Faulty Optoma HD72i

[scudder]

I am just so unlucky, received my 72i from discounttv (minus the promotion screen because the last one they had in stock was damaged so awating that to arrive), unpacked it and was looking forward to viewing. Hooked it up, and after an hour it packed in and the two leds for overheating and fan failure started flashing. It was free standing on a shelf, good air-circulation so looks like a faulty unit which has since been returned so they can test it and replace. Left with a nasty taste having parted with serious money. As I said, no luck at all. Might have a replacement by Thursday and possibly a screen.
My main question is should I be expecting any sort of compensation for this chain of events or is it just sods law?
BTW, FWIW the quality was excellent and the fan was very quiet ( maybe that is becuase it was knackered )

[Mac Man]

Under the sale of goods you are entitled to a refund or replacement at this stage.

DiscountTV have a good rep on here so I don't think you'll have any problems.

C

[scudder]

Well thanks for that, but unfortunately when I contacted them tonight to ask the results of their testing they inform me that they cannot find a fault. I was using s-video and it was situated on a HiFi unit with no restrictions to the air circulation.
They informed me that they could do nothing until the manager returned in the morning, and this was at 4.30pm today.
I demanded a full refund in light that I had not received the 'free' screen, been without a PJ for a week and found that it was faulty on arrival. This bloke told me that there was NOTHING they could do until the manager, Pam, returned in the morning!!! Even asking if they could contact the manager by mobile for a decision this guy could/would do nothing to help.
So much for the 'Sale of Goods Act' you mentioned.
I would not touch this company again even if they do eventually sort this out!
The offer of returning the 'faulty' unit to me again was the spark that sent this spiraling into demanding a full refund.
Is there really a need for a manager to be there to get a refund? If I had walked into John Lewis and asked for a refund it would have been an instant decision... sod mail order for a lark. Thanks for listening!!!
Be warned!

[twistywizard]

I understand your angry

But sometimes with mail order companys they cannot auth a refund unless the manager is there, and maybe the lad was worried about maybe losing his job or getting a bollocking.

HOWEVER I dont believe for a minute there isnt a senior member of staff there. I would ring back up and ask to speak to a manager or whoever is in charge and see what they say!

[Mac Man]

Scudder

Whilst sympathising with your plight I find your comments a little unjustified.

It sounds as if you may have been unlucky, but if they have tested the machine and found nothing wrong with it I would be inclined to believe them, just going from my own personal experience of dealing with them. They are pretty keen on customers service - witness the MANY satisfied customers on the forum here, myself included.

If they find the machine to be working perfectly, and return it in that condition then that's as much as can be expected. Problems happen in any business... it's how they deal with it that matters.

If, in their opinion, the machine is working and is seen to be doing so then it's no wonder you have to wait till the morning for the manager to sort it out. You can hardly blame some guy on the shop floor for not being in a position to give you a refund on something that, in his opinion, is working ok.

[Helicon]

I'd guesstimate about 90% of items returned to a dealer for being faulty are actually in full working order. Usually it's down to not reading the manual when setting up or not reading the troubleshooting.

I'm not saying that's the situation in this case, but just saying this is quite common.

[Timbo21]

I don't think having to wait from 4.30 pm until the next morning is so unreasonable. It's not like they said next week etc.

My new H79 switched itself off the other day. A message came up saying it was too hot, or, something like that. I left it until the next day & it's been fine. It may have just got momentarily too hot. Personally I like to buy pj's, if possible, from somewhere I can walk into if any problems arise. I believe discounttv do have premises, but you probably aren't near them. Trying to sort out defective products over the phone is a real hassle.

Good luck. Your pj may be fine. Most Optomas have a good warranty (apart from the lamp that is).

[scudder]

Thanks for your support and reasurances. The PJ will now be sent back to me in it's current state along with the screen that came with the deal. If there are any other problems with it Themescene have kindly offered to replace it without quible. Themescene also explained they have no involvement with how dealers handle customer service but were amazed that the PJ was not exchanged.
I do not have the result I wanted but I have support from Themescene.
Thanks again for reading my angry rant... and if I seemed 'belligerent and unreasonable' as a moderator told me then he should try being out of pocket by £1500 with no goods for a week! To some of us that is a huge amount of money.

[benji_m]

Hi All

Just for the sake of clarity, I think it's probably a good idea to make this post.

Firstly I'd like to reassure every and all our customers that we don't take issues of faulty new products lightly.

The facts as I understand them are this.

1) Customer reports a fault with a new unit, we arrange for the unit to be picked up on Monday.

2) Projector is duly picked up on Monday and arrives back with us late Tuesday.

3) Projector is unpacked first thing on Wednesday, and undergoes ~4 hours of extensive testing, with multiple sources, and it behaves flawlessly.

Given that the initial post was made on Wednesday I think it's a little unfair to critiscise at this point, my personal opinion only.

Some e-tailers would I know have taken weeks to examine, deducted a restock fee for a non-fault unit, and taken a month to refund the money.

As I see it we could not have acted more promptly or dedicated more time and energy to this situation.

As always, if the original poster does feel there is a recurring issue with this PJ then we are always, always willing to sort things out promptly.

Please don't hesitate to contact myself, or any of the rest of the team here.

Ben