Consumer complaints about Panasonic Cameras

I have two Panasonic Lumix digital cameras, neither one work. I bought the second camera at Staples 2 1/2 months ago to take to Africa for 6 weeks. Upon my return, I uploaded the 1000+ pics to my computer and to my disappointment, 80-90% were blurry or of bad quality. I called Staples and they would not refund my money. I called Panasonic several times, twice they had me reset the camera. Most pics are still blurry. They want me to pay to return it and they will give me a re-manufactured camera. I've only had it 2 1/2 months. I tried to upgrade and they wouldn't let me even do that. I would never buy another Panasonic.

Then the other much more expensive Panasonic, the lens would not retract or move unless you hold it facing down. The pictures had a black 1" halo around them or were entirely black. Panasonic would do nothing at all. I would never buy another Panasonic product as long as I live.

Warranty scam: On December 30, I purchased a Panasonic HD TM-80 video camcorder and used it about 5 times. On April 2, I tried to turn it on; but now, power came through. The battery had been charged the night before. Fry's Electronics stated that it was past their 15-day return policy and informed me I must notify Panasonic. After about 345 minutes of navigating through their different call centers, I was informed I must ship it to their repair plant in McAllen, Texas at my own cost.

The following Monday (April 9), I received a call from the McAllen facility. They informed me the part was defective and was under the one-year warranty, but the labor warranty was expired, because it was only 90 days and they wanted $188 to fix it. The camera was $229 brand-new. Not only that, it severely compromised a video shoot I had scheduled for that weekend.

I purchased a Panasonic TS2 waterproof camera. It fogged immediately when used in water according to directions. It completely failed in eight months. I contacted Panasonic for warranty repair and they voided my warranty. I have repeatedly contacted Panasonic suggesting the product was defective. As of this writing, they have not addressed this claim.

I have bought many Panasonic products after my dad was always so pleased with their products. I bought a Panasonic home theatre system model sc-pt470 in Jan 2010 for $250+. After a few months, it starting cutting out occasionally but could be switched straight back on. Over the months, this got slowly worse and more frequent but was so intermittent, I did not take it back.

Then in the summer of 2011, it started cutting out and would not come on for an hour or more. I contacted Panasonic who said that although the product was out of guarantee, they would look at trying to help me and I should take it to a Panasonic dealer. This was in October 2011. The dealer reported to Panasonic that the problem was very complex, hard to find and could not guarantee to a permanent fix. Panasonic offered me 23, the fix was going to cost me $90+.

I have contacted Panasonic ever week since December to express my disgust at their products serious failure and to ask for more than 23. To this date, they have totally ignored all my e-mails. Poor customer service, appalling disregard for their customers, or poor quality products? All of these! I won't buy Panasonic again and I will try to get some money back via the small claims court from the shop that sold it to me.

I purchased a Panasonic Lumix dmc-zs9 in Dec. Camera is nice but before I got it, I asked if there were any classes I could go to because I wanted full benefit of its uses. I was told, of course, just call and we'll tell you when you can learn. Well, I called today and was informed there was a charge for it. Had I been told of this in the beginning, I would not have bought it because it is involved. I have bought many things through you and I am very unhappy about this.

I have Panasonic 55" LCD TV. The bulb on the TV broke and I had to pay $200 to replace it and then it broke again after 1 year later, then the color start to get fuzzy. I don't recommend Panasonic TV to anyone. Thanks. I paid too much money to repair the TV.

I purchased a Panasonic Camcorder SDR-T50 just under a year ago. It will not focus when you zoom in at all. After calling Panasonic 4-5 times and spending an hour or two on hold, they tell me that parts are covered under warranty but I will have to pay $99.00 labor and $12.50 for return shipping. The unit cost $179.00 new and did not last a year. I am disgusted with the quality of the product and the bogus warranty. As a result I will not buy another Panasonic product. They suck.

I have a 2 year old 50 inch Panasonic Veria, which was rated the number one TV. Unfortunately, the TV compositor blew, it was not under warranty, but I found that this company was using refurbished compositors and a law suite had been in litigation over this. I called customer service and they opened a case number, sent us to their technician who informed us it will cost us $55.00 for testing. Then depending on the issue which he states, "85% of the time it's a compositor board and sometimes all three boards need replaced". I informed the manager Phill at customer service and he said that we pay the expenses send the quote and proof of purchase, and their management team will discuss, if, or particial reimbursement.

That was very unfair customer service. Then after I called HHGreg where it was purchased and the electronics manager said he would no be able to exchange it but would give me a significant discount on a new set. I don't see why the store should eat the cost when the manufacture of this model is at fault for selling a inatiquite product. After that I decided to not take it to their representative, and I found out from a local repair service it wouldn't cost more than $200 to fix including the diagnostic on the TV.

I am highly disappointed, they were not making quality nor are they standing behind their product. Their customer service manager was rude and unwilling to listen, cutting me off the entire time I tried to speak on the situation. In addition they were changing more then double to fix their defects and try to swindle to customer into using their technicians by making you think the company will cover the repair costs.

It's another scam to the customer, especially when their recommended technician charges $555, to fix it and there was absolutely no guarantee of a reimbursement or participial payment. I am disgusted at the way this situation was handled, and the treatment I received. I wouldn't expect anything of them if my TV was 5-7 years old but it's 2 years old. Shame on you Panasonic! Stand behind your product and your customers will stand behind you, that simple.

I bought ducking station for iPhone model # RC_DC1. Once you set the alarm clock, you cannot stop it, it will come on every day without your ability to stop it. I contacted Panasonic and they admitted that it is a flaw in their design. I want to return it but the online store does not want it back. I tried to return it to Panasonic and I cannot get the right person. They keep you for over an hour on the phone or switch you around! Do not buy any Panasonic products!

As per the Panasonic site, I filled out the information requested and sent it via UPS on October 4th. I never received any confirmation until Oct. 20th, when I received a message on my answering machine. When I called back (repeatedly), I would get an automated message saying that the volume was too busy for someone to answer, but leave a message and someone would call back. I left messages and no one called back. Finally, someone answered the repair line (Isaac) and assured me he would expedite my repairs. Before this, I kept typing my complaints on Panasonic.com and they kept referring me to the same repair number that no one ever answers. Is this a bad joke? I complained on Facebook/Panasonic and they referred me to the same number! What a bad experience! Guess what? I still don't have my camera and it's Nov. 1st.

I called to see if a damaged LCD screen on the GF1 was under warranty. The service rep said I need to fill out the form online. I filled it out and it said that it was under warranty. I sent it via UPS and never received confirmation in any form from the Mcallan Repair Center. I called to follow up and they said to repair it, I would have to pay approximately $300. If I had known, I would never have sent the camera to the repair center. They didn't want to reimburse the shipping that I had spent. I will never buy anything Panasonic ever again and discourage everyone I know too.

I purchased a brand-new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 in January 2011. I was initially very pleased with the camera, but the focus suddenly stopped working in August of the same year. A customer service representative instructed me to return the camera for an exchange since it was still under warranty. But shortly after receiving the camera, Panasonic phoned me to say they required a $190 "exchange fee" due to "liquid damage" to the camera. There was no liquid damage to the camera whatsoever.

I am now without a brand-new, expensive digital camera and will never purchase a Panasonic product ever again. I would like to be involved in any class action lawsuits against this poorly run company, and I will also be contacting the Better Business Bureau.

My case number is ** Attached is a copy of the Invoice I received with the camera yesterday. I have circled where is says "Service Performed" and shows I was to be sub with a DMFZ28 and then lower where it says "Model" and it shows DMCFZ8K.I hope this is helpful. Thank you.

On August 11, 2010 at 4:14 PM, I resent the above e-mail to Kathy since I had received no response.The next day, August 12, I received a call from Panasonic, Isaac, to be exact that I would be receiving via e-mail a prepaid shipping label to send the incorrect camera back to the Customer Service Center. I checked my mail multiple times, but no shipping label ever arrived so the next day, August 13 at 11:26 I sent the following e-mail and including a copy of the invoice once again.

I received a call yesterday, Aug 12 from Isaac stating that indeed I did receive the wrong camera and that a prepaid shipping label would be sent out to me to my e-mail address. It is 24 hours later and I still have not received the prepaid shipping label. I have been without this camera for about a month now so would like to get this taken care of. Please respond. My case number is **. Attached is a copy of the Invoice I received with the camera on Aug 7. I have circled where is says "Service Performed" and shows I was to be sub with a DMFZ28 and then lower where it says "Model" and it shows DMCFZ8K.I hope this is helpful. Thank you.

Due to my computer hard disk not working properly I don't have all of the remaining e-mails and I also, at this time, started calling the Customer Service Center. Each time I called I would have to go through a long line of questions, provide invoice numbers, work order numbers, etc. just to get some response. It would seem that you would have it all online in a file that you could easily call up to check on a particular customers case, but that did not appear to be the case.

Often, I could not understand the agent due to poor English skills and at no time, through multiple phone calls did an agent ever give me her name. At this point, I was more than upset so often hung up before thinking to ask. Each time I called, the agent would ask who I spoke to before and I never knew and that agent did not give me their name either.

Anyway, to make a long story short, after a few phone calls, I got some response from an agent who said she would check on why Isaac hadn't sent the prepaid mailing label. She finally said that she would do it and so I received the label and immediately went to UPS and sent the incorrect (DMC-FZ8) camera back.

On August 13, 2010 at 1:45 PM, I sent the incorrect camera back via UPS and then I waited again for the correct camera to arrive.Finally, on August 31, I received another package from the Panasonic Customer Service Center. Note that this is more than two weeks after I sent the incorrect camera back and six and a half plus weeks since I sent in my original camera on July 15 and I had paid $192.50 for this service! Guess what! You sent me the same ** DMC-FZ8 camera again! I was leaving on a vacation early on September 8 and needed a proper camera so I was more than upset!

I was livid! I called the Customer Service Center and again the agent asked me a dozen questions that they should have been able to easily pull up on the computer with my name and address. I explained the situation multiple times and finally was told that I would be e-mailed a prepaid shipping label and that as soon as I sent the incorrect camera back, then I should call and report the tracking number to the Center, at which time they would immediately ship the correct, DMC-FZ28, camera to me via overnight shipping.

This had all been approved by some higher up that I was never allowed to talk to even though I asked to speak to a supervisor.I found it almost funny that I was not trusted to send back the incorrect camera but I was supposed to trust the Center to send me the correct camera immediately and overnight.I received the prepaid shipping label and immediately dropped everything and drove across town to the UPS store. It was in their hands on September 1 at 1:45 PM.When I returned home, I immediately called the Service Center and informed the unnamed agent that I had just sent the camera and gave her the tracking number as verification. She seemed surprised that I had done it so fast but I wanted a camera for my trip and I was determined to get it. Note that the weekend coming up was Labor Day weekend so I knew I would not get very good service if I did not get the camera before the weekend started.

I expected to receive the correct replacement camera either the next day or at least within 2 day or September 3 since it was to be shipped overnight. Alas, by noon on September 3, two days after I had shipped the incorrect camera back and had notified the Customer Service Center, I still did not have a camera so I called once again. I got the usual run around and then finally, the young lady said that the camera had not been shipped yet! Why not? I had done what I was told but your end was not doing what they had said. It is now Friday before the Labor Day Holiday weekend and I am leaving on Wed morning, September 8 for my vacation.The young lady said to call back after 3:00 PM and she would give me the tracking number for the camera. What could I do? So I agreed. After 3:00 PM, I did call again and the young lady went off to get the tracking number for me. She repeated it to me and before I hung up, I said, Now, that is overnight delivery,right?

She seemed stunned but managed to say that she was not sure. She asked me to hold again while she went to check. After a long period, she came back on and said that luckily she had caught it before it went out the door as it was packaged for ground delivery. At this point, she said that she would call me back before 4:30 with the new tracking number for the overnight delivery as it had to be repackaged. Now, tell me, how can you send me the wrong camera twice, taking over 6 weeks to do so and then also mail the supposed correct camera with ground shipping when it was approved for overnight shipping? How incompetent are those people you have working there in Texas? And, on top of it, I am supposed to have faith that it will be the correct camera this time and that it will get to me before I leave on my vacation.

By 4:30 PM, I had not received a call and I knew that the Center closed at that time so I wouldn't be able to call. I was not a happy camper. About 4:50 I did finally receive a call with the new overnight tracking number but I was certain the camera would not arrive overnight. It would be Tuesday, after the Labor Day Holiday at the earliest that I would see it. Therefore, I wrote the following e-mail message.

On Father's Day, June 20 2010, I was given a Panasonic camera (model #DMC-FP8 12.1 megapixels) by my wife. The camera was intended to be used for taking pictures of my jewelry that I produce for sale. It took great close up pictures, I had the camera for about two weeks and took twenty to thirty pictures with the camera. And then the camera screen said, "Built in memory full." Even though the pictures I had taken were deleted, if you clicked it into replay mode, it gave the message, "No valid picture to play." At first, it would not take any more pictures. But I did get it to where it would take one. But then you had to delete it to take another. Yippy! So much for being happy about my new camera.

On July 9, I sent the camera to the Panasonic exchange center, via postal service, in Texas, expecting it to be repaired or replaced with another. Instead, I received via UPS, a refurbished camera (model #DMC-FS8S 10 Megapixel).This camera would not take the same close up shots as the 12.1 megapixel and I could not even find this model camera on the internet. So I called customer service explaining the problem, and they told me that the model I returned was not available anymore. So instead they would send me a DMC-ZR3 14.1 megapixel as a replacement. Sweet! Send it to me! They emailed me a UPS return label. I sent the camera back and about a week later UPS delivers my replacement camera. I open the box and guess what, it's the same 10 megapixel model camera I just returned to them. Oh Joy! So I call customer service again, they send me another email generated return label and I am told I will be sent DMC-ZR3 14.1

So again I sent back another camera. And after waiting another couple weeks, no camera in the mail. I called customer service again. According to the customer rep, the information had been given to the warehouse out back and that they would check on it and call me back. No call back ever came. Anyways, as I'm setting here writing this, it's now October 5. I talked to customer service yesterday and they were going to check on it again and call me back around 11:00 am, it's now 3:46 pm. Golly gee, I'll bet that phone will be ringing any moment now.

So at this point, I'm out a camera and sick of dealing with this nonsense. It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it. They are by far the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. I will never buy another Panasonic anything. I almost forgot to mention, when you call their customer service line, don't be surprised when you're disconnected while waiting for a human being to answer. It happened to me maybe ten times.

I purchased a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 camera, based on favorable reviews from both consumers and technical experts for an upcoming trip to Europe. Inexplicably, the zoom focus broke after less than a month resulting in a permanent error message that rendered the camera useless. As the 21-day return period was past, I had to send it the Panasonic Exchange Center. After receiving the USPS delivery confirmation, I contacted Panasonic to see about expediting shipment of my replacement camera so that I might actually have it to take on my trip. The 1st person I spoke to confirmed receipt of the defective camera and said they would do what they could to expedite the process.

Three days later, the 2nd person again confirmed receipt of the camera and promised shipment of its replacement within 24 hours. Two days later, when I called to confirm shipment of the replacement which I was asked to do, the 3rd person told me that there was no record of them ever receiving my original camera! This completely clueless person then promised to investigate my case further and call me back. Any guesses on if this happened? I should add here that each of my calls lasted approximately 20-25 minutes, the involved being placed on hold and/or transferred multiple times and for some reason the person never seemed to have any information from my previous calls. If this is what passes for customer service, I will certainly not be purchasing any other products from Panasonic!

I bought a Lumix Camera with a worldwide warranty in Singapore after losing my camera there. After about 9 months the lens failed. Two months ago we began trying to get it repaired or replaced. I have spent more than 10 hours on the phone and made 25 phone calls to date. Each person spoken to agrees that our camera should be repaired or replaced. We have mailed it twice and mailed and faxed a copy of our warranty. We have waited days for call backs and emailed shipping labels. Finally, we shipped it ourselves again and have tracking saying it was delivered but now they have no record of receiving it. The consequences are hours of frustration, loss of camera, cost of shipping twice, and we have no camera for our recent vacation.

There is a small gap in the camera shutter while the camera is on and off. The Service Station is not giving answer since 1 and half months.

The video screen went bad on a new Panasonic Z53 Lumix digital camera. The camera was purchased on October 10, 2009 from Costco. Their return policy is up 90 days. We are a month past that. 4-month old camera failed, video screen has vertical line making the video image unreadable. The company insists they get the failed camera before they will send out a repaired replacement. Problem, we will be traveling in just 2 days. It will take a minimum of 5 or more days to make an exchange. Second problem, we bought a new Lumix Z53 Panasonic camera, we did not agree to purchase a used, repaired camera. If we wanted a used, repaired/refurbished camera we would buy one in the first place saving a couple hundred dollars.

Panasonic refused to send us the replacement until we send the lemon camera in. Bottom line, we have to purchase a new camera for our trip. Another few hundred bucks out of pocket.

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.

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.

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!

I tried to order a digital camera (DMC-TS1G) directly from panasonic.com. The order was placed on May 30 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 was once again told, "We don't know why it hasn't shipped" and I was promised a manager would call again. The manager never called. I called again on the 23rd and I was 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 runaround 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.

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.

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!

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.

I bought a Panasonic MiniDV Camcorder one and half years ago. I have used it only 3 times and it has gone bad.

When I showed it to the PANASONIC authorized service station they told me that the main PCB is defective and for repairs I will have to spend $175 minimum. I paid $245 for the camcorder new.

I purchased a Panasonic PV-GS39 in June 2006. We used it a few times to film our newborn. We have just now taken the time to play the tapes on the TV and convert them to DVD. There is a black dot on all the video recordings. We have cleaned the lens and checked both tapes. It is evident that there is something wrong with the camera internally. It is very unfortunate that we now have black dot on the center of our daughter's face for memories that are not replaceable. I called Panasonic and their only response is that we can either send it in for repairs which would cost $161 plus shipping (over half the cost of the camera) or we can send it into a company for evaluation. The evaluation is $50 plus repairs. This will also take several weeks.

I bought my Panasonic PVGS31 in May 2005. I was happy with it until March 2006 My camera was in a diaper bag (surrounded by diapers) when the bag tipped over while sitting on the ground. Somehow this managed to break my camera. I sent it to Best Buy for repair who wanted 250.00 just in labor. The thing only cost 359.99 new! I am writing Panasonic and certainly hope they do wha is right, but I doubt it looking at all these other entries. If they do not, I also will never buy a Panasonic (anything) again.

I bought a Panasonic digital camera last week to use in at an important function/job where I needed the pictures immediately afterwards (my film camera wouldn't cut it with processing time). Supposedly everything needed was in the box - and for $450 it should be! Unfortunately that wasn't the case. The software included with the camera does not work with Windows XP, however I was not told about this (nor does it say it anywhere in the manual) before purchasing the camera.

When I spoke to customer service, the woman suggested I take the camera back and get a different brand all together. She also suggested I buy the needed software - that supposedly was included with the camera - myself, for $40 and they would not reimburse me!! When I let her know I would be informing others of my poor experience with Panasonic she said "That's fine with me." I can only imagine what the CEO's of Panasonic would think of that!!

Regardless, I'm now stuck waiting 2 weeks for something that "was" (or so they say) included to begin with. Not to mention the two hours I spent trying to get this straightened out and speaking with Panasonic's RUDE customer service people. They do make great cameras, but I agree with other reviews - their customer service is horrible.

I purchased a Panasonic GS-19 miniDV camcorder from Best Buy and 8 months after purchase, the camera broke. I sent the camera in for repair and the repair quote was $195.00. I only paid $331.00 for the camera. Panasonic has a 1 year parts warranty, but only a 90 day labor warranty. They do not stand behind their product at all. I will never buy a Panasonic product again.

High End Product lifetime expire along with the warranty. After spending $500 on the Panasonic FX-7 problem surfaced before warranty ended. And right after the warranty the problem became more frequent and in just a month after the warranty, the product broke down. Customer are left to bear the hefty repair cost and inconvenience. In a reply from Panasonic: "there is always some potential, as with any electrical appliance, for some component failure to occur over a period of time and use."

I agree if the product has expired its warranty for a period of time. But who would be convinced that it is a quality product when the fact is it barely survive its intended 1 year warranty. Panasonic quotes: "units are covered for 12 months on a parts and labour basis. There after it is the responsibility of the consumer if a fault should occur." If the product is only meant to survive precisely until the warranty expiry. Would anyone want to buy the product in the first place?

I ordered a new battery charger for my Lumix camera on November 20, 2005. It was due to ship on or around January 4, 2006, because they didn't have any in stock at the time. I have since waited 10 business days for this charger to arrive via UPS ground. After it did not arrive, I emailed Panasonic's customer support, asking about the delay. I was told that my charger was on back order with NO ESTIMATED SHIP DATE. It could be months until I receive the product.

It cost about ninety-five dollars, which was removed from my account in November. Panasonic is the only company that manufactures the battery charger specific to my camera, so requesting my money back would not solve the problem that I can't use my camera again until I have the charger. It is intensely frustrating. It is also impossible to find out how to go above the support representatives unsatisfactory responsives to speak with someone in a higher department.

I called Panasonic on Aug 24 about a PV-DV203 Mini Digital Camcorder that I purchased on Aug 13th that was not working. I was told by Panasonic that it was under warranty and to take it locally to Sound Com at 1134 Basse in San Antonio and they would repair the camera. I took the camera to Sound Com the local Panasonic repair service on Aug 24th by Sept 11 after not hearing from them I went to see what was happening and they said that Panasonic said they were not suppose to repair the camera and that they would send it to Panasonic for repairs.

On Sept 26th I still did not know what was happening with my camera except that I've been given a major run a round and have been on the phone with Panasonic once again for a half an hour and that I will never buy a Panasonic Product again. I was then told by Sound Com that they sent the camera to Panasonic Service at 1705 N Randal Rd, Elgin Il. 60123. I again contacted Panasonic Customer Service to try and locate my camcorder. After another half an hour on hold I was told they didn't know where my camera was and they would call me back but they never did. I also emailed their online warranty service dept. from which I did receive a reply that the camcorder was in Elgin, IL.

I called the number Panasonic Customer Service gave me in Elgin on October 2ND. Elgin said the camcorder was sent to Bigston in Illinois on Sept 16 because they no longer repair that camcorder. I called Bigston and they finally located that they received my camcorder on Sept 22ND. They said that they had ordered the part needed on Sept 30th and that it may be ready in 3 weeks or so. I have never had this type of problem getting a product repaired or replaced. The camcorder had been a birthday gift for my daughter I do not know what to do to get the camcorder back and in working condition. But it does appear that a lot of other people are having the same type of trouble with Panasonic products.

We bought a digital video camera on April 15, 2004 for $430.00. Not even a year later the camera broke down. We did'nt have three full tapes (8mm) recorded on it yet.The warranty was still in place for parts, but not LABOR!

We sent the unit to B. D. S. in Illonois to be repaired but they wanted $174.00 first to find out what was wrong with it. We had it fixed but we're not happy at all with the company. They said they might be able to reimburse us but we haven't heard anything from them yet. I faxed Mika the total amount for repair but never heard back. I'll never buy a Panasonic product again!!!!!

The DVD Camera model no: VDR-M50 is advertised as being able to interface with the pc for reasons of downloading your video to pc for editting. the video camera comes with a usb cable and software which is suppose to suport this feature, however it appears that this is not a feature that the camera has, since the data is stored as a VRO file which is unique to Panasonic, therefore none of the software that came with the camera recognizes these file, which means you can't download your video onto the pc, which was one of the reasons that I purchased the camera in the first place. I visited some support news groups that had similar claims regarding Panasonic's shady advertising.

What I have noticed along with the many people that I corresponded with in the newsgroups, is that Panasonic isn't answering support e-mails regarding this problem. I think this matter should be investigated since it affects so many. In conclusion, I wish to either get a refund or be able to use the camera the way it was advertised and intended.

My experience with Panasonic Customer Service is very poor starting with an average of 26 minute wait times (6 attempts). I bought a Panasonic SVA V30 that had a internal battery charger problem. After waiting for someone at the Panasonic call center to answer, I was referred to All Electronics Services in Bozeman, Montana for warranty repair. I sent the camera to them in April. In June I spoke with Josh there who said he was working on my repair after he had all the accessories.

In July, Josh told me they sent the camera to Panasonic and he would check the status. In August, Josh told me All Electronics was no longer working on this camera, that there were many problems with it, that they had 20 bad returns and that Panasonic had returned my camera back to All Electronics. He indicated he was sending me the camera back without repair and told me I had to deal with Panasonic. After several long waits, Panasonic told were checking the problem and that they needed their rep to see if the camera could be repaired. Bottom line is I still do not have the camera. Panasonic may make good cameras but their customer support is terrible. Their customer service reps were rude and indignant that I was bothering them with my problem.