Audiovox Maestro repair bill

[MaestroXTreme]

I can't believe this....the screen on the Maestro cracked and I sent in to be repaired. The customer service rep said that it would cost me 277 dollars for repair. 23 dollars more and I can buy a brand new one. Does this sound screwed up to you?

[jdhill]

Sounds a little high to me. I broke my Casio E-100 screen a few years back. They charged me $100 to replace it (which seemed fair to me at the time).

[MaestroXTreme]

I knew it sounded a little too high. Well, what should I do?

[ECOslin]

Time to buy a new one. If it were a notebook, a replacement screen could be tracked down easily enough. These places sell replacement LCD panels. I've dealt with all of them. If you felt confident in doing surgery on your PDA, I'd recommend trying to track one down. I still expect the price to be high. My professional recommendation - buy a replacement, used thru Ebay or if you've got the cash, new. Was it damaged in such a way that your home insurance would cover it?

http://www.earthlcd.com/

http://www.laptopking.com/parts.asp

http://www.sparco.com/

http://www.ambry.com/inventory/ambry/query2.cpq

[MaestroXTreme]

Apparently it was. What really happened was that my dog's tail hit it from the side while it was on my dresser still in its case and it fell to the floor

[MaestroXTreme]

Sorry about before, my internet connection got cut off. But like I was saying, my dogs tail knocked it off of the dresser onto a wood floor. It was enclosed in the case it came with. The screen shattered but not to the point where it fell out. A spider-web like crack formed. I turned on the unit; it was not dead. Above the shattering the screen still picked up taps, but not below it. They want to charge me 277 dollars just for that. I think that is a little ridiculus, especially since I am 16 and saving up for a car.

I think Im asking for the damaged unit back and buying the 259 dollar Toshiba e310 from pcnation.com. There is no way Im letting Audiovox rip me off.

[Thinkingmandavid]

I think it is crazy they want to charge you that much, so rather than to pay, go ahead ask for the unit back!
If you go to one of the websites listed above, I think you have nothing to loose. Since if it doesnt work you may end up buying another one.
Please let us know what you end up doing.:)

[Thinkingman]

It is better to not even put up with those guys, so just get your unit back, repair it yourslef if you want, or buy anohter one.
That is sillythey want that much for the repair.

[MaestroXTreme]

Just got the actual letter in the mail today. Supposedly it's 202 dollars for the screen and 75 for labor. Since today is labor day, I have to wait to call tomarrow, but tomarrow they will be yelled at.

I should have followed everyone elses adivce the first time I was looking for a PPC. DO NOT GO AUDIOVOX! The product IS a good PPC, but the technical service people will ALWAYS find ways to rip you off! If you are looking at the Maestro, go instead for the Toshiba e310! Better screen, better battery life, better tech support! I am getting my unit back tomarrow and I will update later into this forum of what happens.

[spursdude]

hm.....with my maestro i got a compusa replacement plan. for $100 at the time of purchase, they will replace my maestro once in the next 2 years if it breaks, and after 2 years, i can put the money i spent on the maestro towards a new pocket pc.

of course, i don't have a dog to kill my maestro.

[Thinkingmandavid]

Well lets be fair and clear, the problems you had could have been any company selling pda's. It just happened to be audiovox for you, for as there are unsatisfied customers there are always satisfied. I know that labor is costly at all and any of the pda companies.
The Toshiba could have a problem as well, maybe good service or maybe you will be the one person who gets bad service.
I say this for those ofyou who are satisfied wihtyour purchase or are thinking about it.
The dog is yours in all fairness........

[Thinkingman]

I agree that it could happen to anyone. It is always unfortunate when it happens to ourselves. We always feel cheated at some point.
YOu had a bad experience, hopefully in whatever pda you buy next you will have a good experience.

[spursdude]

whoa....

thinkingmandavid posts, and then thinkingman posts.

haha ok.

[MaestroXTreme]

Just called them earlier today. The tech said "yeah, these things are that expensive, not just for Audiovox but for all other PDAs". I then referred her to this post, where the person said that they got charged 100 for a screen replacement, and my Palm V repair letter, which was only 45 dollars.

She said that she could not help me anymore than she already did and I had two options, so I told her to ship the broken unit back.

When I buy my Toshiba e310 I am going to have so much fun, getting my friend to run over the damn Maestro in his Trans Am!

[maestrobill]

Just a thought. I purchased my Maestro because Toshiba made it, not because of the audiovox name. Perhaps Toshiba will be willing to repair it. Even if not, before you jump into another Toshiba model, you may want to see how much Toshiba would charge for a similar repair. If it is just as high, perhaps we should all consider other options for our next PDA??? :lol:

[MaestroXTreme]

Good idea. Anyone know Toshiba's support number? I can't seem to find it on their website

[maestrobill]

I could not find info on site either, other than this toll free #, good luck!
For toll-free technical support for Toshiba PDA products, please call (800) 949-7993.

[MaestroXTreme]

UPDATE:

I have decided to get my unit back from Audiovox. I was actually gonig to be cheap and pay them 30 dollars less than a new PocketPC to repair it. Untill...

I found the 299 dollar T-Mobile on Amazon and am ordering it tomarrow. I need a new cell phone replacement, and my carrier sucks. So to end the story, my personal advice is that if a company wants to charge you over 200 dollars to repair a broken screen, don't let them. They will dick and overcharge you. I opened up my unit and found out that the only thing that was damage was the plastic touch screen insert that is in the way front of the PPC, the glass and the liquid were fine. So I am glad I did not pay them.

[maestrobill]

Happy to hear that the damage is less than you thought, I hope you can use it like that. Audiovox should be ashamed for asking so much for just the plastic cover. I wouldn't be surprised if they do not fix them themselves, but just forward them to Toshiba, so they probably saw the cracked screen cover, assumed it was the whole screen and geve you a flat fee estimate. I would still check with Toshiba, it may be far less expensive once they know it is only the cover.
PS I saw the Maestro for $199 in Sundays paper (delivered Saturday), think it was at Best Buy or Comp USA with $100 for a trade in of your old PDA. Much less than your repair estimate was. Good Luck, I'm going to try to not break mine, and if I do, I'll buy a new one rather than repair it if costs are so high. I will definitely look at Palm again, or Sony, if their repair policies are better and once their new OS comes out. I figure our PDA's will be obsolete in 2 years anyway, so if it lasts that long I'll be happy.
Good Luck!