SUCKAGE, 1399.00 Cam Ruined!

[AWM]

This is on for the anvils, last night at my friends house were were in the process of getting some drinking on. I brought my JVC GR-DVM80 MiniDV Camera to capture the late night hyjinx that there always is. As a couple of my pals were wrestling, and ripping each others clothes, one broke his watch, I laughed and recorded the antics. After a while I just let the cam sit on their banaster of the HUGE Alagator encloser.

Let me try to explain, they basically built a huge, probably, 8X10 encloser with a pond, heated rocks, small plants, and what ever else. Around this was net, so the thing couldn't climb out. There was about 12" where the gator could get out of the pond to walk around the inside around the water. Then a railing around that. My camera was on top of the railing on the far side of the encloser.

We went to another room and left the camera sit there. About an hour later we hear loud crashing up stairs, It was my friends girl, running as fast as she could for the habitat, but we didn't know! One friend ran up stairs to see what it was, then had the nerve to run down and say (laughing really hard) " Dude, that F****ing Alagator grabbed your camera and took it to the bottom of the pond." Natuarlly I thought he was joking, and a very bad joke none the less. Anyway, we went up stairs and saw her trying to dry it off, the worst had happened. (sniff) That little bastard climbed up and grabbed it by the strap and took it to his domain.

I tried my best to dry it with a towel then just open it up and stick a fan in front of it. Today, I woke up and remembered last night and my stomach sank. It was true, not a bad dream. I put it back together, but it's cashed. Won't work, period.

That friends, is SUCKAGE. On a sidenote, my pal was upset, and he honestly said I could kill or beat that gator if It'd make me feel better. Alas , I could not.


I may try to take him to Judge Judy, or some other TV cout show to hold him accountable for his gator. pishhhhhhhhh

[Jenny]

My question is, "Why in the world does your friend have an alligator as a pet anyway???" :)

[AWM]

It's Caymen (sp?) Half aligator, half crodile, I think. It's about 4 feet long. Mind you that's mainly tail, but he does have razor sharp teeth. I am plotting his destruction as we speak.

[cruelpupet]

Dont bother trying to get your friend to buy a new DV Camera, just take his Alligator and turn him into a nice set of boots, wallet, belt, etc...

[Black Francis]

Alligator tail is quite tasty.

[TheLoneGunman]

All might not be lost. Take it to a repair place and it might be something cheap that shorted out and the rest is ok. If that doesn't work, you can probably find a similar camcorder with a broken lens/smashed case, etc. but that has ok electronics. Just swap the stuff out. It might look like Frankenstein, but it should still work.

Also, some credit cards offer warranties that even cover alligator attacks (tell them he grabbed it as you were trying to wrestle a little baby from it's jaws!)

[OC]

Originally posted by Black Francis
Alligator tail is quite tasty.

Ok - I really didn't need to know that... :)

-o

[ufcrusher]

FYI - Gator taste just like Chicken...but it is generally a little tougher. As for Caiman...at 4 feet its either a dwarf or a spectacled caiman and how the hell did it grab your strap if it was on top of the railing? Obvioulsy it was hanging over, but I thought you said the railings were pretty high. As for getting the camera fixed...........


you could try to get around it by using a service warranty. So long as there is no moisture, water spots on the boards, or any other outward signs of it being submerged or dropped, there is little chance of them figuring out it has gone swimming. They will probably just fix it or give you a new one and send the other one back to the manufacturer as defective. If you dont have a service warranty, you can always creatively get one, but that is a bit too close to stealing for my book. FYI, most products have serial numbers stamped somewhere on them, and when products are returned we double check that the two match. If they dont, we either charge back on your card, call the cops, or both. Thus buying a new camera and switching them doesnt work and can get you in a whole heck of a lot of trouble. I am sure you can creatively figure out how to legally get another camera for nothing.

[cruelpupet]

You could always E-Bay it! make a few hundred.

[AWM]

I appreciate your advice. But I have to ask you, how would you creatively get a new one? I got no ideas or avenues. I bought it off some dude at eBay. I already tried to get the warrenty, but was declined because I did not have any store reciept. My friend has renters' insurance, but I doubt it's going anywhere with that. Then my only other straw is to take him to small claims court. That just isn't happening. lol

Sad thing is I had to tell my wife the story. I'm afraid she thinks I'm lying. heehehe

Let's discuss it, if nothing else your seedy underhanded ideas to my email would be appreciated.

[MrBehm]

The dude wants you to buy the same model at a store, then return them your broken one like 2 days later and keep the good one :)

[TheLoneGunman]

Renter's Insurance!!

You might not realize it, but renter's (or homeowners) insurance has a "liability" component. Most are close to $250,000 or more.

This covers anything that the renter/homeowner or their pets/kids/property does to someone. For example, if you steal my camera and I smack you in the face (even if not at my house) you can file a claim against my insurance. Also, if my dog (or kid) gets loose and eats your camera, then the policy covers that too.

It is worth it to file a claim because you will get the full amount of the camera (you must show the ebay purchase records to get full value) and their policy will go up by maybe $50 per year (if at all)

[AWM]

Man, that alone is good news to me. The way he made it sound, he thought he had to get a premium policy with an " Act of God Clause" or something. I will know tomorrow what they say. I'll post the results.

As to taking it back to a store, It does appear that the area where the serial number is is just a small plate with the info on it. Looks like it can be removed. Time for a razor blade and goo be gone. Then some glue? lol I don't got the sac to do it myself, but my wife is ruthless like that. She wanted to take back my "Asian" Dreamcast and return it in a U.S Box saying it won't play discs. I pussed out on that one too. Thanks again, I got my fingers crossed.

[ufcrusher]

I said get creative, but legally. Buying another one and returning your broken one can get you in a whole world of trouble, and generally the store will catch it. You could however, buy one, with a warranty, and then bring your broken one in as the model you bought. Most places dont check the serial number till you bring it in the first time. But make sure that you checked the boards for water spots like I previously mentioned. Once it is in and they cant repair it, they will LIKELY give you a new camera. At that point, you bring the one that you bought with the warranty back, and just return the camera (not the warranty). You will thus have a new camera and be only out the money that you bought the warranty with because you returned the other one. One caveat, make sure that the repairs arent going to take over the return period, as it might make it impossible to return the new camera. Alternatively, you can just sell the new camera on e-bay to recoup what you can. Consider the difference between what you paid and what you sell it for, the "repair cost" of the camera. If nothing else, this way you now have a receipt for the camera to turn into the renter's insurance. You should be able to get at least as much as you paid for the camera off of ebay, and possibly get a bit more.

Just what I would do...but dont try it unless you check the boards, So long as there are no outward signs (internally) they can only speculate on what caused it to fail. Also, dont be stupid about it, buy the camera at one store, try all the repair work there...and return it (only the camera) at a different location in the chain.

Good luck.

[TheLoneGunman]

UPDATE PLEASE


What happened?

[AWM]

Nothing has happened. My friend hasn't really checked out the renter's insurance! He "knows" he has it, but his ole' mom has the policy and information at her home miles away. I stayed right on his ass about it, but he keeps telling me she hasn't got back to him yet. I'm more than worried now.

Upon calling a JVC service center, I can send it to them, wait 2-4 weeks for them to just look at it. Then wait, and they'll <bold>send</b> me the estimate. Then they have another set of weeks to fix it and send it back. No matter what it is a 25.00 fee for them to evaluate it. That's an option, but the lady couldn't even say it was possible to fix. = (

I did recharge the battery and attach it. The light flickerd a couple times but didn't stay on. And now there is a white and orange, filmy material seaping and forming around the cracks. It looks bad for the camera. My wife is all over my nuts about "Easter's Coming up, and they're will be no cam!" (I think she's missing our special videos j/k)

I thought long and hard about switching the cam for a new one though, but any way you slice it, that's plain illegal. I also thought about selling the docking station, cables, different lenses, and firewire card I bought and selling.

I will update this post agian if my friend ever comes through on the insurance. What a bastard. . . .

[TheLoneGunman]

Solution:

Send a letter to your friend and title it NOTICE AND REQUEST FOR CURE or simply DEMAND FOR PAYMENT

Note in it a summary of the facts and a request that you be paid in full for your camera.

He will probably freak.

Calm him down and tell him that this is what insurance is for and ask him to submit it to his company. (I'll bet that amazingly his mom will find the policy within 2 hours of that letter)

The insurance company will likely respond better if they don't think you two are friends since then it is less likely they are being scammed (and they aren't since this is a legit claim)

[AWM]

Well, here I am a happy man. Got my wallet returned with money intact (see earlier post) and now this whole ugly business with my cam is settled.

I was issued a check for the entire amount. = )

I know you don't need all the sorted little details, but I would still like to spread my joy by saying honesty was the best poilicy in this situation.

Finally after his mom getting the policy info, we called and debated whether or not to say the camera was my friends, and whether or not make a better cover story. The alligator just seems to bizarre. Well we made the call and told the straight out truth. Good thing too. For one, if it was his camera, like we debated on saying, we would have been SOL. Since it was mine, and he was using it in his house, there was liability. I had no reciept either, so I sweated that, and just ended up telling him the truth about that too. No problem, they accomodated me to no end.

Funny thing is no claim adjuster has come here, and they don't evven need to see the old ruined cam>? WTF? He just said show him a bill for a new one. ANd type out a letter on how I got the last one. Someone else may have taken advantage of their "system". I could have had a 2000. cam for all they knew and to never even want to see it, I'm taken back by the whole thing! Oh well , I was honest and it all worked out.

I appreciate you reading this and for your compassion.

[deepthrot]

i guess enough ppl pay for their insurance that they can afford to be generous like that.. glad it worked out.

[Kenshin]

That's awesome, man. Thing is, will you be able to find the same quality camera on eBay for the same price? Well, wish you luck on that. And congratulations. :)

[ProMinx]

you're one lucky bastard

hey Kenshin, he went out and bought a brand new camera, just like the insurance company asked him to...i think. It sounds like they paid him in full for the new camera.

ProMinx

[Kenshin]

Doh! I, um, didn't have my contacts in?

[AWM]

Can I use the old battery that was submerged on the old camera? I'd hate to put it on the new camera and some how fu** it up? I know nothing in the realm of electronics so I hope my question isn't too dumb. . . .Thought I'd ask before I did it. And by the by, THere is no one in the great Cleveland-Akron Area that fixes these. I send it anywhere in the US if someone might know of a company that can handle MiniDV format Cameras.

As always, thanks, yous guys-

[Twilight]

Originally posted by AWM
Can I use the old battery that was submerged on the old camera? I'd hate to put it on the new camera and some how fu** it up? I know nothing in the realm of electronics so I hope my question isn't too dumb. . . .Thought I'd ask before I did it. And by the by, THere is no one in the great Cleveland-Akron Area that fixes these. I send it anywhere in the US if someone might know of a company that can handle MiniDV format Cameras.
As always, thanks, yous guys-
NO! NO! NO! If that battery was exposed to water it has a greater chance of shorting out and giving a large zap of power. That could ruin the camera that does work.