Panasonic Cameras

Adina of Berkeley, CA October 6, 2009

I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1R digital camera on 7/30/2009 and within a month the paint on the controls faded or disappeared. I contacted Panasonic several times via emails and calls. I have a case number: Panasonic Case # 26804478

Here is the first email I received on 9/2/2009: ...The department you have reached does not handle this type of inquiry. Please call our National parts center at 1-800- for ordering and pricing information. They are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 7:30pm est. You may also visit the following website....Thank you for your interest in Panasonic products.

The second email on 9/12/2009: ...To obtain additional assistance for your product, please contact our Panasonic Customer Call Center at (800). The hours of operation are Monday through Friday 9AM to 9 PM. Saturday and Sunday 10 AM to 7PM Eastern Standard Time. A representative will be available to assist you. Please have your case number, which is listed at the top portion of your email, available at the time of the call. Thank you for your interest in Panasonic products.

Clicking on the links land you back to this email, and calling the number they provide gives you a recorded message with the mailing address of their repair center, which doesn't match the address on their site or on the warranty shipped with the camera, or puts you on hold to speak with a representative, where I once waited 45 minutes before giving up.

I'm very reluctant to send my camera, before confirming that it is what I should really do, I can't speak with a live representative and the emails don't provide much information. This is the worst CS I have ever had. I just want to speak with a live representative and confirm what I need to do. This is a brand new camera and the controls faded after 1 month of use. It's new it should look new and i should be able to know what the dials do.

ryan of san marcos, TX September 14, 2009

2 problems with digital travel cameras a. problem of dust on the camera's ccd/image sensor. when traveling i kept the camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15 Digital camera - compact - 12.1 Megapixel, in my pocket. the camera was favorably reviewed by on-line camera reviewers. the camera category is compact, "small enough to carry in your pocket". after about a week of carrying the camera in my trouser pocket, i noticed that the lens had a fine dust on it. i wiped the lens clean and kept shooting.

after about 3 weeks, i noticed fine dust on the barrel of the camera lens when the camera was in zoom mode. no problem, i wiped it off and kept shooting. after about 5 weeks, i noticed dark fuzzy spots on the camera lcd when i zoomed way in. the spots receded into the visual background when zoomed out. i checked the lens to see if it was dirty. it had the usual fine dust which i blew off. i cleaned the lcd even though it seemed clean. then it dawned on me that i was seeing dust on the ccd/image sensor.

no one had ever mentioned in any review of compact cameras that dust is a major problem. the camera which cost ~180 in may, 2009, was now worthless. i called panasonic in august, 2009, but they said dust on the ccd was not covered by the warranty. i could send in the camera, along w/ 100+ and panasonic would exchange it for me. i was not told that this camera might have faulty dust seals along the camera's lens barrel. does that mean that all panasonic, and canon, and all other brands of pocketable cameras suffer from the same problem. is this a defect? should consumers be warned about this problem?

i re-read the camera user's manual. there were all sorts of warnings, but none that said: don't carry the little camera in your pocket; dust will get onto the ccd. assuming my situation is not unique, i don't think it's right that consumers should be encouraged to carry the camera in their pockets and not be advised that the seals on the camera barrels are not adequate to keep dust from migrating onto the camera's ccd/image sensor. potentially i've lost the purchase price of the camera.

Gurina of Port Orchard, WA July 31, 2009

I purchased a new Panasonic DMC-FS25 digital camera because of the great reviews. It did not come with an AC adapter, which the manual recommends using when downloading pics. I would, but I can not get one for 2 months. It requires an ac adapter AND a dc coupler. The adapter, part # DMW-AC5PP(in the manual) is available anywhere on line for around 15.00. Panasonic says the new # is DMW-AC5 and sells for 80.00. The coupler is not available for 2 months!

David of Fayetteville, NC June 23, 2009

I tried to order a digital camera directly from panaSonic.com. the order was placed on 30 May and the website said it would ship in 3-5 days. On the 13th of June it still hadn't shipped, so we called. After talking with customer service they said they didn't know why it hadn't shipped yet and a manager would call me back within 24 hours.

As they promised a manager called on the 14th and promised the item would ship by the 15th. My bank, whom we'd contacted since the charge had gone through several days before, was told the same thing. Come the 22nd the item still hasn't arrived, so I called again. I'm once again told "we don't know why it hasn't shipped" and I'm promised a manager would call again. The manager never calls. I call again on the 23rd and I'm told the item won't even ship until the 25th, over 3 weeks after the initial order and 10 days after a manager promised me it would ship. the customer support representative gave no reason and refused to let me speak with a manager, saying only that a manager would call me within 24 hours. after this run-around I was quite upset I asked to speak with a manager immediately. the response I received was "have a nice day" and the call was terminated.

this has been by far the worst experience I have ever had with customer service. I will NEVER buy from panaSonic again.

Georgia of Port Richey, FL August 25, 2008

Georgia of Port Richey FL (08/25/08)
Good morning, I purchased a Panasonic DVD recodered (model # DMR-EZ47V) from Best Buy on 10/29/2007. After i got it home and hooked it up it worked well for 6 weeks, then I heard a strange noise come from the machine while I was halfway through a DVD movie and the machine stopped working.

I took it up to BEST BUY on 12/12/2007  they kept it for 6 weeks and returned it to me. When it was hooked back up, it would not record and ther tray would not open properly, again I went back to BEST BUY on 02/29/2008 and again they took my machine for repair and kept it again approx. 6 weeks.

After I recieved it back, I did not open it or have it hooked up right away because I was on vacation. When I returned I had the machine again hooked up and again it would not record, once again, I went to BEST BUY on 05/14/2008 and again they kept it for about 6 weeks. Once the machine came back and was hooked up, it still wouldn't work. I made several phone calls to BEST BUY and was told to contact Panasonic directly.

I spoke with Arlene and was advised to send machine to Panasonic for repair this was on 07/16/2008. I was told they would send me a UPS voucher in the mail so I wouldn't have to pay, well they sent a letter and when I went to UPS store #5895 they charged me 11.94 to ship.

My machine was returned after about 1 week and worked for 2 days, this time it just froze up and would not record or even open the tray. I called Panasonic again and they advised they want someone from the support to walk me through some trouble shooting and if that doesn't work to send it again to Panasonic.

I am 64 years old and this machine cost me over 300.00. I have had it repaired 4 seperate times already with each time being a true problem with the machine. I just want my money back, Panasonic will not refund me my money and i feel this is injust as I have had the product for almost a year and have not had it in my possession for more than a few weeks due to the continious repairs. I know 300.00 may not be a lot to some, but it tooks me 6 months to save the money to buy this and it I can't even use it. I have all the papers/work orders/invoices and receipts. Please help me with this matter as I feel they are being very unjust for not refunding me my money. Thank you

I spend 300.00 on a machine that has been repaired 4 times and is still not working.

Yvena of North Lauderdale, FL April 24, 2008

Yvena of North Lauderdale FL (04/24/08)
I purchase the Panasonic AG DVX100B for 3,249.99 plus 4 year Proffesional Video warranty for 500 and they never wanted to fix my camera when it needed to be repaired! When I'd call, customer service would put me hold for at least 45 minutes...then I'd end up hanging up...the times that I do call back.....either no respond or they'll put me on hold again! All i'm saying is that,Im a full time videographer, that camera is all I have it's not working properly....I need my money back ASAP!

They never call me back when they have all my information to contact me, thats just very unprofessional!

Robert of Fort Worth, TX December 2, 2007

Robert of Fort Worth TX (12/02/07)
I had have the Panasonic PT50LC13 for only about 3yrs. For two of which my lamp inside has already burned out. Also, out of the three yrs I have had it, I have not been able to use for the entire of year of 2007. So in reality I've only used this model for 2yrs. The lamp has a 10,000hr life on it and I am sure in two years time there has not been that many hours used.

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