Hificomponents.de Steer clear.

[Kramer]

It's now been over a month since I recieved my faulty PT-AE100 from this shameless German internet retailer.

At present, it has 6 faults. They are, in decending order of importance:

1. Stuck open blue pixel, bleeding into surrounding pixels.
2. Vertical banding, very intrusive, a major problem.
3. Scrapeing/tearing noise from the cooling fan.
4. Convergence fault with the blue panel.
5. Colour staining. Pink & green tinge to corners of the image.
6. Flicker from the lamp.

Despite numerous e-mails from me to have the unit replaced, I am still waiting. At present they are ignoring my communications.

I notified this company on the very day I received the unit that it was faulty.

So the lesson to be learned here?

Do not purchase anything from hificomponents.de

They are not aware of such things as customer service. There policy is - ignore him & he'll go away.

If anyone can suggest other places to post my experiences with this crowd, or indeed offer any advice, please let me know. I informed them last week that I would begin posting on forums such as this, & will e-mail them a link to this post/thread.

Tim, what was that number mentioned a while back for Panasonic service. Was a guy's name mentioned to speak too?


DO NOT BUY FROM HIFICOMPONENTS.DE

unless you want to waste money.

[patmyhead]

Maybe I was lucky that after waiting 4 weeks fot sony PJ &then canceling cause i got fed up being lied to
dispite them confirming refund i am still waiting
Is there a body in germany that can take action for customers of this company
DO NOT USE THIS SHOP
they say items are in stock when they are not BEWARE
P@

[Timh]

Kramer

thats bad news m8 companys like this need shutting down.
I dont have a name but heres the phone number 0870 9070909
Can you let us know how you get on.

Good Luck

[chic]

I spoke to I guy called nick at panasonic & he was very hepfull as I have a dust blob on my projector tried blowing it out with canned air but no joy it must need expert cleaning

its definatly dust as it is much bigger than a pixel & it is a green blob only visable on dark background.

Nic from panasonic is sending a courier to collect my pj tomorrow to have it cleaned all under warranty top bloke

[Lefreck]

@ Kramer
If it is OK for you I will quote your text above to the german board "beisammen.de" or you can do it yourself. This board is the best and most frequented board in Germany! Waiting for your answer...

[Kramer]

Thanks guys for the support & info

Some news from the company. I sent them a link to this thread & advised them of the many more to come! Low & behold, a reply!

"Hello Mr. ******



My college made yesterday morning an order by our transport company to pick up your item.

We had some discussion with the manufacturer and we are allowed to replace it or to give you the money back.

I hope that I have the tracking number for the replace delivery in the afternoon that you can track it and look for when they will arrive in your house.

Please also add your original invoice and a short letter whats wrong with the item.



Best regards"

This reply only came after I sent them the link, so it's a testament to the power of this forum



The transport company were in touch today to collect the old unit, but had no new one to deliver. I explained the situation to them & they agreed, given the hassle I'm having with the retailer, it would be maddness to give back the one I have without first receiving the replacement (I'd be left with no money, no PJ etc..)

So the current state of affairs is I'm awaiting delivery of a replacement unit, but they haven't e-mailed me a tracking number as they promised - no surprise there.

If it was dispatched earlier this week, I should have it by Friday, but I'm not holding my breath!

Regarding posting on that German forum, I have sent you a PM which explains things.

Thanks again for the support. Hopefully, my experiences, which will hopefully soon be rectified, will prevent some others from having similiar difficulties.

I'll keep you posted.

Long may this forum live - I thing we all have a very powerful tool at our disposal, as well as a wealth of useful contacts & information.

[Lefreck]

Glad 4 U

[Kramer]

Reply I received from them yesterday:

"Hello Mr. ****

As soon as your parcel arrives in our office we will send out the new one to
you.
We will send it out with the same transport company.

Best regards

J**** W*********"

I've e-mailed them again advising that this is unacceptable!

Why can't they send a replacement & have the faulty unit collected at the same time?

Even the guy from the transport company agreed with me on this one!!

I'll post again if they reply

[Stuart Wright]

It's standard policy for retailers to receive the faulty unit back before the replacement is sent out. I think it's unreasonable to expect a retailer to send out a replacement until they have recieved the original.

[Kramer]

Would you send back the unit in this case?

They said to send the original receipt also. I'll be left with no projector, no receipt & no money!

I bought from Germany, paid by bank transfer, & it has taken numerous e-mails, many of which were ignored, to get this far. I obviously haven't got the back up of a credit card company in this case.

Given the post above regarding a refund, I don't feel like placing €2000 worth of trust in this company.

Any suggestions?

[LV426]

It is pretty standard to expect faulty goods to be returned before replacements are sent. I guess the question is, do you want to be stuck with a defective machine?

[Bonesy]

I would trust them and send it back.

in the same way you're worried about being stuck without money and machine, they don't want to send out two projectors, only one paid for, and one 'apparently' defective. especially abroad.

They seem to be playing fair. now.

[patmyhead]

FOBED off again on refund fot sony they say it takes a few days to go through
This it what they said to me FIVE weeks ago when they first had my money in their account
[sentance removed by admin - you can't really say that]
Think very hard before useing them it might be cheep but the hassle not worth it
P@