Bad experience with Benq XL2420z and Benq customer service

[Espen]

I thought i'd just share my experience with Benq and their customer service.

Back in November 2014 i purchased a Benq xl2420z from one of the biggest retailers here in Norway. I had this monitor for about half a year before it started to develop some strange horizontal grayish white lines stretching from one side to the other about 1.5cm from the top. I noticed this problem only becoming more visible with time so i decided I'd contact the retailer to try to get a refund or a new monitor.

First thing that happens is that they inform me that Benq have their own system for returning the monitor and that i should use that, which i did. This was a fairly straight forward process and they even sent me a "refurbished" unit before i shipped mine and on top of that included a return shipping label.

So far no problems. I connect the monitor and play H1Z1 with it for a little while and then i notice the same type of grayish lines on almost the exact same location only that this unit also has a more faint line right below the top one plus another a bit further down, with other words, they sent me a faulty monitor that somebody else had returned and probably for the same reason as i did in the first place.

I then go through the process once more and get a mail from customer service where they say that they haven't found any issues with the previous monitor i sent to them, so they ask if i could document it with photographs, which i did.

Then they send me another unit and this one is even worse that the previous two, this one has a line almost dead center on the screen and i cannot understand how this has not been spotted by a technician.

Once more i go through the same process and this time they send me a brand spanking new unit, which is a nice gesture. However out of the box it has a dead pixel in the right side, this is however minor compared to the problems I've had earlier so i don't bother complaining.. i decide that i can live with it, but then after a week another dead pixel appears in the center of the screen and that just ruins it for me, firstly because i have to look at it all the time, second because all the monetary value is gone.

So there's only one thing to do.. contact Benq once more. They informed me that they needed proof that it had a dead pixel and asked me to provide photographs.. which is understandable. I did that and they sent me another monitor, but what they sent me was the same monitor that i got as a replacement for my original purchase and it still had the same faults.. white horizontal lines stretching from one side to the other on the very top of the monitor.

Benq never again.

[Falkentyne]

Were you using a Vertical total tweak?
Switch to 60hz refresh rate. Does the problem persist?

[Espen]

Yeah it persisted. Didn't use any tweaks or anything. Ran in native on 144hz. Problem persisted with different cables, on different computers and all that jazz. Pretty sure it's due to fatigue considering that it wasn't a problem in the beginning and that the new unit they sent me didn't have the problem either. My conclusion is that it is a common problem with this particular monitor.

Sent the monitor to the retailer after telling them about my situation, so it's not in my possession anymore.

[Espen]

Just got a mail back from the retailer telling me that they are returning the unit because they haven't found anything wrong with it.

Here is a picture of the problem. Is there any way to fix this?



http://samlerforum.no/shared/benq%20skj ... 926SL0.JPG

[AustinClark]

It's unlikely that multiple monitors have the exact same problem, and that that problem goes undetected so many times. It's probably a problem on your end, and perhaps the problem appears slightly different on each monitor due to manufacturing variance.

You said the problem persists on multiple computers, multiple cables, etc; Which is particularly odd.
However, it's my understanding that when performing tweaks on your monitor (such as the vertical total tweak) the monitor will actually save those settings until they're manually set once again. This is how you can keep the tweaks when using consoles on this monitor, for example. Try resetting all timings and such on your main computer, and see if the problem persists.

[Espen]

Strange part is that there were no problems when the first monitor was new or with the new one with dead pixels, that's why I'm leaning towards a defect on the monitors themselves.

Never tried the vertical total tweak program.

Here's a photo of the second monitor i received from them.

[Falkentyne]

Have you tried a different DVI cable?
Have you tried the HDMI port?

[Espen]

Did try a HDMI cable and i still got the problem, but that was first after using it for a while with DVI, so the problem had appeared on the monitor. I did manage to see the lines without any cables when turning on the monitor while looking at the power on screen.

I used the same cable on the new monitor with dead pixels i got from them and i didn't see any lines then.

[Falkentyne]

I see. Sorry

Can you try to get a "level 2" tech from Benq to help you out? Perhaps they can ship you a brand new screen or set up a cross shipment.
I don't remember people having problems with those issues before when these forums were very active.

[Espen]

I think I'll rather just purchase a new one and use the Benq for target practice after all I've been through with them and their service center. I have absolutely 0 faith in them sending me a monitor that actually works at this point. If i know them correctly they will probably just resend one I've already had... again.

I cant find much information about this particular problem either, but i did find some posts on some forums where users with the xl2411t had experienced something similar. Reading reviews etc about the xl2420z on newegg and amazon will give a very good impression compared to a lot of other brands. Might just be that i am extremely unlucky.