3600 dollar Repair
 

Changed discs in one of our 350s last week and the loader assembly decided it didn't want to accept the disc. Rather than force the disc in upon feeling resistance, I sent it to Sony to have a look. They say it is not covered under warranty and it will cost 3600 bucks to fix. Camera is 14 months old with medium usage. Am I just unlucky or has anyone else run into this issue?

Not this problem, but I have run into exorbitant charges for repair from Sony service. One of our cameras (f350) was sent back to replace the flip out LCD, they charged us 4 hours labor for the R&R. One of my fellow techs decided to try the R&R himself and was able to replace it in 15 minutes (4 screws, if I remember correctly). Needless to say, we will be doing this repair in house from now on.

Ouch! That hurts.

Can't you fall back on the 24 months of Silver Support. Did they say why it isn't covered by warranty, and what the cause of the problem was? How can someone screw up the disc loader of the camera?

My thoughts exactly. I'm awaiting a response- should be interesting.

I don´t think they have Silver Support in USA.

I think it is only for Europe

Found out that Silver Support is not the same as warranty. And yes, you could be right about not having that kind of support in the USA.

Still, the website of B&H says 2 years warranty.

Very curious what Sony is going to with this case.

Warranty is 2 years parts and labor on the PDW-F series cameras.

I don't see how they would not cover it after 14 months of usage unless there is visible signs of abuse.

Dan could you send me a PM with more details?

-gb-

I'm astounded by the cost of that repair. It's only normally stuff like CCD blocks that costs that much. That must be for an entire laser/drive mechanism and I'm surprised that a loading fault requires the whole lot to be replaced. There is more to this than meets the eye, what have they said is wrong?

This happened by unloading a disc and then re-loading another. Upon doing so, I felt resistance and couldn't get the disc far enough down into the elevator mechanism for it to take. Knowing that you never force the situation at that point, I stopped and read up on the situation online and in the manual only to find the already known "manual eject" procedure which did not work. I then sent it back to Sony and now I am facing a 3600 dollar repair. What did I do wrong?

Pro-Products is mistaken. As Greg mentioned earlier in the thread, these cameras have a 2-year warranty coverage for parts and labor (i am traveling now but i will try to dig the XDCAM HD warranty coverage in my files). This repair should be free of charge inlcuding shipping the camera back to you. Did you ever register the camera with Sony? Also, in the future, while the camera is still under warranty, it is better to sent it back straight to Sony for repairs.

Thierry

Yes, this seems a little odd. As stated by Greg there is a two year warranty on that camera. If they are trying to claim there is only a one year then either they are stupid or they think you are...

If Professional Products (I know nothing about companies on the East Coast) is an Sony Authorized Repair location then they should be honoring the warranty. If not then send the camera directly to Sony.

Here is the link to Sony's warranty policies, clearly, it is two years for XDCAM HD.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/services...ctWarranty.pdf

Thierry

The very fact that the dealer calls it an XDV camera is a worry. As everyone has stated F series has a 2 year warranty.

You should find out how many loading cycles the camera has gone through, I'm sure we would all like to know. I just don't believe the entire mechanism would need replacing unless there was extraordinary wear or it had been forced.

Mine is well into the thousands and has been used in all kinds of dusty, humid and wet environments without any issues (touch wood).

Thanks for your help everyone. The battle with Pro Products has officially begun. I will post the results.

Dan, you DO NOT need to deal with those people. Get the camera back from them if they have it and deal directly with Sony's repair facility in Teaneck, NJ. I will get you the name of the person who handled my camera repair.

Also, it's not a good policy to post entire email exchanges as you did. Because it can pose a liability issue for the site, I have removed it from public view. That's why I requested a PM from you with more details.

Our primary goal here is to get your camera taken care of properly and, under warranty as it should be.

-gb-