Welcome to the disposable economy.

My daughter accidentally dropped my Canon SD200 camera and broke the flash. (The rest of the camera works just fine). So I took it to Canon Canada’s customer service centre, asking for a repair estimate. They just called; $241.50 (presumably $210 + taxes). The camera new is $345 ($300 + tax)! Even if they’re replacing the entire electronics board, there’s still a lens, battery, SD card…

At this point I’m thinking that I’ll buy a new one, and give the (mostly) working one to the kids to play with.

Sheesh!

Update: I called Canon this morning, and asked why they wanted so much money. He explained that because I didn’t bring a receipt for the camera, they charged me a general flat rate fee for the repair. I explained that the reason I didn’t bring a receipt was that this is not a warranty repair, and reminded him that Canon should know what the retail prices of their products are! Anyway, long story short, he immediately requoted the repair at $70 + tax, much more reasonable…