"jakdedert" wrote in message
. ..

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

So what I need is a quotation from Sony to repair the camcorder
properly so that the usual 90-day guarantee can be given.
It seems that Sony are worried about the condition of the
camcorder circuit board after a solid blow, so I think the board
should be replaced so that both Sony and myself will be confident
that the camera will operate reliably after the repair.

You're not gonna get it. Live with it. As the last poster said, you are
VERY lucky to get what you're getting. It may last--relatively
speaking--forever, or it may break in 91 days, warranty or not. There are
no real guarantees in life. Nobody except me has ever paid for repairs to
anything I've dropped. If you are getting this, be thankful and take it.

jak

Thanks Jak for these remarks. Anyone who pays for insurance can expect
to be compensated within the terms of the policy if things go wrong that
are covered by the insurance you are paying for. I disagree that you are
very lucky if insurance companies meet their obligations under insurance
contracts, this is what you are paying for. In my case, I have to pay the
first $US100 of the repairs, and I also incur additional premiums of $130
because of loss of no claims bonuses over the next 2 years. Add this
to the cost of the insurance for one year of $200, and you will see that,
I am paying $430 of the estimated $700 repairs.

Sony say that they will not give their usual guarantee for this repair job
because there may be hairline cracks in the circuit board that cannot be
detected at this time. I don't think that many serious videographers would
use a camera like this to film important unrepeatable occasions, the risk of
failure of the camcorder makes you lose confidence in it.

I am very surprised that a major manufacturer such as Sony would even
contemplate repairing a dropped camcorder and then say that they do
not have confidence in their repair work because the circuit board could
easily have hidden cracks in it that could subsequently cause the camcorder
to fail. I believe that Sony should only give an estimate to repair a
camcorder if they have confidence in their repair and are prepared to
give their usual 90-day repair warranty. In this case, the estimated cost
of repair should include the cost of replacing the circuit board. If Sony
do not have confidence that a Sony camcorder will operate reliably
after they themselves have "repaired" it, how can they expect the user
to have confidence in using it to film important unrepeatable events?

Take another example, if a car runs over my bicycle and the repairer
says that he will replace the wheels and the tyres, but he will not
give a warranty on the repairs because he is not sure whether the
accident may have caused hidden cracks in the frame of the bike
that may later cause it to collapse, would you have confidence in
riding this bicycle or would you go out and buy a new one?

Brian