Just got HC5000 from PriceJapan and it looks like this

mattsimis

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Yes, that is a big ugly brown streak over 20% of the imame. God damn it.

Now to test how RMAing stuff to Japan goes.
 

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Matt,

That's a complete bummer...........:( The guys at PriceJapan have a fairly good reputation - they might be able to arrange a swap-out from the original supplier................

How did you fare with import duty/tax ?


Rgds,

Sean.
 
Matt,

That's a complete bummer...........:( The guys at PriceJapan have a fairly good reputation - they might be able to arrange a swap-out from the original supplier................

How did you fare with import duty/tax ?


Rgds,

Sean.


Hopefully they are ok but no reply from then yet and they have had the guts of a day to receive and read the mail (pics included). On the plus side, they seem to have put the shipping cost on the freight manifest as opposed unit cost, so DHL have not as yet asked for custom/VAT payment.


Matt
 
Since PriceJapan are keen to link to forums to show how good their service is, Im sure it works both ways. 2 days ago I sent the 2 images and a request detailing its dead on arrival, please arrange RMA, their reply:

PriceJapan said:
"Sad to hear it.

You may configure its picture by OSD, though I don't know it well.
Could you remind me in 3 days after playing with HC5000 toy ?"


I replied and said its clearly a HW fault, arrange an RMA now please - No reply
Then yesterday I sent a mail stating I would be contacting PayPal/Mastercard to escalate the matter and reverse funds unless they sent a mail detailing how they were arranging a replacement for me - No reply.


I dont know if this applies to DOA, but their Warranty service sucks in general:

"When machines need warrant repair, you should send machines to makers in Japan, via us. Shipping cost of Item's round trip will be your burden(roughly $150-300 in case of projectors)."


I really wanted to like these guys. :(


Matt
 
Unbelievable, they replied and want me to pay shipping to them, they will "repair it" then I pay shipping to get it returned. Im thinking of just reporting them to PayPal/Credit Card and having my money refunded.

Buyer Beware indeed. :thumbsdow
 
To be honest this is what most of us on here would have expected. Everything with personal imports is 'at your risk'.
Price Japan make only a small fixed margin on products (107 euro fee on the HC5000). I just don't see how they could survive if they paid shipping for returns.
 
To be honest this is what most of us on here would have expected. Everything with personal imports is 'at your risk'.
Price Japan make only a small fixed margin on products (107 euro fee on the HC5000). I just don't see how they could survive if they paid shipping for returns.


I wouldnt call buying from them a "Personal Import". They make 5% for essentially translating a website and hand holding a virtual order.

I would pay the shipping back if they were also sending me a replacement (they stock these units themselves) at the same time. They are not, they will ship it to Mitsubishi to determine if the fault was "inherently in the design" then perhaps replace/repair it, then ship it again at my expense.
 
That sucks. I bought a Hitachi TX100 from a Canadian Japan importer called Eastporters and they sent my projector back. I had bought a shipping insurance for $75 CDN. Hitachi replaced the projector with a new one and the replacement was awesome. When I bought a Hitachi TX 200 from Eastporters, I did the same thing and bought one year of return shipping insurance. Bad luck struck again right off the bat, but this time I swapped for a new unit right at Eastporters and so far so good. A year later and its working well.

Good luck with your ordeal. You would think they should be able to pay for at least one way, or part of one way with the amount they are making on an expensive projector like the Mits 5000.
 
I wouldnt call buying from them a "Personal Import". They make 5% for essentially translating a website and hand holding a virtual order.

I would pay the shipping back if they were also sending me a replacement (they stock these units themselves) at the same time. They are not, they will ship it to Mitsubishi to determine if the fault was "inherently in the design" then perhaps replace/repair it, then ship it again at my expense.

I would contact Mitsubishi directly. Email their customer services and tell them the whole sorry tale. They may well intervene to maintain good customer relations.
I had an Infocus 7205 which arrived from the seller with a fault, I contacted Infocus directly and they not only replaced the unit, they also sent me a free bulb, worth a good few hundred quid, as a way of saying sorry.
It is worth a try. This is a new model and they will want to create a good impression.
Maybe even say that you are a regular contributor to AVforums and other members recommended you approach them directly as they have a good record with such cases!! You never know, they may actually believe it enough themselves to sort this out for you!
The unit should be under a warranty and the Mitsubishi warranties are normally very good, but most warranties state that the cost of shipping is the customer's responsibility. Maybe they will allow you to send it to a service center nearer than Japan!

Good luck!:smashin:
 
Thanks, I knew I couldnt be the only one that isnt impressed with their method of handling this. They even told me to post if on forums if I want and went as far as to tell me "most Forums support us because we declare our policy on our website very clearly in simple English". As I said, if it simply went bad during the Warranty period I wouldnt mind, but it was DOA. Unfortunately they do indeed state (somewhere) on their site DOAs are treated this way.

On the plus side Mitsubishi Ireland have agreed to "have a look" at the unit, could be cheaper and faster to do this than mail it around the world and back.


Matt
 
I don't see how this is Pricejapan's fault as everything that has happened was already printed up the faq section. They are quite strict about their returns policy and the buyer also has the option of a return shipment immediately if the product is found to be faulty, so the option was there. I have had good experiences with price japan before but would be miffed if I was in your situation. It's mitsubishi's problem so hopefully mitsubishi ireland can help you.
 
this does seem to be an issue with this PJ as there are a few on AVS with the same problem, iirc they got it swapped out.

it is very risky importing 3 panel devices. actually its not worth it.
 
Not being funny but you agreed to their terms when you ordered the PJ.

There warranty policy states:-

About warranty
Warranty is valid only in Japan for 1 year. It is not valid in your country.
International warranty or more than 1 year warranty will NOT be applied.
When machines need warrant repair, you should send machines to makers in Japan, via us.
Shipping cost of Item's round trip will be your burden(roughly $150-300 in case of projectors)

Your clearly in the wrong to expect Price Japan to pay the additional shipping costs and worse, if more folk do what you do, I would imagine that Price Japan my withdraw this valuable service.
 
Thanks for flagging this up.

I constantly see at the high def disc players' forums talk of such-and-such a player for so many pounds, and it turns out to be an import.

Massive, massive risk.

Steve W
 
You have my sympathies. I don't think importing equipment is a bad idea at all - you've just been unlucky.

I wish you luck in sorting things out one way or another.

My advice to anyone who has a similar experience in the future is always to return faulty items straight away for a full and immediate refund. Then you can have a think about trying again with the same or a different retailer or go for something else.

Never accept a repair on new gear that's not right from day one.
 
Not being funny but you agreed to their terms when you ordered the PJ.

There warranty policy states:-

Your clearly in the wrong to expect Price Japan to pay the additional shipping costs and worse, if more folk do what you do, I would imagine that Price Japan my withdraw this valuable service.


"Not being funny" but I stated I know this already. They dont need any more white knights.

I already said it was fair enough and they have publicised the service terms. My gripe was merely they could have sent me a immediate replacement instead of screwing around with this "send out for valuation". We are talking about DOA here. They were more than happy to throw back "well we have proof the package was signed for as well" which also ****** me off, they imply we shouldnt sign for packages without opening and testing the contents, which is all well and good in theory but hardly practical.


However, I diagnosed and fixed the problem myself, its a flaw in the design of the projector IMO but in this case, easy to fix. And no, Im not stupid enough to post details here. However the now fully working PJ looks fantastic.
 
fantastic[/I].

hi

really glad to hear this - the HC5000 is a nice projector at a reasonable price.

Perhaps you might like to share with any other prospective purchasers what you did to fix the problem

edit - perhaps I should read the quote more thoroughly ....
 
Good stuff Matt.
Despite my initial post above - I do feel that even though you should expect to pay returns that pricejapan should have dealt with everything more slickly than they have. It's a nightmare having to deal with returns oversees - pricejapan should at least take the pain out of it (even if the cost remains the same).

Just for info - how much including shipping, taxes, etc did you end up paying?
Also - how helpful were Mitsubishi Ireland?
 
Good stuff Matt.
Just for info - how much including shipping, taxes, etc did you end up paying?
Also - how helpful were Mitsubishi Ireland?


I paid EUR2200 (under £1500) for the PJ and shipping, seemingly Customs Free (didnt get asked this time round) too. I import a lot, so my name/address is "marked" and I usually get stung for customs.

Mitsubishi Ireland gave me the mobile number of their Sales Manager and he in turn arranged a contact and name in their local service depot. They couldnt confirm they would or could fix it, but they would have tested it etc had I brought it in to them. Fairly happy with them, as its a grey market import they really didnt have to do anything.


Matt
 
WOW -that's a great price - hope no one knocks on your door asking for money :) - Last time I thought I'd got away with it, an invoice came through 3 weeks later :(
Still - even if I add the max customs charges, it works out at just less than £2000 - cheapest on FroogleUK is £2700.
Is it autoswitching mains - or did you have to get a stepdown?
 
WOW -that's a great price - hope no one knocks on your door asking for money :) - Last time I thought I'd got away with it, an invoice came through 3 weeks later :(
Still - even if I add the max customs charges, it works out at just less than £2000 - cheapest on FroogleUK is £2700.
Is it autoswitching mains - or did you have to get a stepdown?

Yeah, got caught out once by the mail-out-customs charge once too.

Its got an English Menu (it was preset Japanese of course!) and auto-switching to 220v, no stepdown needed. Despite my problems, I would still recommend importing. I buy as little as possible retail, there is just no way the price difference justifies the little extra "piece of mind".


Matt
 
220v, ouch that would go bang in my place!
 
220v, ouch that would go bang in my place!



.. something wrong with your wiring then? :p
220 - 240v is the standard voltage range in Europe, with 230v being the "common ground" European average. Regardless, the HC5000 works fine here.
 
Nothing wrong with my wiring but UK is 230v nominal with upto + 10% variation, that means 253v is perfectly acceptable and normal for some people in the UK. Mine is routinely 250v and it means ALL my Japanese equipment needs transformers, whether 220v or 100v otherwise funny things happen to it. I'm glad the HC5000 works fine ;)
 
Hi Matt

Have you had any issues with brightness of image. I am constantly impressed with the image produced by this machine in the reviews and pictures supplied. The sharpness of the image being a particularly big point.

They say it's a bit dim but presumably if you live in a light controlled environment then this is less of an issue.
 

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