PocketDish: Archos ducking warrantee

toghome

New Member
Original poster
Jan 7, 2006
4
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Don't buy a PocketDish unless you have at least a month to get it up and running.

I opened up my new PocketDish on April 28th. It worked just long enough for me to transfer over 18 hours of material and delete the original programs from my 942. Then it died.

Archos (marketers of the Chinese-made PocketDish) agreed the device was dead, then told me it would take three weeks or so for me to receive a replacement. I told them I would just send it back to the dealer, and they told me (later confirmed) that they refuse any returns from dealers, so that avenue was closed. I then asked if I could pay them for a new one, then return the old one for credit. They told me that was absolutely impossible.

I next read through every scrap of paper that came with the PocketDish and found that they have a formal program for doing just as I asked--accepting a credit card number and shipping the replacement immediately. When I called back, I was told by the voice on the phone that he had never heard of such a thing. Then, he went away for five minutes or so, came back and said they used to do that, but they don't do it anymore and "you must have gotten an old unit." I told him I expected them to honor their warrantee, and he told me, no, that I would have to wait the three weeks.

I then asked to speak to their "house council" (their attorney). He went away again, came back, and said they would be able to honor their written warrantee after all. He took my credit card number, etc., and said I would receive a replacement by yesterday. Of course, that never happened.

Today, I called to find out where the replacement was and was told that they hadn't actually been sending replacements to anybody for some time while they "moved from California to Colorado," but that they had started sending some replacements again, but they don't know which ones and they have no way of contacting the people in Colorado.

Why Dish Network inked a deal with such flaky people, and why they are letting Archos get away with stomping on their hard-won customer-service reputation is beyond me.
 
Thanks for the warning. I was thinking of getting the AV 500. I think I will check some other brands, like Flyboy or Cowon 2.
 
wow that is terrible that Archos deals with customers like this. Mine is still working but I will hate to be in the first poster's shoes. So are they going to send you a replacement or not?
 
Widescreen said:
OK, OK. We get it. That horse is dead. Can you move on. Please?
sorry dude any chance i get i will bash this company for the way i was treated
no we cant move on it the hiorse isnt dead, it alive and kicking
I WILL SPEAK THE GOSPEL ABOUT DISH TILL THE DAY I DIE period point blank
plus it would help if dish could build reliable hardware and have sofware updates which actually function
 
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my warranty problem with my new AV700e

I opened my AV700e last Saturday and was fairly pleased with the unit. Resolution isn't great but I wanted the larger hard drive size. I charged the unit Saturday night. Sunday morning I removed the battery to see how easy that would be and if it were worth the trouble to buy an additional battery for "on the road". Once I reattached the battery the unit would not function any longer. I know, everybody is thinking "that idiot put the battery on wrong". I actually repair electronics as a hobby and this battery is pretty much a "no-brainer" for reinstalling. Anyway, Monday I called tech support and they said they would ship out a new unit and I would have it the next day. I told them that I wanted to think about it for a day to decide whether I wanted to keep a unit that died in it's first 24 hours of use. Tuesday I had decided that I did want to get a replacement so I called back. The rep told me that I had to send in the unit at my own expense and then they would need a week to evaluate it before they shipped out a replacement. Total turn around would be 2 to three weeks! He said I could pay a non-refundable $20 charge and they would then trust me and send out a new uni before receiving an evaluating the bad unit. I asked to speak to a supervisor. For the next 7 hours I waited for a supervisor to return my call. I called them back and was told that someone would return my call in a few hours. Finally a supervisor returned my call and said that the best he could do is to email me a shipping authorization for them to pay for UPS return of the old unit. He told me I should receive the email shortly and could have the unit on the way to them by Wedenesday morning. By Wednesday morning I still had not received the promised email. Another call to ARCHOS where I was told that the "supervisor" I spoke with was not actually a supervisor and that it would take up to 48 hours for them to get approval for them to pay for the return shipping. Thirty minutes later it was "relayed" to me that they would be sending me an email shortly authorizing the reutrn shipping. Still waiting for that email ...
 
stone phillips420 said:
sorry dude any chance i get i will bash this company for the way i was treated
no we cant move on it the hiorse isnt dead, it alive and kicking
I WILL SPEAK THE GOSPEL ABOUT DISH TILL THE DAY I DIE period point blank
plus it would help if dish could build reliable hardware and have sofware updates which actually function

He who won't be pleased, can't be pleased. I guess you have to be smarter than a door knob to make all this high tech stuff work. been a disher since 98, no problems, been treated great. Have platinum with a 622 and a 942 and several more, no problems at all. Have had a pocket dish since Dec. and it works great too. take it to the back room and tell yourself that you just don't get it and can't make it work.
 
I inadvertantly moved the button for the battery, and I had difficulty getting it re-seated. I finally manually moved the button back into place and it worked again. Apparently just snapping the battery into position doesn't lock it in.

Hope that works for you too, toghome.
 
wayne231 said:
He who won't be pleased, can't be pleased. I guess you have to be smarter than a door knob to make all this high tech stuff work. been a disher since 98, no problems, been treated great. Have platinum with a 622 and a 942 and several more, no problems at all. Have had a pocket dish since Dec. and it works great too. take it to the back room and tell yourself that you just don't get it and can't make it work.


From what i have read and experienced he is spot on. Dish has no idea how to treat a majority of their customers.
 
And how many millions of other people seem to have no problems. He probably has problems with every single thing he does. Getting on a board that he doesn't have an interest and bashing indicates where the real problem is.
 
Actually, I believe it is more common that millions of people accept mediocracy and it something doesn't work the way they think it should work they simply give up - instead of complaining and informing others of potential pitfalls.

Consistency is something that both Dish and Archos lack. Talk to three different techs at each company and you tend to get three different stories. THAT leads to confusion.
 
jetjock said:
Actually, I believe it is more common that millions of people accept mediocracy and it something doesn't work the way they think it should work they simply give up - instead of complaining and informing others of potential pitfalls.

Consistency is something that both Dish and Archos lack. Talk to three different techs at each company and you tend to get three different stories. THAT leads to confusion.

You're right and those posters with the childish response to Stone Phillips 420 are classic examples. Some people tend to be so self-absorbed that if they're not having problems....well anyone that is MUST be doing something wrong or "hey, my stuff's working great, so quit your complaining so we can move on here?".
 
If DISH is selling a product under their brand name "pocket dish" they should be providing the warranty. You should only have to deal with them, not RCA for their HDTVs or Archos for their pocket dish. If DISH wants to be the retailer of record they should be the one who stands behind the product? How many products does Sears sell under their private label brands, who stands behind those products. Why do people trust buying "Kenmore" or "Craftsman" brands?
 
I got about 5 or 6 pocket Dishes that I got stuck with that are either opened or broken that need to be sent in for repair.

Effective today Dishstore is no longer selling Pocket Dishes.

Pocket Dish has been a looser for us ever since we started carrying the items, I make anywhere from $20-$25 on each unit we sell, and then heaven forbid we get the unit back and am stuck with it. I either got to sell the unit at a "Discount" because its used and open, or I got to wait 2 months for Archos to repair it! Then when they send me the replacement unit they are sending me the same crap back, which means if I got to sell it, I got to sell it at a discount!

Its Bullsh!t!
 
Luckily, my pocket dish has worked but I feel for those who paid the money and theirs is not working. Pocket Dish is great when it is working and Dish Network should have done a better contract with Archos to ensure consumers and dealers that the product will have a guarantee and support. Right now Archos does not seem to be doing a great job and so it reflects bad on Dish Network since they are selling the unit to its customers.
 
Claude, since you are updating your web site by removing the pocket dish I would if I were you, go ahead and fix the pricing on your home page that says the 622 is $649. Also, I would get rid of this offer which appears if your click on New Customers on the left hand side of the page and then choose the Digital Home Advantage Promotion which expired almost two years ago. Here is the link. http://www.dishstore.net/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=162
 
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