If you are thinking of buying a Flip video cam
Discussion
Have you looked inside a piece of consumer electronics recently?
The reason why repair is not a viable option anymore is:
1. Everything is surface-mount and/or all in one chip
2. If it retails at £99, it costs £10 to manufacture
3. It's all made in China so sending it back to the factory costs more than buying a new one
I might have expected the retailer to offer a new model for a small discount maybe, but this is the way all technology is going so we better get used to it, or start shelling out for the 5 year extended warranties...
The reason why repair is not a viable option anymore is:
1. Everything is surface-mount and/or all in one chip
2. If it retails at £99, it costs £10 to manufacture
3. It's all made in China so sending it back to the factory costs more than buying a new one
I might have expected the retailer to offer a new model for a small discount maybe, but this is the way all technology is going so we better get used to it, or start shelling out for the 5 year extended warranties...
londonagent said:
What went wrong with it? Mine had a problem recently where it was only showing 6 mins of available record time despite there being nothing on it, a quick format of the hard drive sorted it out.
Completely dead. Computer will not recognise it. Will not charge. The only sign of life is the flashing LED on the USB connector when it is plugged into a computer.Have carried out several hard resets as per the instructions and charged for 10 hours. Flip helpline have pronounced it dead. 18 months old.
pp
MattPym said:
I advise you to have a look at your EU consumer rights. IIRC all electrical products should be covered for 2 years no matter what crap the manufacturer says to you
SoGA should also offer some protection.Edited by MattPym on Tuesday 7th June 21:01
Send it back from whence it came and request a refund.
MattPym said:
I advise you to have a look at your EU consumer rights. IIRC all electrical products should be covered for 2 years no matter what crap the manufacturer says to you
That EU directive applies to the retailer in a case like this, so you would have to go to whoever sold it to you in the UK and try and get them to give you something back, although I suspect they won't be falling over themselves to help you in that respect.FaineantFreddy said:
That EU directive applies to the retailer in a case like this, so you would have to go to whoever sold it to you in the UK and try and get them to give you something back, although I suspect they won't be falling over themselves to help you in that respect.
You'd be surprised, my PS3 died a few months back and Amazon offered up a refund straight away. I was pleasantly amazed at the lack of hassle!FaineantFreddy said:
That EU directive applies to the retailer in a case like this, so you would have to go to whoever sold it to you in the UK and try and get them to give you something back, although I suspect they won't be falling over themselves to help you in that respect.
They probably will kick a fuss as per usual, that is until you start mentioning EU directives and Consumer Rights.@OP - Have a look through these links;
http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/move/64/...
http://www.wak-tt.com/tt/2yearwarranty1.htm
Harsh.
I had a (back then) quite expensive DVD burner fail literally two weeks after the warranty ran out. Rang the supplier who swiftly washed their hands, and passed me over to the manufacturer. They (Ricoh) said out of warranty, so tough luck sonny. Totally unequivocal, sorry, too bad.
I have never bought a Ricoh product since.
On the other hand, my lads Samsung HDD failed in his PC - the SMART system labelled it as bad so it wouldn't boot. Ordered a new one, RMA'd the old, got a second replacement several days later, and rebuilt his system as a RAID-1. And we managed to get all of his data out of the old drive, which was a result.
I do sympathise.
I had a (back then) quite expensive DVD burner fail literally two weeks after the warranty ran out. Rang the supplier who swiftly washed their hands, and passed me over to the manufacturer. They (Ricoh) said out of warranty, so tough luck sonny. Totally unequivocal, sorry, too bad.
I have never bought a Ricoh product since.
On the other hand, my lads Samsung HDD failed in his PC - the SMART system labelled it as bad so it wouldn't boot. Ordered a new one, RMA'd the old, got a second replacement several days later, and rebuilt his system as a RAID-1. And we managed to get all of his data out of the old drive, which was a result.
I do sympathise.
Murph7355 said:
The_Jackal said:
...
How about dropping down the loo and claiming on insurance?
Or not falsely claiming on insurance thus helping boost everyone's premiums...How about dropping down the loo and claiming on insurance?
A family I know are somewhat serial claimants for thinks like accidental damage to wooden floors from high heels, and cat scratches on sofas etc.In short, every 2 years or so, they have a claim, pay the £100 excess and get their £500 - £800 claim paid. The claim of course is inflated as the tradesman knows it is an insurance job.
They were happy with that until I told them what I was paying for my insurance compared to them.
In short, I was getting better coverage, yet they were paying about £900 a year. About £500 more than me. When they went to change insurance company to mine to get the same deal, they got refused as they had had too many claims in the last five years.
So, in essence all they have been doing it paying the insurance company to pay the tradesman an inflated price - and they are stuck for another few years paying £500 extra a year...
JustinP1 said:
...
So, in essence all they have been doing it paying the insurance company to pay the tradesman an inflated price - and they are stuck for another few years paying £500 extra a year...
Whilst I understand where you're coming from, unless they were paying the same or more in premiums as they were receiving in claims, then they are not paying for it themselves (and let's face it, if they were paying on that basis, they wouldn't claim or bother having insurance!). Everyone else who pays for insurance is subsidising them.So, in essence all they have been doing it paying the insurance company to pay the tradesman an inflated price - and they are stuck for another few years paying £500 extra a year...
I'm always surprised by how many people think this sort of thing (false claims) is acceptable (not you Justin, btw). As much as many insurance companies are scheisters, this is nothing more than fraud. ie a criminal offence and morally wrong.
On topic on the Flip, a lot of stuff is like this unfortunately. Especially with items built to a price point. I would bet the company concerned have stats that show there are very few failures and that the MTBF is relatively low. Doesn't help when it's yours that goes awry though.
I wonder if, in the future, you'll be able to pick up the various components to repair them yourself. I bet it's only a solder joint or cheap component like a capacitor that's gone wrong.
The fact that my smartphone shoots 1080p video as well a Flip HD means that these little cameras are dead in the water from this point forward for the vast majority of their markets. I'd advise anyone wanting a flip to simply upgrade their phone and get two devices in one.
That said, I do have a Kodak ZI6 and a Sony Bloggie - both 'Flip type' HD cameras and they are great fun.
That said, I do have a Kodak ZI6 and a Sony Bloggie - both 'Flip type' HD cameras and they are great fun.
Roop said:
The fact that my smartphone shoots 1080p video as well a Flip HD means that these little cameras are dead in the water from this point forward for the vast majority of their markets. I'd advise anyone wanting a flip to simply upgrade their phone and get two devices in one.
That said, I do have a Kodak ZI6 and a Sony Bloggie - both 'Flip type' HD cameras and they are great fun.
I'm not sure that would necessarily be the case, they fulfill a niche in the market that is quite attractive for a host of reasons. My OH is a case in point, she has a £35 PAYG mobile, her monthly top ups are less than a fiver, for her to upgrade her phone to something all singing and dancing would mean signing up to a contract or paying out a stupid amount of money for a smartphone, that I know she'll never get the hang of, let alone use it's full capabilities. Whereas a mini HD camera at a price point of under £100 is a purchase that doesn't need a lot of thought, they are simple to operate and to download from.That said, I do have a Kodak ZI6 and a Sony Bloggie - both 'Flip type' HD cameras and they are great fun.
Maybe in a few years time, as the cost of tech goes down these maybe dead in the water, however they said that digital cameras would die a death and we would all be taking photos on our mobiles. The reason separate gadgets exist is that they tend to do the job better or easier than a multi function device.
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