Bought a $200 soldering station that died after 3 months

Picked up that Aoyue 9378 from amazon thinking it was a good middle ground. After maybe 20 hours of use the display started flickering and now it won't heat up past 150 degrees. Tried replacing the tip and checking the fuse but nothing. Anyone else have luck getting a refund on these or should I just eat the loss?

2 comments

2 Comments

tyler8221d ago

You used to think Amazon returns were only for unopened stuff too? That station dying so fast changed my mind about buying electronics there. I had the same issue with a hot air rework station, display went out at like 30 hours of use. Amazon did take it back for a refund but I had to push them a bit since it was past 30 days.

tyler8221d ago

Got a $180 Hakko clone from amazon that died at exactly 3 months and 2 weeks. I called amazon support and told them the thing was basically a paperweight with a 3 month lifespan. They tried to say I was past the return window but I pushed back hard and asked for a supervisor. Eventually they gave me a full refund as an exception but I had to send the dead unit back first. The trick was being super polite but firm about how a $200 tool should last way longer than a few months. I also mentioned I'd leave a detailed review warning others which I think helped my case. Took about 4 days for them to process the return after I shipped it back.