Cyberhome DVD/RW nightmare

I am not shocked by the nightmares mentioned in this site. I bought the cyberhome dvd recorder from HSN back in December when they had a one day sale. After 6 months I now have a dvd is stuck in the tray. It wont open. It wont read the dvd. My husband has tried everything. I have tried for two weeks to get through to Cyberhome, after I missed their one return call,( i guess I have to sit by the phone and wait) they just decided I wasn't worth a recall. I am ready to send it back. I would like to know if it is too late to get a refund. I did get the 2 year warranty at time of purchase. I just dont want to be bothered with the hassle. I plan to contact HSN, and the BBB on this product and it's poor customer service. It cost 289, and I can find one less expensive I am sure that would be more reliable. Here it is the Memorial Day weekend. We are home bodies. Thank goodness I still have a VCR
Please advise. Thanks
Marina

 

Marina,
i read your post. sounds like to me, you have just gotten at $289.00 paperweight! this unit is useless! i had one too, i know what your going through.
I had mine less than 3 months and was having tons of problems, i called cyberhome tech support, and waited on the phone for 45 minutes before someone speaking BROKEN english answered. i was able to get out of him that i had to send the unit back to them, (MIND YOU at my OWN EXPENSE) over $24.00 with shipping and insurance.
The unit i mailed them was manufactured in december 2003. the unit i recieved from cyberhome was manufactured in October, 2003! they sent me an OLDER UNIT, than the one i sent them to be fixed!
worked for about a day, and then i got fed up, returned it to walmart, and got my money back. i only had like 3 days left to return it for a full refund.
the warranty plan you have, i assume is with HSN.
they are probably going to do the same thing cyberhome did, and send you something older or just refurbish your existing unit and say that it is fixed.
cyberhome's factory warranty is only 90 days.
on the other hand, you can get a less expensive dvd recorder that is better. take the Lite-On LVW5001 DVD Plus Player/Recorder, for example. it retails on amazon.com for $229.94. with free shipping!
i personally have the Philips DVDR75 unit, which i got from my local circuit city for $323.00.
the only complaint i have is that user manual is poorly written and the menus in the beginning are hard to navigate.
yes, im thankful i still had a vcr when my CYBERHOME GOOD FOR NOTHING CLUNKER decided to quit working.
i wrote cyberhome a letter, and if you scroll back on this thread, you will see it. its on the page before this one.
hopefully, this helps. keep us posted!!

 

i replaced my cyberhome with a phillips also. after having it a couple weeks now the only complaint i have is that if i'm trying to record something that breaks up a bit like an old vcr tape my mother-in-law wanted me to transfer it will not receive the signal and stop recording. however, this only happens on really bad tapes. as long as there's a decent, constant signal it's fine.

besides that i can find no problems with the unit. i agree that the menus are harder to navigate, but once you do learn them it's really not that bad.

 

yes, your right. i agree 100 percent.
i do have a question to throw out there though,
i didnt LOSE any money with my horrible CYBERHOME unit, i was able to get a full refund, however can i still complain to the Better Business Bureau?
i live in virginia and im afraid if i file a complaint i would have to go to court in California.
i just want to warn people not to buy from CYBERHOME!!!!

 

Rainmanva,
I also live in Virginia, and will be filing a formal complaint with the California Better Business Bureau about Cyberhome. I will also be filing a formal complaint with Wal-Mart concerning the shoddy product and next-to-nothing support of one of their vendors. I can't believe that Radio Shack has also decided to carry this unit.
As for my unit, since Cyberhome will not honor their 1-year parts warranty unless I send the unit back to them, along with 90 bucks, I am going to attempt to replace the capacitor on the PCB board myself. Will keep you all posted.

 

I hope that all these complaints BANKRUPT cyberhome.
they SHOULD HAVE NEVER SOLD their products to the general public.
let me know what the BBB in calfornia tells you, etc.
i'd be very intrested in what they have to say!!

 

I have a Cyberhome 2500. I finally found out whats wrong with mine. The power supply dosen't put out enough juice to run the DVD. the machine locks up waiting on the DVD. I know this because I hooked up one of my power cables to the dvd from my computer and it works fine. The Brand name is SIR-TEC(power supply)
I can't find it anywhere to order one on the web.

Before I try a most likly futile attempt to contact
Cyberhome. I thought I would pass this along.
Maybe this happened to one of you guys.

 

Ray, same thing here. That's when I did an inspection of the power supply board (also a Sirtec) and found the "exploded" capacitor. I'm still trying to get Cyberhome to perform an exchange on the board, but if they won't, I will have an electronic place replace the capacitor. The capacitor that blew was right in the middle of the heat area of the board. If I ever get this thing working again, I'm going to install fans all over the place inside of it.

 

WNSRBEAR
I found the exploded capsitor on my board too.
Anyway WNSRBEAR, there may be more damage then is visible. I think replacing the entire power supply is the answer. I e-mailed SIRTEC about ordering one. I'll post here if I get an answer. If i can't find one I'll run a power cable from my computer. I know it sucks!

 

Rain.. thank you for replying. I finally got a call from Roger with cyber. he left me a message, seems they only call when they have a feeling you arent avail. anyway, he says to call him on the cs nunmber and to enter the extension during their recording. I am to get an RA # to send this player back. I am not sure that I want to be bothered with another problem item. Does anyone know if I have a chance at all of getting a refund for this unit, or will I have to find 25 somewhere and send for a defective replacement? I will be calling him just to see what he says about it.
Thanks all. Marina

 

Marina,
any experience ive ever had with refunds went like this.
Most stores, (not all) offer a 30, 60 or 90 day return policy for a full refund. walmart, where i got my cyberhome clunker, offers 90 day returns.
i took my unit back, within the 90 days and got a full refund. no problems at all. you may want to contact HSN about this. i have no idea what their
return/refund policy is. but more than likely, marina, you probably will get stuck with this one. for the simple fact that the unit is six months old.
When you do get a RMA number from cyberhome, you have to ship the unit to them, at YOUR OWN EXPENSE. i sent my unit. 13.0 pounds with packaging material.
that came to $24.04 with postage and insurance, (through the united states postal service). i shipped it via PARCEL POST. (it was the cheapest).
about 2 1/2 weeks later, i got my unit back, and like i said before, it was OLDER than the unit i sent them.
I don't think its worth the time to even send your unit back to these bozos. they are not going to do anything, but give you more headaches.
try to call hsn, and see what they can do for you.
if all else fails, throw it in the trash, and get a Philips like i have. i have had no problems with this, a far cry from the CYBERHOME Clunker that i got in Feburary.
hope this helps!!

 

Marina,
i figured id post hsn's return policy that i found online at there website. here it is:

At hsn.com, your satisfaction is our goal. We realize that sometimes you may want to return an order. Most merchandise can be returned for any reason within 30 days of receipt. You will receive a full refund including purchase amount, tax, plus original shipping and handling fees. The credit will be applied to your credit card and will appear on your statement within two billing cycles. Just follow these easy return instructions included with every shipment:


Re-pack the item in the original packaging.
Remove all previous shipping labels.
Use the pre-printed return label provided on the order summary. Because we have several different
return locations, be sure to use the label from the order summary that corresponds to the item(s)
you are returning. If there is no return address on the front of your order summary, please contact
customer service at 1.800.933.2887 for return authorization.

To expedite a prompt refund, please have your package insured by the United States Postal Service or UPS Ground. If you choose to return your order by insured mail, request a confirmation of delivery number. By choosing either of these methods, you can track your return every step of the way.

Some items may require authorization to return. Please check your packing slip for details and instructions. You may contact our customer service department at 1.800.933.2887 if you have any questions.

maybe this will be helpful to other people that have purchased their unit's from hsn.
good luck! keep me posted!

 

Marina,
If you got your unit from HSN and bought the warranty through them then they are the ones that should handle the repair. I had a friend who purchased a unit through HSN and bought the warranty and after they gave him the runaround, they finally told him that it was their warranty so they had to deal with CyberHome.

 

Thanks rain and charmed. Unfortunately I bought the unit in Dec though we've only used it about 6 or 7 times. We dont rent much. I did get and ra number believe it or not from cyberhomes email. In the meantime my husband contacted HSN and wants them to handle this repair issue. I dont have 89 to send cyberhome for any labor, so I am hoping that HSN will take responsibility for this problem. BIG hope. I will let "the Man" handle it from here on. Thanks so much for your help.

 

Howdy Everybody!

As I reported A while back I ditched my CHVR-2500 after months of problems, with the last straw being a total lock-up with no disc in the drive.

I was fortunate enough to have a HSN committed to my satisfaction so the return and refund was no problem.
I also demo'ed an Aspire AD 8091. This thing didn't even tune properly out of the box. There were a few other issues with the unit, none of which the rep from Aspire's tech support would acknowledge, I was told that
firmware patches would only issued if the problems were deemed "wide-spread" The tech did say that a copy of my
complaints about the performance of the unit slong with it's serial numger would be forwarded to the manufacturing plant in China.

The tech conceded that maybe I had a bad unit or perhaps there was a "bad run"
at the plant. It's been 2 weeks and no follow-up so far.


Once the call tag arrives, back it goes. I now have a
JVC DR-M10SL and I'm happy with it so far. It passed my plug & play test. The menu isn't the most intuitive, no big deal though it just means putting in more time reading the manual.

My expectation is that anything I purchase as far as home electronics goes, should work properly right out of the box. I as the consumer should not have to patch, retro-fit or modify anything. I found that the Cyberhome, Mustek and Aspire units had serious design flaws with very little documentation or customer support. While I'm certain that some issues may exist with some of the other Name-Brand units, I doubt that they are to the same extent of of the units I've tried.

I really wanted to like the Cyberhome unit but it didn't pass muster. Way too much of my personal effort went into getting it to perform consistantly.

For the rest of you who want to hang in there......


Good Luck!

K_DVD_K (Ken Langley)

 

BTW,

In regard to HSN repair service plan, I there is no factory authorized service center (there isn't one for Cyberhome) the unit must be returned to the manufacturer
for repair. You have to pay for the shipping and the eventual repair. The plan provides re-imbursement for the money you laid out once the bill is sent to the service plan provider.

I think HSN only administers the plan (offers) which is actually from another company entirely. It's a B.S. in my opinion, returned the crappy plan along with my defective Cyberhome DVR.


K_DVD_K


P.S. If you really want results from HSN's customer service, You really have to push back if you're getting the run-around. Insist on speaking with someone higher up in the customer service chain. That's what I did and
I'm very satisfied with the resulting service. Now I have even recieved follow-up support and calls, just to make sure I was happy with my purchase.

 

I guess you were attracted to the same things I was. The HSN demonstrated the product flawlessly. As I was packing my unit back up for a refund, I left a note in the box that I will never buy another HSN product again. It probably won't get any further than their minimum wage warehouse grunt.

 

k_DVD_K,
What does 'didnt tune out of the box' mean on the Aspire? Does that mean the TV tuner didnt work? Did you try recording anything from video? Any other thoughts on that unit? Did it seem like junk?
Walmart has it online for $199. I have a week left on my Philips when I can still return it and want to make sure I've tried everything available. I haven't seen the Aspire locally at a Walmart store yet. Target has a Memorex that I've heard bad things about. Doesn't leave any other choices other than some Panasonic units on clearance, but I don't like them because they only write to DVD-R and I always use RW media.

 

K_DVD_K,

I bought my unit from HSN back in December. It's now "locked up". Just finished the last of 5 payments last month. I did not get the "extended warranty" as I have not had bad experience with electronic gear in the past, so it seemed to be an unnecessary expense. HSN, of course, gives me the standard line about 30 days, blah, blah, blah, and the phone number for Cyberhome (which is always busy when I call). Any suggestions, or do I have a (somewhat large) paperweight?

 

What number are you calling for CyberHome? I know that HSN does like to give the runaround they did a good number on my friend until he got very stern.