International GoPro Replacement

Back-story:

I love taking photos with my DSLR (Canon 550D), I have a few accessories and they help me try different techniques every time. Yet, they were not enough to take photos or videos in extreme conditions like dusty, rainy and also underwater ones. I was going snorkeling and wanted to capture those awesome Red Sea corals with thousands of fish swimming with us. So, I had to choose between buying an underwater case for my DSLR which costs more than $1.500 or an action cam for 1/3 of the other ones price. Of course you can find very cheap cameras for less specifications but I wanted to buy the best option I could. In the end, I bought a GoPro Hero 4 Black Edition from amazon USA. They shipped my order to Aramex NY office along with other accessories I bought with and Aramex shipped them to me, to Saudi Arabia.

In my first video trial, it stopped recording after 25 seconds when I went to a darker room. I looked up what the problem could be and found out that there was a newer firmware (v02.00.00). So, I updated as soon as I could and still the images and videos weren’t as good as I expected. I was thinking that could be the most with a 12 mp camera. I still wanted to see the underwater performance. The first 2 -3 weekends camera seemed to be working near normal and I was able to capture the beauty of Red Sea. Sometimes it was freezing but turning it off and on would solve the problem. Then it started to freeze completely. I couldn’t take a single shot in my last two trips. So, I decided to check more into fixing the problem. I tried to factory reset but it was impossible since I can’t even go to setup menu because of the freezing. Many people had this problem and they replaced their GoPro. I shot a video before sending it to replacement.

Last option was to call customer service. Here you can find the summary of the gopro replacement procedure:

• 12.06.2015 Call to GoPro Customer Service

It took about 20 minutes and I have been asked to perform a few things to bring the camera back to life. Non of the troubleshoot options worked and I was told that I needed a replacement. There was a little problem though… I bought it from amazon USA and I was living Saudi Arabia but it wasn’t an issue for GoPro. I gave them my e-mail address and asked them to send me a test e-mail while I was still on the phone in case there was a problem with the spelling.

Customer Service Numbers

• 12.06.2015 Providing Documents

I received e-mails about the support case and asked to provide the documents below:

1. Photo/Scan of the purchase receipt (It was the pdf I prepared from my amazon order reciepts) (To see if the camera is within the warranty period)
2. Camera’s 14 digit serial number located on the white sticker inside the battery compartment (Starting with “C3).
3. Your replacement address:

Name
Street Address
City
State or Province
Postal code
Country
Phone number

• 13.06.2015 Receiving Return Auth. # and Shipping Details

You will receive a return authorization number and another e-mail about the shipping details after they confirm your warranty details and the serial number. You will need to print the return auth. # e-mail and be sure to attach it to your shipping. After receiving the return auth. number, you have 14 days to transport the camera.

• 17.06.2015 Sending the Product

Please send ONLY items listed on the RMA form. For example, if you are sending a camera, do not send the housing, battery or other accessories unless otherwise specified. My problem was with only camera so I sent only the camera. No battery, no housing or anything else. YOU MUST REFERENCE YOUR RMA# ON THE PACKAGE. You will probably have 3 options for the shipping address.

Americas	Europe	Asia
GoPro Returns 2111 Eastridge Ave Riverside, CA 92507 USA	GoPro Returns Smakterweg 100 5804 AM Venray The Netherlands	GoPro Returns 51 Ubi Avenue 3 408858 Singapore

From Saudi Arabia, I was asked to ship my camera to the Netherlands. It took only 5 days with FedEx including the weekend. I informed them with an e-mail that the shipping was received in Netherlands.

• 25.06.2015 Last Update from GoPro

Got an e-mail stating that they processed my return and the replacement one should be on its way to me shortly. I was actually expecting a tracking code and didn’t think they actually shipped it but I received my GoPro after 5 days on June 30th, 2015.

In conclusion, all replacement process took 18 days. It could even be shorter if I was able to ship it earlier. My regards to Ms. Suzanne from customer service.

You can find more details about the warranty and replacement at Support page.

Yorumlar

yorum