T3i 'movie recording has automatically stopped' and other ongoing and 'new' problems.

Question

I purchased a T3i in March of 2011 and within a year of purchase we started experiencing problems.
Firstly - I purchased a three year Mack Warranty with this camera.
By June of 2012, the 'movie recording has automatically stopped' problem was no longer our only issue. That month we lost a whole production day of video. There was no explanation. It was on the same card that we had used before and we sued it after. It was not a particularly hot shoot because we were inside and out frequently. All footage from that day was gone from the camera. I ran a recovery on the files; they were present, but they were unrecoverable. When this happened again a couple of weeks later, we threw away the card that it happened on and on the third event, We were using speed 10 cards only.
On August 31st, I sent our T3i in to Mack who looked at it, couldn't duplicate the problem (movie recording auto stopped, much less data loss) and they got it ready to send back. I spoke with Mack support and got a supervisor to look more closely with a technician at the problem (I had sent a very detailed description of the problem) based on my description and a technician paying attention, they were able to duplicate the problem but not fix it. They sent it to Canon. Canon duplicated the problem and 'fixed' it. It was then sent back to Mack because they won't send directly to Mack's customer. Mack sent it back. I received it sometime after October 23rd. Note - that's no camera from 8/31 to 10/23 + a couple of days shipping. Nearly two solid months.
'Movie recording automatically stopped' would not go away but we were not losing footage. I called Canon. Canon support told me that it could be a card speed issue and if not that, maybe a bad make or brand. They said that this is a problem with DSLR's or maybe rebels specifically and we would need to learn to deal with it - something about data capture and data block sizes. The problem is that when you're shooting a scene, it's not always just 'incidental' if you have to start over because of an error, is it? And is this how Canon's products are to work, really?
In December, a white dot appeared on our sensor. We sent it in on Jan 10 and got it back sometime after Jan. 31st. Movie Recording Automatically Stopped is still occurring. It comes and goes. :Lately it's been infrequent.
A little while ago I pulled the camera out to take some snapshots of a system I'm working on. No matter which mode, autofocus on, with the flash up, attempting to get an autofocus (depressing snapshot button 1/2 way) I get this strange electric sound and a flash. Autofocus will not engage. Again - no matter which mode - no autofocus, a strange electric sound and a flash. Movie recording works fine. But that's not the only capability of this camera, is it?
Canon - it is apparent to me that we got a lemon. This will not work for my business any longer. Trying to get problems solved with this camera has been lengthy, disconcerting, painful. My disappointment has me throwing in the towel and asking - why the heck would I buy a Canon again much less the Mack warranty to go with it?
Please give me a solution beyond going for another two months without a camera that comes back and develops a new problem within one to two months’ time.

Answer 1

This problem has been posted online in many places & is a known and serious flaw with the T3i. How come Canon feigns ignorance & blames it on the card or file size? Why don't they post a positive solution or at least admit to the camera's shortcomings?
The Canon tech rep is being disingenuous! The problem happens on and off to a lot of people using the same card!!! It has happened to me as well with me as well. Sometimes it records to the max limit & sometimes it just stops! Doesn't Canon do research into serious errors with their cameras?
I'm sure they know of this problem & don't want to recall & fix their sh..ty camera.