Who has ever made a warranty claim on AV equipment?

[NetGeek]

All of this talk about buying from authorized dealers vs. un-authorized dealers got me thinking about how many of my electronics have failed over the years – NONE! Has anyone ever had a component fail?

I have always been into electronics and in the last 20+ years I have never had a single component fail, never. I am not talking about computers, hard disks which are electro-mechanical devices fail all the time. Even the $4,000 high-end SCSI drives I use in my Servers fail all the time; that is why you have Disk Arrays, but AV equipment?

I lost a VCR and a modem to a lightning strike that came over the cable & phone lines, but that is it. When I buy electronics I always "burn them in" for 48 hrs. because most electronic components fail in the first 24 hrs if they are going to fail.

Might just be luck on my part but I have never had to make a warranty claim on any AV equipment I have ever owned. I even have a 20 year old TV that still works great.

How many of you have had components fail while still under warranty, or extended warranty.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Sony STR-DE925 receiver. Sony receivers were notorious for bad circuit boards. Mine went out several times. A local shop fixed it under warranty. It's been fine since - probably 11 years.

 

[ptalar]

My Panasonic VCR went belly up after 11 years. I had an RCA VCR go belly up. The screen went bad on my Hitachi RPTV - Replaced under Hitachi warranty. Other than that I have very little problems with my Home Theater equipment.

 

[jimmit]

I'm not sure how much the rate of audio/video equipment failure has to do with whether or not to purchase from unauthorized dealers. If you do any kind of research on the internet (sites like resellerratings.com), you will see that many of the problems associated with unauthorized dealers are not related to the longevity of genuine name brand products. Most have to do with folks not getting what they ordered. In far too many cases, they get gear in boxes that are obviously not factory-sealed, used gear, damaged gear, refurbished gear, gear that is dead-on-arrival, gear with serial numbers removed/obliterated and, I suspect, in some cases, counterfeit gear.

Another common complaint is that of unauthorized dealers just outright lying to customers. All too often they will tell you that the product you want is in stock when it is not. You only find out the truth after your credit card has been charged. Then you are faced with either waiting or canceling your order. Other problems are ignored e-mails, unanswered phone calls, etc.

If one could be assured that when they ordered a receiver from XYZ E-Tailer that they would get a brand new, factory-sealed unit, sent to them in a timely manner, perhaps there might be a reason to go ahead and get it at a greatly reduced price. But, unfortunately, there are no such assurances -- at least which can be relied on. Sure, the E-Tailer will make such assurances, but I wouldn't trust the "typical" unauthorized E-Tailer any further than I could throw him.

 

[HookedOnSound]

Has anyone ever had a component fail?

JVC 25 disc CD Changer, belly up after 2 yrs.
Sony 5 disc CD Player, DOA. Second Sony Lasted 6 yrs before noisy bearing Issue
Samsung VCR ($250) lasted about 2 years before the heads went. Go figure, bought el cheapo Magnasonic VCR Hock Shop special $25 - 4yrs and still kicking!

I don't seem to have good luck with electronics and they all seem to fail after the warranty of course! I am like one of those ppl who's watches stop working. That is why I don't buy the best 'cause I'd be out of a tidy sum!

I also wanted to note that I only bought an ext. warranty on my 32" CRT TV for the simple fact that the TV needs two people to move it and the techs come to my house if it needs servicing, there is no way I am wrecking my car hauling that beast!

Some ext. warranties make sense if you are buying something expensive and wouldn't have the funds to replace it if failed prematurely (whatever time frame you planned for) but $20 on a $200 unit, no way, save it in bank.

Netgeek, you said you got a 20yr TV that's still working? I believe ya, they built them pretty tough back then. In all fairness they are not as complicated as today's models.

Buckeyefan 1 mentionned his Sony, I think my Dad had the same model, still working till this day! go figure!

I don't understand how come some ppl have good experiences and some don't. Maybe it depends how well the delivery guys are paid in your neighborhood!

Buying authorized and non-authorized doesn't matter much, what matters is that you can accept the consequences of your purchasing decisions. If you aren't comfortable buying $500 unit with nothing more than 90 day warranty then you already know your answer.

 

[jimmit]

Buying authorized and non-authorized doesn't matter much, what matters is that you can accept the consequences of your purchasing decisions. If you aren't comfortable buying $500 unit with nothing more than 90 day warranty then you already know your answer.

Well said. Whether or not to purchase from an unauthorized dealer is a personal decision based on factors important to only the purchaser. I do think, however, it is important that one makes such a decision with their "eyes open." The problem is that there are a fair number of folks who don't go into these things with their eyes open -- either because they are overly trusting, gullible or just don't take the time to investigate before pulling the trigger.

 

[sjdgpt]

In the last 20+ years:

Drive system on Sony BetaMax about 2 years into ownership (free extended 2 yr warranty on parts and labor offered by dealer!). Then it lasted for 15 years.

A noisy Volume Control Knob on a NAD preamp, at about a year out the extended warranty, replaced by Dealer at No Charge.

Stax Headphone Headband kept breaking. Replaced at ~2 weeks, and 2 more times within the next 6 months. Died again and I bought the newly designed (obviously improved headband) Stax Headphones and never had any more problems.

21" Toshiba CRT Monitor. Circuit board failure at about 4 months (no video display).

27" Sharp standard TV. Replaced at 11 months and days. Failure on circuit board- no sound output. Replacement lasted about 3 months, identical failure. Replaced with "new model" number. No more problems.


Car Audio:

OEM equipment, thank goodness for extended warranties.

 

[MarieonCape]

Good topic, wrong place?

Wouldn't this topic better served in a more geneal area loudspeakers and subwoofers?

 

[jimmit]

Wouldn't this topic better served in a more geneal area loudspeakers and subwoofers?

I think it started here because of a couple of previous threads in the loudspeaker & subwoofer area regarding buying Klipsch speakers at Namebrandz.com, an unauthorized dealer. But yeah, I agree with you; at this point, it belongs elsewhere.

 

[JeffreyDJ]

I had a JVC DVD player that failed with 4 days left under warranty that fixed without a problem. It worked for five years after that reliably. Recently just sold on eBay for $30.

Also had an RCA TV that failed just a few months ut of warranty, but I suppose that doesn't fit the query

 

[havepositude]

24 hour burn in

I'm "in the biz" and have been for 7 years. I will NOT stump for warranty coverage here, but I will tell you that I have seen 5-6 units DOA, a few more within the week. The vast majority of failures I have seen are from 6 months to 2 years. Manufacturers do NOT want warranty claims, it dips into the bottom line. More and more are forcing expensive claims to be sent to the factory. Thus they build gear to survive their coverage and to be YOUR problem. Most are very gracious about claims just after their coverage ends. Sony is not one of them. I cannot give one good reason that the "burn in" would prove or help decide if the equipment was going to last. I have heard this before and the service techs I know have said that there is no connection . The highest fail rate gear I have seen is Sunfire, subs and receivers, and Pronto remotes. Good luck with your gear, best wishes and may yours never do what I have seen so much of.