PANASONIC ST30 - Unrepairable Panel fault - REPLACED

[Mr.Zed]

PANASONIC ST30 - Unrepairable Panel fault - REPLACED

Hi Friends I want to share my experience, it might be helpful in case you have a similar situation.

The Fault with my ST30 (After 11 months usage)- About two inches from the left edge there was a vertical line running from top to bottom. It was one pixel wide and the color looked inverted. It prominently showed on the OSD (blue) as a red line. I think the term is "stuck pixel". Hours count was ~ 1500


1. I did not contact the dealer at all (point of purchase).

2. I called the toll free customer care number (18001031333) and registered my complaint about the stuck pixel line (or dead pixel line, not sure what to call it).

3. The customer Care advisor gave me a SERVICE REQUEST NUMBER (also called JOB number).

4. I also recieved a confirmation SMS from the Cust care with the JOB number.

5. I was informed that an engineer will visit in 24 hours. It did not happen.

6. Called Panasonic with the JOB number. Was given the number to the local Panasonic Service centre (Atharva Electronics - Mumbai).

7. Finally the engineer came 3/4 days after the complaint was registered.

8. The engineer took a look at the screen and immediately concluded that it was a panel fault and said the set would have to be replaced.

9. The second technician came after a couple of days and took 50/60 photos from a (broken) panasonic digital compact. He took photos of the insides of the panel too. Asked me to help open the TV set

10. Had to call the service centre every other day to check on the progress. They said my TV replacement case was sent to the head office for approval.

11. After a few days they said the file had come back as they had not taken a photo of the ON HOURS count.

12. Another technician visited to take another 50/60 pictures.

13. I was assured that the replacement would be done in a week.

14. After two weeks of getting the same reply I contacted the Service manager at the Head office at Andheri.

15. I went there to meet him personally and he contacted the service centre and confirmed that the file had been sent to the country head office for approval.

16. About a month after registering the complaint one fine day the Service centre guys delivered a brand new unopened 42ST50.

17. I checked the ON HOURS count and YES it was unopened.

18. 2 pairs of 3D glasses were present in the box.

19. I had to call the service centre again to ensure they document the new model number and the new serial number on the old warranty card. No other official proof was provided. They sent a technician who took down the info on his job sheet and also noted the same on my old warranty card. He signed it too.


A few things to remember if you are in this situation -

1. Always call the toll free number for any queries and keep the Service Request Number (Job number) handy. They were surprisingly polite.

2. Do not call the service centre as they keep you on hold for upto 10 minutes, call the toll free number and they will conference the call.

3. Do not hesitate to call all three parties involved (I called them almost every alternate day for a month) i.e. the Toll free number, the Service centre and the Area Customer Service manager.

4. Visit the head office if possible and meet the Area Customer Service manager in person.

 

[L33TWiZaRd]

30 days of nightmarish experience is what i can take away from your post.
In the end you did get a replacement for your defective one.

What i don't get is why do we have to pester them so relentlessly to get what is owed to you? In this case, a replacement well within the warranty period.

Wish the service side of things improve in India drastically. The above case is appalling. Thankfully, you got the replacement

 

[etios]

Panasonic service is very bad and we do hear such cases from time to time, its good that you got your replacement.

 

[giddavr]

PANASONIC ST30 - Unrepairable Panel fault - REPLACED

Hi Friends I want to share my experience, it might be helpful in case you have a similar situation.

The Fault with my ST30 (After 11 months usage)- About two inches from the left edge there was a vertical line running from top to bottom. It was one pixel wide and the color looked inverted. It prominently showed on the OSD (blue) as a red line. I think the term is "stuck pixel". Hours count was ~ 1500


1. I did not contact the dealer at all (point of purchase).

2. I called the toll free customer care number (18001031333) and registered my complaint about the stuck pixel line (or dead pixel line, not sure what to call it).

3. The customer Care advisor gave me a SERVICE REQUEST NUMBER (also called JOB number).

4. I also recieved a confirmation SMS from the Cust care with the JOB number.

5. I was informed that an engineer will visit in 24 hours. It did not happen.

6. Called Panasonic with the JOB number. Was given the number to the local Panasonic Service centre (Atharva Electronics - Mumbai).

7. Finally the engineer came 3/4 days after the complaint was registered.

8. The engineer took a look at the screen and immediately concluded that it was a panel fault and said the set would have to be replaced.

9. The second technician came after a couple of days and took 50/60 photos from a (broken) panasonic digital compact. He took photos of the insides of the panel too. Asked me to help open the TV set

10. Had to call the service centre every other day to check on the progress. They said my TV replacement case was sent to the head office for approval.

11. After a few days they said the file had come back as they had not taken a photo of the ON HOURS count.

12. Another technician visited to take another 50/60 pictures.

13. I was assured that the replacement would be done in a week.

14. After two weeks of getting the same reply I contacted the Service manager at the Head office at Andheri.

15. I went there to meet him personally and he contacted the service centre and confirmed that the file had been sent to the country head office for approval.

16. About a month after registering the complaint one fine day the Service centre guys delivered a brand new unopened 42ST50.

17. I checked the ON HOURS count and YES it was unopened.

18. 2 pairs of 3D glasses were present in the box.

19. I had to call the service centre again to ensure they document the new model number and the new serial number on the old warranty card. No other official proof was provided. They sent a technician who took down the info on his job sheet and also noted the same on my old warranty card. He signed it too.


A few things to remember if you are in this situation -

1. Always call the toll free number for any queries and keep the Service Request Number (Job number) handy. They were surprisingly polite.

2. Do not call the service centre as they keep you on hold for upto 10 minutes, call the toll free number and they will conference the call.

3. Do not hesitate to call all three parties involved (I called them almost every alternate day for a month) i.e. the Toll free number, the Service centre and the Area Customer Service manager.

4. Visit the head office if possible and meet the Area Customer Service manager in person.

this sort of situation is all too common in India.

my most fervent wish for the past few years has actually a dream project which would definitely pay good dividends to all parties concerned.

this would be a legal firm(I will call it X) specializing in going after all the companies which try to screw their customers and that would basically mean more than 90% of all cos. in india. with the current scenario where the consumer is usually getting a fair deal in the consumer forums if his grievence is legitimate , this is a golden opportunity to form such a company. it is my belief that it is only because each individual is unable to spare time and effort and due to lack of knowledge about the laws and or lack of proper presentation of the facts , these cos, are truly getting away with gross deficiency of service.

each customer would become a member or client of the firm by paying a basic annual fee and additional fees for covering his valuable equipment (tv, a fridge , a professional machine, etc.) or contract requiring proper servicing( cashless TPAs of health insurance would be no.1, railways etc). with the currently available ease of communications across the entire nation, people in even remote areas will gratefully join such a scheme.

one card one nation may have been a fraud, but one firm for ur peace of mind is really achievable.

let me give you my personal experiences in recent times.

1. My 50" Sony 3 LCD RPTV developed the well known optical engine problem after 3to 4yrs. of use. i am sure there are many others in india who had similar problems. and as knowledgeable forum members would know customers in the USA were able to get a good deal from sony either as monetary compensation or a good discount on new better tv by filing class action suits. and when a few such suits cameout in favour of customers, even individual customers were able to file cases all by themselves and sony started settling outside court fearing they would lose more if the cases went to the courts. now if there was X in existence it could have made use of what happened in the USA and i am sure all of us would have gotten a similar deal here. if i wanted to file a case i would have had to waste a lot of time, money and effort, which i am sure would have been more than the cost of the tv even if i got a new tv from sony.

2. my 60 lit. LG tv had a failed compressor and even though the company serviceman came promptly (in 2-3days) and decided that a new compressor
was needed and i gave my consent it was some 4weeks later that one was actually installed - the compressor was available at the regional service center which was all of 220kms from my place and the whole process could have been done in 1 working day. just imagine what i had to put up from my wife during those 30 days.

3. health insurance companies have been offering cashless schemes. if i have a problem i could go to any of their panel hospitals and get treated and walkout with out paying a rupee if the bill was with in my cover. in ur dreams!
in august i had to undergo spinal surgery and joined one of the approved hospitals in hyderabad. in theory all these TPAs are supposed to give their approval or denial with reasons within 24hrs. in case of an emergency admission or 72 hours for an elective procedure. i joined on a friday evening and all relevant papers were faxed to the TPA by 7pm. i was posted for surgery on monday afternoon but ther was no response from the tpa, which itself was illegal. i offered to pay from my pocket even if the tpa didnt approve, so they went ahead and performed the surgery. i was ready for discharge by next tuesday, 10days from submission of my application, and the tpa neither approved nor sent a declining letter. this was highly illegal and grounds for major compensation seeking. finally i was fedup and had a lawyer friend fax them a legal notice warning them we would be filing for not just the medical costs but also negligence of service, mental torture and loss of my income in proportion to my time wasted from not working ( i a a medical doctor), both in the consumer forum and for breach of contract in civil court. i got the approval in full within 30 mins.

i can go on and on. so if only some one starts an X .. utopia for sure!

 

[KoolPal]

I think there is already one..... akosha.com

Please check.

 

[giddavr]

I think there is already one..... akosha.com

Please check.

no. this is NOT what i proposed.

 

[illusion_heart]

Can you share the nos of the Service manager at the Head office at Andheri pls..

 

[Mr.Zed]

Can you share the nos of the Service manager at the Head office at Andheri pls..

Have sent you a PM with the details.

 

[thirurajesh]

I got exactly the same issue within a month of purchase of 42ST30 and got it replaced by Panasonic. Is this issue common with ST30 ?

 

[harry.s.r]

i got the exactly same issue with my 42u30d and they replaced mine with 42ut50d...
hoping that this tv will not give any other issue like or like this one coz only 2yers wrrnty left..

 

[aquavitoe]

I purchased a Panasonic 42 inch Plasma TV model 42ST30D from Sargam Electronics, Rajouri Garden, Delhi. They assured me that the TV is sealed and new unit and Never Used. After Installing I found that the TV has signs of wear on rear. I checked the usage hours of the Set (Thanks to HiFi vision for providing knowledge and awareness :signthankspin and it was SHOCKING to found that the TV was used for more that 1300Hrs !!!!
I called up the Sargam guys and they denied initially but confessed later on that this was used as a Demo piece for 6-7 months. :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad:
they offered me a discount of 2.5 thousand, ( Sharam nahi aati $#%@ ko ). They finally agreed to refund my full money and took back the TV.
Sharing this fact with all of You guys on Hifi. Please be aware of this. DON'T purchase any thing from SARGAM ELECTRONICS.
Dont buy any 42ST30D Plasma from them they have only one piece left which I returned. The Serial number of Set is QN1310067..
Please share this Serial number with all your friends seeking Panasonic Plasma in Delhi NCR so that any other innocent should not get cheated.