[Mac Man]

In reply to my mail to Panasonic customer service regerding faulty PSUs on the AE100. Any Panny owners out there might be interested in this quote from an email I received from customer service. I'd asked them about a free extended guarantee on the machine...

Dear Mr Lamle

There was an improvement made to the PSU units in April 2002. All units
manuafactored after 2002 will have the improvement. Extended guarantee
will not be offered as a gesture of goodwill.

If something was to happen to your unit and it was manufactored before May
2002 then we would take this into consideration on offering assistance
without the purchase of the extended guarantee.

Extended guarantee can be ordered through the number provided previously.

Regards

Matt

[Timh]

Chris

Interesting this as I have a November 2001 model with over 950 hours on it, and now out of Guarantee, with no problems. I did email them about the PSU problem over a week ago but so far no reply

[magking]

It's a good thing that mine is May built.

[rogeralpine]

Originally posted by magking
It's a good thing that mine is May built.

..or maybe not! Us pre April adopters have the benefit at least of Panasonic acknowledging that they had a problem with the PSU pre April. Fact is though we all know that machines built after this date have been failing as well.

Chris - is there anychance you could forward that email (or part of it) to me please? I'm just coming up to my 12 months ownership and from here on in I'm a little concerned if the thing goes belly up how Panasonic would play it.

Thanks

As a matter of interest, how much is the extended warranty?

[theritz]

Hey Chris,

Good post !! and well done for getting that much info from Panasonic.


Sean G.

[Mac Man]

Details of my emails as follows:

initial:
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
EMAIL REQUEST: Subject - Website Enquiry. DETAILS: From:
Mr Chris lAMLE

Query:
Serial problem with PT AE100 projector. I am writing in connection with an apparent psu problem on the above projector (mine included). it seems a large number of these projectors have had a blown power supply unit, according to a uk audio visual forum (www.avforums.co.uk). they have run a poll to discover how many forum members have experienced problems with this particular projector. from the number of posts received it seems there are a significant number. The point i would like to raise is the issue of warranty. it is all very well to have the psu repaired in the first year, but what about subsequent years. If this psu is known to be faulty, why should i and other owners have to pay to continually get this component repaired outside the initial one years warranty. i appreciate this could be
an unforseen problem but it seems that the customer is being part of
panasonics quality management process (without be paid for it!). I would appreciate some clarification on this matter and would ask if i am entitled to a ! refund or at least an extended warranty on this particular component.
regards
Chris lamle


Their reply:
PROBLEM RESOLUTION:
Dear Mr Iamle

Thank you for your e-mail.

In response I would explain that extended guarantee can be purchased
through our call centre on 08705 357357. This will extend your guarantee
to 3 years.

Kind regards,
Customer Support

*** If you have any further queries, please e-mail back to
customer.care@panasonic.co.uk, including all e-mail correspondence. ***
(Document link: )

My firther reply:
Matt

Why should I have to pay for an extended guarantee for something which has an intrinsically faulty component. If a car had a gearbox that needed replacing every 6000 miles I would imagine the whole production run would have been recalled.

It seems from my experience, as well as many others, that this particular model has a common problem with many users reporting faults with the PSU.

Perhaps an extended guarantee on the component in question, as a gesture of goodwill, may be forthcoming.

If you are interested I can ask others in the same situation to mail you with their experiences.

For a company with Panasonic's good reputation in the AV industry it would be a shame that a rogue product could sour its image.

Regards

Chris Lamle

Their last reply:

Dear Mr Lamle

There was an improvement made to the PSU units in April 2002. All units
manuafactored after 2002 will have the improvement. Extended guarantee
will not be offered as a gesture of goodwill.

If something was to happen to your unit and it was manufactored before May
2002 then we would take this into consideration on offering assistance
without the purchase of the extended guarantee.

Extended guarantee can be ordered through the number provided previously.

Regards

Matt





Chris Lamle
<chris@northstarde To: <Matt.Hickin@panasonic.co.uk>
sign.co.uk> cc:
Subject: Re: Mail message from Matt Hickin ( Ticket
10/03/2003 14:16 number: BLIE-5KBA9W )

[mcmullanbrush]

The PSU on my July 2002 model failed after 220 hours. I wonder how long it would have lasted if it had been one of the dodgy PSUs?

Seems the lesson here is for us all to avoid Panasonic products in future and tell everyone who will listen to do the same.

Ignore Panasonic's response - and the better lesson for everyone here is to read and learn their consumer rights - consult your local CAB for free consumer advice or trading standards might help (if the person you speak to there sounds unsure, you should speak to someone else as they are not all well trained). Essentially you should ask yourself is 12months mfr warranty a reasonable warranty for a £1500 projector which has 24 months mfr warranty in Europe - I think 3 years is reasonable for a statutory warranty period for this product. Fact is you have statutory rights to remedy this problem against the retailer (and cc company if used) but you are not aware and/or enforcing them. Panasonic are well aware of this but it is not actionable against a mfr - retailer only and all retailers are well aware. Some try to avoid their statutory burdens (Dixons) others are good about it (Aldi)

[chic]

i bought my panasonic from joe at the media factory and i got a 2 year warranty from them. Joe said the he sources his projectors from the panasonic business department and all come with a 2 year warranty, whereas if it was purchased from a retail store they are sourced from a different department and you would only get a 1 year warranty.

I am glad i bought from joe although my unit has passed 1200 hours with no problems

[Timh]

I also emailed Panasonic regarding the PSU issue with the AE100, have a laugh>

PROBLEM RESOLUTION:
Dear Mr Herring

Thank you for your e-mail.

In response I would explain that there are no upgrades for this product and
no power supply issues that we have been made aware of here.

However if a problem were to occur then the unit would come in to us for a
repair and we are fairly flexible on the guarantee terms.

Kind regards,
Customer Support

I guess Panasonic's customer service department had better get thier facts right

[rogeralpine]

Thanks for the info there Chris. I am not going to consider their extended warranty as I believe "reasonably expectations" for such a product should cover it for at least 3 years regardless of what they say about warranty periods. The fact they've also acknowledged the PSU problem adds weight to our case.

You are spot on RogerAlpine - glad you and me can relax and enjoy the projector safe in the knowledge of our statutory rights against the retailer and cc company (not panasonic unless go for negligence - not worth it when you have the cc company to play with).

[Timh]

Received another email Today from Matt Hickin himself.

PROBLEM RESOLUTION:
Dear Mr Herring

Thank you for your e-mail enquiry.

In response, I would explain that the power supply modification was only
carried out to units that had failed that were manufactored before May
2002.

Service to projectors is done at our workshop in Bracknell. Should you
experience any problems please conatct us on the number below.

I trust that the above information will be of assistance to you. However,
of course, if you should have any further queries, please do not hesitate
to contact us on 08705 357357 or customer.care@panasonic.co.uk and we will
endeavour to assist.

Think I will add Matt Hickman to my Address book, just incase

[mattr]

Has anyone bought an extended warranty from Panasonic ? If so, how much ?

I've had the PSU changed (who hasn't ?) and just have one dust blob but can't be a*sed to send it back so soon (as it's bound to happen again).

[Kitch]

hi

just recieved application form from panasonic
the 2 years extended warranty is £170.00

check out panasonics web site for the info

cheers

mick

[Jonny1973]

My May 2002 AE100 failed this weekend with the PSU fault.

Didn't all AE100s after April 2002 have an improved PSU??

...with all these problems it is open to you guys having problems to ask your retailer/cc co to provide a projector fit for the purpose as contracted. this would mean replacing with an AE200 as the AE100 is clearly unreliable (these forums prove it) and the retailer should pass this cost onto panasonic perhaps by suing them (this is their concern).

I will be a heavy user as soon as my place is setup and if i have any recurring problems i will certainly do this to my retailer via my cc company. I would suggest rejecting the goods at first instance and making clear that you always reject the goods from then on (you can use them in the interim while the retailer refuses to accept your rejection or finds a replacement). You do not need to take a refund or repair or another AE100- you could insist on a projector of similar spec to the one contracted or you will sue for loss of bargain...

calibos might know a bit about this too... thats the law fwiw...