Canon USA Changes the CPS Program

[keithfullermusic]

Not a member yet. But the Gold level sounds pretty good. The ONLY thing that sucks is the eval period. 24 hours? You're joking... I think 3 days would be a minimum. You're not supposed to be using them to take on vacation or instead of renting them. So to test and play: 3-day of in-hand use would be fine. 5 days better.

So this is another that gets me - Canon's CPS thing initially stated that they want you to have a decent amount of time with loaners, so you can get a "real feel" for the items, and that's why they let you keep them for 2 weeks.

To me, it sounds like the big wigs at CPS said - "Wait, loaners don't make us money. Repairs make us money. So let's reduce the repair discount and essentially eliminate the loaner program. Also, let's act like we're doing our customers a favor with this new policy and tell them that it means they can get loaners quicker."

 

[awinphoto]

Not a member yet. But the Gold level sounds pretty good. The ONLY thing that sucks is the eval period. 24 hours? You're joking... I think 3 days would be a minimum. You're not supposed to be using them to take on vacation or instead of renting them. So to test and play: 3-day of in-hand use would be fine. 5 days better.

If your on the east coast and get shipments from canon in 1 day, then you can have 3 or so days to play with the gear, but if your on the west coast or even mid-west, you get the shaft. They have a facility in Irvine CA, i think they should open that up for west coast eval so we can have a better chance at testing the new gear.

 

[neuroanatomist]

If your on the east coast and get shipments from canon in 1 day, then you can have 3 or so days to play with the gear, but if your on the west coast or even mid-west, you get the shaft. They have a facility in Irvine CA, i think they should open that up for west coast eval so we can have a better chance at testing the new gear.

So, loaners come only from NJ or VA? I know NJ is overnight for me via UPS Ground, not sure about VA. But that would make the 1-wk period tolerable for me, thanks for the info.

Definitely would be good for them to stock loaners at Irvine, too...except that means they'd need a bigger pool - and unfortunately, I suspect that's not their intent.

 

[RGF]

Sent the following (slightly editted to CPS)

I received the notice about the changes in the CPS Program. As a CPS member I have mixed reaction to the changes.

First of CMS is a great service and I am glad to hear it is being expanded.

More trade shows, events, etc does not impact me, as I shoot wildlife and nature. You are unlikely to have an event in Botswana or coastal area of Alaska where there is high density of grizzly bears 

The reduced discount on repairs is probably offset by the reduced membership cost so I will call this a wash.

And the reduced time to evaluate equipment greatly reduces the utility of this service. To full evaluate equipment I need to try the equipment in the field, under real world use. That means a trip, general 7-10 days in length. With a 2 week evaluation period, I could do this. One week make evaluation much harder. I would like to see longer evaluation periods with a modest fee charged for anything over a week.

Lacking from the program is priority purchasing. When the 200-400 was released, I had very hard time finding one; as a Platinum CPS member it would have been great if I could requested that an extra lens be shipped to my dealer with “my name on it”. Also it would be great if we had priority access to refurbished equipment – perhaps identify equipment desired and when an items comes available it is held for us for 48-72 hours.

Thanks for listening. CPS is a great program but not all CPS need the same service. For me priority access to new equipment and time to evaluate equipment in the field are of paramount importance.

 

[Jim O]

If your on the east coast and get shipments from canon in 1 day, then you can have 3 or so days to play with the gear, but if your on the west coast or even mid-west, you get the shaft. They have a facility in Irvine CA, i think they should open that up for west coast eval so we can have a better chance at testing the new gear.

So, loaners come only from NJ or VA? I know NJ is overnight for me via UPS Ground, not sure about VA. But that would make the 1-wk period tolerable for me, thanks for the info.

Definitely would be good for them to stock loaners at Irvine, too...except that means they'd need a bigger pool - and unfortunately, I suspect that's not their intent.

Newport News is overnight for me and I can return in person so I'd be in good shape I suppose.

I think they send them two day no matter where they're sending them. Otherwise VA to Los Angeles would be four business days by ground, and five to Northern California and the Pacific northwest.

Anyway, these are FedEx outgoing ground maps for 23606 (Newport News) and 08831 (Jamesburg).

 

[RunAndGun]

Regarding the evaluation period, as someone else mentioned, it may be, at least partially, in response to people essentially using the evaluation as a free rental for paying jobs. On the Cinema side, evaluations for Canon lenses are even more limited to curtail "free rentals": My rep told me the lenses arrive to you the morning of your scheduled eval and MUST be shipped back at the end of same day, so you literally only get a few hours with them depending on your location/proximity to FedEx/UPS. I have a FedEx and a UPS distribution centers literally less than 10 mins from my house and a FedEx airport location 30 mins from me that you can ship from till 9:30pm, so even a best case scenario for someone in my situation would have probably less than 12 hours. Most people, a lot less. Good thing I have a few friends that have pulled the trigger on the cine primes and I can just call them if I really want a good demo.

 

[awinphoto]

If your on the east coast and get shipments from canon in 1 day, then you can have 3 or so days to play with the gear, but if your on the west coast or even mid-west, you get the shaft. They have a facility in Irvine CA, i think they should open that up for west coast eval so we can have a better chance at testing the new gear.

So, loaners come only from NJ or VA? I know NJ is overnight for me via UPS Ground, not sure about VA. But that would make the 1-wk period tolerable for me, thanks for the info.

Definitely would be good for them to stock loaners at Irvine, too...except that means they'd need a bigger pool - and unfortunately, I suspect that's not their intent.

Yes, so far all the loaners I've ever had go and from NJ. so 2 days here, 2 days back, or overnight if i want to double the price for whatever reason =)

 

[neuroanatomist]

Thanks for the confirmation, awinphoto!

 

[Drizzt321]

Regarding the evaluation period, as someone else mentioned, it may be, at least partially, in response to people essentially using the evaluation as a free rental for paying jobs. On the Cinema side, evaluations for Canon lenses are even more limited to curtail "free rentals": My rep told me the lenses arrive to you the morning of your scheduled eval and MUST be shipped back at the end of same day, so you literally only get a few hours with them depending on your location/proximity to FedEx/UPS. I have a FedEx and a UPS distribution centers literally less than 10 mins from my house and a FedEx airport location 30 mins from me that you can ship from till 9:30pm, so even a best case scenario for someone in my situation would have probably less than 12 hours. Most people, a lot less. Good thing I have a few friends that have pulled the trigger on the cine primes and I can just call them if I really want a good demo.

I mean, I can understand them wanting to stop the practice of "get loaner instead of renting", but considering they had a limit of only a few times for the same item that seems like it'd help that. Further, how can you really evaluate a piece of equipment without using it for a 'job', paying or not? A day is hardly enough to properly evaluate a lens or body. If they said you only get 3 days from the date of signing/arrival, that wouldn't be too horrible. Unless like RGF and need to go out into the wilderness with it which would be pretty complicated for even 3 days to manage.

 

[Freddie]

there goes the eval feature

What they're doing is essentially eliminating the evaluation benefit for us Gold CPS members.
So what's left? A slight discount and expedited shipping on repairs? I've never used them for a repair, only the evaluation service. I've been evaluating new equipment for the last nine years and I nearly always later bought what I had tested and found useful. I've been trying to get one of the 200-400 lenses for testing since June and I always get the same answer. "Not enough to go around." Apparently so. Too many CPS members nowadays it seems.
Now, since I live in Colorado, the best option is to ask that a loaner ships on a Friday, arrives Tuesday, and ships back on Wednesday unless I want to pay for overnight shipping. With shipping running $60-100, it's not a bad deal if I can have it for more than 48 hours.
Unfortunately, those days are now gone. Too bad. Now I'm thinking perhaps it would be good to have a Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 200-400. After all, the two of them together still cost less than the Canon EF 200-400. Canon is not really interested in supporting the average pro photographer any more, I guess. Sad, very sad.

I've sent my final email to CPS now. Sadly, I will no longer pay to maintain my membership in what was formerly a very nice program with wonderful benefits. All these changes in benefits were set in motion, in my opinion, when they changed the requirements for CPS membership a few years ago. I'm sure they're now so vastly oversubscribed and stretched to the limit trying to keep up with the numbers that they're looking for some way out. Lately, all you had to do was buy some equipment and pay the fee. It wasn't always so easy. There were very real requirements to prove professional status in the past. I'm definitely not an elitist but it looks like they wanted to increase revenues more than they wanted to support their customers who were trying to make a living.

 

[Sauropod]

I live in Arizona and all of my loaned equipment has come from, and had to be shipped back to, Virginia.

On the old plan we could rent the same lens twice a year. I wonder if I will be able to request a "back to back"?

The long eval period directly resulted in my purchasing the 200 f/2.0, 24-70 II, and the 400 f/2.8. It also ended up putting the 1DX and the 800mm on my list for future purchases (ok, I'll be honest, I'll probably wait for the 800 II, that thing is heavy!). Had I only tested the lenses for 1 or 2 days I wouldn't have been able to simulate actual ownership. I wouldn't have had time to hit the zoos and the outdoor areas I frequent. I can say I likely would have passed on the 400 if I hadn't used it in multiple locations as I was on the edge of justifying using different lenses with 1.4x/2.0x tc iiis and save the money.

Recently when I request CPS product I have taken to requesting "X or Y, whichever is available first" and have had a steady stream of lenses to demo. I have the 300 coming soon and can't wait!

Digitally tracking my cleanings is a nice to have and I (knock on wood) haven't had to leverage their repair facility yet. The eval program was really the biggest benefit to myself. Shipping product, insured, back to Virginia is spendy but with the long eval period I felt it was worth it. If it was a true 5 day eval, where the clock starts when I receive the lens and stops when I send it back, I think I could live with that. I can't (hope is more like it) believe with the new plan they would include to and from freight days as part of the loan as by reducing the overall loan time by a week, even with shipping, they enable a quicker inventory turn versus today's system.

 

[awinphoto]

Sauropod, from my communications with CPS, that is exactly what they are thinking, clock starts the moment the equipment leaves their shipping dept and ends when they receive it. Exactly what they currently do but it's with 2 weeks giving you a hair over a week after shipping. So if that sounds bad to you, email the link I posted.

 

[awinphoto]

Re: there goes the eval feature

What they're doing is essentially eliminating the evaluation benefit for us Gold CPS members.
So what's left?

They aren't eliminating it from the gold members, they are eliminating it from everyone.

 

[YuengLinger]

Called CPS today and they can't yet say if the new discount rate applies to recently renewed accounts. Guess I missed some small print about terms being changed at any time. Guess I'm lucky to still be getting 20% off.

 

[keithfullermusic]

So - Good News!!! I think all our anger got to them, because I just received this from CPS:

I understand you are frustrated with the upcoming changes to the CPS Program and, I would like to address your concerns regarding the CPS Evaluation Loans. The length of the loan period is being changed to one week, as the email stated however, this will not include the time for shipping as the current loan program does. This change will allow you to have the loaner equipment in your hands for one week.

 

[awinphoto]

So - Good News!!! I think all our anger got to them, because I just received this from CPS:

I understand you are frustrated with the upcoming changes to the CPS Program and, I would like to address your concerns regarding the CPS Evaluation Loans. The length of the loan period is being changed to one week, as the email stated however, this will not include the time for shipping as the current loan program does. This change will allow you to have the loaner equipment in your hands for one week.

Sweet... now the question is does that include return shipping as well... and how do they enforce length of return shipment (i.e. ground vs 2 day vs overnight).... but at least this is a step in the right direction and showing they are actually listening.

 

[RGF]

So - Good News!!! I think all our anger got to them, because I just received this from CPS:

I understand you are frustrated with the upcoming changes to the CPS Program and, I would like to address your concerns regarding the CPS Evaluation Loans. The length of the loan period is being changed to one week, as the email stated however, this will not include the time for shipping as the current loan program does. This change will allow you to have the loaner equipment in your hands for one week.

Sweet... now the question is does that include return shipping as well... and how do they enforce length of return shipment (i.e. ground vs 2 day vs overnight).... but at least this is a step in the right direction and showing they are actually listening.

A week plus shipping time is an improvement. Not ideal but better

 

[Drizzt321]

So - Good News!!! I think all our anger got to them, because I just received this from CPS:

I understand you are frustrated with the upcoming changes to the CPS Program and, I would like to address your concerns regarding the CPS Evaluation Loans. The length of the loan period is being changed to one week, as the email stated however, this will not include the time for shipping as the current loan program does. This change will allow you to have the loaner equipment in your hands for one week.

Sweet... now the question is does that include return shipping as well... and how do they enforce length of return shipment (i.e. ground vs 2 day vs overnight).... but at least this is a step in the right direction and showing they are actually listening.

A week plus shipping time is an improvement. Not ideal but better

Yea, that's not so bad.

And as far as I recall from the couple times I've used the program, you have to pay for return shipping (plus any insurance if you want to be safe). I'm betting that part hasn't changed, but it's always been that way so it's a wash.

 

[neuroanatomist]

A week plus shipping time is an improvement. Not ideal but better

A week in hand sounds pretty reasonable...except for those of us with a day job, perhaps.

 

[Drizzt321]

A week plus shipping time is an improvement. Not ideal but better

A week in hand sounds pretty reasonable...except for those of us with a day job, perhaps.

We'll just have to make sure we get it Thursday so we can spend the entire weekend shooting with it.