Sunday, December 20, 2009
14:31 by FoxTwo
My first brush with this phenomenon was back in 2003 or so. Well, the first one I can remember anyway.
Back then, DVD Recorders were new. They replaced the good old faithful VCRs. I bought one at S$399, with an 80GB Harddisk on board, thus I didn't have to put a DVD disc into the drive to record any TV programs.
Exactly 1 year 1 month later, ie, 1 month after the warranty expired, the DVD drive on the player/recorder decided to die. I called up the service centre, described my problem to them and asked for a repair estimate, since the player was out of warranty.
They said, to replace the DVD drive, it would cost me $350. What the hell? Even computer DVD drives cost only $150 at most, at the time! For $40 more I could have gotten a NEW player! To cut a long story short, I went out and bought a TV card and stuck that into my computer. My PC thus became a DVD Recorder for TV programs.
My second experience is with my Digital Ixus 60 camera - 6 months after the warranty expired, it decided to act faulty. At the time, the fault was intermittent, so I lived with it. Now, the fault is persistent. Again I called up the service centre and was told that they could not give even a ballpark estimate as they need to see what was wrong with it first. They would advise me on the cost at the centre after inspection, and will only proceed to repair it after I have given my consent. As of right now, I have yet to send it in, because I can use the camera on my phone for pictures should the need arise - for now.
My third experience, and I'm experiencing it now, is that my faithful and long-time friend, my Seiko watch decided to die on me. I'm not too upset about this one because the watch has served me faithfully for almost 10 years, and the warranty expired on it a long time ago.
For one thing, Seiko's email customer support is almost non-existent. I emailed them and described the fault, and I asked if they could repair it (the crown came out into my hand when I pulled on it to adjust time). Not only did they not answer my question (could they repair it?), the email contained the usual corporate blurb on how they are the authorised dealer in Singapore and their long history of dealing in Seiko watches.
The only ("human?") paragraph that doesn't seem like a template response was that they told me they needed to inspect the watch before they can tell me how much it was going to cost for repairs.
Seems like "We need to inspect the product first before giving an estimate" is now the catchphrase.
Anyway, so off I went, to the Seiko service centre. One thing I must say though - their service centre staff is excellent. They were courteous and friendly, and the "inspection" took about 10 minutes before they advised me of the costs. Seems like my almost-10-year-old watch needed a complete overhaul, plus they would change the crystal on it, for $145. Considering a new Kinetic Auto-Relay watch could cost upwards of $600, that amount seemed fair and reasonable. After all, I will be getting essentially a "new" watch - the innards would be changed, the glass also changed, but the case and bracelet would be the same condition as when I sent it in - scratched and well-worn. Even if I were to refuse repair and buy a new watch (any brand), chances are the new watch will cost more than just $145.
Well, I have to wait 3 weeks while they repair my watch. Not much of a problem since I have other watches to wear in the mean time.
The final story in this entry is about my (relatively) new Samsung LCD TV. Originally it came with a 1 year warranty. At the time, I was considering whether to extend the warranty on it for another 2 years, to make it 3 years total. Finally I decided to do so. I am glad I did.
The TV decided to show me pink and whites in place of any other colour. If the picture was blue or green or black, it would be PINK. Remember monochrome monitors in the good old days? Imagine the colours you were limited to are just PINK and WHITE instead of black and white.
I searched for the warranty on the TV and was glad it's still within the warranty. I called up the service centre and got very quick and friendly responses. The technician would drop by a few days later, but I still recorded a video of what the TV shows me when I turn it on. Just in case the other saying comes true - "Any piece of equipment will work flawlessly when demonstrated in front of the technician".
In any case, the video was unnecessary - the TV still showed me pink and whites when the technician came. He replaced the entire LCD Panel, ie the "screen". The whole repair was over in 30 mins and now my TV works normally again.
It should be said that LCD panels normally don't die so quickly. Look at all your laptops and your modern computer monitors - they still work fine after years in service. I just happen to have arse-luck and gotten a unit with a faulty LCD panel.
Well, that's all for this entry - the story of my dead/dying devices.
14:31 by FoxTwo
Devices Will Die When Warranty Expires
My first brush with this phenomenon was back in 2003 or so. Well, the first one I can remember anyway.
Back then, DVD Recorders were new. They replaced the good old faithful VCRs. I bought one at S$399, with an 80GB Harddisk on board, thus I didn't have to put a DVD disc into the drive to record any TV programs.
Exactly 1 year 1 month later, ie, 1 month after the warranty expired, the DVD drive on the player/recorder decided to die. I called up the service centre, described my problem to them and asked for a repair estimate, since the player was out of warranty.
They said, to replace the DVD drive, it would cost me $350. What the hell? Even computer DVD drives cost only $150 at most, at the time! For $40 more I could have gotten a NEW player! To cut a long story short, I went out and bought a TV card and stuck that into my computer. My PC thus became a DVD Recorder for TV programs.
My second experience is with my Digital Ixus 60 camera - 6 months after the warranty expired, it decided to act faulty. At the time, the fault was intermittent, so I lived with it. Now, the fault is persistent. Again I called up the service centre and was told that they could not give even a ballpark estimate as they need to see what was wrong with it first. They would advise me on the cost at the centre after inspection, and will only proceed to repair it after I have given my consent. As of right now, I have yet to send it in, because I can use the camera on my phone for pictures should the need arise - for now.
My third experience, and I'm experiencing it now, is that my faithful and long-time friend, my Seiko watch decided to die on me. I'm not too upset about this one because the watch has served me faithfully for almost 10 years, and the warranty expired on it a long time ago.
For one thing, Seiko's email customer support is almost non-existent. I emailed them and described the fault, and I asked if they could repair it (the crown came out into my hand when I pulled on it to adjust time). Not only did they not answer my question (could they repair it?), the email contained the usual corporate blurb on how they are the authorised dealer in Singapore and their long history of dealing in Seiko watches.
The only ("human?") paragraph that doesn't seem like a template response was that they told me they needed to inspect the watch before they can tell me how much it was going to cost for repairs.
Seems like "We need to inspect the product first before giving an estimate" is now the catchphrase.
Anyway, so off I went, to the Seiko service centre. One thing I must say though - their service centre staff is excellent. They were courteous and friendly, and the "inspection" took about 10 minutes before they advised me of the costs. Seems like my almost-10-year-old watch needed a complete overhaul, plus they would change the crystal on it, for $145. Considering a new Kinetic Auto-Relay watch could cost upwards of $600, that amount seemed fair and reasonable. After all, I will be getting essentially a "new" watch - the innards would be changed, the glass also changed, but the case and bracelet would be the same condition as when I sent it in - scratched and well-worn. Even if I were to refuse repair and buy a new watch (any brand), chances are the new watch will cost more than just $145.
Well, I have to wait 3 weeks while they repair my watch. Not much of a problem since I have other watches to wear in the mean time.
The final story in this entry is about my (relatively) new Samsung LCD TV. Originally it came with a 1 year warranty. At the time, I was considering whether to extend the warranty on it for another 2 years, to make it 3 years total. Finally I decided to do so. I am glad I did.
The TV decided to show me pink and whites in place of any other colour. If the picture was blue or green or black, it would be PINK. Remember monochrome monitors in the good old days? Imagine the colours you were limited to are just PINK and WHITE instead of black and white.
I searched for the warranty on the TV and was glad it's still within the warranty. I called up the service centre and got very quick and friendly responses. The technician would drop by a few days later, but I still recorded a video of what the TV shows me when I turn it on. Just in case the other saying comes true - "Any piece of equipment will work flawlessly when demonstrated in front of the technician".
In any case, the video was unnecessary - the TV still showed me pink and whites when the technician came. He replaced the entire LCD Panel, ie the "screen". The whole repair was over in 30 mins and now my TV works normally again.
It should be said that LCD panels normally don't die so quickly. Look at all your laptops and your modern computer monitors - they still work fine after years in service. I just happen to have arse-luck and gotten a unit with a faulty LCD panel.
Well, that's all for this entry - the story of my dead/dying devices.
