I had my Pronto for all of three days and someone dropped it, putting a gouge on the touch screen. I called Philips and they told me that dropping it would be considered "misuse and abuse" and would not be covered under warranty. I told them I was fine with that and willing to pay for the repair. They told me that there is no way to have the unit repaired and my only option was to buy a new unit! Does anyone know if that is true? I'm amazed that a product as expensive as the Pronto cannot be repaired if something goes wrong either once the warranty is up or something happens that is not covered by the warranty. If that is true, it seems to be very poor customer service. Potential customers should know that they are buying a disposable $400 product.

I'm amazed.

Joe

Joe,
That Certainly Is A Crock. i As A Pronto Owner Would Hate To Be There. If You Find Out Who To Write Post It Here Or Email Me. I Should Hope I Would Be One Of Many, Who would Write In On This Matter. Or We All Could Just Wait Till Were SStanding In Your shoes and Try To Take On Philips alone!!!

Joe,
Well I Did My Part, I Logged On To PhilipsPronto.Com And Boy, I hope you Were Right on The Money With What You Said. Because I Certainly Did Give Them A Piece of My Mind. Serious Enought I Hope That Every Body Does Wright In On Your Behalf and Theirs. Maybe If Enought People Write In They Will ReThink Their Pocily.
Sometimes People Just Have To Wait Till Its There Problem Personaly Before The Choose To Speak. Unfortunely One At A Time They Really Don't Stand A Chance.

I am sorry to hear that Philips is not willing to help you out.

I am a little curious about the actual drop that caused the damage. I have dropped mine a few times and have not really had any problems. I am wondering what you dropped it on that caused the gouge, and from how high. Thanks, and good luck!

Another Pronto subject. Does anyone know what LCD and touchscreen parts are being used in this device

Before people conclude that Philips has taken the stand that has been stated by ONE Philips customer service person, I think it makes sense to delay judgement until it has been presented to someone in Philips that is directly related to PRONTO only, not the whole consumer electronics line.
To this end, I am taking Joe's request for clarification to someone who can shed light directly on the problem at hand.
It seems to me that if 3COM does repairs on palms, I would expect that Philips does repairs on Ninos, so Pronto can't be far behind.
I will post results of my inquiry as soon as the parties have had a chance to investigate and clarify further.
I'm sure that everyone reading this message has had the opportunity to see (and maybe even be involved with) customer service at work, both good and bad.

I followed up with Philips to try to get some more information. Now I'm really disappointed.
I called their service number and spoke with Regina. She verified that even though the unit was only three days old, they would not honor the warranty. She also said they would not repair the unit. I asked for her supervisor. She transferred me to Kathy who gave me the same information. I asked if she felt it was reasonable to expect that a remote control would never be dropped. She transferred me to Kerwin. Again he told me that they would not honor the warranty on any unit that had ever been dropped. That would seem to negate the warranty on just about every unit sold. How many remote controls have never been dropped even once? I asked where this policy was written down since there was no written warranty policy either in the instruction manual or on the warranty card. He said he would get back to me on that. I am still waiting.

At this point it sounds like my only option is to take them to small claims court to try to get them to honor their warranty. How very sad that such a large company would hold their customers in such low regard that they would refuse to stand behind their product at all - even one that had only been in use for three days.

I hope that other people considering the purchase of the Pronto see this before they spend that much money on a product that needs to be trashed if anything goes wrong with it. It cannot be repaired and since the warranty is not written down, Philips decides according to their whim if they want to honor any particular claim.

How sad that a customer should have to go through this after spending that kind of money.

Joe

In response to Will's question, the Pronto was on a kitchen counter. Someone moved some papers and the pronto fell off the counter. The fall was less than three feet. I'm not sure what it fell against, most likely a vase. But whatever happened, it was enough for Philips to refuse to honor their warranty.

Joe

To all,
I had the same problem. The only difference was that I do honestly believe that, in my case, I received the unit with a small blemish on the screen that eventually turned into a crack. I too got the same, lame response fronm Regina, Paul and someone else at the service number. I was able to resolve my problem with them (e.g. I am getting a new unit shortly, cross shipped.) by asking for the US Philips customer relations 800-467-9696 and explaning to them how I was politely handled by the service people but that they must be misinformed by telling me to buy a new unit in lieu of a repair option. It was Customer service who refered me higher up the food chain, where I finally got satisfaction.

I just when through this excersive yesterday and I do hope that you too have poossitive results. Remember: Be nice.

Let me know how you make out.

[email protected]

Though I understand the frustration of a product breaking when it's dropped after only 3 days of ownership, one also has to accept responsibility for their actions. I suspect a fall from a couple of feet onto a carpet would not result in damage to the Pronto, but when it is dropped onto a kitchen floor, perhaps hitting a hard object like a vase on the way down it's going to get damaged and Philips shouldn't be held responsible.

That said, the unit shouldn't simply be disposable. It should be possible to have a replacement screen installed (which should cost a bit less than a replacement unit).

Regardless, Philips shouldn't have to go to small claims court when the product has been abused. This is why many people from outside the United States think we're so lawsuit happy. I don't have my Pronto manual handy at work, but I'm sure there's some sort of "abuse clause" in the warranty statement.

In the other case where the Pronto arrived damaged, Philips clearly should offer a replacement unit - and it looks like they will.

Geoffrey,

Before you make statements about people not accepting responsiblity for their own actions (actually a guest), perhaps you should read the beginning of the post. You will see that I was TRYING to pay get the unit repaired. Philips told me they refused to repair the unit and I would simply have to buy a new one. I offered to pay for repair and they said there is no way to have the units repaired. The only options are to have them replaced under warranty or to buy a new unit. The same applies once the warranty is up. There is no way to have the units repaired. If anything goes wrong with yours once the warranty is up, your only option is to throw it away. That is what I find reprehensible.

When a company refuses to provide any avenue for remedy, any way of obtaining service on their product, that doesn't leave the customer with a lot of options. I wouldn't have considered small claims court unless they had left me no other option. And no, there is no warranty statement on either the warranty card or the instruction manual. I have searched both from cover to cover. Kerwin from Philips who was going to call and tell me where to find the warranty information. He never did call back.

And I still have trouble with anyone calling dropping a remote control "abuse." How many remote controls have never been dropped? If a product cannot take normal use, perhaps there is a design problem. Take the Palm Pilot for instance. It has a similar touch screen, only it is designed with a hard cover that flips down and protects the screen when it is not in use.

Joe

I tried calling the customer relations number Claude posted. I got a message that the number had been disconnected.

That's consistent.

Joe

Joe: There's probably merely a typo in that. Give them a call at the usual 800 number and ask to be escalated until the problem is solved to your satisfaction.

I wouldn't expect them to cover it under warranty (imagine what would happen if you wrecked your new car on the first day out and tried to claim it under warranty) however I still would expect that some sort of repair is possible.

Though several reasons why they may not "want" to could be that no service techs in the US are trained on the Pronto (they are still manufactured in Belgium), or that the way it is constructed makes swapping parts overly time consuming.

No, I wouldn't expect the car company to replace a new car that got wrecked after a few days. However, I would be shocked if a headlight broke and the car company said it couldn't be replaced and I needed to buy a whole new car. That is what Philips is doing. Any of you will be in the same boat once the warranty is up. If Philips refuses to repair these, once your warranty is up you will need to buy a whole new unit for anything that goes wrong. Or if Philips decides that whatever went wrong with your unit isn't covered under this unwritten warranty of theirs, you're out of luck. Just go buy a new one.

Many of the people responding to this seem to have missed the point that what I find objectionable is that Philips refuses to repair what they sell. When I buy something in this price range, I don't expect it to be disposable. A typical policy that other manufacturers of similar items have is that if something goes wrong, you ship them the item. They have a set rate for whatever your problem is. They ship you a reconditioned unit and send yours back to the factory. That way the customer has a way of getting a working unit without having to wait months for their individual unit to be repaired and your unit can be reconditioned at the factory where they have the equipment and expertise. That is what I was trying to accomplish with my original call to Philips. I began by telling them I was trying to pay to have it repaired.

A customer shouldn't have to go through this much grief and frustration trying to get something repaired.

Unless Philips decides they are willing to repair what they sell, I would think anyone with children would want to avoid spending this much money on something that cannot be repaired. Anyone with pets might want to consider the same thing, or anyone who is ever visited by children, or anyone who expects that when they spend $400, they will have something that will continue to work once the warranty is up.

Joe

Joe,

Sorry about that. I did post the incorrect number. Try 800-467-9494. Someone there should get you on track. I have been adived that my replacement unit was sent out yesterday.

I did get assurances that here would be someone from Phili[ps looking into why the service people are giving such poor response to those poeple calling in for repair. I wouldn't hold my breath on the latter.

Please let me know how you make out.

Claude H.