Don't Buy Casio!

Found out today Casio wants me to pay $170 to repair my digital camera.

Here's the background: Last November I bought a Casio EXlim Z40 digital camera for around $300 in anticipation of my trip in January and February. In Cape Town, South Africa I slipped and fell with the camera in my pocket -- breaking the LED screen on the back.

When I got home I paid Casio around $200 to fix it. No complaints, no whining -- I broke it, so I paid to get it fixed.

It worked great until I was in Phoenix earlier this month. I pulled it out of my shirt pocket before the football game to find the LED screen broken again. Shoot! But this time I hadn't done anything to it.

So I shipped it off to the factory and expected them to fix it under the one-year warranty. Well, they refuse and claim they found "pressure points" on the LED screen so it's not a "manufacturer's defect."

Well, all I know is I treated it well and it broke. Since Casio refuses to stand behind their products I've vowed to never again purchase a Casio product. And since you're reading this, I urge you to do the same -- for your own sake.

Now I've got my eye on an Olympus Stylus 600 digital camera.

Sorry, didn't go to a movie or some other cultural event tonight -- so nothing to report on. I spent today in San Mateo attending a Junior Statesmen meeting. My flight home from San Jose was delayed by fog at LAX. We sat on the runway in San Jose for 30 minutes. So all I had time for tonight was to write this anti-Casio rant.