PANASONIC AG-3200 S-VHS PROLINE Hi-Fi Stereo VCR

Rating:
Summary: never again a Panasonic product for me
Review: On October 12, 2002, we bought a Panasonic PV-V4612S VCR from Circuit City to replace an old VCR. We took the VCR home, hooked it up, and tested it to make sure it worked. We have two VCRs and don't use either one very often, so it wasn't until December that we realized that the new Panasonic VCR would not play or record on older video tapes but instead would spit these tapes out immediately. Our other VCR (and the VCR that the Panasonic was purchased to replace) never had this problem.
I called Panasonic's 800 number and discussed the problem with a Panasonic representative because I thought maybe the VCR was supposed to reject older tapes for some reason unknown to me. The Panasonic representative assured me that the VCR was not supposed to reject older tapes and told me to take it to an authorized Panasonic service center, which in this case was Consumer Electronic Service. I dropped off the VCR at Consumer Electronic Service. However, Consumer Electronic Service (CES) told me there was nothing wrong with the VCR. I brought in one of our older tapes and showed them that the VCR rejected the tape. The CES representative told me that it worked fine with his sample tapes (which appeared to be brand new) and that there wasn't a problem if there was only one tape that the VCR wouldn't work with. I told him it was many tapes, that our other VCRs had no problem with these tapes, and offered to bring in more tapes to show him the problem. He refused, insisting that if he could get the VCR to work with his sample tapes that there was no problem with the VCR. I appealed to Panasonic, but this time a different Panasonic representative told me that Panasonic would have to accept the service center's diagnosis. They said that I could not get a refund or exchange the VCR for a new one. The only option Panasonic now offered was for me to return the VCR to Panasonic in exchange for a "reconditionedE(i.e., used) machine. Of course, by the time I got the used VCR back, the product would be out of warranty.
I am amazed that Panasonic and their certified service provider both refuse to admit that the inability of a VCR to play some videotapes is a defect. I am also very disappointed that the only option offered by Panasonic was to exchange this VCR for another, used VCR which might have had the same problem, at which point the product would have been out of warranty. I am sure that most consumers expect to be able to play their entire video tape collection on a VCR that they purchase. Because this VCR could not play the majority of our videotapes, I believe that this problem certainly does constitute a breach of warranty and consumers who purchase such a machine should have the option of returning the VCR to the manufacturer for a refund. It certainly seems that here, Panasonic used its certified service provider to create the illusion of independent evaluation while actually the certified service provider must be collaborating with Panasonic to declare defective merchandise "non-defective,Ethereby sticking the consumer with merchandise that does not work for its intended purpose. I will not be doing business with either Panasonic or Consumer Electronic Service of Cary in the future.