Perhaps not, but he (?) /does/ get Karma points, self-reliance points,
& the respect of one or two Canon Service staff, none of which are
things to be sneezed at.

Well, karma is nothing to sneeze at... it's just sad when you solve a
problem your self it means no free ink or replacement printhead. If I
was still running my epson r200 during it's warranty period, I would be
thankful if it broke, as that means good karma and free ink.

But I would also agree from my limited experence getting on their good
side and doing "some" troubleshooting does by-pass much of the
checklist and saves time. Though I kick my self for telling them "oh
no, the print head moves around, you told me to unplug it, so it's not
moving" "Well you don't get a new printer with ink" "damn it".