Serious Issue With 5005 - Units Only Lasting 6 Weeks

remerson1 2005-07-06 05:20:55 UTC #1

I believe that Liteon has a serious problem on their hands with their drives not recognizing media after a certain period of time.

Bought a 5005 in March 2005, it worked for 6 weeks then it stopped working. I was forced to pay $22 to RMA it for service.

In mid May I received a new unit from Liteon(new serial number). It worked fine for 6 weeks AND THEN THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM HAPPENED.

Once I get a response to my email, I will be forced to spend another $22 to send it back to them for RMA service.

I think everyone would agree that it is completely unacceptable for a product to work only 6 weeks.

This is not a problem with my set-up. I have a lot of experience in the field and many other people have reported similar problems in this forum and the UK forum.

Given the number of people with this problem I wish there was some way that we could turn up the pressure on Liteon to recognize this issue and to work to fix it. Does anyone know the process to get the US government involved?

When it works, I like the 5005 product. But $200 for a product that self terminates after 6 weeks is unacceptable.

Any suggestions on how we get some action on this issue?

Thanks in advance for your help.

unwired 2005-07-06 14:50:00 UTC #2

Maybe a complaint to the Better Business Bureau by each forum member that has experienced the problem will get their attention?

unwired 2005-07-09 06:50:19 UTC #3

Also, most of the District Attorney's office's have a Consumer Affairs department where complaints about rebates, faulty products, etc. are handled. You might try calling your DA's office and see how these things are addressed. They can certainly find plenty of evidence of the problem here in this forum. All the DA's office would need to do is place a posting here with their contact information to obtain less anonymous evidence.

gastrof 2005-07-11 02:26:24 UTC #4

I've had mine for well over six weeks, and it continues to recognize the "no name" brand discs I've been getting at a wholesale store, as well as other discs with better known names like Sony and Fuji.

CCRomeo 2005-07-15 05:52:38 UTC #5

I've had 5 5005 units and have just sent number five back RMA. The first 2 I sent US mail insured, last 3 Lite-On emailed a UPS lable. All units worked fine for about 6 to 12 weeks then problems started. Most problems were with +RW disks that would not Prep. Some +RW would Prep but then not erase or play, or erase then not Prep. I've also had problems the Prep. with -R and +R disks. Newest unit will not Prep. -R or +RW disks but will play the same disks when recorded on my computer. The unit would Prep. and record +R, but I returned the unit as problems seem to get worse with time.

jm1647 2005-07-24 12:41:34 UTC #6

With all the trouble with the drives in this unit lately LiteOn should send prepaid lables for all RMA's every time

robjv1 2005-07-25 14:30:51 UTC #7

I agree that they should have to pay RMA's for sure. I has posted in another thread before about my Lite-On troubles, and recieved unit #2 last week. As I sit here today, it has already developed the same problem my last unit did - eventually, discs that are not finalized in the drive, that are ejected, and put back in for recording later (two seconds later, two days later, whatever) are unreadable in the drive and result in a FAIL message on the display. I've already contacted Lite-On about it, so let's see what happens, though I think people in this fourm should seriously think about suing this company or something.... this is ridiculous!

jm1647 2005-07-25 19:09:41 UTC #8

@robjv1 - you are not the only one thinking this.

robjv1 2005-07-26 03:34:27 UTC #9

Yeah. It's too bad, because I really like the recorder, and the company has generally been nice to deal with... but I paid $200 bucks for this thing, and it looks like a never-ending road of RMA'ing awaits me, as I hear people in this forum that had RMA'ed 5 or 6 units by now. My first lasted a few weeks, my new unit probably got 10 hours of usage tops before falling to pieces on me. This is just getting silly, I'm going to RMA this unit, but if I have to pay shipping and get yet another one that works for only a couple of days, then I'm going to lose it.

CCRomeo 2005-07-27 12:39:53 UTC #10

Press Liteon for a UPS lable, last 3 RMAs they sent me one.

unwired 2005-07-28 08:49:03 UTC #11

It is one thing to RMA something one time. All companies make products that may not perform correctly. As long as the RMA costs are reasonable and the turnaround time is minimal, it is an understandable trade-off. But, when the RMAs are multiple or the costs represent a significant portion of the purchase price, then the company should take direct responsibility.

robjv1, I agree with CCRomeo, you should demand that Liteon pay the return costs. Maybe they will begin to fix the problem when it actually starts costing them money.

remerson1 2005-07-29 12:36:06 UTC #12

It's really disheartening to hear that people are having to RMA their unit 5 or 6 times and counting.

The one thing no one has mentioned is WHAT HAPPENS WHEN OUR 1 YEAR WARRANTY RUNS OUT? Are we paying $200 to rent this thing for a year?

I'm really going to have an issue if they refuse to service after a year goes by.

I do believe that we need to band together to do something about this, I just not sure what.

jm1647 2005-07-29 13:19:31 UTC #13

When the warranty runs out I got a funny feeling we are on our own. Try giving LiteOn a call at their 1-888 number and see what they say. I might call them myself later

As unwired suggested a call to the BBB might do the trick.

Edit - I forgot - I sent this email yesterday afternoon but have not received a response back yet. Here is the body of the email:

I have held off sending my 5005 back due to the horror stories and the fact that it is working with 1 media anyway. I have seen in forums where the replacement units were almost just as bad as the one that was sent in for RMA....some last 2 weeks, 4 weeks. Seems the drives in these things are junk. If I RMA mine will I receive a prepaid postage sticker for the box. Or do I have to pay postage to get it back to you for the first RMA and then the 2nd and then the 3rd etc. I have seen where 1 guy has had 6 RMA's !!!! Another guy posted that LiteOn has had his unit for like 4 months. Another guy talked about 4-6 week turnaround time. Is this true?

Thanks

P00r 2005-07-29 16:25:49 UTC #14

I bought one, If I have problem this is where my Lite-On product purchasse will stop seriously 5, you like suffering...

pj4900 2005-07-30 07:49:53 UTC #15

I just got my unit replaced. It was a 2 week turnaround. The new unit was manufactured Nov 2004 same as my old. The drive firmware is 2 versions behind the current 1000.E20 firmware. The good news is that everything is working again but I no longer have 3hr recording even after the hack so the drive firmware has something to do with that. I recorded one VHS tape and it worked fine on my other DVD players. So, so far so good. I'll keep you informed as I test different media etc. and we'll see how long this lasts.

CCRomeo 2005-07-30 12:57:18 UTC #16

The units returned are mainly refurb units (pot luck) They say they test them

pj4900 2005-07-31 16:04:48 UTC #17

So far so good for me. I recorded +r -r -rw and all is well and I do have 3 hr recording with the hack. I think I'll never upgrade the drive since that was the cause of my original problem. We'll see how long this lasts.

remerson1 2005-08-02 15:53:24 UTC #18

UPDATE -- JUST RECEIVED MY LATEST NEW UNIT...

Already worried when I saw that it was dated JUNE 2004, when my latest unit that I returned was Feb 2005.

tested 4 different media IMATION, MEMOREX, COMPUSA -r and IMATION + RW & guess what? NONE OF THEM WORKED (THEY DID IN MY PREVIOUS MACHINE) - AND THIS IS THE UNIT THAT THEY JUST SENT ME. NOW I'M GOING TO HAVE TO RMA THE UNIT THEY JUST RMA'D.

I AM SO FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY WITH THIS COMPANY. MY UNIT WAS PURCHASED 6 MONTHS AGO AND I HAVE HAD IT WORKING LESS THAN 3 MONTHS. IT'S CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

jm1647 2005-08-02 18:09:15 UTC #19

If you are going to RMA it back again I would demand a prepaid shipping label from LiteOn Support and also ask to have the warranty extended for the time spent in transit for the 2 RMA's.

robjv1 2005-08-02 22:24:16 UTC #20

I'm doing my second RMA tomorrow (sending it back). I won't be doing this again, if they send me ANOTHER unit that doesn't work, I'm going to let them know that there is a group of people interested in suing them.

I would say -- I would urge that everyone test your replacement units the day you get them -- for my particular problem (drive stops reading unfinalized discs that are ejected and then inserted in the drive, even with media on the recomended disc list). Using a combination of media, I was able to reproduce this error on every single disc I made from then on out after about 6 hours of use over a couple day period. At some point the drive gets NOISY, and you start to hear that clicking... and before you know it, it doesn't work at all anymore.

So test your units, to see if you can get the error as quickly as possible, so you can RMA it quickly, before your warranty runs out. I have about another four months before my warranty is up, but I intend to be done with this by then... one way or another. I really like this product, but it only works on occasion haha... so that's not really good enough. It's nice to hear success stories (unit has worked for four months + straight) but make sure you aren't ignoring problems it might have or saying that cause you haven't used your unit in a month or two (unlikely though in this forum I would say hehe). Most of mine developed subtly over time, such as the occasional disc fail that turns into a real problem. Before you know it, your drive can't even read commercial discs anymore, and that's not acceptable, not for anyone.