Warranty Questions

[Loon]

I've got a few warranty questions relating to the Pandora.

I've had a look on the official Pandora website but could find nothing relating to warranty. I know that the site is undergoing a few updates so this info may appear soon.

Just a bit of background first : My unit has a horribly spongey A button which sometimes sticks (other buttons are lovely), the internal part which holds the stylus appears to be missing or broken (stylus just falls straight back if the Pandora is tipped to one side), there is a small crack (which seems to be slowly getting bigger) next to the USB port, the bezel round the bottom of the LCD bulges outward.

Now I'm pretty sure that any of these problems would be covered by the Warranty but having seen no official description of the warranty on offer it's hard to guess, however I'd like to open up my unit and try and sort these problems myself.

Here are my warranty questions :

1) Would opening the unit to try and sort out these problems void my warranty?
2) How do you go about reclaiming postage fees, if the unit when returned to OP is found to be faulty under warranty?
3) How long does the warranty last for?

Guess that other people might have other questions but it would be really nice if some answers were provided here from Craig or ED and then clearly explained on the official Pandora web site.

As for the forthcoming update of the official site :
<rocket science>How about making the official site a pleasant browsing experience on the Pandora itself?</rocket science>

 

[Mutilator]

1) yes it will void the warranty if you attempt to fix it your self.

2) They told me they would reimburse me for postage costs when i sent mine back, although I can't tell you if they have as I haven't received my bank statement yet.

3)1 year warranty

On my pandora I had a funny coloured screen and the R trigger was wobbly. They fixed both of these and got it back to me in a week.

 

[mitosis]

Just a bit of background first : My unit has a horribly spongey A button which sometimes sticks (other buttons are lovely), the internal part which holds the stylus appears to be missing or broken (stylus just falls straight back if the Pandora is tipped to one side), there is a small crack (which seems to be slowly getting bigger) next to the USB port, the bezel round the bottom of the LCD bulges outward.

IMHO most of those sound like valid, warranty-covered, defects.

Here are my warranty questions :

1) Would opening the unit to try and sort out these problems void my warranty?
2) How do you go about reclaiming postage fees, if the unit when returned to OP is found to be faulty under warranty?
3) How long does the warranty last for?

I would say this: expect nothing different outta the OPT as you would from sony or nintendo. They've gotta cover their own ass too, and can't be getting taken advantage of by trying to be too nice. So even though they're very strongly involved in the community and are there to help as much as they can, I would figure on this:

1. Yes.
2. You pay to ship to them, they ship back to you with identical shipping... so the costs is split 50/50. Source: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/55207-did-i-bork-my-nubs/page__view__findpost__p__891096
3. 1 year, as per law. (I may or may not be able to find a citation for this, but trust me it's been said in an official capacity before.)

edit: h34r:

 

[peca]

1/ Not sure - just look (without messing something) into case would not void warranty. But officially does.
2/ I guess that You pay postage from You to repair and they pay postage for return.
3/ Craig says 1 year, I'm not sure about ED, but inside EU it should be 2 years at least (AFAIK).

Take this all as unsure infos and wait until someone past link for good source or Craig/ED answer personally.
h34r: h34r:

 

[Loon]

Well, it looks like mine will be going back as the left nub stopped working this afternoon, had been fine until then all of a sudden it won't return to centre and the cursor wanders across the screen. Pah, and I thought it was my right nub which was a bit dodgy. :angry:

Anyway, back on topic, relating to question 2.

As for paying to return the Pandora if it is found to be faulty under warranty, this is what the OFT guide for retailers relating to the distance selling regulations has to say on page 27.

3.57 If the goods are faulty or do not comply with the contract, you will have to pay for their return whatever the circumstances.

There is also a nice article on the guardian website which contains this paragraph :

Bear in mind also that you* can never be made responsible for the cost of returning faulty goods or substitute goods, which have been supplied where the ordered goods are not available. In these cases the cost of returning the items and arrangements for their collection must be borne by the trader.

*the customer.

Now I'm no legal expert, but it seems pretty clear cut to me that the retailer should cover postage costs, this has certainly been the case on the couple of occasions I've had to return faulty goods bought online in the past.

Edit : I would have no problem paying for and arranging the return postage as long as the postage costs were refunded if the Pandora was found to be faulty under warranty.

I'll wait a day or two for a response here (relating to the general warranty questions) and if nothing is forthcoming I'll contact OP directly and post any response here.

 

[mali]

^ I think these things should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis personally via mail.

 

[Loon]

^ I think these things should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis personally via mail.

I think that OP should have a clear statement relating to warranty on the official website. It would probably help sales IMHO.

Please note that this post is not meant to be about my faulty Pandora but general info relating to the warranty being available to existing and potential customers.

 

[mali]

^ Yes, I understand what you are saying I doubt that you will get a different answer than what is specified in the quick start guide, though.
ED handles this on a case-by-case basis. He may advise some people could fix it themselves or send it back. It depends. _If_ he would generalize these things it could get very difficult, imo. So far I haven't seen Craig ever posting an advice that someone should fix it at home.
Regarding postage fees it's similar. For the single user it's a small amount, but for OPT it might be too much.

 

[Sphinxter]

I've got a few warranty questions relating to the Pandora.

I've had a look on the official Pandora website but could find nothing relating to warranty. I know that the site is undergoing a few updates so this info may appear soon.

Just a bit of background first : My unit has a horribly spongey A button which sometimes sticks (other buttons are lovely), the internal part which holds the stylus appears to be missing or broken (stylus just falls straight back if the Pandora is tipped to one side), there is a small crack (which seems to be slowly getting bigger) next to the USB port, the bezel round the bottom of the LCD bulges outward.

Now I'm pretty sure that any of these problems would be covered by the Warranty but having seen no official description of the warranty on offer it's hard to guess, however I'd like to open up my unit and try and sort these problems myself.

Here are my warranty questions :

1) Would opening the unit to try and sort out these problems void my warranty?
2) How do you go about reclaiming postage fees, if the unit when returned to OP is found to be faulty under warranty?
3) How long does the warranty last for?

Guess that other people might have other questions but it would be really nice if some answers were provided here from Craig or ED and then clearly explained on the official Pandora web site.

As for the forthcoming update of the official site :
<rocket science>How about making the official site a pleasant browsing experience on the Pandora itself?</rocket science>

Well, it looks like mine will be going back as the left nub stopped working this afternoon, had been fine until then all of a sudden it won't return to centre and the cursor wanders across the screen. Pah, and I thought it was my right nub which was a bit dodgy. :angry:

Anyway, back on topic, relating to question 2.

As for paying to return the Pandora if it is found to be faulty under warranty, this is what the OFT guide for retailers relating to the distance selling regulations has to say on page 27.

3.57 If the goods are faulty or do not comply with the contract, you will have to pay for their return whatever the circumstances.

There is also a nice article on the guardian website which contains this paragraph :

Bear in mind also that you* can never be made responsible for the cost of returning faulty goods or substitute goods, which have been supplied where the ordered goods are not available. In these cases the cost of returning the items and arrangements for their collection must be borne by the trader.

*the customer.

Now I'm no legal expert, but it seems pretty clear cut to me that the retailer should cover postage costs, this has certainly been the case on the couple of occasions I've had to return faulty goods bought online in the past.

Edit : I would have no problem paying for and arranging the return postage as long as the postage costs were refunded if the Pandora was found to be faulty under warranty.

I'll wait a day or two for a response here (relating to the general warranty questions) and if nothing is forthcoming I'll contact OP directly and post any response here.

Almost pissed myself laughing after reading that over the sig line, "I have opened Pandora and it is good", thanks.

 

[iampanis]

So far I haven't seen Craig ever posting an advice that someone should fix it at home.

If they want to try to fix it they can try, the unit does belong to them and it is possible to fix the dpad issue. But it's up to the user. There is nothing idiotic about giving advice on how to do it.

Now you have.

 

[mali]

^ I stand corrected

 

[Chaser]

the unit does belong to them

This will seem something of a legal curveball but I don´t recall any requested registration in exchange for warranty promises with this device. Ergo Craigix is 100% correct. For once it really is yours and only the statutory rules for traders and customer protection apply, though I would advise caution in exercising them.

As for postage costs with this project, I can only suggest for OPT sake, that all UK customers take it on the chin and cough up their own postage, so as the international customers bills can be covered. Unless RMA issues can be sorted via ED in Germany, or Fatih for Turkey based customers, who should do likewise if the problem can be solved at respective offices in their home countries.

Afterall this maybe an exageration (but I am a fisherman), their is likely a moderate number of RMA´s required due to unknown issues in the first 100 alone, the nub company making many a duff set, the case company borking the paintwork and triggers for some units etc. Added up these returns are gonna cost a pretty penny to basically a unique ´community´ effort to challenge the corporates from the sidelines and inspire people to get more independant of the system.

I for one would hate to see OPT struggle over such costs, when they´ve yet to make a buck at all on the mother of all handheld does it all gadgets. I want OPT to go bigtime, with a steady stream of follow up products thru the ages that blast away all competition. I also want Pandora to have a user base community that makes her all she all can be before then. What I dont want, is a bust company and a dead handheld, before she´s had time to really shine. Pocket the cost for the sake of what you´ve got already.

p.s this is posted from #45 with a bust lcd cable and I dumbly re-calibrated the touchscreen in this state, so its now an inch out. However what I noticed is that because of Pandoras unique control set, it doesn´t matter. Via nubs and keyboard shortcuts, she´s still difficult to part with to fix the screen. On a purely touchscreen device its already game over!

 

[Loon]

I doubt that you will get a different answer than what is specified in the quick start guide, though.

Just reread my quick start guide, sorry for being dumb but I couldn't find anything about the warranty. What am I missing?

Almost pissed myself laughing after reading that over the sig line, "I have opened Pandora and it is good", thanks.

Yeah, thought about changing the sig but my love is still strong for Pandora, like all long term relationships there are rough patches but in the long term I know she is the one for me. Better stop now or people will think I'm some kind of sad nerdy gadgetophile. Wait a minute, I am, and I'm proud to admit it.

As for postage costs with this project, I can only suggest for OPT sake, that all UK customers take it on the chin and cough up their own postage, so as the international customers bills can be covered. Unless RMA issues can be sorted via ED in Germany, or Fatih for Turkey based customers, who should do likewise if the problem can be solved at respective offices in their home countries.

Know where you are coming from, but the official line is that there have been very few returns, that being the case it seems reasonable that they are dealt with correctly under UK / EU consumer law. Mileage may vary for the rest of the world.

 

[mali]

^ I've got no quick start guide, so I have to rely on info from others.

In the Quick Start Guide that comes with the Pandora, it says 'Disassembling the Pandora will void its warranty.'

 

[urjaman]

^ I've got no quick start guide, so I have to rely on info from others.

In the Quick Start Guide that comes with the Pandora, it says 'Disassembling the Pandora will void its warranty.'

Yeah its on the Precautions section thats at the last page of the quick start guide, subtitled "Be sure to read this information before using the device" ;P, second from bottom item.

 

[Loon]

^ I've got no quick start guide, so I have to rely on info from others.

In the Quick Start Guide that comes with the Pandora, it says 'Disassembling the Pandora will void its warranty.'

Yeah its on the Precautions section thats at the last page of the quick start guide, subtitled "Be sure to read this information before using the device" ;P, second from bottom item.

Thanks, missed that somehow.

Guess it begs the question what does disassembly mean in this context?

It would make sense to me if users take it to mean opening the case by removing the screws, at least until we get some clarification from Craig / ED.