Big E vs. Sylvania

A couple of months back, you probably remember me waxing rhapsodic about the Sylvania wi-fi net tablet… and then being extremely frustrated that it failed to even last four weeks without falling apart from the inside.

I tried to contact the company handling customer support on this device, Digital Gadgets, to no avail – they sent me a link to an online trouble ticket system that didn’t work. And that was a few days before Christmas. I haven’t heard a peep from them since, despite trying to bring the issue with their trouble ticket site and the issue with my tablet to them several times.

With no further response from Digital Gadgets (why do I have a feeling that I’d be dealing with Peggy?), I’ve now taken the matter up directly with the company whose name is on the box and on the product itself – Sylvania.

I fired off the following polite-with-just-a-sting-of-pissed e-mail to Sylvania’s customer support today. We’ll see if it has any effect.

Hello,

I bought a Sylvania 7″ mobile internet tablet in late November. I realize that customer service for this device is supposed to be handled by Digital Gadgets, as listed in the back of the manual, but they have not returned any of my attempts to communicate with them, via e-mail or phone, so I’m bringing it to your attention.

I love this device to bits, but at about four weeks it began to experience problems – a noticeable hairline crack across the touchscreen surface (despite me handling it very gently), and gradual loss of function until it no longer powered on and no longer seems to take a battery charge.

I contacted Digital Gadgets about the device to ask if there was a procedure for repair or replacement. I have the original receipt and packaging intact. Digital Gadgets’ only response to date has been an e-mail linking to an online trouble ticket at their web site, and when I tried to access that, it told me I had an invalid login. I have tried repeatedly to bring that issue to their attention, as well as to continue seeking resolution to the original issue with the product, but they have stopped responding in any way. I’ve been very polite and professional with them, and would expect the same, but instead I’ve gotten no help whatsoever. My last contact with them was on December 22nd, 2010.

I’m aware that their call center is in a part of the country that has been hit repeatedly by severe winter weather; that weather has happened here too. The 90-day warranty on the product is rapidly running out and I still have no resolution to this issue.

Can you advise on a repair/replacement path for this item, or have I thrown away a couple hundred bucks on something that was never going to last in the first place?

Maybe a little bit tacky at the end, but at this point… I feel entitled to a little tacky. This is money down the drain that I can’t afford. At this point, I’d rather have the cash back in hand so I can go buy something that can actually last a month, if not longer. This tablet has tied the record speed in my house for a brand new hi-tech device bricking. (The original record-holder was a LaCie external drive that also didn’t quite last a month.)

At this point, honestly, I’m expecting no more and no less response from Sylvania than I got from Digital Gadgets. The fact that all support for this product was farmed out does not inspire confidence.