Sony Handycam issue - repair/replace?

Thanks Davy. I called Sony yesterday and explained my problem to them regarding my DCR-HC42. They are honoring repairing this free of charge even though it is not on the initial lawsuit listing of the cameras with issues. I actually didn't even have to ask - I was told that they would do this for free. Will let you know when I get it back and that it's working okay. This has restored my confidence in their customer support (for now anyway!).
Thanks for posting again.....

I just wondered if anybody has had to get this fixed more than once? I saw the CCD is affected by moist conditions. I live in SE Texas. Not the tropics, but humid, for sure. Has anybody had to have it repaired after the first time? I worry it'll go out again, but after the October cutoff date. Then, I'm screwed. Thoughts?

I also live in South Texas and my Sony Camera failed in less than 2 years of purchase.

Mine is giving me thin lines spread out from a central point near center of the camera like a flower.

UPS picked up my camera on the third. I got an email on Monday with a tracking number. Got my camera back yesterday. Nice turn-around, and it works fine. Only thing is they had to tag it with my name and work order number. It's now got that sticky residue in two places. It's coming off, though. Happy with the turnout.

One of the repair places I left a message with yesterday called me back. I said Sony would fix for free, but thanks for the call back. She knew about the lawsuit and confirmed we only have till October. I asked her if she'd heard about anyone having to get their camera repaired a second time and she said they're making the CCD ships better now. So, no, she hasn't heard of anyone getting second repairs. She explained Sony isn't doing this to be nice, they're doing it to cover their butt. So, the chips have to be better the second time around. So, hopefully we'll all only have to do this once.

I am one of the DCRTRV22 owners that participated in the class action lawsuit against Sony.

My TRV22 was repaired outside of the warranty by a Sony authorized repair shop before the CCD program began in early 2005. Now here in July 2007 I have found that the repair I had done in 2005 has failed and now I have a blank screen again. I just sent my camera back to Sony for repair under the CCD Program. I am glad to see that Sony has admitted fault and are taking care of the ccd issues.

I am disappointed that owners of these cameras that send in warranty info. and participants in the class action lawsuit were not notified by Sony about the CCD Program.

Hi "cd"! I too, have a DCR-TRV22 that had to be sent in for that same problem, except mine was still under the extended warranty. I wish that I had known about the class action lawsuit; I was never notified about it either. I called Sony's (and I use this term loosely) "Customer Service" number asking about this, and was told (big surprise) that they had "no idea what I was talking about". Do you have a phone number, or know of where I can go to find anything out about this? When was the lawsuit?

I have become VERY disappointed in Sony products. I hadn't planned it this way, but everything electronic I own is Sony, and every one of these products have failed except for my darned PS2! They found a way to get out of my extended warranty for my VAIO (the $499.99 extended warranty that was supposed to cover "everything"; or at least that is what the CompUSA saleskid told me), and it is now a $1700 paperweight, until I can repair it myself.

I will NEVER buy Sony again.... In fact, I have found several blogs devoted to unhappy Sony customers. It's sad; they used to be such a great brand!

I want to thank you and everyone who posted on this forum. I had the 'black screen of death' on my DCR-TRV22 and did not realize that the problem was with Sony. The last time I used it, it worked fine. I didn't realize there was even a lawsuit against Sony about it. But with what I've learnt on this forum, I am able to get it back to Sony before the deadline (am I cutting it close or what?)! Thank you all again! Despite the fact that I really like this camcorder, I doubt if anymore Sony's will be purchased in our household.

Had the same problem happen to me last week. I wasn't a happy camper when it happened. I only use the camera on special occasions so I immediately new something was up. The unit is like brand new. I have 4 tapes recorded. I never knew this issue existed till I started looking things up on the web. Returned it to the place of purchase and they and they will send it out to a Sony authorized repair facility. Here is Sony's announcement page...

http://www.sony.ca/sonyca/view/english/warranty/productalert2.shtml

I went to the link above and it's for Cananda. I don't think that counts for US. I didn't find a cutoff date, though. Is the cutoff of 10/2/2007 set in stone? I've already had the CCD repaired a few months ago. Now, I worry about the touch screen. I'm gonna be really miffed if it goes out halfway through October.

Revision 2 of that document eliminated the deadline. Before the deadline was October 03, 2007. I don't know if it's the same with Sony across the border. You should contact them and see. They should have a similar page as Sony Canada does.

I have a sony DCR HC20. It was repaired at the end of March 2007 for the CCD problem. Then the touch screen suddenly doesn't work at all. I fought with SONY on the phone for 3-4 times because they want to charge me $200 to repair it. I won't pay to fix their defective product so I complained and yelled. I claimed the new problem happened within 90 days warranty of the repair (SONY gives 90 days warranty for the repair). So finally, to my surprise, they extended the warranty to give me a free 2nd repair. So my advice is to stay tough and strong, don't give up and escalate your request all the way up and request SONY to honor their customers. (I mentioned all these angry customers on this CNET forum and I assume SONY is aware of us out here.)

I am experiencing the same issue with my dcr-hc40, which of course is not on the list; but experiencing the same symptoms. Sony is not willing to replace without jumping thru hoops - which I am in the process of doing. But I do want to include the link that they provided me wioth details regarding the CCD issue - http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplayView?cmsId=legal_notice_full#list&hideHeaderFooter=false

It seems that most, if not all the all the camcorders that were built within the same years have the potential to have same problem. Unfortunately the Sony Handycam CCD- TRV608 is not on Sony's "special list" as are a few other models that are posted here. I have not even filled up one cassette worth of tape using the machine but unfortunately I used it when I was in hot and humid Jamaica which, per Sony doesn't help the problem.

Can anyone help me figure out if the CCD unit that came standard in the TRV608 is the same unit that are in the ones that Sony acknowledges are defected. I'm sure this would info would help anyone who is in the same sinking ship that I'm in dealing with Sony. Thanks

If it is less than one-year old and has not been dropped or damaged , call up there is a good chance SONY will replace it. Mine is older than one year and though I talked with SONY repair in the USA, they told me I would have to send it in for service out of warranty - $250 just for looking at it. In Brazil, I having it repaired at a SONY service center for about $230 including parts.

Called SONY service, explained the problem of no image at all on my HC42 - no display icons as well. Zip. Dead. Like Monty Python's dead parrot.
They told me to send it in - minimum $250 repair job. As I am overseas, I dropped it off at a local SONY Authorized repair center - About $150 minimum. They called back with estimate of about $210 for repair so I said go ahead. Maybe I can sell it afterwards to recover something or keep it as a spare. It's a good cam when it works -

i have a sony camera(DSC-F717) and a camcorder (DCR-TRV22E both of mine went off so i took them back to sony and told them it must be a fault in them they took them away for three weeks and repaired then it cost me

It seems that unless some class action is taken against Sony corporation, consumers will not get redress. If black screen occurs in several of it's products and it is classed as a defect then how come the black screen phenomenon in DCR HC42 is not a defect? When I called Sony about the black screen problem, they lied and said DCR HC42 has no problem and since the warranty time has passed I have to pay to repair. Sony don't try to pull wool over our eyes, your DCR HC42 camcorder has a manufacturer's defect - black screen.

Same here...
My LCD screen went blank. No respect from Sony. What's the update on the Class Action Lawsuit? They are developing a disposable camera for the price of a 1st tier product. What a sham.

Called Sony in the USA and they accepted my case, UPS already (4 hours after) e-mailed me a ship label to Texas. The cam will be on the truck tomorrow.

Will update you what hppens next...

Sony was very fast with the repair and shipped the camcorder back in a huge box and very well packed. And it works fine now. Great! No hassle, free repair that took about 10 days including 4 day shipping time each way - they hardly took any time at the shop fixing it.

Btw, I did try to open the camera myself prior to sending it and did not see the disconnected capacitor that was referenced in some post here. My hope was to just solder it back in place and be done with it. But I could not see that thing... So, I jsut put it back together and off it went to Sony and they fixed it well. They replaced the sensor, a circuit board and something else - forgot what it was...

Hi:

My Sony HC42 has same issue. Was your camcorder more than one year old when they repaired it for free?

Please let me know. Also, I would appreciate if you could provide some details as how you made them do it for free?

Thank you.
Regards,
Sudhagar

Thanks to all. Ready to trash my DCR-TVR33, but found the 800-222-1669 number. While holding, I found online support at: http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=161&mdl=DCRTRV33
(I guess several trips to Hawaii and Fuji didn't help the humidity/temperature issues!)

The friendly Sony representative had me reset the camera and then offered to have the problem fixed for free, including shipping.

Our Sony laptops have had horrible support - is this camera issue an isolated incident or is Sony improving their customer service?

Phone number is
800.222.7669