Panasonic service center rant..

[GoNz0]

got a 50" panasonic plasma as a xmas prezzy to myself, it had the issue with green blobs on the screen so i got it swapped via john lewis, next set still had a bit of an issue but panasonic admitted the problem and released a panel update to address it, the downside is they only do it via an engineer who will come out and do it.

so i pick the local service centre and today they send out a guy who i can only describe as an idiot.

he sticks the SD card in, up pops the do you want to upgrade the PANEL

he clicks yes, now as this is a panel update you would expect the panel to turn off during the update wouldn't you, well this tit didn't see it coming so he turns the set off mid update after the screen went blank and bricked my near perfect plasma telly on the spot..

and what did he have as a loan unit, a sh***y 32" LCD POS and no lead time on getting it fixed.

panasonic UK have one hell of an ear bashing coming Monday to get this resolved and it had better come with an apology along the lines of an upgraded set to keep me happy.

the prick i spoke to on the phone this afternoon who took a look back at the workshop didn't seen to give a toss and refused to send out a decent loan unit in the form on a display model, he also couldn't care less i am left with a 720p set and a V+ box sending it a 1080p signal.

at least i managed to get the AV receiver to output it to 720p so i have something to watch

really am outraged at this poor service, the guy didn't even have a guide on how to do it and the 1st thing he dis was enter the self test menu using the check and factory reset instead of test only to show the firmwares, even i know how to do it without bricking it as i have the sodding service manual on my laptop!

ARGHHHHHHHH

[dave87]

Numpties. They're everywhere sadly.

[jim]

My Panasonic repair guy wasn't much better. My LCD wouldn't turn on properly from a cold start sometimes, so he turns up and naturally, it won't start. So he takes the back off, looks at it for 10 minutes, then puts the back on again.

Turns it on, now it will start. So he proceeds to turn it on and off about 100 times, each time it works properly, then he says, "can't make it not work", and leaves.

3 years down the line, it has got worse again and then completely fails to start. Thankfully Richer Sounds picked up the slack where Panasonic hadn't, and sent it for repair. Now it does work.

[DannyM]

I don't really think this is a Manufacture issue, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, LG, Samsung etc... All seem to be in the same position. Most of the so-called service centres local to us are occupied by either idiots or arrogant people. It is annoying especially when you know your probably more capable of doing a firmware update yourself.

[GoNz0]

I don't really think this is a Manufacture issue, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, LG, Samsung etc... All seem to be in the same position. Most of the so-called service centres local to us are occupied by either idiots or arrogant people. It is annoying especially when you know your probably more capable of doing a firmware update yourself.

i am more qualified that the pratt that came out today, i am a true service engineer, i get sent a PDF and thrown in the deep end, he didn't even get a PDF or chose not to look at it.

i got sent to site friday to assist our manchester engineer to replace a electric wall walker (it makes a interactive white board go up and down)

I have never seen one before and have not been trained so i downloaded the service manual and read up on it before i got there, only reason was to not look like a tit so the customer assumes he has two trained engineers on site.

nick got held up, he got there 30 mins late to find the projector removed, whiteboard removed, all cables removed and marked up the duplicates so they go back in the right place. if i had not got stuck where the customer used m6 corse thread 2 inch screws instead of M6 fine thread 10mm long screws where the frame meets the wall walker it would have bene outside waiting for him but it took me 10 minutes to snap them buggers off..

he said "Gerry said you have not seen one before, how the hell did you strip it down in a class full of students in 30 minutes"

my reply quite simply was

" I did my homework"

[pctech2012]

Yep had to take my Panasonic Freesat box along to a local repair centre as on a couple of occasions it would sit in pause when it was supposed to be recording until you actually switched to the channel you were trying to record.

I stopped the recording and tried to start it manually, it wouldn't engage, I had to shut it down completely and wait before starting it up again before it would return to normal operation/

They replaced the tuner unit, I'm not convinced this is the cause of the problem as it has frozen and then rebooted itself a few times since it came back.

Tried to discuss firmware with the call centre which was pointless, they had no clue, hoping it gets fixed in the next update.

[pctech2012]

As for numptie engineers try this one for size (I'd worked in software tech support for 4 years at the time and had been tinkering and fixing PCs since I was 8)

Bought a cheap as chips Fujitsu Siemens P4 based PC base unit about 6 years ago to replace my aging Pentium 166 MMX

Worked ok for the first month, then the hard disk started starting and stopping, power management etc were deactivated in the BIOS.

Took the cover off, checked all the cables, all sound, reloaded Windows (seemed to be OK while the drive was under read/write loads)

Rang FS and they agreed to replace the hard disk which they would dispatch to an engineer who would come and fit it.

Couple of days later guy phones me to say he has the drive, we arrange a Saturday appoinment.

He turns up, disconnects the old drive. connects the new one and boots the system and is confronted with a SMART impending failure message at which point he looks at me, scratches his head and says 'errr, it's probably because it's got no OS on it'

I reply 'no mate, that means the drive is a dud'

He picks up his mobile and begins to ring FS' engineering support, he tells them about the error and that the customer has said it means the drive is a dud.

They have him remove and reinstall the heat sink and CPU which of course won't work.

He then hands his phone to me and they tell me they will send him a second replacement.

One week later here we are again with drive number 2, same problem.

Now they want to take the machine in to look at it, they send a courier a few days later to pick it up.

Their senior enginer phones me two days later saying he's had it under test for 24 hours and can't find a fault, I explain it is ok when under read and write loads and that I think its a controller problem and can he replace the motherboard, he replies he can't and is not convinced it is the controller so sends the machine back.

It works for a few days and the same problem occurs, I phone again and they don't want to know.

[GoNz0]

FS, sounds more like HP support to me

[chuckskull]

Stumbled onto one of my pet peeves there Gonzo. No-one seems to take pride in their work any more. In this whole useless excuse for a town the only person I've dealt with in years who seemed to genuinely care about the job he did and satisfying the customer or displayed any semblance of work ethic is my window cleaner. The man's 70, has beat cancer twice, had his hip replaced and carries all his own gear, ladders and all around the whole town on his shoulder. Whys a 70year old cancer survivor, still out washing windows? So his youngest can go to uni and focus on his studies, not paying for them. I didn't even want or need my windows cleaned, I just can't help but admire the man.

I have a constant and almost overwhelming urge to shove him in the face of the preening hipsters and chavs demanding respec', you know the kind 20-something boys who think they're men and scream "This is what a man ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE!". Most of them claim theirs no jobs(the 500+ none skilled positions in the job centre don't count of course) but none would wash a window if their life depended on it. Apparently such work is below unemployed scum.

</rant>