Forget TV for ten days or buy a replacement!

Our Freesat set top box (cost £209.99 March 12th 2015) started to malfunction

I rang Argos under their extended warranty.

They put me on to D&G who would fix it.

After two and a half hours on the phone the best offer was to have the set top box couriered 200 miles and then fixed and couriered back. This would take ten days, they said.

Meanwhile as a 77 year old partially disabled I can sit at home and stare at the walls.

The next offer was to refund the price of the warranty (£59.99) so that I can buy a replacement (estimated £200).

That is the end of me with D&G and Argos.

Welcome to the forum. You can follow the extended warranty link and see what we have to say about them.

Whether it was under extended warranty – or under your statutory consumer rights, which would be more than adequate for this situation and which would last up to 6 years, I expect, I'm afraid that the situation will probably be the same.

In other words you have had one and 1/2 years use out of the thing and now that it has failed, it would have to be sent off for repair and am afraid that you would have to wait for the repaired item to be sent back to you. They are proposing to do in 10 days and that is probably reasonable. I would want to start complaining after 14 days.

You simply need to hope that they are telling the truth and that it is just 10 days.

I'm afraid that in this situation the best thing to do is to pack it up and send it off by guaranteed delivery so that it arrives next Monday morning at 9 o'clock. This means that you will have to get to the post office tomorrow morning early and of course it will cost you extra.

Make sure you keep all the receipts et cetera. Presumably they have given you a returns reference number. Make sure this is marked clearly on the outside and also on the inside. I suggest that you attach a letter explaining the problem and with any reference numbers by means of Sellotape to the unit itself.

If you haven't had it back by the end of 10 days that they promise you, then you will have to start getting on the phone to them – and also you will need to come back here. I'm afraid that these kind of repairs are difficult and is very quickly to lose control of the situation. Argus is not too bad but of course if they were really great company, they would lend you a unit while they were taking care of the return. But they aren't that good – and am afraid that probably know companies are as good as that – except for Amazon. Mind you, after a year and 1/2 maybe even Amazon wouldn't send you a replacement. Generally speaking though, if you have an item which fails certainly in this verse six months to 12 months then Amazon will generally speaking send you a replacement straightaway and then simply charge you for it if you fail to return the old one stroke the broken one to them within 30 days. That's a pretty good system.

Mind you, although this is your first time on this forum, you clearly have access to a computer so you could spend a fair amount of time looking round the forum and looking around the Internet – which isn't too bad sometimes. Also, you may well find that some of the programs you want to watch are actually available through the Internet.

which set top box?

I know its not for yo to do

but there are so of the era esp the humax ones

that need a software update

this can be done by a USB penstick or by plugging the set top box into your internet broadband route via an Ethernet lead

can you give us the make and model number

and explain the issue you are having

I work on these all the time

as a side note too...how did you pay argos for the Box?

dx

Humax HDR-1000S 1TB Freetime Smart Freesat HD TV Recorder.

It says things like "You have no recordings" but 17% of disc full, then next day they are all OK.

Also it fails to record things for no apparent reason (i.e. no conflict).

It certainly sounds like software to me.

If I have a USB connection to a broadband router will the set's own software update work?

Side note Debit Card.

from the humax website:

Up to two years free warranty

Up to two years free warranty when registered with Humax, giving you confidence in the quality of build and technology, with no repair costs should your product go faulty in the first two years of use.

your software does have an update your could install

http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/products/product_releases.php?gid=135&pid=6

your problem is very very common.

this external thread explains a few things better than I can by mass typing

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2097559&page=2

ideally you need to contact humax

they don't usually quibble about it not being registered esp if you are its only owner and have purchase proof.

most of that series had dodgy drives

you could replace the HDD - best idea always sorts it.

you could try formatting it in the humax service menu

50/50 worked for me.

Thank you. I've updated the software from their web site and will let you (all) know if it worked and solved my problems.

Been through this myself. Argos is now the parent company of Domestic and General.

Argos also own the 'Bush' brand name