I'm a Henry's Customer for Life!

This is my first post of 2010, so happy new year! Too often I spend so much time behind the lens that I don't spend nearly enough time actually visiting and being with my friends and family. So I took a brief hiatus from shooting to get caught up with everyone.

But, of course, I can't stay away from my camera for too long, so I'm back to snapping away again.

For those of you who don't know, I shoot (er, shot... more on that in a second) with a Canon 20D. When I first bought it, nearly four years ago, I purchased it at Henry's and I opted for the their 3-year extended warranty. Now, as a general rule, I NEVER opt for extended warranties. My philosophy has always been that most items won't ever have problems, so the one time I do have to fix something, I'll be able to pay for the repairs out of my own pocket with the money I DIDN'T spend on extended warranties I never cashed in on -- and probably come out ahead. In this case, however, the sales guy at Henry's cut me a nice deal, so I decided to get the warranty.

Boy, am I glad I did!

A little over a year (ironically just OUT of Canon's 1 year warranty) into my courtship with the 20D, it started to have issues. It exhibited some wonky behaviour when I turned the camera on, and then one day, the pop-up flash wouldn't pop up. Not that I normally use the pop-up flash, but since I had the extended warranty, I took it back to Henry's and they fixed it, free of charge and without any hassle.

About a year later my 20D had the same problem with the flash not popping up as well as a new problem where no matter how much space I had on the memory card, the number of available frames was always displayed as "6." Again, I took it to Henry's, and they fixed it, again without any hassle at all. And they even lent me a camera during the repair period since I had a photo shoot scheduled. (nb: Henry's doesn't do this any more, as what they gave me was a unit they would have normally rented out. But Henry's no longer rents out equipment - they've teamed up with another company for this... so don't expect a loaner if you're getting a repair).

Wouldn't you know it, now almost a year later, my camera starts to show the frame count problem again. The Henry's extended warranty carries a "No Lemon" policy where if you need to have your camera repaired for the same problem more than twice, they'd give you a comparable model off the shelf -- no questions asked.

As you can imagine, I was skeptical... I was sure that there going to be some fine print that I was unaware of, or they were going to make up some b.s. about this or that to nullify the policy. Anyone who has ever tried to cash in on those furniture cleaning protection plans knows what I am talking about!

Nevertheless, I visited a Henry's store yesterday. I explained the problem I was having and showed them receipts from the previous repairs. The salesperson said "OK sir, one moment while I have a brief chat with my manager." I thought "Here we go... they're concocting their story and I'm about to embark on a runaround process that will last weeks before I raise enough of a stink that they'll grudgingly honour their policy."

Do you know what happened next? The gentleman came back to the counter in about five minutes or so, and said "OK sir. Just follow me down to the end of the counter so we can fill out the paperwork for your replacement." Needless to say, I was stunned -- and ecstatic -- because this meant that I would be getting a brand new Canon 50D right off the shelf, no questions asked. Just as the policy promised!

Folks, let me tell you that this has converted me into a Henry's customer for life. There is a reason the company has been in business for 100 years, and I witnessed it first hand yesterday. I wish more companies would learn from this. Sure they need to eat the cost of the new camera, but down the line who know how many more hundreds, or even thousands of dollars of equipment I will buy... for providing me the fantastic service that they did, I can guarantee that those purchases will be from a Henry's store, and from nowhere else. And likely anyone I relay this story to will head to Henry's to buy their next camera or lens or whatever. Great job Henry's. You certainly know how to conduct business. I encourage you to go to your nearest Henry's store and buy any camera equipment you had planned to buy at a different store or (GASP!) some big-box electronics store.

My next post will cover my initial experiences working with my new camera, and a few sample pics. For now, let's share a moment of silence for my dearly departed 20D. You were a great soldier, and you will be missed.

One more thing: I readily bought another Henry's extended warranty plan for my new 50D!

- jc