I purchased a DVD recorder from a reseller on eBay. This item was listed and sold to me as new and when I received it it was in fact new and sealed in the origional Polaroid box. All the items in the box were in the origional sealed plastic bags. I installed the unit and had problems with the digital tuner input so I called Polaroid customer service and they diagnosed the problem as a bad digital tuner input. When they asked me where I purchased the Item an I told them from a re seller on eBay they told me they would not honor the warranty. I escellated the problem to
Jean Hoxie-Wasko
Sr. VP Global Customer Service, Quality & Logistics
[email protected].
I explained the situation to her as follows:
I purchased a Polaroid DVD recorder (model DRA-01601A) in December. I hooked it up and I was having problems with the ATSC digital tuner input. The picture breaks up (pixilated) or drops out all together. I called your support line and they had me replace my rf input cable and I still had the problem. They told me that the digital tuner input was bad and that It would require service.
When they asked me where I purchased the unit I told them that I purchased it from a electronics seller eBay store. They told me that they would not honor the warranty on items purchased on eBay. This item was new in a sealed original package.
I read the warranty included and that does not say anything about the warranty being void if purchased on eBay. I also checked the warranty posted on your web site and that is the same. So I sent an email via your support site (ref # W008080-010808).
I received a reply stating that I needed to send a copy of my receipt via email to them and they would determine the warranty status. I did not receive a reply so I sent another email to the support center.
I received the following reply
"Unfortunately we cannot honor your warranty due to the fact that you purchased the product from EBay and the price that you paid for the unit is not a standard price that the units retail for. We do apologize for the inconvenience."
Thank you we do appreciate your business."
My reply was;
Jean, I thought Polaroid was a reputable company that stood behind their products. What difference should it make where I purchased the unit or what I paid for it. This unit was new stock in the original sealed box and all internal contents were sealed in their plastic bags.
I see this situation as Polaroid not honoring their commitment to the consumer and I expect a resolution.
I received the following reply,
Dear Marty:
Thank you for contacting Polaroid regarding your DVD Player. Please allow me to address your concerns.
Marty, I would like to begin by apologizing for any frustrations or inconvenience that you may have incurred as a result of the DVD player not working properly as you have stated. At this time, the warranty coverage for this Polaroid unit applies to the original purchaser only and cannot be transferred to a secondary purchaser. As you have stated you have purchased the product form eBay, we will be unable to offer warranty service on this unit as you were not the original purchaser.
In closing, thank you again for your email. If you would like, we may be able to help you with other out of warranty options.
Thank you
My response was as follows;
Jean,
I appreciate your reply and understand the position of your concerns. However, I must say that I do not share your perspective regarding this manner for reasons that appear quite obvious.
I did purchase the item from a eBay reseller as you have highlighted as your concern however this purchase is not any less legitimate than if I had bought the product at another outfit such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, etc because it was purchased in its original packaging and advertised as new. It was without a doubt, evident to me that the product had never been opened or tampered with and, therefore, no different than any other product I may have purchased at one of the retail stores that Polaroid does business with.
Your statement that the warranty cannot be transferred assumes that someone else had registered the product on your web site. The only one who registered this product serial number was me so how am I the second owner?
That implies to me that the warranty that Polaroid guarantees is to be respected and put into effect as necessary.
As a previous consumer of your products, I thought I was secure in making my purchase for this reason. I have had positive results from your products in the past and it would be a shame if I could no longer be a loyal customer to Polaroid because of the companys negligence to comply with the warranty promised in the advertisement of the product I recently purchased.
If you were the customer wouldn't you expect Polaroid to stand behind their products and honor they warranties they advertise?
While I understand your position, I would greatly appreciate it if you would provide me with the contact information for the person (s) who holds the authority to resolve this customer issue.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to having this issue resolved so that Polaroids name is not discredited by this misunderstanding.
Polaroids reply was;
Thank you for your recent response to my email regarding your Polaroid television. Please allow me to continue to address your concerns accordingly.
I sincerely apologize if you feel Polaroids warranty policy is not to your standards. Our policys are designed to protect not only our valued customers, but also our business and operations as well.in regards to your statement of where you had purchased this television, eBay is not an authorized reseller nor an authorized marketing engine of our products and is a second hand reseller. Circuit City and Wal-Mart are authorized original Polaroid resellers. If you will provide a copy of your proof of purchase, I will review it to see if there is anything more we can do. Again, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this may incur upon you.
In closing, again thank you for your email.
My reply;
Jean, It is not a television that I purchased from eBay its a DVD recorder model DRA-01601A.
As far a eBay being a second hand reseller that is not accurate. While many individuals can utilize eBay to sell used items, there are also many business that sell new products in their eBay stores. I will state it again that this was new stock in the factory sealed box.! It was not a used item.
Concerning the Polaroid warranty not being up to my standards, I just expect Polaroid to honor what it states in their warranty. It is your failure to honor the warranty that I am not satisfied with. As a legal document it has no exclusion noted pertaining to eBay or any reseller for that matter. I have proof that I am the original owner through my registering the serial number on your website. And I have the registration confirmation page that was provided buy the product registration web site
Your request for a proof of purchase was provided to your warranty service organization. I have attached it again per your request.
Included in the attachment is a link to the Item description on eBay. If you look at the sellers items you can see that this is a eBay store that is selling new products not used second hand items.
Again I am asking you to put me in contact with the person in your company who has the authority to resolve this.
Thank you Marty
It it evident to me that Polaroid is failing to honor the warranty on their product. I feel like I am being ripped off.
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