HTS8100 - Low sound volume... anyone else with this problem?

[fduvall]

So after almost 4 months, I have heard from the Authorized Service Center that they cannot fix my HTS8100. 4 months for this answer!

So now I am waiting to hear something from Tereza from Philips. Hope to hear about some solution after so much time. Very frustrating...

@f1valk - Still no word from the service center. I will call them again tomorrow, but they told me 3 weeks ago that I would have an answer in 48 hours. Does NOT look good.

And Philips corporate said that they can't do anything for me, that ALL correspondence would have to be between me and the service center.

Why corporate can't call their own service center does not make sense to me.

fduvall

[f1valk]

Sad to hear about the bad news
Hopefully Tereza will help you out. Keep us posted!

Spoke to the swedish Philips-support yesterday and they are aware of the problem but have no solution. They told me that it is great if everyone reports the problem to them. The more people who does, the more effort will they put on it.

So after almost 4 months, I have heard from the Authorized Service Center that they cannot fix my HTS8100. 4 months for this answer!

So now I am waiting to hear something from Tereza from Philips. Hope to hear about some solution after so much time. Very frustrating...

[fduvall]

No news after two weeks... Not really sure why no response yet. Trying to be patient, but it is getting increasingly frustrating to not hear anything at all. Even a simple note that lets me know that it is being worked on would be appreciated.

fduvall

Sad to hear about the bad news
Hopefully Tereza will help you out. Keep us posted!

Spoke to the swedish Philips-support yesterday and they are aware of the problem but have no solution. They told me that it is great if everyone reports the problem to them. The more people who does, the more effort will they put on it.

[fduvall]

Well - Tereza's group is now unable to help me, as I am in Spain. Hard to understand why this matters, from a customer standpoint. They had my file and details and offered to help, and then said, "Oops, nothing that we can do." What a poorly run operation that Philips has created.

So now I am back in the hands of Spanish Customer Service. Already, the Authorized Repair Center has passed the buck... They wrote to me that since they did not have a list of possible replacements at hand, that I should just contact the online center. What kind of service is this? Does anyone actually do any work at the Philips Customer Service centers? I would be embarrassed to provide these answers, but that is just how I am, I guess.

fduvall

Sad to hear about the bad news
Hopefully Tereza will help you out. Keep us posted!

Spoke to the swedish Philips-support yesterday and they are aware of the problem but have no solution. They told me that it is great if everyone reports the problem to them. The more people who does, the more effort will they put on it.

[fduvall]

@F1valk - I ordered two capacitors yesterday, so may try a DIY repair. However, I need to drive an hour to pick up my unit. As things have gone thus far, I will not be surprised if the unit has "disappeared" into thin air.

Wondering if Philips actually knows that there is a design flaw or a bad run of capacitors that has caused this recurring problem. If my unit IS fixed after swapping out these two capacitors, I will be ALL OVER the internet about this with my blog.

fduvall

Sad to hear about the bad news
Hopefully Tereza will help you out. Keep us posted!

Spoke to the swedish Philips-support yesterday and they are aware of the problem but have no solution. They told me that it is great if everyone reports the problem to them. The more people who does, the more effort will they put on it.

[kylie]

as far as i know for all the retruns/exchange/ repair are of countries' operation and they really cannot be solved in the forum. hence user will be sent to the service centre to see wt are the possibilities there.

just imagine there are hundreds or thousands of service centres in china/ india. they really have no idea which service centre the users will go to and wt level of service can be provided there. same in europe... some larger service centre can offer upgrade/repair... but some smaller ones, maybe they can only exchange ur set. all in all, it really depends...

[kylie]

and yea, after all, hts8100 is a 2007 model which has been EOL for a long time (i can understand why the spare part is difficult to find)

for a products running for 7 years, some sort of issue/ wear-out can be understandable indeed.

[fduvall]

Kylie - Thanks for your reply, but do you work for Philips? If so, full disclosure would be nice. WRT your comment about service centers, I do not see how a hypothetical situation in China has any bearing hear.

To give you a bit of background, in Spain I am working with an Authorized Repair Center (ARC); the only one for Barcelona/Catalonia (not sure how many there are in Spain). I posted something on the forum hear, and a forum rep told me that she would look into my case and try to help, which I do (still) appreciate.

However, I was informed that I need to go back to the Spanish support network. The Spanish ARC has already told me that they are done helping and I should go straight to the Spanish Online Customer Support. The Spanish Customer Support is appalled at what I have experienced so far and are trying to help.

So I am still a bit perplexed as to why someone who volunteers to look at my case, could not call the Spanish ARC and mention that they are an employee of Philips and trying to get answers for a customer that does not speak perfect Spanish.

Oh, and did I mention that this has been going on since March?

as far as i know for all the retruns/exchange/ repair are of countries' operation and they really cannot be solved in the forum. hence user will be sent to the service centre to see wt are the possibilities there.

just imagine there are hundreds or thousands of service centres in china/ india. they really have no idea which service centre the users will go to and wt level of service can be provided there. same in europe... some larger service centre can offer upgrade/repair... but some smaller ones, maybe they can only exchange ur set. all in all, it really depends...

[fduvall]

and yea, after all, hts8100 is a 2007 model which has been EOL for a long time (i can understand why the spare part is difficult to find)

for a products running for 7 years, some sort of issue/ wear-out can be understandable indeed.

You assume that I bought the product on the first day that it was released? And no, I do not accept that electronics should just "wear out" after 5 years. I have many TVs/radios/Stereo components that are 10/20/30+ yrs old. Some of the older ones are the best made! It is shameful if Philips products are not built to last. But the reason that I really LIKE the HTS8100 is because it looks/feels very solid, it is stylish AND it worked well for several years.

Additionally, it appears to be a somewhat common problem if you do much searching on the internets; and not JUST with the HTS8100.

[Philips - QK]

Dear fduvall,

Understood from the Spain Consumer Care that they have directly contacted you on this and hence this case shall be closed in the forum.

As for the forum, this is more a place for product queries. Since your case we have nothing to advise you anymore but refer you to your local service centre and your local consumer care representative has already contacted you upon your case, in the forum position we cannot further assist you on your case.

I will close the topic here. Should you have any concerns, please let me know by PM/ contact back the Spanish CC representative directly.

Thanks for your understanding in advance.

Kind regards,
Philips Moderation Team