The humble Pyrex dish seems like one of the few household items still made in the United States. Sure, they have some shattering issues due to a change in the composition of the glass, but are still relatively inexpensive kitchen workhorses. Jill is a big fan, and has a lot of Pyrex items in her kitchen. When one of her storage containers had a small crack in the middle of the side, she was ready to just toss it out, but called Pyrex on a whim. She had no receipt or other warranty information, but she gave them a call anyway. They had a surprise for her: a new container! [More]
warranty and repair
Am I Asking Too Much, Or Does Logitech Not Care About Harmony Remote Line Anymore?
By 2.8.13
It wasn’t that long ago that readers routinely wrote to us with joyful accounts of how Logitech replaced their pricey Harmony remote controls for free when something went wrong. Winning Harmony customers’ loyalty and gratitude isn’t a priority anymore, though. Along with their disappointing third-quarter results, Logitech announced late last month that they will be selling off their remote control and video security systems, and ending their lines of console accessories and speaker docks. Mike heard those tales of wondrous service from the past, and expected something similar when his replacement remote broke and needed replacing. [More]
Skullcandy Won’t Honor Earbud Warranty Because I Used Logic When Mailing Them Back
By 2.5.13 — Updated: 8.5.14
Stephen goes through a lot of headphones, apparently. He had three defective pair of Skullcandy earbuds to return, so he complained about them and got return authorizations for all three. He sent them back using the mailing labels Skullcandy had given him. Unfortunately, he didn’t stick all three mailing labels on the outside of the box, and now Skullcandy says that means they’ll only replace one of them. [More]
My TV Breaks After 3 Weeks, Westinghouse Digital Really Doesn’t Care
By 2.4.13
Mark’s wife is a Target employee and got them a pretty sweet discount on a Westinghouse Digital TV. That doesn’t mean that they got any special treatment when the TV broke down, though. He got the same, evidently crappy, treatment as everyone else whose relatively new TV has failed within the first month. [More]
Samsung’s Anti-Repair Depot Still In Business, Still Not Repairing Things
By 1.29.13
Fortunately for Todd, his experience with Samsung’s anti-repair depot isn’t as bad as some we’ve heard. He just keeps sending his wife’s Chromebook in to get fixed, and they don’t repair it. He’d like to get it back so he can return it to Amazon and get a computer that actually boots up, but the anti-repair staff can’t figure out how to authorize sending him his own computer back. [More]
How A Tip From Consumerist, A Credit Card, And Some Determination Got Me A Brand-New Nook
By 1.24.13
Kyle really liked his Nook…until it decided to freeze up and no longer work. He was unhappy: it was only two months out of warranty, and he didn’t like the only option that Barnes & Noble presented: trading the non-working device in for a relatively small discount on a brand-new replacement. He had purchased a lot of books he uses every day for work on the Nook platform, and decided to take a loss on those and get a Kindle instead. Unhappy with the whole experience, he vented to us about it. [More]
I Use Facebook To Check On My Monitor Repair, Samsung Just Goes Ahead And Sends Me Better One
By 1.23.13
Graeme has two Samsung monitors, and has had them repaired under warranty a few times. Two years into his three-year warranty, he sent a monitor that snapped off its stand in for repair. Not terribly worried, he checked in on it using Facebook. Samsung took this as an indication that he was unhappy, and should be sent a larger, newer, better monitor.
Philips Takes Headphones Back For A Refund, Check Has Been ‘In The Mail’ Since August
By 1.23.13
Adam bought a set of really nice Philips headphones, but they wouldn’t play nice with his Nintendo DS. He ended up sending them back to Philips for a refund. While it was good that they offered him a refund in the first place, what they had trouble doing was actually getting that refund to him in a timely fashion. Or ever. [More]
Microsoft Store Can’t Exchange A Defective Computer Properly, Sends Me Wrong Refund
By 1.21.13
Albert wrote to us about his problems with his Cyber Monday purchase from the Microsoft Store. No, we haven’t been sitting on his message for almost two months: he’s been struggling with Microsoft for that long, trying to get this transaction to make sense. One important thing that he learned: just because he’s lucky enough to live relatively near a Microsoft Store, that doesn’t mean it will do him any good. [More]
Leatherman’s 25-Year Warranty: Still Pretty Great, But Not If You Loved A Discontinued Tool
By 1.16.13
Last week, we published an “above and beyond” story with a reader’s delight that Leatherman replaced a non-functioning tool with a brand-new replacement under their 25-year warranty. Another reader, Steve, wrote in to let us know that the warranty is not as ironclad and fantabulous as tipster Chad’s experience. He sent in a gardening tool that broke while gardening, and learned something interesting about the warranty. Yes, they’ll replace a broken tool with one of the same value, but they mean “value” in a strictly financial sense: not a tool that does the same thing as the one that you broke. [More]
Nintendo Scratches My 3DS And Loses Data During Repair, Shrugs
By 1.15.13
Initially, Shawn thought that Nintendo had done a really great job repairing his 3DS. The control pad was working nicely. Only something wasn’t right: the pouch was missing where the SD memory card should have been. There was also a scratch on the device that hadn’t been there before. Cards themselves are cheap: it’s the data that’s irreplaceable, and that’s already gone. So what’s Shawn so upset about? Mostly that no one at Nintendo will admit that anything went wrong. [More]
Maytag Has A Weird Concept Of ‘Soon’
By 1.10.13
How do you define “soon” in terms of a one-year warranty? Howard doesn’t have an exact timeframe in mind, but he imagines that it’s not “more than nine months from now.” Yet when Maytag sent him a letter urging him to extend his appliance warranties, that’s how much time he had left. [More]
Maytag Repair Bumbling Leaves Us Without Fridge For Five Weeks
By 1.8.13
Kristine’s family has managed for a month without a refrigerator. Sure, if you’re a single person who subsists on takeout, that’s not so hard. Try being a family with small children and eating out of an ice chest for more than a month…starting just after Thanksgiving [More]
My Quest For A Defect-Free Microsoft Surface Goes Surprisingly Poorly
By 1.2.13
Being an early adopter can be difficult. Overall, Grady likes his new Microsoft Surface tablet, but noticed some hardware issues, like light distortion and a power button that doesn’t feel right. Those are relatively minor issues when the entire device is working well, but not what Grady expected when he laid out $600 for a new tablet. That’s when he began his quest to return his Surface to Microsoft and obtain one with no defects, cosmetic or otherwise. This quest turned out to be more difficult than he had predicted. [More]
JanSport Boasts Lifetime Warranty, Actually Means It
By 12.28.12
Did you have a Jansport backpack back when you were in school? Jason has had his for about 14 years, and it was looking pretty beat up. He decided to put the bags’ lifetime warranty to the test, so he packed it up in a pizza box (no, really) and sent it to Jansportland. What he got back was better than an exact replacement. It was even better than his faithful companion coated with pizza grease. [More]
Repair Company Can’t Fix TV Without Parts, Warranty Won’t Replace Repairable TV
By 12.28.12
How long could your household go without a television? It depends on how many people are there, what you watch, what time of year it is, how the weather is, and whether or not it’s Christmas break and your kids are home from school. That’s the case for Roman’s family, cord cutters who are cut off from television content. Last Black Friday, Roman got a Vizio 3D smart TV from Walmart. Just under a year later, the set doesn’t work. That’s okay, though: he bought the extended warranty. The repair service set up an appointment, then just didn’t show after Roman took a day off work and waited around for them. Why? They didn’t have the part he needed in stock. [More]
EECB Saves Nexus 10 Owner From Restocking Fee
By 12.21.12
Shaunessy was displeased with his Nexus 10 tablet, and customer service couldn’t help. The tablet they set had light bleed around the edges: sort of a glowing gap at the corners. He returned the tablet to get a replacement, less glowy device, but the new one had the same problem as well. He gave up on the prospect of Nexus ownership, but there was a catch: returning both tablets meant paying a 15% restocking fee, or about $75. That struck Shaunessy as unfair, so he decided to appeal his case to a higher authority: a mass mailing to a dozen Google executives. [More]
Cuisinart Needs Entire Dead Coffeemaker Back To Issue Warranty Replacement
By 12.11.12
Bob’s coffee maker went rogue. It’s one of those single-serve models, and decided to empty its whole reservoir onto the counter and floor when no one was around. No one really appreciated its attempt at pitching in to clean up the place, especially since it wouldn’t turn back on and make coffee afterwards. Cuisinart’s solution? Pack up the coffeemaker and ship it back to New Jersey. That’s a pricey proposition to send it using some kind of secure method: Bob lives in Alaska. [More]
