Very urgent pls .. return faulty Benq 1070 to AMAZON USA

[nand]

I was following this forum for quite some time and based on feedback here i had ordered my BENQ 1070 from AMAZON USA.
Problems ...
1. Shipment was not done as per estimated time, so my shipment charges of 45USD was refunded.
2. Found that projector was faulty as when checked with test pattern, all the three edges were matching with screen border, but only on edge was tapered but it was really noticeable. It was not even case of keystone correction. My installation person (quite experienced) tried all sorts of options, but could not make the perfect alignment. Even on 92" Diagonal the one side taper was so much noticeable.
3. I checked with Amazon person and he said that he can arrange for replacement piece and I need to send my courier copy (INDIA to USA) cost and they will refund it. I checked with UPS and they says the shipping cost will be around 3800/-. Moreover, if I dont opt for home pickup and go to their shop and give the box, then there is offer going of 40% discount on shipping cost. Has anyone used UPS service and is this 40% discount true?
4. The replacement item is yet to be shipped, BUT, I want to know from you that if anyone had returned such item back to USA ?
5. Customs was already charged during my original order. So will there be anything extra I need to pay when I receive my replacement piece?
6. Since I am shipping from INDIA to USA, will there be any Custom charges by the USA government once my item reaches there?
7. AM I doing right thing to ship it back to USA or are their any other options? I want to use this projector so, I am not looking for refund of money as such.

Looking forward for quick reply as the replacement item is yet to be shipped status... Sorry for marking this as 'very urgent'

Regards,
Nand

 

[Fantastic]

Not sure about some things but you should consider the following.
1. Why are you hesitant about a possible 40% discount. Go to the UPS office yourself and check it out. Amazon will refund your cost...they said it ! Amazon does not lie !
2. I have shipped back faulty equipment before.
3. Keep all documents with you related with Amazon. You should have email copies. Customs will need this to avoid charging you duty again. But you MUST have documents proving you have 'sent back' the faulty unit and are getting back a replacement. Ask Amazon to send you an email explaining this. Don't ask for it AFTER you get the replacement ! Ask now ! I had to carry all papers to the customs to prove it was being returned under warranty. You need all your shipping documents also.
I was not charged duty twice.
4. If you want a problem free unit you have to send it back, you have no choice !
5. Why do you worry about customs charge in the US ? You won't have to pay it. You might consider that Amazon knows how to handle all that. They probably ship millions of dollars of goods world wide every day. Your unit is peanuts !

 

[Shivam]

A Little off the topic-
This is one reason why I prefer to buy from Indian dealers even if it turns out expensive.
If the item is not available in India, I try not to buy it.

 

[nand]

I had to carry all papers to the customs to prove it was being returned under warranty. You need all your shipping documents also.!

Thanks for quick reply... could you please elaborate the above?
I am based in Pune, so not sure how and where to carry all the shipping documents? or do I need to share those with courier company?

 

[Fantastic]

OK that was a inaccurate.
You DO need all the papers. Send a copy to Amazon along with your equipment and ask them to send them back WITH the replacement unit. I did that. But it was Sony and not Amazon.
So customs will see an 'exported unit for repair or replacement' document when it comes back. Also include any document you have showing duty you paid now.
So you need:
1. Document showing export of item 'mentioning it is for repair or warranty replacement'.
2. Duty paid receipt for the item when you got it earlier.
3. Not sure if you need purchase proof ( invoice) as export does prove that you bought it.
You need all those here in case they ask you to produce them again. I had to. Lot's of waste of time and plenty of irritation. Shivam is right !

In my case the unit was bought abroad.

 

[hemantwaghe]

A Little off the topic-
This is one reason why I prefer to buy from Indian dealers even if it turns out expensive.
If the item is not available in India, I try not to buy it.

That is not answer of the queries of OP

I think NOT right to show attitude to frustrated person , that too when you ae not giving solution?

 

[amitk777]

Go ahead and Ship it. I had returned my Kindle and got a replacement from Amazon. Absolutely no issues.

-Amit

 

[nand]

Thanks all for quick reply... gives me confidence !!
Appreciate your kind help!
Will keep you all posted..

 

[Vinod.R]

Hello Nand,

Very sorry that you have to go through all this. However as mentioned by other FMs here are somethings that I can think of as I have no experience with this:

1)Make sure you keep a copy of all the documents, electronic or paper.
2) Be careful of handing over original paper work to anyone.
3) Take pictorial evidence of the problems if you can.
4) Make a note of the serial no of the projector for your own reference.
5) When you ship it off, do a neat packing of the projector like it would be company sealed.
6) Do provide adequate protection for the whole package. If you have the external package it came in, then even better.
7) Customs and shipping back are already mentioned above by our more experienced friends.

These are the things I could think of, if anything else comes to my mind, I will let you know here.

 

[Premblr]

An off topic insensitive comment in a wrong thread...

A Little off the topic-
This is one reason why I prefer to buy from Indian dealers even if it turns out expensive.
If the item is not available in India, I try not to buy it.

 

[sam9s]

A Little off the topic-
This is one reason why I prefer to buy from Indian dealers even if it turns out expensive.
If the item is not available in India, I try not to buy it.

This happens one in maybe 50 purchases, its a rare possibility, plus Amazon return policies are pretty solid. Also your logic cannot be generalized, depends on product cost difference as well. It there is a difference of maybe just couple of thousands, I'd say go with India Purchase BUT

Few items like projector are unnecessarily blown super expensive in India in comparison to US. There is a straight 35-40% saving if bought form US. In that scenario and keeping the Amazon product and services in mind, I can say the risk is minimalistic .... and definitely worth taking.

 

[canchi]

This happens one in maybe 50 purchases, its a rare possibility, plus Amazon return policies are pretty solid. Also your logic cannot be generalized, depends on product cost difference as well. It there is a difference of maybe just couple of thousands, I'd say go with India Purchase BUT

Few items like projector are unnecessarily blown super expensive in India in comparison to US. There is a straight 35-40% saving if bought form US. In that scenario and keeping the Amazon product and services in mind, I can say the risk is minimalistic .... and definitely worth taking.

I agree. I bought an Optoma HD20 through amazon US and it was hand carried to Blore by a friend. Cost me 44k INR in toto, would have cost me 65k without b/w and 76k with b/w if I had bought it in India at that time. There is a risk involved but definitely worth taking considering the savings here.

Hope the OP gets his problem sorted out and wishing him all the best!
Cheers

 

[srisaikat]

From my personal experience I can tell you, US customs & Indian Customs should not charge you anything if you have a valid RMA number and original documentation. So do not worry. Best of luck.

 

[John]

Hope you return goes well.

I myself had an experience with a replacement.

When I got my Fiio X3, it came bundled with the Brainwavz R3. Now the earphones went kaput after about a month. When I contacted the online store (Mp4 Nation), they asked me to cut up the wires of the earphones, take a picture along with the order number and date written on a sheet of paper - and e-mail the photo to them.

I did just that and received a replacement in about 4-5 days.

Now, somehow I was not charged any customs when I got my Fiio X3 + Brainwavz R3. The replacement earphones that came by Fedex. Here I got charged around 700 by customs! It was the w&$ situation.

By the way, how much did the projector cost you, inclusive of shipping and customs? Does it translate to savings compared to say buying it in India with B&W?

 

[nand]

By the way, how much did the projector cost you, inclusive of shipping and customs? Does it translate to savings compared to say buying it in India with B&W?

It had costed me around total around 68,000/- landing cost.
Here is India the same was costing around 1,00,000/-. with B&W...

 

[uttam]

nand

i have read all the thread. one thing i missed that the fault is transit damage or manufacturing defect. if its is manufacturing defect then you can contact benq india for support as this purchase is covered by international warranty.

my experience as follows

i purchase w1070 from amazon in December 13. the same was delivered within 6 days. the projector was finely working but remote supplied with it was not working though it was nice new type backlight remote. after contacting amazon person on chat he apologized for the inconvenience caused to me and offered two option 1) return of projector and refund for which he was ready to generate rma 2) he offered me $200 refund against all this issue which i happily accepted

for my faulty remote i contacted benq india and i got it exchanged by new remote though it is old style. but i have no objection

so moral is whatever you do with you amazon, it is guaranteed that it will not cheat.

uttam

 

[poppy]

What u suggest it's better to buy from Amazon and can u suggest how u landed on 1070.i am also looking for projector for my HT. Thanks in advance.

 

[nand]

Re: Very urgent pls .. return faulty Benq 1070 to AMAZON USA <Solved>

** issue solved **

Very much thankful to forum members - Fantastic, Hemantwaghe, Amitk777, Vinod.R, Premblr, Sam9s, Canchi, Srisaikat, John and Uttam!!!

You all helped me to gain confidence for my return with your valuable suggestions.

I am glad to say that my return was successful with no hassles at all. !

Here are sequence of events happened ... sharing as info...
1. When I contacted Amazon about the faulty piece, they immediately offered either refund / replacement. I wanted to use Projector, hence thought that in either case. i.e.refund / replacement I need to send the unit back to USA. Hence opted replacement. I had no courage to get brand new piece opened by BENQ india, hence thought to contact Amazon as best bet.
Also Charges if any by BENQ India was not predictable.

2. I was given link to print 'return mailing label' which had USA address and product bar-code. As instructed, I put one of them IN the box and the other I pasted OUTSIDE the box.

3. I finally opted DHL for shipment. I had went to courier center in the evening, but earlier on the same day, had got information from Amazon that they have already dispatched my replacement piece. What a service I must say!

4. I was then tracking my Shipment sent from here, but in meantime I had already received my replacement piece from them. When tested, this replaced piece of BENQ worked perfectly fine without any issues. I was delighted

5. I contacted Amazon as soon as I saw that my Shipment was delivered at their 'returns center'. But in their site 'under return status' It was still showing as "We are awaiting your return". Amazon support personal said that at times it take around 1-2 weeks of time to get the status updated on site. But to my surprise, he asked me as how much I had to pay for return shipment, then he initiated 'return shipment amount refund' process. I sent copies of my DHL invoice and Tracking number to them. It had costed me around 7800/- INR. (my initial calculation of 3800/- with UPS service was wrong as I had not checked exact weight of this projector. Moreover when double checked, found that there are no such offers of 40% discount with UPS. Hence opted for DHL)

4. After two days or so, I checked that 'under return status' the status was updated as 'we have received your item!'.

5. I checked my Bank account and found that INR 7800/- was credited by Amazon.

6. Overall it went fine. I had kept copies from Amazon email in which they had requested to send back faulty piece, in my BENQ Box along with Bar code copy. I am based in Pune and was expecting that this will be sent back thru Mumbai Airport, but may be, since my passport was belonging to Bangalore, my shipment was sent to USA thru Bangalore Airport. When tracking, I had seen that, it was in the Bangalore Airport for almost 1.5 days.

Hats off to Amazon USA service . They are truly Customer centric. They had initiated replacement piece even before I send my piece from Here. They initiated my 'return shipment amount' even when status was 'we are awaiting return'. (Although as per DHL tracking number the item was in delivered status). They had instructed to send back faulty piece such that within 1 month from said date it should be in their returns center else my card will be charged for not returning. Fair enough!
One can buy with confidence looking at their service !

Once again thanks everyone all for help !

 

[poppy]

Re: Very urgent pls .. return faulty Benq 1070 to AMAZON USA <Solved>

** issue solved **

Very much thankful to forum members - Fantastic, Hemantwaghe, Amitk777, Vinod.R, Premblr, Sam9s, Canchi, Srisaikat, John and Uttam!!!

You all helped me to gain confidence for my return with your valuable suggestions.

I am glad to say that my return was successful with no hassles at all. !

Here are sequence of events happened ... sharing as info...
1. When I contacted Amazon about the faulty piece, they immediately offered either refund / replacement. I wanted to use Projector, hence thought that in either case. i.e.refund / replacement I need to send the unit back to USA. Hence opted replacement. I had no courage to get brand new piece opened by BENQ india, hence thought to contact Amazon as best bet.
Also Charges if any by BENQ India was not predictable.

2. I was given link to print 'return mailing label' which had USA address and product bar-code. As instructed, I put one of them IN the box and the other I pasted OUTSIDE the box.

3. I finally opted DHL for shipment. I had went to courier center in the evening, but earlier on the same day, had got information from Amazon that they have already dispatched my replacement piece. What a service I must say!

4. I was then tracking my Shipment sent from here, but in meantime I had already received my replacement piece from them. When tested, this replaced piece of BENQ worked perfectly fine without any issues. I was delighted

5. I contacted Amazon as soon as I saw that my Shipment was delivered at their 'returns center'. But in their site 'under return status' It was still showing as "We are awaiting your return". Amazon support personal said that at times it take around 1-2 weeks of time to get the status updated on site. But to my surprise, he asked me as how much I had to pay for return shipment, then he initiated 'return shipment amount refund' process. I sent copies of my DHL invoice and Tracking number to them. It had costed me around 7800/- INR. (my initial calculation of 3800/- with UPS service was wrong as I had not checked exact weight of this projector. Moreover when double checked, found that there are no such offers of 40% discount with UPS. Hence opted for DHL)

4. After two days or so, I checked that 'under return status' the status was updated as 'we have received your item!'.

5. I checked my Bank account and found that INR 7800/- was credited by Amazon.

6. Overall it went fine. I had kept copies from Amazon email in which they had requested to send back faulty piece, in my BENQ Box along with Bar code copy. I am based in Pune and was expecting that this will be sent back thru Mumbai Airport, but may be, since my passport was belonging to Bangalore, my shipment was sent to USA thru Bangalore Airport. When tracking, I had seen that, it was in the Bangalore Airport for almost 1.5 days.

Hats off to Amazon USA service . They are truly Customer centric. They had initiated replacement piece even before I send my piece from Here. They initiated my 'return shipment amount' even when status was 'we are awaiting return'. (Although as per DHL tracking number the item was in delivered status). They had instructed to send back faulty piece such that within 1 month from said date it should be in their returns center else my card will be charged for not returning. Fair enough!
One can buy with confidence looking at their service !

Once again thanks everyone all for help !

Thanks chief your experience had increased my confidence level I amalso looking for projector and found optima HD 25 at goodd discounted price.but in two minds as never purchased such a costly item online. But your experience has increased my confidence and now will place the order today itself.
Just one question u had written that "Amazon support person had said" curious have u spoke to him on phone on International call or?
Thanks once again do share your experience with product.

 

[nand]

Re: Very urgent pls .. return faulty Benq 1070 to AMAZON USA <Solved>

Thanks chief your experience had increased my confidence level I amalso looking for projector and found optima HD 25 at goodd discounted price.but in two minds as never purchased such a costly item online. But your experience has increased my confidence and now will place the order today itself.
Just one question u had written that "Amazon support person had said" curious have u spoke to him on phone on International call or?
Thanks once again do share your experience with product.

Once you have your ID on Amazon, you can have options for live chat, email , call. I used to contact them thru online chat ! very effective. At times I have sent then email. Post chat, at times they send you email too with more details!
Everything is tracked very effectively. So during chat/ email, you can tie your order number so that Support personal knows about the order you are referring.