Hi Robert,
Hmmm, someone else mentioned they had a Panasonic 2yrs [1 yr out of
warranty] with a dead power supply which Panasonic repaired as though it
were in warranty and they had to go some 100 miles to do so. GE did
something similar for our built-in microwave: out of warrantee, but sent
the replacement part, complementary. I lean toward the people who
support post-warranty on products. I don't understand a 'rigid' cutoff.
Why not help people who at least ask? has to be cheaper than those
expensive advertising budgets and goes a lot further [in my estimation]
Keeping a customer is a lot less expensive than *getting* a
customer! Companies seem to have forgotten that...
I loved all of my JVC kit (primarily video). Reasonably good
quality ("value for money"). Reliable. Stood the test of time, etc.
They supported *customers* (not just service depots) by making
service manuals available. *And*, you could call the factory
and speak with a technician: "For that particular model, you
should look at X, Y and Z. In fact, we have a service bulletin
that suggests upgrading U23 on all warranty repairs so you might
want to do that while you have the case off. We sell a parts
kit for that or you can just buy the individual components from
a local retailer. Thanks for calling!"
IIRC, the SM for my "HiFi" VCR was almost 3/8" thick -- lots
of full color fold-outs, schematics, test/alignment procedures,
etc.
When I purchased the VCR, I noticed a visual artifact that was
always present in recordings I made. It would occur at the
point where I "spliced" a second recording onto the end of
an existing recording (i.e., the very short "overlap" portion
of the media).
I complained about this and returned the unit. It came back
a short while later and the "problem" still existed. I returned
it again and they sent me a *new* unit (to replace my existing
*new* unit). It *also* had this problem. I later learned it
was essentially a consequence of the technology (oops!). Yet
JVC never tried to "bullshit" me about it: "OK, we fixed it
once. Now we'll just give you a NEW one."
OTOH, there is a bug in the Nakamichi Dragon's tape counter.
Essentially, a race between two subsystems that can easily
get out of sync.
The tape deck "reverses" the tape motion when it reaches the
end of "side A" -- to play "side B"! Think of this as "forward
play" and "reverse play" (there are actually two play buttons
on the deck pointing in different directions)
So, while forward playing, the tape counter counts *up*. When it
reaches the end of the "forward" side, it begins reverse playing
and the counter counts back *down*. In theory, eventually reaching
the same value that you started with when you began the "forward
play".
However, if you manually eject the tape *after* it has reached the
end of forward play, manually flip the tape over (so the "back"
side is now ready to be "forward played") and manually press
"forward play", the tape will MOVE in the forward direction -- but
the counter will count in the *backward* direction.
[Note that this is related to the timing of your actions. If you
vary them, the results vary. I.e., there's a race somewhere]
Can you spell "bug"?
Talk to the manufacturer and they will tell you it's *supposed*
to work this way!
"Really? OK, let's pretend I'll buy that explanation. That there
is some value to this. Then, why doesn't it *repeatably* behave
this way? And, how could that possibly make sense if I have
ejected the tape and placed some *other* tape in the deck? Why
should the deck 'count backwards' for this other tape that I
am playing 'forwards'? I.e., you've got a bug *somewhere* and
you just don't want to acknowledge it..."
