Warning: do not fix gh1 under warranty!

R

rubberbandito

Active member
Hi folks

My GH1 LCD swivel latch broke a little so it does not close all the way. Camera worked fine though. It was under warranty so I sent it in to Panasonic Digital Repair Center. This was 5 weeks ago. They told me they were waiting on the part and over and over, told me it would be here in just a week. I called probably 10 times now and keep getting that. A manager got involved last week and called me to assure me that the part came in and I would have my camera before my overseas trip (I threated a law suit if not). Finally today, I called to check up, and to my surprise, the rep called the repair facility and they said part will not be in until late April. So again I told them I just want my camera back even if it is a little broken still, or a refurb or money for a new one, or I will have to pay for a new camera, and when I get back from overseas in 2 months, I will sue them for this cost, as well as hassle costs. Now some guy on the top, a field rep, is supposed to call me by Friday to figure out what they can do.

You better not need your GH1 for months if you plan to send it in under warranty!

Same thing when the camera first came out, they kept saying just a week away, then all the orders cancelled, etc, it took 3-4 months just to buy it. Panasonic customer service is the worst I have ever dealt with.
 
Panasonic consumer customer service is AWFUL.

The professionals get the good stuff though.

I wish there was some way we could say: hey I will pay a little more for warranty, treat me like a pro.
 
I am in the UK and my 14-140mm lens has been in almost 2 months for repair. The service has been the worst I have ever experienced in such a large company. The call centre staff are a joke too. It has put me off buying anything from Panasonic again of much value. Definately not going to invest in there lenses after this. Anyone have advice on what my rights are in this situation?
 
Last edited:
kainekainekaine said:
I am in the UK and my 14-140mm lens has been in almost 2 months for repair. Just about to go down the legal route too. The service has been the worst I have ever experienced in such a large company. The call centre staff are a joke too. It has put me off buying anything from Panasonic again of much value. Definately not going to invest in there lenses after this. Anyone have advice on what my rights are in this situation?
Click to expand...

if you have a small claims court in UK, file a small claims. here is usa, when you file a small claims and they get served, they wake up and will want to make things right quickly, otherwise they have to start paying a lawyer to review the file, costing lots more.

this works well here in USA anyway when you have a problem like this. it is unacceptable to be without a camera you paid $2000 for probably for two months. and any small claims judge would give you at least a little for your hassle if they don't settle first which they will.
 
Talk to the supervisor. Demand a replacement. They may offer you a refurbished unit, which you may or may not want.
 
I just got my GH1 back from the service center after almost 2 months. It stopped recording sound, so they replaced the following according to the record they sent with the camera: Main PC Board Bulk, Audio PC Board, Audio FPC, Speaker.

It was difficult to find out the status during the repair. About 3 weeks ago, I found out (after several transfers and much on-hold waiting) that they had ordered 2 parts from Japan but were waiting on 2 more that they also needed. I actually talked to a nice lady yesterday who was unable to find out the status (they were not answering at the service center in Elgin), but she promised to call back by end of day. By the time she did call back, the package had arrived. Calling her was like lighting the proverbial cigarette at the restaurant I guess.

Now I've lost 2 precious months of the 12 month warranty period. Overall, I'm not impressed with Panasonic consumer repairs. What a shame, because the camera is quite awesome.

Ron
 
Its blogs like this that also put a little fire under their a$$.

After about 20 pages of complaints about rebates they finally did something... So far my cams have worked great - just dreading the day anything does need to be fixed under warranty...
 
MadHMC-

The good news is you probably won't have to. Outside of the strap rivet issue, they seem to be pretty well made for a small plastic camera. My issue with the sound seems to be a complete oddity, as I have found no other references to this problem on this board or anywhere else. I guess I was just the lucky one to get a bad PC board!
 
just an update. after i threatened them with the small claims action, the field rep got involved and sure enough, within about a week, i had my camera back repaired. so all that talk of the part not being in was total BS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top