Cheap Hitachi camera broken already

littlebug

:rolleyes::rolleyes: I guess I shouldn't have expected anything better.

My children REALLY wanted to buy themselves cameras with their birthday money so I relented and bought them a hitachi HDC 570AP each ... almost the cheapest I could buy at about €35. One of them is fine. The other one was okay for a few pics then stopped. Investigation and comparison of the two cameras tells me that the little lens is covered and not opening at all (whereas the one on the okay camera doesn't seem to close even when it's turned off).
Any ideas on how to open it or will I just bring it back?

Broken before we even got home from argos I know I really should have known better.

pete4130

14 day money back guarantee. bring them both back, neither are working properly so you'll not have lost anything.

littlebug

pete4130 wrote: »

14 day money back guarantee. bring them both back, neither are working properly so you'll not have lost anything.

Yeah...that's probably the best option:(. I'll have 2 very disappointed children. I'll do my homework a bit better before splashing out again.

magicbastarder

pete4130 wrote: »

14 day money back guarantee.

sod the 14 day guarantee, you have a 30 day legal right to bring something back and demand a refund or replacement if it ceases being able to perform the function it was sold for within that time period.

AnCatDubh

Ah, don't worry you aren't the first to do that plus i'd guess that you were thinking well Hitachi are a brand you've heard of somewhere so they are probably ok. We had something similar with a brand of Vivitar which have loads of options - just the cameras that they make are very hit and miss and by all accounts more miss than hit (so this imho are also a brand to avoid). If you are exchanging then any of the following brands should at least last 24 hours of little hands working them - Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony. Quick check on Argos and they start at about twice what you've paid on the Hitachi. Bummer...

Normally Argos exclude cameras (at least the dSLR variety) from the 14 day return thing which is geared towards the customer changing their mind - but i'd agree, it would be straight back in terms of your guarantee on the item which is probably one year.

One thing just to check - try exchange the batteries from the one that is working with the one that isn't (just on the off chance that it would be so simple). Maybe not

Do encourage the hobby / pastime though

littlebug

AnCatDubh wrote: »

We had something similar with a brand of Vivitar which have loads of options - just the cameras that they make are very hit and miss and by all accounts more miss than hit

I purposely went up a notch from vivitar for this reason :rolleyes:

Normally Argos exclude cameras (at least the dSLR variety) from the 14 day return thing

They did say that but I think they did add "except if its faulty".

One thing just to check - try exchange the batteries from the one that is working with the one that isn't (just on the off chance that it would be so simple). Maybe not

I tried new batteries in it... no go

Do encourage the hobby / pastime though

I had great plans for projects with them over the summer but it's going to require a bit more thought (and money) now!

magicbastarder wrote: »

sod the 14 day guarantee, you have a 30 day legal right to bring something back and demand a refund or replacement if it ceases being able to perform the function it was sold for within that time period.

Given that one doesn't work and the other works but isn't functioning properly I don't think I want a replacement:(. I think a full refund is the answer. I'll go in tomorrow morning.
Thanks for the responses.

sNarah

Hope it all works out Lilly Bugsie - It's a great idea though to let the wee ones hop around with their own camera's, it's proven that children who are introduced to "the arts" at a young ago usually end up happier, more succefull and more intelligent in later life (or so the story says).

littlebug

Full refund received . Before I left I tried to take the card out of the one that did work but couldn't get it out :rolleyes: The woman couldn't argue with me over the first one but claimed that the second one was working fine and tried to convince me that I had put the card in wrong:rolleyes:. I knew I hadn't and eventually she got a second opinion who agreed with me so I got a full refund for the 2 cameras and 1 card.
I still haven't figured out what to do next. Honestly the younger child might be happy with one of those kiddy cameras that have games. They take crap pictures but they're still €70-80! The older child will still want a "real" camera so maybe a few weeks of extra room tidying and maybe we could agree to splash out a bit more.

ETA... The younger child wants a "real" camera too. That's what I get for having them out helping me chase after butterflies and dragonflies with my 450D. Now why couldn't I have a less expensive hobby that they could copy

OREGATO

littlebug wrote: »

Full refund received . Before I left I tried to take the card out of the one that did work but couldn't get it out :rolleyes: The woman couldn't argue with me over the first one but claimed that the second one was working fine and tried to convince me that I had put the card in wrong:rolleyes:. I knew I hadn't and eventually she got a second opinion who agreed with me so I got a full refund for the 2 cameras and 1 card.
I still haven't figured out what to do next. Honestly the younger child might be happy with one of those kiddy cameras that have games. They take crap pictures but they're still €70-80! The older child will still want a "real" camera so maybe a few weeks of extra room tidying and maybe we could agree to splash out a bit more.

ETA... The younger child wants a "real" camera too. That's what I get for having them out helping me chase after butterflies and dragonflies with my 450D. Now why couldn't I have a less expensive hobby that they could copy

I know you've had a bad experience there, but have you considered going second hand? surely some older first gen compact digitals can be got for that price..

Zillah

littlebug wrote: »

Now why couldn't I have a less expensive hobby that they could copy

Just get them a ball in a cup.