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    Panasonic Repair

    Thanks for the bandwidth to post this.

    It's been a while since we've had anything repaired by Panasonic (I guess that speaks well to reliability). Unknown to me when we shipped our unit in for repair, the current policy now is "if you ship us a unit for repair, we get to keep it if you don't respond."

    At the bottom of their current repair fax form, it says, "If you do not respond to this letter [repair quote] in 30 days, your unit will be returned to you unrepaired."

    We waited for this to happen for 2 months, but after talking to a repair admin there today, she said, basically, you have two options - pay us (even though we are not repairing it) or we keep the unit. She also said she doesn't make the policy, she just enforces it.

    I'm all for paying return shipping costs, but...

    Has anyone else come across this, recently? Am very eager to hear any other repair stories.

    Thanks!

    #2
    Are they talking about some cost for inspecting it? Allot of places will apply this charge towards the total repair cost, but if you choose not to have it repaired they want to be paid for looking at it.
    azvideoworks.com




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      #3
      "... if you choose not to have it repaired they want to be paid for looking at it. "

      Agreed, though that should be stated up front, not after the fact. My problem was with the printed statement that they would return after 30 days. Either do it, or don't include it in your quote.

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        #4
        what was the woman's response when you pointed out the contrary policy noted on their repair form?

        i assume you get the camera actually repaired as they're charging you for it. do they charge a flat fee for repair? i know sony used to do that for some of their prosumer cameras. otherwise, how significant (expensive) of a repair was it? also, what repair center was this? in the U.S.?

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          #5
          Terms and Conditions should be clear. If the quote only had the one T&C as you stated, then they must return the item. However, there may be a 'look at it' fee, which you owe. That may or may not have been stated before you sent it in. That's a fee that you should have known about before you sent the unit in. That is likely your problem, not theirs. [edit] look-at-it-fees are common.

          But you don't make clear what it is you owe. Is it the 'look at it fee' or something else? If it is the look at it fee, pay it and get your item back.
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            #6
            A bench fee is pretty standard any time I had a out of warranty repair. Even then I opted out of the repair because it was crazy expensive to fix a almost outdated piece of electronics. This was a Sony Betacam that ended up getting retired. If you don't me asking, how much money are we talking about?
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              #7
              I agree that a bench fee is common, and I've certainly paid my share. Their fee is $130, and $45 to ship it from NJ to CT. My issue isn't the bench fee, it's the inclusion of the wording, "If you do not respond to this letter [repair quote] in 30 days, your unit will be returned to you unrepaired." If you're going to say it, do it, particularly if it's in an official document.

              What is also common are RMAs, where T&Cs are clear, spelled out, and (usually) agreed to in advance. In my case, I took the time to call and inquire about protocol for repair prior to shipment, since T&Cs change over time. Their answer was "just send it in - We'll let you know." My purpose for the post was to see if other Panasonic buyers had had a different experience from mine (and what better place to do it).

              Thanks again!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by MPB View Post
                what was the woman's response when you pointed out the contrary policy noted on their repair form?
                She chose to ignore the part I was pointing out, choosing instead to refer me to "company policy" which was made "well above [her] pay grade."

                In this case it is a BT-LH80W monitor. It died between shoots, and only gave what I assume was an error code in a blinking LED pattern on the front panel. It was very consistent at power up. No, it was not a flat fee as far as I could tell. Repair cost put it over $2K, out of the NJ center. Needless to say, we spent the extra $1K and purchased the BT-LH910, which is a lovely monitor, BTW.

                Thanks for the query.

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                  #9
                  Closing the loop on this...

                  Spoke with a supervisor today, who was unaware of the conflicting instructions, but said they would remedy it. We met in the middle as far as the cost, which I think was fair.

                  Thanks for all the input.

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                    #10
                    that's reassuring that he was willing to take some responsibility.

                    but re-reading your first post - you had to pay to have the monitor returned, without it having been repaired?

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                      #11
                      Yes, both the shipping and the cost to have them estimate the repair.

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