Hmmmm. My Pronto somehow found its way on the floor UNDER the foot rest of my recliner. As I went to get up I heard a CRAAACKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and instinctively I knew my Pronto was history. ONE call to the repair center was all that it took. It cost me $165 for a refurbished unit. All I needed was a crdiet card number and the package tracking number. Th Pronto was in my hands in 4 days. But the refurb backlight did not work, another call and all they needed was th tracking number for the Pronto and I xpect it in today or Monday.

It was about 4 months old, but I did not expect Philips to give me a new one no more than I would expct a new car if I ran it into a phone pole as I drove it off the lot.

I found Philips easy to work with
David T. Hughes
Herndon, VA

WOW!!
Skip a week of reading and the world seems to explode. I do have a few things on my mind at this point.

1. I would have to wonder of the content of a call for it to have been terminated. There are strick guidelines as to when that can happen.

2. Prontos are purchased, by consumers, with a 1 year warranty. If physical damage occurs inside that 1 year, you may purchase a replacement for $150.00. This is a refurbished unit. There IS no warranty for damaged, due to dropping, etc, outside of a year. The price quote was incorrect to Ivan. If the remote was dropped, he would not be able to purchase the replacement after 1 year. The physical damage is a result of use other than it was intended.

3. If your pronto has failed outside of a year, there is a prorated schedule at which you may purchase a refurbished one. (Since the warranty is 1 year, it is a customer courtesy offer to replace at a prorated price after that.)

There is no way to make 100% of people happy, I think you will find that Philips will bend over backwards in most cases.

Lisa

It's begining to sound like 'old Joe is some sort of flake - 'ya think?

Here is my theory on Joe;

Joe has been taken care of!

Part of the deal is to post no further information.

Phillips doesn't want to deal with a flood of nicked, scratched, gouged, or otherwise dropped Pronto's, so we probably won't find out "the rest of the story".

I can't imagine any major vendor would require a customer to be silent in exchange for support. I simply imagine that Joe got his problem fixed, got his pronto working, and had no additional need to use remotec central.

I went through somewhat the same problem when I bought a Pronto over a year ago. Within the first week I dropped something on it and the display cracked. Because of the charge card used I was able to receive a full refund (except tax) which allowed me to buy a new remote.

Something to think about instead of the $150 (which I think is fair for misuse replacement)if it is really new. Most cards support this for the first 4 weeks.

Bear

Responding to Lisa's remark: (Which by the way I just talked to her over the phone)

Lisa: 1. “I would have to wonder of the content of a call for it to have been terminated. There are strick guidelines as to when that can happen.”

Me: Do not wonder so much about the content of the call, this so called supervisor "Scott" is just an amateur with an attitude that should not be attending customers, She can confirm during my long conversation with her that I was never disrespectful or got irritated with her, even all she did was confirmed what I was told before. Regarding the “strict guidelines”, obviously this supervisor had no idea of them, because all it took for him to said that he was going to terminate the call was I saying that they must be joking for the price quoted. Yes, I was very upset after I talked to that guy but people do get upset when others do not return their calls (5 calls) and this seems to be the rule at Philips’ Customer Service (or “Sytel Technologies”)

Lisa: 2. Prontos are purchased, by consumers, with a 1 year warranty. If physical damage occurs inside that 1 year, you may purchase a replacement for $150.00. This is a refurbished unit. There IS no warranty for damaged, due to dropping, etc, outside of a year. The price quote was incorrect to Ivan. If the remote was dropped, he would not be able to purchase the replacement after 1 year. The physical damage is a result of use other than it was intended.

Me: According to Lisa a pronto that is dropped or damaged by a heavy finger “does not qualify for anything after 1 year”, this is considered “non-intended use”. I truly believe Philips should get a specialist or just someone with common sense to tell them that a "remote control" is a product that is prone to falling or being damaged by a heavy finger. Therefore there should be a policy to repair them for whatever reason if the unit is damaged.

Lisa: 3. If your pronto has failed outside of a year, there is a prorated schedule at which you may purchase a refurbished one. (Since the warranty is 1 year, it is a customer courtesy offer to replace at a prorated price after that.)

Me: Once again the product must have failed under “intended use”, but not a broken screen. In any case I just do not happen to see the courtesy of getting a product repaired for $239 plus shipping when a new one sells for as low as $289 with a 1 year warranty, this one looks more to me like "discouraging" people to send them back for repair. I believe that as consumers we have rights and one of them is to be able to get things fixed after the warranty period for a reasonable price. Otherwise they should indicate it in their advertisements. I did not know that after one year the product I bought was disposable because of “non-intended use”. If the screen breaks in or out of warranty it is in most cases an accident (if you try to operate it at 20 degrees below or near a boiler at 200 degrees that maybe “non-intended use or abuse”)
Lisa: There is no way to make 100% of people happy, I think you will find that Philips will bend over backwards in most cases.

Me: I haven’t seem Philips bending over so far by the messages I have read so far all I see is very upset people. I dare Philips to make a survey of current Pronto owners and ask them about how they would feel about Philips policy regarding the broken screen after 1 year also ask them if they new anything about this when they bought their unit, ask them if this is what they were expecting from a company like Philips. I will also encourage the magazines that cover Audio and Video products to carry on a “Customer Satisfaction” survey just like it is typically done in the Automobile and Computer industry.

My only advice to people thinking about buying a pronto or anything from Philips is: Make sure you know what you are buying, read the warranty for the product you are buying (ask yourself the odvious and no-odvious and see how it is covered) so you do not get surprises later on

Respectfully

Ivan

Would it be unreasonable to scroll back up to "Joe's" threads and flood his email box for a small request of unanamous reporting. Then one of us could post it, he wouldnt have to worry. Just curious.

JD

Responding to JD:

*I* think that the prospect of flooding the fellow's email box is unreasonable.

The original thread is a year old, and was dredged up by a reply post. Joe's lack of response legitimately may be because he no longer frequents the site.

A polite note of inquiry, sent to the author by an individual, would be a resonable way of trying to involve Joe in the current iteration of the conversation.

A flooding of his inbox would seem to flirt dangerously with the concept of a denial-of-service attack.

The reason for Joe's current absence from the thread may be nefariously negotiated or innocently normal. In either case, it is his business, and none of our own, as to whether he chimes in or remains mum.

IMHO

If I remember correctly, Joe was one of the first folks to have a broken screen. And if I remember correctly, he was taken care of. This was all before Philips' warranty details had even been worked out.

Oh come on.. How could you all be so blind?
I'll bet they just.
"Took care of him" ;^)

Maybe Joe's on vacation. No need to crucify the boy. A little conspiracy theory going on here?

Yeah, that's it. The Philips "enforcement" division paid Joe a little visit. Joe made to much noise. Joe is sleeping with the fish. Joe is not making any noise now, is he? Yeah. Forget about it...

Youse got anymore problems wit Philips and weese pay youse a vist to!

My Pronto was dropped and the screen broken last week. I called Philips in Holland but was told to contact the supplier. I took the remote back to the supplier and they phoned Philips in Holland asking about parts to repair it. Philips said they don't supply parts and when asked about returning it for repair said they don't do repairs. The guy in the shop said the woman at Philips was "very uncooperative" only he used stronger language. As it is covered by my insurance I'll only lose UK£50.00 but it should be a warning to people not to buy this product. Personally I won't buy any Philips products in the future and will replace this remote with an altenative product.

Ivan,
I appreciate your point of view, which incidentally was different on the phone than in this forum.

I recall your being upset about your decision that Pronto was a "disposable" product and really only angry because there was no option to repair. We discussed at length that you were aware of the 1 year warranty and the fact that dropping wasn't something covered under this warranty. You can find alternative, in this forum even, for repair of an LCD touchscreen.

I think you understemate the number of satisfied Pronto owners, this we also discussed.

I am terribly sorry you are unhappy and that our options are limited. Do what is best for you and if there IS anything I can help you with, I will do all I can.

I think this thread has about played itself out.
Lisa

P.S. I believe Joe has been incorporated into the witness protection program. He could tell us who he is...but then he'd have to silence US. :)