Epson warranty repair <_<

[David Amos]

My blood is now boiling.

On Monday the 10th I ordered an Epson Pro 3800 which arrived on Tuesday 11th, opened everything up, took of 42 pieces of tape, loaded inks and everything great.  On shutting everything down in the evening I discovered that the front paper cover/flap didn’t stay up at all, on inspection I discovered that the flap/door didn’t have anything for the internal catch to latch onto.

Wednesday 12th I contacted Epson, explained the problem, they informed me that because the machine had arrived with a problem then it was classed DOA (Dead On Arrival) and would send an engineer to come and have a look and fix it usually between 16 and 24 hours.

The engineer came and had a look at it on Monday 17th he was supplied with a part but it was the catch this flap/door latches onto, so, wrong part.  He contacted he’s centre and discussed the problem they were finally able to get a part number for it and it was ordered.

The engineer had also informed me about it’s DOA status saying that this could lead to the machine been taken away and replaced if it could not be fix in a certain amount of time.  He informed me that either himself or someone else would be around the next day to fix the new part.

Tuesday 18th waited in all day...... no call or engineer.

Wednesday 19th have waited in all day again, I decided to give them a call at 20 to 3.  Was informed the part has been ordered form Epson and would take 7 to 10 days, then an engineer will phone to arrange a time to fit it.

So, 2 days basically wasted waiting for a telephone call that wasn’t going to come for another 7 to 10 days...  3 days if you count Monday as well.

Can I use the printer? Yes.  Am I able to close it so it is safe for my 5 year old nephew to play? No.  This is because the size of the machine means the front flap/door, the way it is at the moment, juts out at face height.

This is Epson UK and the people they use to do their warranty repair work.

So basically I’m stuck with a brand new machine which is faulty.

[Lisa Nikodym]

Maybe customer service is generally better on your side of the pond, but I've been regularly having to put up with much more egregious customer service problems over here, so that doesn't sound so bad to me.  It sounds like they're trying, they just unexpectedly had a delay getting a part (at least that's my interpretation of what you wrote), and weren't as great at communicating that as they might have been.  I'm the meantime, it should be simple to just use some removable tape to keep it closed.

Sorry about your problems; I'm very happy with my 3800, and, once this problem gets resolved, you probably will be too.

Lisa

[dealy663]

Are you sure that your printer is missing the latch piece?

I had the same problem when I got my printer (the door wouldn't stay closed). On closer inspection I realized that the weight of the printer was greater than my table could support without flexing. The small bend in the table slightly affected the alignment of the printer chassis and this was what prevented the door from staying latched.

My solution was to move the printer to a more robust table which didn't flex. Now the door works just fine.

Here in America, Epson just sends a new printer when something goes wrong with one under warranty. Did you try requesting that from the support people?

Derek

[lbergman]

My 3800 had the same problem - the small plastic piece the latch is supposed to "latch" on to was already broken off when it arrived on my doorstep.  In my case, I was able to find that tiny piece and superglue it back on. Has been fine since.

[Wayne Fox]

I had the same problem. Called my dealer, he called Epson, they shipped a replacement machine which arrived 2 days later.

In the meantime I used a piece of tape to keep it shut (have 5 small grandkids running around.)

Conclusion?  None really, except it sounds like Epson has a problem with this part breaking ...

[David Amos]

Positive about the latch piece, even the engineer said it was that that was missing.  Sounds like Epson has a known problem on it’s hands.

[David Amos]

Printer repaired today.

[jpjespersen]

Same Problem on my 3800,  Latch Broke,  I use tape.

On my 9800 the same kind of latch broke on one of my ink doors and I have to use tape there.  

Also the paper release lever completely snapped off and now I have to use a pair of scissors to release the paper lever.

On my V750  The fluid mount adapter plastic basically disintegrated and crumbled away piece by piece.

Bottom line.  Epson plastic is cheap and very easily breakable.

[AaronPhotog]

Glad you got it fixed.

My Epson printer has a problem (overinking), so they sent me a replacement.  The replacement printer arrived with the front hinged door off its hinges, pushed out by the out-of-kilter front loader shelf, which would not latch back into the closed position because it had been knocked crooked.  The face plate above the maintenance cartridge door was also cracked in half and sheared away from the screw that holds it in place leaving a broken fragment on the screw.  I sent the printer back.

The second replacement they sent came without a crack, but otherwise, it had the same problems with the front hinged part being off its hinges and the front loader shelf being crooked and sprung out.   I was able to straighten that one and get it to latch and also get the front door/receiver back on its hinges.  Nevertheless, once I got it to print after two nozzle cleanings, that machine also overinked and wheezed and sputtered as it did so.  I sent it back with instructions not to send me any more rebuilt replacement printers and kept my original one.  I have a work-around on the over-inking that solves the problem, but prevents me from letting Photoshop manage the colors.  I may try ColorBase calibration, but I suspect that the current crop of 3800's are set to over-ink as the factory default.

I had a conversation with Epson about the need to pack the 3800 such that the front loader tray will remain in place and not pop the front door off its hinges (or break its catch off).  All they need is (gasp!) more tape.

But, yes, it's a fragile cheap lightweight plastic construction.  Nevertheless, even with my strange work-around, it can make excellent prints, and at least I didn't need a pallet jack to get it into my apartment as you would with the new Epson "8's."

[David Amos]

It seems that the front flap is a known problem, looking at the replacement flap, the bit that was missing i could see why, It was so small    this is a 17"+ wide flap and they use something so small as a locking system.

Oh how about this though, the engineers can't get the flaps separately, they can only get the flap if they order the entire paper stacker assembly    so the box holds all of that that comes out the front and holds the paper thats been printed on.  To me that sounds daft and a waste, I feel Epson should stock the flaps as a separate part, that way if someone breaks the front flap they only have to take a new one along, not the entire paper stacker assembly.  I mean, what are they going to do with the rest of the stacker assembly thats not been used?

David