Warning if you plan on purchasing Sony HD video cams

I recently purchased a new Sony HVR-A1U professional HD cam recorder and right from the box it didn't work properly. The LCD viewer would flash on and off and the audio would only record when it felt like it.

Being that is was brand new I sent it back to Sony to see what was going on with it. A month later they told me it was $1,700 to repair it because water damage isn't covered under warranty. Even after explaining the camera was brand new they insisted the electronic board inside had corrosion on it and I was out of luck.

Not giving up there I contacted the head of Sony marketing where she investigated the matter. It seems that Sony has a lot of issues with their equipment being shipped to the states in container ships which leads to a lot of corrosion on the circuit board. However it is Sony's corp. position to deny repairs under warranty for this defect. They offered me a new camera for $1,600 (their wholesale price) but still refused to replace it under warranty. I have also talked to several other people who sought repairs on their Sony cams and were also told water damage was not covered even though the cams never came close to water.

Has anyone else on here expirenced this issue with Sony equipment? Has anyone had to send a camera in for repair in the past? I am wondering what brand is the best when it comes to honoring warranties and not getting the run around.

Thanks

Doug

Doug,

You should email detailed info about this to ben@consumerist.com. Consumerist writes about this sort of issue all the time, it's not the first time Sony has pulled this crap, and other companies are doing so as well. Often after being publicly shamed on Consumerist, the company magically discovers that an "error" was made and you get a new camera. You might also search Consumerist for email addresses of execs at Sony.

Another approach is to take legal action. If you have an email from someone at Sony admitting there is a problem in their shipping process but they still are refusing to honor the warranty, that's a class action lawsuit waiting to happen. Or you could simply sue them in small claims court and most likely they won't bother to show up and you'll get a judgement for the full amount of the camera.

Third option, if you paid with a credit card, is to call your credit card issuer. Many of them provide automatic replacement insurance that covers this sort of thing.

And next time... buy a panasonic :)

Where did you buy it from?

I typically buy high end AV products from B&H Photo, NYC.

It helps to have a good retailer on your side.