I have seldom had to send a camera back for warranty service,especially a brand new one. Usually a quick call to the Canon people will get a friendly response and I have usually been able to fix things over the phone.

I recently bought a lumix GF - 5.which I was quite pleased with.
Then a mysterious tab emerged from inside the image card holder,ripping the plastic casing partly off. After that I could no longer insert a card.

I went to the Panasonic support site and found their service center and sent in the camera. They give you a case number. You are supposed to be able to look up your case. This was a month ago.

I have received several stories. First they denied receiving the camera. Then they said it was lost. Then they found it but couldn't register it without permission of the boss,whom they couldn't find that day. Then they said they didn't know how to fix the new camera, only older models. I didn't find out why Panasonic instructed me to send the camera to people who didn't know how to fix it. The camera has never showed up in Panasonic 's repair tracking system. I have to call them and get a different idiot each time who tells me a different story.

Does anyone have similar experiences? Does anyone know how I can get my camera fixed?

Are you dealing with the McAllen (no)Service Center? They are a nightmare. I sent a camera back for service and it took 10 days to get it to the tech, a week for them to look at it, three weeks to get the part from japan (they dont stock spare parts), and then a week to send it back. Your best bet is to call them every day. Also contact your credit card company. You may be within the time to dispute the charge for the purchase or you may have additional warranty coverage.

It might be worth calling your local Panasonic help desk thingy (proper terminology and all >.>) and complain about the poor service.

I used to be a retailer of laptops for a local store, and we wound up getting a service agent for HP blacklisted by them after enough complaints. I don't imagine Panasonic will be much different.

Dr Dave
It would be helpful knowing which Panasonic service facility you are dealing with. This site has members from all over the world. In the past I've seen people who had problems actually get contacted directly from Panasonic provided some contact info was available. I know, for certain, that Panasonic's Call Center in VA monitors numerous web sites as well as all the popular social media sites.

As for parts, they order their parts from their depot in Washington. I've had repairs done where the turn around was within 7 business days, so horror stories of extended ordeals need not be the norm.

I might also suggest that when you call, please provide them with the delivery confirmation info and tracking #. Most companies reference that info on all incoming deliveries.

I'm curious, what kind of "tab" are you referring to?

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Twitter and Facebook are your friends in situations like this. Companies hate the bad press that can quickly spread around the world. It's amazing how fast they can respond when a complaint might get seen by a billion people within a matter of days.

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When I had to get service from McAllen TX center they told me that parts had to be ordered from Japan - of course that might not be true and they may have used that as an excuse. Also - they stock NO cameras for an exchange for a re-furbished one should they decide that the camera can't be fixed. No... they have to ORDER one from Panasonic (after their management team reviews EACH repair issue) and indicated to me that it would take 10 days for the camera to get to them and then 7 to be shipped to me. This center also implies where they can that things will go faster - like it will take 10 days to get your camera - then you have to ask and then how long to me - oh, another week or so...

I DID try the social media route with NO success. Like I said, if you are in the US and the camera failed like this within the credit card dispute period, I'd go that route.

For the "G" series cameras, when a camera can't be repaired while it's under warranty, I believe that it is replaced with a new camera, not refurbished. Given the number of models and color choices I can see where they might have to order the replacement.

For the lesser point and shoot models, they do replace rather than repair often with a refurbished unit. A friend's underwater point and shoot model was replaced with a new camera. His replacement was shipped within 48 hours after it was received. I also know two cases where the refurbished replacement was a newer model, which turned out to be an upgrade.

Neither of these cases make your situation more acceptable. I suggest you call them and ask to speak with one of the managers to find out what's going on.

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The only dumb questions are those we don't ask!

Please check out my photos at:
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AND
http://bergenphotoblog.wordpress.com/

Indeed McAllen is the place where the camera was sent. I was unable to find a way to communicate with any human being at Panasonic who could help me other than redirecting me back to Mc Allen.

I get the feeling that Panasonic is such a vast organization that there is no entree for the simple consumer. I own a lot of Panasonic stuff and it is great. But they farm this warranty service to to others so you at their mercy.

However the techs there finally got the camera to the bench,so I think things might be looking up.

I started another thread here regarding an out of warranty repair. The big machine of Panasonic does not do well with out of the box issues from my experiences so far.
1. A flat fee repair costs of X should be disclosed during the online repair process for out of warranty work.
2. A diagram indicating what repair parts go where on their online parts order form would be the only way that function would work for those without a repair manual.
3. The online repair status is not updated from what I can see. Mine still says it is waiting to be received at the repair facility when it is getting ready to be shipped back.

Knowing what I know now, I may stop buying used Panasonic cameras unless the warranty can be transferred or consider them disposable.
... Or stop dropping them.

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