk open and closed.
I call Canon again and threw out my best, "I hope that you can help me, Harry"
Well Harry had better things to do than help me. The boredom oozed from his mouth. So I hung up and called back hoping to get someone that would be dying to "help me".
I got Vicki. Oh she was dying to help me all right but this time I am asking for my money back or at least a new camera. So she called in the supervisor.

"I hope that you can help me."

Well Mike had heard it all before. He wasn't going to let this middle-aged woman get the best of him. I asked for my money back. I asked for a new camera. It didn't go well.
Let's just say it ended up with me telling him all about how bad the guys that I had talked to treated me compared to the gals. (Hubby said the guy probably thought I was some man-hater)
Once again they were sending me a shipping label. Apparently Mike didn't know it was against company policy either.
After I got off the phone, my son said, "It's time to stop the I hope that you can help me bit and start getting mad."
But that's hard for me.
So I turned to Hubby and said, "I hope that you can help me."

22 comments:

dina said...

I feel your pain!!!

I bought a highly touted Canon camera, too. This after several years of VERY happy use with my little Kodak camera that fits so nicely in my jeans pocket or my purse without half a thought...

I admit it - someone told me Canon was supposed to be the best - and I should do some research - so I did. I was duly impressed, and since my camera had bit the big one (compliments of one of my teenagers and a bucket of water) - I stopped by Costco one day and picked one up.

BAD IDEA.

I love the Costco 90 day thing. It really is amazing. So yeah - same story as you - only I took it back to Costco - they happily handed me my money back, and then I went home and ordered my new Kodak digital camera online!

Sorry you've gone through all of this!

Anonymous said...

Advice from my dad has always been, Don't Buy Canon. So I don't. My friend Anette has a Canon camera (which she bought because of its fabulous zoom!) and she was in love - but just a few weeks ago, it started to making crunching sounds. Sony is great, except they make it difficult to work with any other software than their own (the Microsoft syndrome).

Advice from Africa: Don't get mad, you don't need that. Just call back and ask to talk to someone with responsibility and tell him that the product has let you down (big time) and that the world is following through your blog.

This post is bad PR for Canon.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Forget the "Hope" business. Tell 'em, "I KNOW that you WILL help me...Buster!"

Kind of along the same lines as The Secret. Be a magnet for good things. :)

I love my Canon Powershot. This is my second one (my first one was stolen), and so far so good. I do find that sometimes by using macro, I avoid getting blurry shots. Oh, and holding the shutter button down lon enough for the auto-focus to do it's job is helpful, too.

I hope you can get your camera woes solved soon. So frustrating.

~Rapunzle

Anonymous said...

I thought I was smart and researched online about the best camera. Canon Powershot came up and I ordered it.
I have blurry photos too. Some good ones and then a lot of blurry ones.
I still have it. I also still have my first digital, my ole Kodak easyshare that the zoom doesn't work on, but it still makes better pictures than the Canon.
Life!!
I hope you get your camera working correctly or they send you a new one.
Pam

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

My Canon's have done that too, never had it start as early as youre, mine are after a few months or so. I paid then whe I sent 'em back to factory and they'd still come back messed up.

I'm using a Panasonic Lumix now, it's got a Leica lens which is excellent.
http://tinyurl.com/6x8v98
The LUMIX DMC-FZ28 digital camera boasts a premium 27mm wide-angle LEICA lens with an 18x optical zoom, ideal for tight indoor shots and long-distance action photos. The 10.1 mega pixel digital camera also features an enhanced Intelligent Auto Mode (iA), with the new AF (auto focus) Tracking function, making it easier for photographers at any level to shoot sharp, well-focused photos, even when the subject is moving making it ideal for action shots.

Heidi said...

Your the hopeless sweetheart arnt you!!! LOL more bees with honey - I always say WHO WANTS BEES!!! LOL Results are MUCH BETTER!!! LOL hope you get 'helped' LOL

Anonymous said...

I first had a Fujifilm which I still have, a Sanyo which I still have and now a Kodak Easy Share which I love it, it does good pictures and I love that I can do black and white or sepia if I want to and it has a lot of nice features on it!

MaskedMan said...

I love it - Not your angst, but the common theme, turning into a punchline. Nice writing!

Meanwhile, I daresay I hope your husband *can* help you; you've gotten a lemmon, and any reasonably intelligent company should know that the way they respond has a major impact on their company's reputation. Apparently, though, that thought hasn't penetrated everyone's mind.
:-p

Danni said...

Wow - that is SO disappointing. I love my Canon (EOS Rebel XTi) - I had gotten a Pentax but the autofocus kept doing crazy things (in/out/in/out) so back it went (I, too, love Costco's 90 day return policy) and I replaced it w/my Canon. But I also have another one, my handy, I-go-no-where-without-it-in-my-back-pocket Casio (another Costco special).
Kudos to you for being persistent - don't let other people's apathy get the best of you. Keep at it. They should have refunded your money a long time ago. Sadly, it takes so much time and energy these days to get the customer service everyone deserves.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you. :-)

Stephanie said...

Next time you (or Hubby) talk to someone at Canon to deal with this, politely remind them that this is not at all your fault. It is 100% their problem; a lemon followed by poor customer service. Not good for business if you ask me.

goatgirl said...

Dina, Yeah I'm a huge fan of Costco too. But they didn't have this camera and for some reason I just had to have this one. Target has the same 90 day policy....I was trying to take it back at 100 days. A huge difference:)

Esther, I will give my son the same advice as your dad gave you, "Don't buy Canon"
My camera is at Canon right now so if this doesn't work I will take your advice.

Lisa, Now that's the bad part about the camera. The auto-focus was telling me it was ready to take a picture and it would still be blurry. A lot of the time it just couldn't lock onto what I wanted to take a picture of. And the macro didn't seem to work at all. Every time I'd use the macro to take a picture of a flower....blurry. Thanks for your camera support. Funny how we love our cameras. They are our memory.

gafarmwoman, I had a camera that was a hand-me-down that my son gave me and it worked ok but I wanted zoom. When that camera was stolen in our truck I bought this one. It came highly recommended.
I think I just got a lemon. How are the biddies?

Joanna, So I'm not alone. I am afraid mine will come back more messed up than when it went. It could get dropped in shipping. I should have stuck with disposables.

Heidi, I think you should call them for me.

Amy, I told the guy at Canon that I tried out a Kodak camera that worked better than the Canon. It had no trouble focusing.
And I just love a sepia photo.

Masked Man, Why thank you. I'm here to entertain.
They had roller coaster customer service. Really good then really bad depending on who answered the phone.

farmgirl, Give me a minute and I will think of a way you can help. I think I need a pocket camera too.

Goldilocks, "a lemon followed by poor customer service" I'm going to use that line when I call them back.

But for right now the camera is back at Canon. They emailed and said they are repairing it and I should get it back in a few days.

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain. I just recently bought an expensive Kodak off of Ebay and was very unimpressed with the quality of the photos. Luckily the company I purchased it from replaced it and the new one is perfect.

I hope your husband decides to help you. I love the way you turned it around on him!

Sally said...

I love how you write. Remember, the customer is supposed to always be right. Hang in there.

Marigold said...

You go girl! What else are those bucks...er, men, good for? :) Did he help you????

@JDHealingTimeOnEarth said...

Hope you're back in the picture biz soon, Wendy. The frustration would be my undoing!

frugalmom said...

Ugh. And all you want is a camera that actually works and does what its supposed to. Hopefully this all gets worked out soon.

hendersonhoundsofga said...

I have never read a blog until I came across this one......

A discovery that was the result of scouring the web looking for information on being a first time goat owner. Being a multi-animal household (to date: 7 Coonhounds, 2 three-legged Jack Rat's, 2 dogs of undeterminable parentage, 3 cats and now 2 Nubian goats) it's nice to hear words from a kindred spirit. Your love for your animals is evident and your ability to make people laugh and smile a talent. Keep up the good work!

Good luck with your camera situation. I will be staying tuned!

P.s. Also, I would love any advice you or your readers have for goat rearing!

Gone2theDawgs said...

I'm the same way you are....it's hard for me not to be polite. I do wonder if I were to act more irritated if I would accomplish more though.
I hope your camera problem gets remedied....I have a Canon and it's been good so far....it doesn't sound like they have too good of reputation with most people though!

Cheryl Ann said...

I have a Canon and a little Nikon. After using my Canon for several years, I LOVE the little Nikon that I can put in my pocket! I'm about ready for a new camera! NOT another Canon...hubby is looking at Olympus.

Anonymous said...

I have a canon powershot and I love it. It does sometimes not focus o the right thinng though and I feel sometimes like I can not hold it still enough to get a good picture. but other times I get really great ones. It souds like you got a lemon!

http://sprucehill.typepad.com/

Jennifer said...

I am sorry for your frustration! My husband dropped our camera and it broke. Accident but I wanted to buy one from wal-mart or someplace where if it was a lemon at least we could take it back, but he insisted we buy one from e-bay and save some money. Well after having it a few weeks, I am not happy with the camera we got, it seems to take a lot of blurry and poor quality pictures too! I do have to say though that the pictures of yours that turned out are truly beautiful! I loved the pictures on your blog, they are great!

goatgirl said...

The camera is back from Canon. They replaced the lense...again.
We shall see, we shall see.