Associated Camera Repair

If you think, like we did, that this place is backed by Canon Co. THINK AGAIN. Made the mistake of believing they are an authorized Canon repair shop. That’s what their advertisement says. After 3+ months of waiting for them to get a part that had been ordered for at least 6 weeks and very little contact from them, I began calling on a regular basis. They repaired one right away, after explaining that they had done a thorough check and found nothing wrong. After telling them what was wrong, they repaired it. our niece picked it up as we live 3 hours away. The man was busy conversing with someone and didn’t even acknowledge her arrival. after several minutes, she told them she was in a bit of a hurry and could she get our camera. They gave her a camera and she brought it to us. I truly don’t believe this is my camera! There’s a part missing that had nothing to do with what was broken in the beginning. There is a SD card that is obviously someone’s private pix. When I contacted Teresa about this, I was told the part had to have been broken, they didn’t do it tho, because the whole front or something would have to have been removed and they didn’t do that. So, basically, we did it, cause they didn’t. Why didn’t he look when he handed it to my niece and see that part was missing? These are experts! !?# last week, I had had enough excuses and I asked Linda, who by now, was just so annoying and rude, I had zero tolerance for her lack of empathy or compassion or professionalism. I finally asked her if she had ever specifically called and asked about MY part. No, she had not. I asked her if she would plesse do that. She said she would and hung up. That didn’t sit well with me. The next day I called Canon @ 1800Gocanon and find out that Associated Camera Repair is NOT AN AUTHORIZED CANON REPAIR SHOP! !!! There is no such thing anymore! !! Hasn’t been for 20 years! !#### Canon WILL NOT BACK THEM IN ANY WAY… If you have a Canon that needs repair, send it to Canon, they will repair it for a flat rate. Mine would have been $ 79 and returned in 7 days. If they didn’t have the part, they would simply send me a new one! !!! Why didn’t ACR say anything about that? BECAUSE THEY ARE DISHONEST. don’t go there. If there was a minus 1000 star, I’d have used it. BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE!!! I still have 2 broken cameras and a real bad taste in my mouth after this experience. I usually like to be kissed when I’m getting screwed.

Very friendly and low key. Very inexpensive cleaning service for my DSLR camera. They promised afternoon pickup with a morning drop off. I dropped it off at noon and picked up at 4pm. Great turn around! Will use again.

Associated Camera Repair really came through for me. I left my D800 outside and it got lightly rained on early Monday morning. I called them (they previously repaired a lens for me) and they said to bring it in. I asked them if it was possible to get it dry by Thusday as I was leaving for 3 weeks on Friday. They said they couldn’t commit until they looked at it. I had the camera back by late Wednesday morning. They rock!

I’m impressed. This place is the real deal. No frills, but quality service at a reasonable cost. Mom and pop, they look like they’ve been in the business forever. I like the flavor.

I dropped my Canon SLR off in January of ’14 I was told that it may take some time to get an estimate due to snowstorms on the East Coast. A month passes. I call to see if the estimate was ready. No, still waiting on Canon… Another month passes and I call again. Same story «not sure what is taking so long,» «the tech is not in,» «I will look into this and call you back.» It is now August and after numerous phone calls with no response (well in fairness they did return my call once just to tell me they did not know anything more, but would call soon… Never did) I finally went to the shop to get my camera. Guess what. They could not find it. So for more than ten minutes this poor new guy is looking all over for my camera. Finally finds it sitting on someone’s desk under papers I imagine. No notes, nothing. When I asked what happened. He apologized and said he had no idea. So after 6 months without my camera. I now have it back still broken. These people claiming to have received fast service… I just don’t know if I believe it. I guess I should have been concerned when my professional photographer friend laughed when I told her where I took it…

Dropped off Canon USM 1.4 lens (notorious for bump damage) for a routine barrel repair. Their web site states they are a warranty service station for Canon, yet they stock no parts that we could see. They order all parts as needed, and they don’t call you to tell you eta. Evidently you have to keep babysitting them until your job is done. Dropped off lens on 12÷6÷2013. Second week of January I stopped in to see where they were at with the repair (because I’d received no due date or communication at all regarding eta, however «Needs 12÷20» was written on the invoice) and they said «the parts have been ordered and we get parts in every day,» so they’ll let me know when it’s ready. Made excuses that Canon is behind with their shipping. Waited. Again no calls, no communication. Went in to pick my lens up because I didn’t know what they were doing, and she didn’t even know where it was, fumbling around through papers, then finally walked to a cabinet and pulled it out, sitting in a cardboard box in pieces. She said they’d put it back together and let me know when it’s ready to pick back up. No calls again. I called back another week later asking if I could get it, she said it was back together and I asked why they didn’t bother to call us even one single time throughout this entire ordeal. No good answers, just blamed Canon for being backed up due to weather. That doesn’t explain why they couldn’t call me to tell me there’s a backup. So, my lens is not fixed. I picked it up 2÷03÷2014, two months after I dropped it off. I’ll have it repaired at Camera Solutions. I’ve used them before and if nothing else, at least they communicate and would have the decency to store my lens in plastic and not in pieces in dusty cardboard. Will not go here for any reason (even that it’s closer to my house) and will not recommend to anyone. Moral of the story: If you need a take-​apart/​parts-​replaced kind of repair done, this is not the place.

I needed the sensor on my Nikon D7100 cleaned. I looked on Unilocal to find places that might do this, and the reviews were all over the map. I settled on Associated Camera Repair mainly because it was on the east side (albeit way out there) and their (minimal) website actually says stuff about Nikon and factory-​trained techs and so on. Okay, cool.
So I drove out there and found the place — it’s a real small shop, just a few rooms in the corner of an older business plaza thing. I walked in and explained that my D7100’s sensor had crud on it (several spots showed up and were giving me trouble when shooting bright subjects like anything including the sky). The lady said fine, proceeded to inventory the camera (took down the serial #s of camera and lens, and encouraged me to take my memory cards with me, as they don’t need them). I asked how the cleaning process worked, and she briefly explained it, and said it’d take about 24 hours and I’d get a call back when it was done.
20 hours later, I got a call back, it was done. So I drove out, picked up the camera, paid $ 50, and it’s good as new. (It looks like they also cleaned the body slightly and also the lens, though I wasn’t charged for that.)
Fifty bucks! In Portland! For a quick, professional cleaning. And there’s even parking around there! If you need a sensor cleaned, I highly recommend this place. Yes, it’s kind of a hole in the wall, but who cares? They were nice enough folks, and did a great job, on time, with great communication. THUMBS UP.

When someone tells you your camera can’t be fixed… just call Associated.

Amazing! Fixed a piece on a lens while I waited, and for a mere $ 20. Thought it was going to have to be sent back to Nikon and cost 10x as much. I couldn’t be more pleased.

They expedited a Hasselblad camera repair for me because I was heading out of town for a birthday weekend. I am very appreciative of their knowledge and service. We are very lucky to have a place like this in town.

During my recent visit to Associated Camera Repair I was given dedicated attention and professional service as they reviewed my camera and tested it and provided a free estimate of any required service it may need.
What makes me also rate it 5 stars is I was told camera was functional and works well as it is and service recommendations would only be my choice but not needed to continue using camera. Nw that’s honesty and Integrity in my opinion. I will certainly use them for any upcoming needs after the service I received.

My camera retail business has been using Associated for a couple of years now, mostly to do repairs on older Hasselblad and Zeiss equipment. They’ve always done a good job, stand by their work, have a quick turn around time and are affordable.
I definitely recommend them.

Seriously the BEST BEST BEST place you’ll ever go to bring back your camera from the brink of extinction! I agree with another person that you just want to tell everyone about this place! Got my camera back in less than a week in time for my family trip! YEAH!!!
Quick tip in finding the place: pull onto 104^th side street, the door is on the right side (west facing) of the stores, as right on the Sandy street are other businesses and on the East side is a really cool video game store that will fix your consoles should Best Buy fail to honor another warranty again. .. :)

I am very pleased with my service I received at Associated Camera Repair. They fixed my equipment in a timely manner and for less that the quoted price. The customer service was great. They also fixed my Nikon Flash at no charge. I had been told by the Nikon repair factory that it was dead and I needed to purchase a new one. Needless to say I am a very happy and satisfied customer. :-)

I sent my camera to them because they were the nearest Nikon Authorized Repair service, with none in WA. They didn’t even acknowledge the receipt of the camera which I sent UPS 2^nd day. They got it ⁷⁄₂₅ and have not yet even responded about the repair cost or if they could even do it. I notice they do not even have email. I will call them Monday repeatedly, even if I get put on hold, until I get some answers. If I don’t hear anything, I will just contact Nikon and tell them about the «service». This JUST sucks.
I’m taking a second look now at Nikon for whom they entrust with their brand name.

If zero stars were possible, I’d leave zero for this place, it sucks that hard. I called back in September of ’09 to get an estimate on the replacement of a small piece of plastic covering the memory card, which had broken off of my d40, and was told i’d have to bring the camera in for them to give me an estimate. I hauled my two small children in and was told they would order the part, and that it would be in in 3 to 4 weeks, at which time I could bring the camera back in and they’d fix it while I waited.
Its now April of ’10, and I’m still waiting. I have called no less than five times, to check on the part, and have been told varying things, including they don’t know the status of the order, because they can’t decipher the owner’s notes, that the part is back-​ordered and they’d call me in two weeks when it was in (its been 8 months, and they have never once phoned me or called me back), and on my most recent inquiry, was told by the owner ‘the note is still taped to the counter, I’m not sure if the part was ordered or not.” This was two months ago, a mere SIX MONTHS after I initially ordered the part. He never thought to find out why the note was still taped to his counter, day after day? Really? And, of course, the owner told me he’d call Nikon and call me right back. No call.
This is mom-​and-​pop in the worst way — that would be, disorganized, no follow-​through, no accountability, no filing system, etc. Thank God my camera works without the memory card cover!

I want to stand outside every camera shop and tell people about Associated Camera Repair. If I see you holdiong a camera, I will tell you about Associated Camera Repair. If you show me pictures of your new baby, your last trip, the gangrene on your toe, I will tell you about Associated Camera Repair.
Joshua (previous review) is so concerned with outward appearances he forgets to mention the important things about their service. Having traveled around the world, the best food is sometimes found in the most rickety of buildings. The best camera repair shop is found in an older building because it has been there for over 30 years. They are not a storefront, they are a camera repair place and THEY ARE THE BEST IN TOWN! Here is my story.
Saturday, March 20^th, 2010 I ran to get my camera; my 11 month daughter was being very cute with two of my dearest friends. I went to grab it and the leash ran past my fingers and the camera fell to the ground. I turned it on and the lens pulled out and was stuck. My Canon Powershot 850 was broken. :-(
I called Pro Photo Supply and they recommended Camera Solutions on Macadam, THE WORST CAMERA REPAIR SHOP ON EARTH! Please read review.
I grabbed my camera from Camera Solutions when after a week they still had not looked at my camera to give me an estimate and they were charging me $ 24 to just look at my camera and they said repair was taking 3 weeks! Sending my camera to Canon repair in Illinois, I would get the estimate within 3 days and the camera would be repaired in 7 – 10 days! I almost sent my camera to Illinois, but I remember seeing Associated Camera Repair on Sandy Blvd a long time ago.
Important details:
1) How much was the estimate to see what was wrong with my camera? $ 0 NOTHING! ZILCH! KEEP YOUR MONEY IN YOUR WALLET!
2) How long did the estimate take? The same day (I took it in early in the morning)
3) I gave the go ahead on my estimate and 2 DAYS LATER IT WAS FIXED! YAHOO! WOO HOO! HOLY MOLY! Yeah, baby!
BEST PART:
4) it was much cheaper than shipping it to Illinois and getting it Fixed.
It was much cheaper than Camera Solutions.
I LOVE THIS PLACE!
You need a camera fixed and you don’t want to wait 3 – 4 weeks, GO TO ASSOCIATED CAMERA REPAIR
Your camera broke and you don’t want to spend a lot of money to fix it: GO TO ASSOCIATED CAMERA REPAIR.
You want fast and reliable service and like supporting businesses that WILL NOT take advantage of you:
GO TO Associated Camera Repair.
IMPORTANT: Check out the list of what they don’t fix on left side of back wall. :-) :-) :-)
Also on right side of counter on back wall there’s a little not about waiting in line and customer service :-) I wish they were there for more than just camera repair. They make me smile.

Hmm. Not really sure about this place. First off I’m not necessarily one to judge a place on appearance, but the house this place operates out of could definitely use some TLC. There is a for sale sign up, which has me wondering about whether or not they are going out of business, or just moving to an updated location. I didn’t ask, but I did get a story from the lady about how their hard drive crashed with records from the last 15 years and they had no backup. She didn’t seem too concerned. The interior of the place isn’t much better, all of the posters and signage displayed was sun-​faded and looked like it had been put up in the late 80s.
Anyhow I was told that we’d receive a call the next day regarding our estimate. We never got the call, but I did call in towards the end of the day myself and was told that they would have to send the camera to Nikon. Personally after the first impression I got I decided to get the camera back and ship it in ourselves. When we went in to get the camera she gave me a post-​it note that detailed what the technician thought might be wrong with it. All in all while the service was satisfactory I thought it could have been a bit more professional.