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Thread ID: 57270	2005-04-28 04:30:00	DVD Combo Drive RMA not accepted - options?	vapo (5203)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
349777	2005-04-28 04:30:00	Item: AOpen COM-5232, 52R/52W/32RW/16DVD, Internal, IDE, Black, OEM Hi, I've been having some problems with this particular DVD combo drive. I don't think it has actually worked properly since the day we bought it. It always has trouble with most games and the various copy protection they use. The same games work fine on other drives I have. Most of the time it doesn't let you play the game at all, won't detect the correct CD is inserted and a different drive is needed for the game to play. Then about a month or more ago it started having problems reading any CD or DVD. For example a MS Office CD which installs fine on another drive but will not install on this one, stops on a particular file and so on. Other CDs/DVDs will sometimes lock the machine up and make it stop responding even though they are fine in other computers. I have tried updating to the latest drive firmware but there was no improvement. I think the laser might not be working properly or something else is wrong with the drive. So I emailed Ascent and asked for a replacement of the drive. They said it was out of warranty but they would email the supplier and see if they would accept a return. They also said the particular supplier is in the midst of closing down and at this stage, is replacing these products with LG or Pioneer versions. Then they replied back to me this morning saying the supplier declined the return of the product for repair because they are very strict with warranty dates. Now the drive was sent out to me on the 20 Apr 2004. Give one or two days delivery time (Poste Haste Couriers) and I would have received the item about 22 April 2004. I think the drive had a warranty of 1year. Now I emailed them yesterday about it (27 April 2005) which would be about 5days overdue on the warranty. :illogical I couldn't have emailed them earlier about the latest problems, because the drive is installed in my brothers computer and he was away at University till just this week. Then he told me he was having these new problems and I needed some time to test the drive to see if it was working properly or not. So the drive has been having problems for some time, well before the warranty expiry date. Doesn't it say in the Consumer Guarantees Act or whatever say that the product should be free of defect for a reasonable amount of time, and this can mean even after the warranty expires? A DVD drive should last longer than a year right? I have other drives that have lasted much longer than that, and even an Aopen CD-RW which is still going strong after 3years+. My brother can't really afford to replace the drive with a new one because he's a student, so what are our options? Any advice much appreciated. :)	vapo (5203)
349778	2005-04-28 05:11:00	Just been doing some hunting around and found a similiar situation (www.consumer.org.nz): I bought a washing machine with a three-year warranty. One week after the warranty expired, the gearbox seized up. The shop says it's too bad. Is that right? No. Suppliers' warranties are in addition to those in the Act. "Reasonable time" as mentioned in the Act is deliberately vague, so as to give the Act flexibility. If you have used your washing machine in a normal fashion, it should not have a major breakdown after just three years, so you still have the normal redresses under the CGA. The dealer should repair the machine free of charge. Many shops regard this as unfair - after all, you've had three years' good use out of the washer. But the fact is, you paid for a new machine and didn't expect after just three years to face major costs or end up with an inferior one. If they refuse to accept this, you could have the machine repaired elsewhere and attempt to recover the cost from the dealer.	vapo (5203)
349779	2005-04-28 05:37:00	I would print out the relevant sections of the CGA and show it to them, see what their opinion is. Write a letter to PC World, The Consumers Institute and The Commerce Commision. Threaten to reveal their policy on a public website and state that you will tell everyone you know not to buy products from their store.	Aurealis_ (7897)
349780	2005-04-28 05:58:00	I had a similar prob with this digital camera (Creative PC-CAM 850) . It was 2-3 weeks out of warranty . I hadn't used it for a while, BUT when I turned it on, the screen was shot . It was all fuzzy, (you could still see a pic), BUT when u took the pic it also took a pic of the fuzziness/lines . BUT it still worked (BUT not on batteries) . Only with USB . I then got in touch with the shop I purchased it from . They said no . Coz it was no longer under warranty . I then sent an email to Creative Australia, with the same question . All i said, was I hadn't used it for quite some time, and why would it stuff up, when I've never really used it . And why should I pay for another one, because this one had a fault . After 4-5 emails, going backwards and forwards to Creative, (even tho the cam wasn't under warranty) . And even tho I said in one of the emails, that it wasn't under warranty . It wasn't until the 5th email they received, they must have noticed that I had said it was no longer under warranty lol . I even gave the date I purchased it (I scanned the receipt and emailed it) . And the model/serial # BUT in the 4th email, they said YES they'll replace it, so they had no choice, BUT to honour the warranty . So, a replacement was sent to the supplier in NZ, and in the end I got the replacement free of charge .	Speedy Gonzales (78)
349781	2005-04-28 06:44:00	Its most likely not able to read the type of copy protection well. Liteon, Pioneer and SOny will. Yes, technically Ascent should RMA it but he then has to send it back to the distributor and some of them can be as bad as the likes of retailers like QMB and SUperceheap when it comes to warranty. Also the distributor then sends it back to Aopen who have the same rules as well. SO all the way down the line they get the same thing - past order date so out of warranty. NZ has the consumer guarantees act but Taiwan or where-ever doesn't. Ascent is big enough that that could probably wear the loss so you can try. Because thats what will happen - they'll be stuck with it while ther rest cop out. And you did take an entire year to get back to them.......... BTW I used to do RMA for a distributor so got to know well what the rubbish brands were and Aopen was top of the list for absolute c***.	pctek (84)
349782	2005-04-28 06:52:00	Also you did take a year to complain about it........	pctek (84)
349783	2005-04-28 07:06:00	It's not so much that it couldn't play games properly I could get around that by making an image of the disc and copying that over to my brother on the LAN. The problems of not reading any discs properly only started happening recently. Used to read other discs fine. Seeing my brother was at Uni I haven't had long to check it out and report it faulty at all, so not a whole year as you say. I thought it had a few more months left on the warranty, but when I checked it this week it had already expired. Really the distributor/supplier in NZ has to abide by the CGA as well. So it will end up with them, not Ascent. And can anyone provide a link to the actual full documentation of the GCA, so I can quote from it?	vapo (5203)
349784	2005-04-28 07:50:00	If people want to do business in NZ, then they have to abide by NZ laws . It doesn't matter where they come from, although that can make dealing with them more difficult . The item was purchased from a retail outlet, it is that outlets responsibility to handle customer inquiry, complaints, etc . Try Ascent again, be polite but firm . Due to DRM, this type of issue is only going to get worse with this type of product, however this one seems to have multiple issues some of which are probably caused by poor quality . Good luck .	Murray P (44)
349785	2005-04-28 07:54:00	It's not so much that it couldn't play games properly I could get around that by making an image of the disc and copying that over to my brother on the LAN . The problems of not reading any discs properly only started happening recently . Really the distributor/supplier in NZ has to abide by the CGA as well . So it will end up with them, not Ascent . And can anyone provide a link to the actual full documentation of the GCA, so I can quote from it? The first point is not necessarily valid . New games are using Safedisc 3 and Securom3 protection . These are the ones some drives have trouble with . Older games used older protection schemes . Of course an image will get around it - you removed the protection check . The 2nd point is that no they don't . CGA does not apply to businesses . Ascent is a business buying from another business . So the supplier will tell Ascent to naff off . Leaving Ascent stuck with the cost . I'm not saying you don't have a valid point, just that I know how Ascent will feel and its not their fault . Although they shouldn't have rubbish brands on their website maybe :p	pctek (84)
349786	2005-04-28 09:06:00	I've sorta drafted up an email (darkreign.orcon.net.nz) to send back. Tell me if there's anything I could improve on...	vapo (5203)
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