Why you should stay away from Viewsonic-Seeking your input

[tweakerxp]

I’m writing to explain my experiences with Viewsonic, and why I believe you should never buy a Viewsonic display again. I am also interested in hearing your comments and encounters with Viewsonic and especially their RMA department.

My story is quite lengthy; therefore I have shortened it down in the following post. I plan on posting this to several forums when it is complete.

About a year ago (April-June 2004), I paid the shipping of my Viewsonic P95f+B CRT in for repair or replacement to a repair facility called Getronics in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The display was sent in due to red and green hues on the sides and corners of the screen, and some grey vertical lines and patches that began to appear and worsen after about six months of use. I was shipped the same display back and was told that there was no problem with the display, and there was nothing that they could do about it. I was pretty angry with their judgment, and had plans to RMA it to their Ontario facility. However, I figured that I could not be without the display for a long period of time, so I decided to wait until I got my new display.

In early March 2005, I got a new display and decided to call Viewsonic and request an RMA for my display again. I told them of my previous bad experience, and was told that I would have to pay the shipping of a large box carrying a 60lb display ¾ of the way across Canada, needless to say, I was not impressed. Later that day, I sent an email to Viewsonic explaining the situation and told them that if they did not send me a label or did not take this mater seriously, I would start turning my friends and fellow technical gurus (like the people on this form) away from Viewsonic products. I received a reply on March 28th, 2005 telling me that a label had been shipped out and that I would be shipped a replacement P95f+B within a week of them receiving my defective display.

I shipped the display off for its second RMA on April 6th, 2005. I received a call when Viewsonic received the monitor telling me that they could not repair it, and that it needed to be replaced. They gave me an option of getting either a beige or black display. I chose to get a black one, like the one that I sent in. I was told that they didn't have any in stock, and that it might take a few extra days; I was fine with that.

On April 25th, I received a slightly damaged Viewsonic box saying “warranty replacement� and “certified� on it. I opened it up, and much to my chagrin I found the same display that I sent out with a new power cord. I was angry, because they said that I would be receiving a replacement display. I figured I’d turn it on to see if it was fixed. I did so, and it was the exact same, if not worse from the possible shipping damage. Nothing had been done to solve my problems. I called them up and had them issue me another RMA number and send out another Fedex shipping label, which I received on April 29th.

On May 2nd, I shipped off the display for its third RMA to Markham, Ontario.

On May 16th, I received another slightly damaged warranty replacement box, this time containing a different display. As I was removing it from the box, I discovered that the display had some marks around the edges of the screen. It appeared as though the anti-glare coating had been rubbed off the entire display. There was also some greasy stuff all over the front bezel and a dead fly squished on the screen. I decided to hook the display up to see how it looked. I was shocked! There was some horrible hues all over the right and left hands side of the display, of which I took some pictures of. I tried replacing the VGA cable, degaussing the display and moving the display to another computer in a different room to no avail. I noticed that when the display was lightly tapped on the side, the display went all crazy, and shook like an earthquake. I called Viewsonic and told them of my experiences again, and they promised to ship another label out to me, which I should receive by the end of this week. I was also told that the next replacement would be tested before it was sent out.

Needless to say, this is my last Viewsonic display, at least until Viewsonic smartens up. I hope this post influences your decision when you buy your next display. It’s too bad Viewsonic pulled the plug on www.viewsonicsucks.com

Please remember that I am very interested in your experiences with Viewsonic.

Here are some of the pictures of the 3rd RMA-The first replaced display. Please note that they do not show the problem very accurately, as they were extremely hard to take.

The display showing a completely yellow image:


The display showing a completely yellow image again:


Showing some of the greasy stuff and were it looks as though the anti-glare coating was removed (look along the edge of the screen)


On May 24, 2005 I received the third Fedex label for the fourth RMA. I also elected to include a letter in the monitor box describing my precious experiences, and asking them to ship the replacement to me as quickly as possible. Only time will tell if this will actually happen. The monitor should be picked up tomorrow.

On May 30, 2005 The display was received at Viewsonic. I will call and inquire about its shipping status on June 1st.

On June 1st, I called to get the tracking number for the replacement, and was told that the display was just received today (a blatant lie.) I then made sure that they had it down to test the display, which they did not. She told me that “we don’t test displays unless there have been previous issues.� I had to explain to her that this is my fourth RMA, and that I had been promised that the replacement display would be tested. I was then told that this testing would take an additional 2-3 days. Argh!

June 7, 2005 AM. I called again to get a tracking number, and was told that the replacement had not shipped yet.

June 9, 2005: I have received the second replacement!!! This time, the display was shipped from their United States headquarters in Walnut California via Fedex Express! The unit appears to be working fairly well this time, but it’s definitely not perfect. I have noticed that there are two small, but noticeable areas where the glass appears to be refracting the image behind it like a prism. These appear to be chips in the glass. There are also some minor places where the anti-glare coating was removed, and a single dead pixel. The screen also has some fait vertical banding, and some shadowing issues.

Revision 1.6 June 9, 2005: Added information regarding the fourth RMA.

[Daijoubu]

Are you sure it was the same display? (same SN?)
And most company send out re-certified (RMA'ed/fixed) LCDs unless they don't have it
Since you mention the box was screwed, it may have been damaged during shipment

Did you check the VGA/DVI cable for broken pins? Happened to a friend of mine, was only displaying blue and green, no reds

[tweakerxp]

Are you sure it was the same display? (same SN?)
And most company send out re-certified (RMA'ed/fixed) LCDs unless they don't have it
Since you mention the box was screwed, it may have been damaged during shipment

Did you check the VGA/DVI cable for broken pins? Happened to a friend of mine, was only displaying blue and green, no reds

The first display was the same, it had the same serial number. The second displays box may have been slightly damaged during shipment, but that does not explain the greasy stuff and the possibly removed anti-glare coating. And yes, I tried degaussing the display and changed the VGA cable.

[yiggy]

i've only bought 1 viewsonic product, it was a 19 inch CRT GS790 many years ago.

some transformer inside blew and needed replacement, conveninently just after the 3 year warranty expired. i guess it was my bad luck.

but my general opinion is they make a decent product, but i wouldn't go out of my way to buy a viewsonic.

[JimG]

i've only bought 1 viewsonic product, it was a 19 inch CRT GS790 many years ago.

some transformer inside blew and needed replacement, conveninently just after the 3 year warranty expired. i guess it was my bad luck.

but my general opinion is they make a decent product, but i wouldn't go out of my way to buy a viewsonic.

I had that happen on one of my monitors, it started smoking. I was ready to throw it out, but somehow, my dad managed to figure out which component was burnt out, he managed to find a spare circuit board for my exact model of monitor and managed to solder in a new component. All this from a guy who's soldering experience ends with copper pipes. I was very impressed, I've still got the monitor and it works perfectly.

Jim

[bug]

I've heard some horror stories about Viewsonics' shoddy customer service. I would try contacting their head office and ask for their help. It has worked for me in the past. I've never dealt with Viewsonic though.

[Warlock]

Thanks for the warning.

[akosh]

Did you send the monitor to Getronics in Vancouver? Why didn't you just take it there?

[Madcatmk2]

Oh man, it looks like i wont get another Viewsonic again. link
Too bad, my 2001 optiquest is still going strong.

[2000fordfocus]

I had been using my viewsonic A70f for the last few years! its been great!! use it daily...

[Cafe_333]

Sounds far fetched imo. Everyone I know who owns viewsonic works fine.

Well, warranty replacement labels are standard on all rma shipping boxes - that at least i wouldn't worry about. Looks like you did get a replacement display, just not a replacement monitor. They probably replaced the tube with a refurbished one and kept the same housing. This is typical standard RMA procedure to use refurbished parts.

Something to take into consideration though. Not that I am in disagreement with you, but I do find it a bit of a stretch that you sent in your monitor, and they looked at your splotches and did nothing about it. I highly doubt Viewsonic is that incompetent to just ship it back to you saying it's fine if indeed there were noticable problems.

Chances are, they hooked it up, and it worked just fine. It sounds to me more like magnetic interference in your room than anything. Try taking your monitor to a computer in another room of the house and hooking it up to that to see if you get the same problems. I know people tend to finger the monitor right away when they see physical problems like that and not end up troubleshooting the monitor...

[felix]

Are they really that bad? Glad my old CRT wasn't defective. And happy I didn't wait for the new VX924 LCD.

[NG]

Sounds far fetched imo. Everyone I know who owns viewsonic works fine.

There's been other posters attesting to Viewsonic's bad RMA/support process and there's that confirm from geek.com.

Glad I read this thread. They make alot of stuff I would have considered equally among competitng brands.

[itsyours]

Chances are, they hooked it up, and it worked just fine. It sounds to me more like magnetic interference in your room than anything. Try taking your monitor to a computer in another room of the house and hooking it up to that to see if you get the same problems. I know people tend to finger the monitor right away when they see physical problems like that and not end up troubleshooting the monitor...

I doubt it since this is a monitor he has been using for years and probably in the same room, on the same desk. Also, to have a hue shifting that much, he gotta have a very strong and very close magnetic source near by. In my experience, I saw some models of NEC has problems (screen dancing) with electrical field (AC) in house but not this type of hue shifting, unless he has a big unsealed speaker near by.

[NG]

It’s too bad Viewsonic pulled the plug on www.viewsonicsucks.com

Have you considered taking them to small claims court? I'm sure providing some proof that they pulled viewsonicsucks.com off the web would make the judge go "hmmmmm".