Nice but short life expectancy

I purchased the Canon Powershot G3 less than 18 months ago and had been very happy with it. The camera takes very good photos and has a wide array of features. Several weeks ago, however, the LED display suddenly stopped working. This is in spite of the fact that I take very good care of this camera and it has never been subjected to any falls or impacts. It just stopped working in all but 'stitch mode' (for some strange reason, I could turn the mode selector to stitch mode and I had a functioning screen).

After doing some research, it appears that there are a number of Canon customers who have had problems with their LED displays on different PowerShot products. There are even posting on how to fix this problem yourself. I opted to contact Canon's support for help. They informed me that there was a minimum charge of $180 for the repair and that it might cost much more than that. This is a pretty steep charge considering that their products seem to be having this problem for a lot of their customers and must be a known issue to them. Alternatively, Canon offered me the 'upgrade option'. That is, rather than having the camera repaired, I could get a 'reconditioned' PowerShot G5 for $300 more. So, after spending $700 for a PowerShot G3, experiencing a video problem which seems to be all-too-common with Canon digital cameras after less than 18 months, they now want me to spend $300 more for a 'reconditioned' camera!!! I don't think so. After discussing the repair with one of their customer service representatives at the Illinois plant, he reduced the repair charge to $145 (prior to my even sending the camera to them - how is this possible unless they are quite aware of this issue?). I sent my camera in, minus the memory card, battery, and camera strap for repairs. I received an e-mail outlining the fact that Canon had received my camera minus the memory card, the box, the strap and the battery.

The camera was repaired and sent back to me but without the lens cover. I called Canon to have them send me the lens cover; thinking that I would get a quick apology and assurance that it would be sent to me. Instead, my experience was quite different. I spoke with a different customer service rep. at Canon this time who was very unprofessional and rude. He made the assumption that I was lying about the lens cap (I guess he thought that I was hoarding these cheap pieces of plastic which probably cost Canon less than $1). His claim was that I should have mentioned the lost lens cap while my camera was being repaired (how is that for sound logic???). He even proceeded to try to lecture me that "the next time you send something to Canon" I cut him off and said, "Oh, no, there won't be a next time. I'll purchase anything but Canon next time."

In review:
High marks for design and functionality
Low marks for durability and life expectancy
Low marks for customer service

Despite the fact that I have recommended Canon products to friends and colleagues at work based upon the very good results I had with this camera, I now have to discourage folks from buying Canon. The short life expectancy of their products, expensive repair and / or replacement options, the fact that Canon has not acknowledged a known problem and a very rude customer service representative have convinced me to look at other brands for cameras and printers.