Panasonic Service Sucks!! - Do not buy Panasonic Products *Consumer Suggestion
We purchased a $1200 digital Panasonic PVDV-910 camcorder that stopped working about 1 year after purchase. The warranty was only good for 90 days. In order to service the item, we have been told that it must go back to the Panasonic Service Center. The service center charges a huge flat fee for service $250 regardless of the issue.
They will not trouble shoot with you over the phone or one the web and there appears to be no other place to get these units repaired. With shipping both ways, service on this item comes to over $300. The service people who finally responded to my email were just about the rudess people I have ever dealt with in my life.
Dealing with the Panasonic service people was for sure worst. They do not return emails, they do not return phone calls and when somebody does finally get back to you they have no intention to help you. They just want to make more money by charging $250 for an issue that could have taken 2 seconds to repair.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Jim
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
I agree, Christina, except...
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, March 05, 2004
what if Panasonic doesn't honor its warranty in at least a halfway decent way, as has been the case with me? I had a 3-year warranty, but the quality of service was bad even in the first year.
Panasonic sent me three defective replacement computer monitors:
1. Brand new, developed problem after a few months
2. Refurbished, different model, base smashed from being dropped at factory (they tried to blame UPS for the damage), 2 internal ground wires left dangling (safety hazard). Ironically, I had previously told the warranty manager that I didn't want a refurbished product because so many of them were of poor quality, but he told me not to worry.
3. Refurbished, same model as above, front bezel gouged (repaired badly), picture blinked between dim and bright when monitor tapped (bad internal connection?), large piece of metal on bottom left out completely (probably a safety device).
Talking to Panasonic tech support has always been useless because nobody I've spoken with there has any real technical knowledge, except in one case when I was wrongly connected to their broadcast equipment division. And just today, an idiot at Panasonic started his phone conversation with me by screaming and babbling senselessly, like an angry drunk.
Panasonic used to be a great company, but no more.
Mike
Baldwin,Michigan,
U.S.A.
Measily 90 day warranty means the product is JUNK
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, November 07, 2003
a THIRTY day warranty means- the manufacturer and the dealer EXPECT that the product will manage to last only thirty days!
A 90 day warranty means that you can expect problems to start occuring on day 91 !
AXIOM NUMBER 1 :
The length of the warranty is directly porportional to the quality of the product!
Christina
Chesapeake,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Panasonic
#5UPDATE Employee
Tue, February 11, 2003
ok i work for panasonic and i have to tell people everyday that they are going to have to pay for something...if the product is out of warranty why should the company pay for it...it comes with a warranty that is clearly stated in the operating instructions. So these people are just complaining because they are not getting something given to them
Throw the camcorder away ....
#50
Tue, June 19, 2001
This email is a rebuttal to RipOff #5456.
It was sent by Missy at nofriendofjackie@yahoo.com.
Panasonic Service Sucks!!! - Do not buy Panasonic Products (#5456)
They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:
Their email: nofriendofjackie@yahoo.com
Their name: Missy
Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion
Rebuttal:
Electronics today are designed to be "disposable," and the repair price is so high because they don't want to be bothered. Throw the camcorder away and buy one of the $299 ones (another brand) and you win in two ways:
(a) you have the newest technology to date and
(b) you've put the screws to Panasonic by refusing to play their game.
That's not the *ideal* situation for us consumers, for sure, but that's how these manufacturers stay in business. They COULD build a product that would last forever, but then you'd never need another one and they wouldn't have repeat business. And if they let you fix yours for $75, they'd be doing you a favor, and that will never happen.
Good luck!