I had occasion to buy a data projector from what I thought was an established supplier in Cape Town. When placing the order, they told me that there was no stock but their Jhb branch (not an affiliate, an actual branch) would ship it to me
The projector is said to have 1080 x 1920 native resolution, 9000 lumens, 2 x HDMI, VGA in and out, auto and manual keystone and a 45db fan
With 9000 lumens, it should have been able to manage a clear picture in a room during the day, obviously without sun coming in. The contrast ration was said to be 40000:1
It failed to achieve any daytime picture, the zoom ratio was only 0.8:1 (advertised at 2.1:1) and the VGA input produced a pink image. The keystone could not correct the image if the projector were tilted more than 1/3 of the front adjustment
After 4 months back and forth, the Jhb supplier sent a new machine. Better image but the keystone and zoom were nowhere near the specification. The fan sounded like it was catching on something. After 3 hours of use, the projector shut itself down and would only restart after 90 mins
Surprise no 1 - The "branch" in Jhb turned out to not be affiliated with the Cape Town office at all. The sales lady apologised, she was mistaken she said. So we asked for a replacement or refund. No response. A friend in Jhb visited this supplier, but as soon as the fellow found out that he was enquiring on behalf of me, he threw him out
So off to the Western Cape Govt Consumer Protection. Filled in a form, sent 14 pages of documents and reports. After 7 months they advised that they had been unable to effect a resolution. After a month of nagging, I found out that the supplier had simply ignored all correspondence from the WCG, so they just shrugged and said there was nothing they could do, as they are required to get an answer from the supplier and since this was not forthcoming, could not proceed further. Upon suggesting that they might have tried a little harder, they said they work as they think fit
The projector is said to have 1080 x 1920 native resolution, 9000 lumens, 2 x HDMI, VGA in and out, auto and manual keystone and a 45db fan
With 9000 lumens, it should have been able to manage a clear picture in a room during the day, obviously without sun coming in. The contrast ration was said to be 40000:1
It failed to achieve any daytime picture, the zoom ratio was only 0.8:1 (advertised at 2.1:1) and the VGA input produced a pink image. The keystone could not correct the image if the projector were tilted more than 1/3 of the front adjustment
After 4 months back and forth, the Jhb supplier sent a new machine. Better image but the keystone and zoom were nowhere near the specification. The fan sounded like it was catching on something. After 3 hours of use, the projector shut itself down and would only restart after 90 mins
Surprise no 1 - The "branch" in Jhb turned out to not be affiliated with the Cape Town office at all. The sales lady apologised, she was mistaken she said. So we asked for a replacement or refund. No response. A friend in Jhb visited this supplier, but as soon as the fellow found out that he was enquiring on behalf of me, he threw him out
So off to the Western Cape Govt Consumer Protection. Filled in a form, sent 14 pages of documents and reports. After 7 months they advised that they had been unable to effect a resolution. After a month of nagging, I found out that the supplier had simply ignored all correspondence from the WCG, so they just shrugged and said there was nothing they could do, as they are required to get an answer from the supplier and since this was not forthcoming, could not proceed further. Upon suggesting that they might have tried a little harder, they said they work as they think fit
