The Flip

Just because I love bashing companies that screw over the consumers....Here's the latest Tom vs. The World:

I got a Flip Ultra HD for Christmas.........Christmas 2009. Well it's not working right all of a sudden, and wouldn't you know it - just weeks after the warranty expired. Awesome.

Here's the online chat (for those of you who have nothing better to do)

Lindy Pres S. (29971) has joined this session.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Hi, I have a Flip UltraHD and the battery died while I was filming - when I recharged it the video that I was filming is not there and the amount of time that the video was is missing.....if that makes sense.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I have deleted everything off of the device and it only has 1hr 02 min left - which is way less than it used to have.... Can I reset the device to factory defaults somehow?

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
So, your concern is to regain full record time of the camcorder, right?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Alright.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Let me help you with this one.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
By the way, is this your first time to contact us regarding this device or question?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes it is

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Thanks. May I know what State or Country you're from?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Michigan, United States

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Kindly look underneath the device, look for the model number and the possible version. Also, include the serial number.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Flip UltraHD (2nd Generation) Model: U2120B

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Serial: MB0921805990

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Thanks for that.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
What operating system or version of Windows is used on this computer?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Windows Vista

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Service pack 1

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Thanks.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
I would like to give you a link that gives you the steps on how to fix this problem.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Is that alright with you?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Here is the link:http://www6.nohold.net/CiscoFlip/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=56112267de184b20a70ff485759361
d2_KB20625_EN_v1.xml&pid=4&respid=0&snid=1&
dispid=0&cpage=search

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I have already tried that

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
it didn't fix the issue

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Okay.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Are you willing to delete the contents of the camcorder?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I have already deleted everything

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
so yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Okay.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Please plug it into your computer.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok - done

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Now, click on Computer and look for the Flip drive.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Please delete everything inside the Flip drive.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
thats done

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Now, unplug the camcorder and check the record time.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
now it says 1hr 03min

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
gained 1 min

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
it used to be almost 2 hrs

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I plugged it back in and it said that it needed to update the camera software and it started installing it automatically

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
after that ...it now says 1hr 02min again

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Have you powered it on and off 8 times alternately?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
If that is so, then the device may already be defective.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
When did you purchase the device>

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
just a little bit over a year

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Do you still have the receipt of the device?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I probably do, I don't know where it is at the moment

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Because the device may already be defective.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok, but I thought that it only has a 1 year warranty

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Yes, based on your serial number, it is already out of warranty.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
so there's nothing that you can do?

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
If you still have the receipt showing it is not more than a year old, we can have it replaced.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I just told you that it's over a year old - but just barley

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
which is usually when devices stop working - about the minute that they are out of warranty

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
We have actually tried all the possible solutions.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes - I understand. I'm the one stuck with a faulty device that's out of warranty. Here's a solution: make a better product.