Forums > Photography Talk > PCB PLM falls apart.
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Photographer

Herman Surkis

Posts: 10856

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Update:

The friend whose recent PLM's fell apart has had them replaced at NO charge.
However that worked only because he had the originals shipped to a friend in the USA to avoid UPS excessive cross border shipping charges. Since the original shipment was to the US, PCB replaced the PLM's at no cost to that address.

Those of us in Canada get screwed.
But it does mean that if you are in the states, any problems will be dealt with.
And as it turns out, they were different parts that fell apart. In one it was the top base, and the other it was the slider.
Obviously bad wire during a portion of manufacture. Hopefully the issue is resolved.

Sep 15 13 06:26 pm Link

Photographer

Rich Arnold Photography

Posts: 945

Los Angeles, California, US

Yes, the quality is crap but Buff will replace them. Wish they made them better. I'd pay a little more.

Sep 15 13 06:27 pm Link

Photographer

Tom LA

Posts: 176

Walnut, California, US

I had one that failed the day I took it out of the tube.  By the time I called them on an unrelated issue, the PLM was already out of warranty, so I was SOL.  Never even got to try it out.

They took good care of me with the AB1600 that I called about though.

Sep 15 13 10:08 pm Link

Photographer

Exquisite Photo Austin

Posts: 54

Austin, Texas, US

The only umbrellas I've had that don't break are the ones I don't use. Considering the price of the PCB stuff, they're pretty much disposable anyway. (I've only had a problem with one of my PLM's and PCB put another on my doorstep in two days with no RMA, no questions asked.)

Sep 16 13 08:43 am Link

Photographer

Herman Surkis

Posts: 10856

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Exquisite Photo Austin wrote:
The only umbrellas I've had that don't break are the ones I don't use. Considering the price of the PCB stuff, they're pretty much disposable anyway. (I've only had a problem with one of my PLM's and PCB put another on my doorstep in two days with no RMA, no questions asked.)

Yep, they will do that.

But if you are in Canada, and had it shipped to Canada then you are screwed.
Although I got talked into shipping direct to Canada, no more.
I was actually told by PCB to have things shipped to Canada, as warranty shipping would only go to the original address. No mention of having to pay for shipping with UPS ripoff again, plus having to pay customs, duties and taxes again.

Pssst... don't tell anyone, but if it is a known factory defect, they have been known to replace well beyond the warranty expiration date.

Sep 16 13 09:24 pm Link

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