What should I do?

Serendipity
Serendipity Posts: 6,975
edited May 2008 in The Clubhouse
Okay...so to make a long story short, I lent a friend my Sony camcorder and today I get it back. When I power it on, it goes through the startup screen, then powers off and then back on. This process repeats and I can't turn on the camcorder completely.

So...any ideas on what I should do? If it just broke due to normal use I'd have no problem with it, but I noticed that the cassette mechanism also jams / makes a "click-click" noise so I suspect it was dropped.

Anyways, what do you think I should do?
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2008
    tell him the cassette mechanism jams now.. and it was working fine when you LENT it to him. if he says "I don't know what you mean" then he's lying. camcorders last for years.. think back then when we used to use those huge VHS ones.. some of them are still working today... 20 yrs later.. but who wants to lug around one of them? not to mention how poor their picture quality is.

    If he comes clean.. then suggest he pay for the repairs... if not.. he's not your friend anymore from this day on. simple
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Yeah, I need to get hold of him. He's not around today, so I guess I'll try again tomorrow.

    Camcorders should last for years, but the newer ones (like the one I had) are so small they just seem fragile. But that's just my opinion.

    Ah well...
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    It seems like this camcorder isn't repairable, as I just found another problem (power jack is loose) and it doesn't charge unless you wiggle the power cord. Looks like the power jack is soldered right onto the main board, so probably tension on the cord caused ito to break.

    Anyways, I'm currently looking at the Sony HDR-SR5 camcorder as a replacement: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665089060
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2008
    nice camera.. but i found this interesting in the ad for a service plan


    2 Year Service Plan with Accidental Damage from Handling $89.99

    makes it sound like this is a common problem just by handling the unit, it could become damaged?? :eek:

    You don't see that specific of a service plan on any other product...
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Haha, these things seem really fragile, othewise why would they sell a service plan that includes "Accidental damage from handling"? I would assume that doesn't include drops/spills/bomb blasts/etc.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    The other thing is, this was a gift from my dad, so I wanted to keep it for a long time to record family videos and the like. Ah well...
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited May 2008
    My Sony camcorder lasted less than 1 year. Ribbon cable was cracked just before the solder joint on the board. I tossed it in the trash and bought a camcorder with an HDD.
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Frank Z wrote: »
    My Sony camcorder lasted less than 1 year. Ribbon cable was cracked just before the solder joint on the board. I tossed it in the trash and bought a camcorder with an HDD.

    Do you think they are built poorly? A $900 camcorder should last a while, IMO...
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  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,861
    edited May 2008
    Low battery maybe?
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Not a low battery,

    That wouldn't result in the clicking/grinding noises from the tape transport...
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited May 2008
    Yeah I do. Sad really, My wife still has a 20 year old Sony TV that has a great picture.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Frank Z wrote: »
    Yeah I do. Sad really, My wife still has a 20 year old Sony TV that has a great picture.

    I agree. Camcorders should last for 10 years, not 2.
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  • BaggedLancer
    BaggedLancer Posts: 6,371
    edited May 2008
    First:
    Ask your friend if he actually used it while he borrowed it from you.

    Second:
    Tell him it doesn't work now, and that you want him to pay for the repairs.

    Third:
    Tell friend to buy his own stuff from now on or find another means to do what he needed to do.


    My brother in law is exactly this person. I used to loan him anything, mostly tools, and every time I got something back it was broken. I don't loan him a thing now and he knows better than to ask.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2008
    there you go.. some good advice.. you shouldn't have to pay for the repairs to your camcorder, because someone else effed it up.

    put yourself in his shoes for a minute if you will.. wouldn't you feel bad if you borrowed his camera and screwed it up? what would you do? I'd say you would probably make it right by getting it fixed of compesating him for the damage to his camera, right? Well he should do the same.
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,808
    edited May 2008
    My brother in law is exactly this person. I used to loan him anything, mostly tools, and every time I got something back it was broken. I don't loan him a thing now and he knows better than to ask.

    Must be something about brother in laws and tools. I loaned my brother in law a brand new, never used planer, still in the box. Not only did it take me a year to get it back, but the motor is burnt out, and it's missing some of the accessories. He tells me it worked fine the last time he used it, and that the accessories were not in the box when he got it from me.:mad:
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    danger boy wrote: »
    put yourself in his shoes for a minute if you will.. wouldn't you feel bad if you borrowed his camera and screwed it up? what would you do? I'd say you would probably make it right by getting it fixed of compesating him for the damage to his camera, right? Well he should do the same.

    Sure, if I borrowed his camera and screwed it up, I would definitely reimburse him for the damages to his camera. Or I would purchase a replacement camcorder for him of similar make/model/etc.

    The thing is, I haven't been able to get a hold of him over the past two days...
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2008
    appadv wrote: »
    Sure, if I borrowed his camera and screwed it up, I would definitely reimburse him for the damages to his camera. Or I would purchase a replacement camcorder for him of similar make/model/etc.

    The thing is, I haven't been able to get a hold of him over the past two days...

    Keep trying... call him at work if that's what it takes... but don't allow him the satisfaction of making you pay for something he screwed up.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 51,924
    edited May 2008
    Karma! It's a ****.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    F1nut wrote: »
    Karma! It's a ****.

    Well, I don't want to jump to conclusions right now, but there is the possibility that it just broke from normal use???
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  • BaggedLancer
    BaggedLancer Posts: 6,371
    edited May 2008
    Sounds like he borrowed it to record some rough sex of him and his girlfriend and they accidently hit the stand and it hit the floor.

    I'd ask for the tapes he made with it and verify the data.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Man, getting a hold of someone like this is like trying to get a hold of someone who owes you money :(
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  • BaggedLancer
    BaggedLancer Posts: 6,371
    edited May 2008
    appadv wrote: »
    Man, getting a hold of someone like this is like trying to get a hold of someone who owes you money :(

    Suck it up and go knock on his door.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    I would, except for the fact that I'm literally hours away and I'm NOT going to make the trip back to NYC for that.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Okay, so I just got off the phone with him.

    He claims that "it worked fine the last time he used it," and that there's no way it could've been broken. Now it took me 6 months to get it back, and he claims that he only used it "once," but the fact remains that it broke sometime between the last time he used it and when I got it on Saturday.

    Argh...
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2008
    He's a liar.. and probably loaned it out to one of his buddy's who broke it or something.

    sorry he's been an a-hole about it.

    who keeps a camcorder for 6 month's? if i borrowed one from a friend.. i'd at the most keep it a week or two and return it. 6 month's? no way.
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited May 2008
    Never lend people things. Ever.

    The only people I let borrow things are immediate family, and even them it depends.

    I'm all for being nice and generous but very few people have earned my trust on it.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    danger boy wrote: »
    He's a liar.. and probably loaned it out to one of his buddy's who broke it or something.

    sorry he's been an a-hole about it.

    who keeps a camcorder for 6 month's? if i borrowed one from a friend.. i'd at the most keep it a week or two and return it. 6 month's? no way.

    Yeah, borrowing a camcorder for 6 months is a long time. In fact, I've been asking him for it for a while now.

    The thing is, he says that "there's no way that it could've been broken" and insists that it worked fine for the ONE time that he used it. Hmm, must be that I don't know how to use a camcorder then ;)
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,545
    edited May 2008
    Sounds like he dropped it. Life lesson, 1 each. What an ****, he should have offered to replace it. Find a new friend.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Lesson learned.

    He did offer to "look at it" though, since he insists that there is nothing wrong with the camcorder. I doubt that he will actually fix it, but in any case, I will show him what's wrong and I'd like to see if he admits to actually breaking it or not.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2008
    Looks like I'll have to replace it.

    One question though - if I get a new HDD model that only has a hard drive, how do I play back my old tapes?
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