When a product that's under warranty stops working, the manufacturer is supposed to either fix it or replace it. But there's a third alternative, as one reader has discovered in trying to get warranty service for his Epson P-2000, a portable digital photo viewer. The manufacturer can just dither forever over whether to fix it or replace it, effectively depriving the customer of the product they purchased.
"My story is probably typical," the reader wrote. "I have, well had, an Epson P2000. Great device when it worked -- we had a wonderful trip to Disney World last year when it worked flawlessly. But it suddenly failed to work on battery power. I called Epson tech support and they had me drop it off at a local service center, Tech Fusion in Cambridge, MA, for repair. I drop the device off on April 8 2006. I figure the next time I'll need it for real is when I go on vacation at the end of June. So, no problem, I have plenty of time."
In what will become a familiar litany, the reader is told that the repair will take a week to ten days. "I give them that time and after two weeks call to check on the status of my repair," the reader wrote. "The tech will call you. He doesn't. I started trying to get information on Monday, and it isn't until Saturday that I get someone who can give me any information. He pulls my device out of the repair bin and tells me the repair slip states that the device is going to be replaced by Epson. He also tells me to contact a tech at Tech Fusion on Monday to discuss expected timing. Monday comes, I call and am told the tech will call me back. He doesn't. I call Epson tech support. They refer me back to Tech Fusion. I call them again and they tell me someone will call me. No one does. I call Epson and a very nice lady gives me the customer service number to put in a complaint. Customer service calls the local repair shop, then calls me back. I should have my device in a week to 10 days. I don't."
As April turns to May, the reader still feels no great sense of urgency since his vacation is still two months away. "Various calls over the month of May, and frustration expressed by Epson but no resolution, no device, no timetable for repair," the reader wrote. "I am finally given my warranty claim number for the warranty service at Epson by Tech Fusion the last week of May. But Warranty Claims says they cannot talk to me, as I am not an authorized repair center. I talk with Epson customer service ... They cannot talk with Epson Warranty Claims either. I guess they aren't an authorized repair center."
As June arrives, the reader now begins to wonder if he will get his P-2000 back in time for his family's Fourth of July trip. "June arrives and I finally get a customer service rep who talks with the regional manager for Tech Fusion, and on June 6 they finally send my defective unit back to Epson for replacement." The reader keeps calling to find out the status, but Epson keeps referring him to Tech Fusion and Tech Fusion keeps telling him to call Epson. "On June 22 I talk to the tech at Tech Fusion and he suggests I call Epson. Call Epson, the tech commiserates with me and gets customer service on the phone. She commiserates with me and says she will call Tech Fusion again and call me back. She calls me back to inform me that after talking with Tech Fusion and Warranty Claims, she finally was able to get a status on my device. Epson warranty repair does have my P-2000 but is uncertain of whether they can repair it or if they should replace it. So until they figure that out they can give no estimation of return. Warranty services will be certain to keep an eye on the progress. What progress?"
Throughout this time the reader has been unable to speak directly with the Epson warranty repair center.
"Epson warranty repair finally calls and gets my wife, as I am out at the time," the reader writes. "They express regrets but they cannot offer any timeframe for repair. Most likely I will not have the P2000 before some time in July and they cannot give a guarantee to that. My wife remarks that I have been exceptionally patient considering how much I use the device on a daily basis and asks if they can do something, even something small just to show good faith. They give her an 800 number I can use to check on the status of my repair over the next weeks or months."
It's the end of June now though, so the reader will apparently be leaving on his trip sans P-2000. "It seems that the warranty service department of Epson is now saying they have to replace the serial number plate on the device and they cannot estimate how long that will take," the reader wrote. "You would think they could just give me a replacement device after this long. It would be less irritating if I didn't like the device so much. I probably should have been a much more squeaky wheel earlier, but expecting professionalism in a company seems to be too much to ask."
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