Canon L Lens Warranty

[trapper501]

1. Will I be required to pay duty and VAT when I bring it back to the UK. This site http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm#6 suggests I will, but wanted to check.

You will, though in my experience it is an odd system.

We bought a bronze sculpture in Cape Town and were due to pay 5% VAT on it when we returned. We went through the red something to declare channel with all the paperwork, found one guy there on a personal phone call reluctant to give it up. Eventually persuaded him to talk to us and he said to use the phone on the wall. I complained that he could have stopped his call at any time to tell us that, and he asked what it was we were declaring.

When I told him the bill amounted to about £45 he said it wasn't worth the paperwork and told us to carry on out the exit!

Can you still claim your purchase tax back on exit using the system you have for purchasing?

 

[HoppyUK]

Sorry, coming to this late, but can I add two questions:

I might buy a Canon 17-55mm f2.8 lens from Amazon.com, to be sent to friends in the US, who will give it to me on holiday in Canada, from where I'll bring it back to UK.

1. Will I be required to pay duty and VAT when I bring it back to the UK. This site http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm#6 suggests I will, but wanted to check.

As I understand it, lenses do not attract duty although cameras do, but VAT is liable.

2. Will my Canon warranty by useable in UK. The gist of all the above posts seems to be "Yes".

d

The gist of this thread is no. Key factor seems to be the original purchase receipt from a UK address, which you will not have. Technically, your warranty will be with Canon US but there does seem to be an element of discretion about it.

 

[admirable]

1/ I would post the empty box/contents from Canada to your home and them come back with the lens in your kit bag with your camera.

2/ Yes

 

[HoppyUK]

1/ I would post the empty box/contents from Canada to your home and them come back with the lens in your kit bag with your camera.

2/ Yes

Yes? That's not what you said earlier - he will not have a UK receipt?

 

[mho]

All this panic about lens's warranty is not really required, just send your lens into canon and if the date code is within 18 months old they will service it under warranty for you, I have never sent a receipt to canon for a warranty service or repair, and have sent a lot of stuff into them.

They aren't bothered where you bought it from they are just glad it dont say Nikon or something else on it.

 

[HoppyUK]

^^^ Most Canon lenses don't have a date code.

 

[mho]

^^^ Most Canon lenses don't have a date code.

As per the title, were talking about L lens's

 

[trapper501]

^^^ Most Canon lenses don't have a date code.

no, but Ls do and Canon have told me in the past that they operate this way when there is no receipt, though it isn't stated on their website.

Lenses do attract duty by the way, 6.7%, it is the cameras that don't. I say camera rather than body because my understanding is that if the body has a lens the whole camera is duty free. (still pay VAT)

 

[HoppyUK]

no, but Ls do and Canon have told me in the past that they operate this way when there is no receipt, though it isn't stated on their website.

Lenses do attract duty by the way, 6.7%, it is the cameras that don't. I say camera rather than body because my understanding is that if the body has a lens the whole camera is duty free. (still pay VAT)

Oops! Sorry, yes the other way round. Apologies.

 

[admirable]

Yes? That's not what you said earlier - he will not have a UK receipt?

I never said anyone needed a UK receipt?

 

[dtbain]

As per the title, were talking about L lens's

Point taken! But do Canon operate different warranty procedures in respect of L lenses, on the one hand, and other Canon lenses, on the other?

 

[malla1962]

The one thing you will have to remember is your warranty lies with the supplier be it Jessops, Park Cameras or Kerso. If anything goes pear shape they should be the first port of call.

for the first 30 days.

 

[admirable]

for the first 30 days.

Who told you that?

 

[HoppyUK]

I never said anyone needed a UK receipt?

Sorry bud, I was picking up on what you said in post #30 about Kerso providing a UK receipt and therefore it was okay. You also said a receipt from Timbucktwo was equally valid and I overlooked that.

I'm gving up on this one :shrug: I'm baffled. What is written down in the warranties is clearly not what is happening in practise, and cover seems to be much wider than that, depending on I don't know what. I'll take my luck as it comes

 

[SarahLee]

You are correct, the receipt is more important than the warranty card.

Not exactly.
What's most important is "proof of purchase" - that doesn't necessarily have to be a receipt.
Subtle difference, but a credit card statement / bank statement etc showing the date that funds left your account is also legally acceptable.
Of course, in practice this won't actually itemise what you purchased so you may encounter some resistance - but most major companies will accept it as proof.

The one thing you will have to remember is your warranty lies with the supplier be it Jessops, Park Cameras or Kerso. If anything goes pear shape they should be the first port of call.

for the first 30 days.

Yes and No.
There are actually 3 layers of protection to think about.

Under contract law you are protected by the Sale of Goods Act in the UK. This is a contract with the retailer and you actually have 6 years (or a reasonable lifetime for the product if this is less than 6 yrs) to make your claim.
However, this is a UK law so will not cover you for purchases abroad.

Many retailers also offer a 30 day, no quibble money back guarantee. However, they are not legally obliged to do this. In fact, unless goods are faulty they do not have to offer you a refund at all in these 30 days.

Finally, there's the manufacturer's warranty. The details will be stated clearly with any item you buy and may be for any period of time that the manufacturer chooses and this is the "warranty card" that you'll get with many purchases.
This warranty is with the manufacturer

For UK purchases which prove to be faulty after the retailer's 30 day (or whatever) guarantee, you have 2 choices. Exercise your right under The Sale of Goods Act to deal with the retailer or return the item to the manufacturer under their warranty.

For overseas purchases your only course of action is to deal with the manufacturer, because the Sale of Goods Act is UK legislation (although your statutory rights under the SoGA may be slightly more complex if you purchased from a multi-national retailer with a UK trading arm - it's a bit of a grey area)

 

[malla1962]

Who told you that?

I had to think where I heard this, but it was when I got a toshiba laptop from PC world, it stated
if any problems in the first 30 days they would sort it but after that it was down to toshiba, after 6 moth I did have problems and went right to toshiba.

 

[SarahLee]

I had to think where I heard this, but it was when I got a toshiba laptop from PC world, it stated
if any problems in the first 30 days they would sort it but after that it was down to toshiba, after 6 moth I did have problems and went right to toshiba.

That would be their 30 day guarantee that they were referring to.

They were right to say that after that you could go direct to Toshiba under the manufacturer's warranty to get it sorted . . . which you did.

However, if you had chosen to and it was more convenient, you could still have gone back to PC World under the Sale of Goods Act. A lot of retailers like to try to ignore that fact !

 

[HoppyUK]

That would be their 30 day guarantee that they were referring to.

They were right to say that after that you could go direct to Toshiba under the manufacturer's warranty to get it sorted . . . which you did.

However, if you had chosen to and it was more convenient, you could still have gone back to PC World under the Sale of Goods Act. A lot of retailers like to try to ignore that fact !

Sarah, you seem to know about these things

Do you know what the legislative position is with regards to warranties? I'm wondering about goods purchased from Hong Kong, for example. If you pay duty and VAT on delivery, is the UK importer obliged to honour the warranty?

Thanks.

 

[SarahLee]

Hi Hoppy,

I'll try to help, although my area is really more UK legislation than international sales.

In your example, there are a couple of things to take into account. I would advise to always read the small print and (if possible) pay by credit card to take advantage of the additional protection from the consumer credit act.

With regards to the manufacturer's warranty, I'm afraid that they can basically apply any stipulations that they want. It's not an area that is governed by statutory legislation, so if they choose to state that the warranty only applies in the country of origin or a particular market they can do so.

I'm not sure that this is particularly easy to enforce though and most multi-national companies will show some discretion on this in the name of goodwill.
That's why there are often inconsistencies between what is strictly stated in the warranty and people's actual experiences when they deal with the manufacturer.
I'd say that in these instances, it's definitely worth contacting them - all you have to lose is the time taken to write an Email.
Many companies offer international warranties so this ceases to be a problem, but you really would have to check this out for each individual purchase.



With regards to your position with the importer, it would depend on the exact details of the transaction with them and whether they are registered as a UK or overseas company.

If the importer is a UK based company and you are transacting directly with them then you will effectively have formed a contract.
As such, you will be covered under contract law and have statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act.
The difficulty is that if you are requesting a repair or replacement, after 6 months the onus falls to you to prove that the goods did not conform to contract so you can have a bit of a battle on your hands.
In the case of you wanting a refund the onus is always on you to prove that goods were faulty (regardless of the timing)

If the importer is registered abroad (which would technically make them an exporter), the transaction may not fall under UK law and you may not be covered.

Of course individual sellers / importers may also offer their own independent warranties outside of your statutory rights. That's where reading the small print becomes important.

 

[dtbain]

... everyone, I'm new to this forum and the contributions are VERY helpful.

It sounds like I'll be alright buying from amazon.com but will call canon and customs (!) tomorrow and let you know if anything not already said comes to light.

 

[HoppyUK]

Thank you Sarah. Very helpful post.

 

[admirable]

Quote:
Originally Posted by admirable
You are correct, the receipt is more important than the warranty card.

Not exactly.

Well it either is or it isn't?

 

[SarahLee]

Quote:
Originally Posted by admirable
You are correct, the receipt is more important than the warranty card.

Not exactly.

Well it either is or it isn't?

I would agree that your proof of purchase is more important than the warranty card . . . what I was trying to say is that it doesn't have to be a receipt to count as proof of purchase.

It can be a receipt, a bank statement, a credit card statement etc.
As I think was mentioned in an earlier post, even a date stamp / model no. on an item can count as proof of (approximately) when an item was purchased.

Hope that makes sense

 

[Snap_Happy]

Also, just to clarify - there's another layer of protection as well - the UK has "Distance Selling" regulations - these allow for instant quibble free refunds within ?14 days? of purchase. No reason required by UK law.

 

[SarahLee]

Also, just to clarify - there's another layer of protection as well - the UK has "Distance Selling" regulations - these allow for instant quibble free refunds within ?14 days? of purchase. No reason required by UK law.

I forgot about those - although the cooling off period is actually only 7 days.
That applies to any internet, mail order, telephone purchases etc

 

[Snap_Happy]

I forgot about those - although the cooling off period is actually only 7 days.
That applies to any internet, mail order, telephone purchases etc

Thank you - I was on the mobile, so couldn't check the details

More precise info is available at:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/distance-selling-regulations/

[and it's worth noting that it's 7 working days]

 

[dtbain]

Just to report back on my investigations:

1. I spoke to someone at an canon repair centre (A.J.Johnstone's in Glasgow, phone 0141 221 2106) and he confirmed that, wherever a lenses is bought, even if it's on the grey market, and regardless of whether it's an L lens, and regardless of what it says on the warrant card and indeed regardless of whether you even have a warranty card, if it's a Canon lens then Canon repair centres will repair it if you can provide proof of purchase in the last year, e.g. a receipt OR similar.

2. Officially, a lens bought outside the EU will, if it exceeds the allowance, attract import duty at 6.7% (on the total, not the margin over the allowance) and then VAT at 17.5% on the total, including the duty.

Thanks for your advice.