"Ordered an electric shaver from Panasonic at a great price. The order went through without a hitch. Free shipping and a great price, so I can't complain. Ordered on a Saturday, shipped the subsequent Tuesday. Can't ask for more!"

"I have had a very bad experience with Panasonic recently. I have ordered a Blu-Ray player directly from their site on Nov 27th, 2010. I have received a confirmation email saying that my order was received. After that I had not received any updates to my order for a month. Their web site always gave me an error. I tried to contact their customer support service but it is completely impossible to get to any of their sales support - almost always the wait time is indefinitely long. In very rare cases when I was able to get through to a person, they just kept redirecting me to various departments or promised me to call me back. Obviously, nobody called me back.

So after two weeks of waiting I have given up and bought the same player at Costco.

But on Dec 24th I saw that they have charged my credit card on Dec 24th. I tried to contact them again via email, web and via phone, but unsuccessfully.

On Dec 28th I have received a player from them, which now I do not need.

This is a very bad online shopping experience and a terrible customer support. I highly NOT RECOMMEND to order anything online from Panasonic.com."

"Panasonic just ruined Christmas. I ordered a large flat panel plasma TV early on 12/10/2010 with an estimated shipping date that day and expected freight at 7-10 business days (in time for Christmas). They called five days later and said that they were out of the model I ordered. Although they did offer to substitute with a better model at no extra cost, there is no way the TV will arrive by Christmas. Now I have to find it locally and pay a lot more. Do not trust their shipping statements."

"Needed an extra battery for a Lumix camera. Decided to order directly from Panasonic. Went to page for ordering, placed order.
Received an email that it was on back order. IT DID NOT SAY THAT ON THE WEBSITE PAGE!
I found it available on Amazon, so I ordered it.
I sent a reply email to Panasonic to cancel order and confirm in an email-NEVER RECEIVED ONE.
So I called Panasonic Sales to cancel. Was on hold for 1 hour and 37 minutes until I got a real person, It is a nightmare getting through.
If they do ship something to you and you want to return it, it will be a nightmare getting through to them AND they have a 25% restocking fee!

DO NOT ORDER DIRECT FROM PANASONIC"

"Similar experience to other "potential" customers. Ordered a blu-ray db85 at $ 137.50 with shipping between 1 - 3 days.Order confirmation was for the same amount, e.g. 137.50, but when I followed up a few days later I noticed that the price was changed to $ 175.00 !!!! Contacted Panasonic, but no reply. This is the worst online purchasing experience I have ever had. As of now I still don't know if they will ship. Will try an cancel order. This company stinks!"

"Similar experience to last two posters: Ordered Blu-Ray (DMP-85)on 11/27. Now can not reach them. No response to email, busy signal on customer service and to top it off four days after the order was placed they altered my online invoice by adding $40 to the original purchase price!
WHO DOES THAT!!
Now I do not know if or when they will ever ship the item or for what price. I would like to cancel the order but I do not have the time to spend hours on the phone trying to get trough.
And as far as the clandestine price increase, that is just plain FRAUD."

"This review is a follow up on my previous review on December 2nd 2010. As of current, My BD85K order has not been shipped yet due to back order status. I was finally contacted by a Panasonic live person and informed that the order might not be shipped until January. I just found out the total price was adjusted online but price did not match with my confirmation order total price. The difference is only $2.13 so it is not a big deal. Now I want to see whether or not my order is coming as stated by a Panasonic CS. "

"On Black Friday, placed an online order for a Panasonic Bluray player DMP-85 with a price of $137.50 which was over $40 less than Amazon or Newegg. My confirmation email said estimated shipping date same day. Also said "ships in 1-3 business days". Four business days later, my credit card hadn't been charged so knew item hadn't shipped. I tried email and got a note that customer service would get back to me in 2-3 days. I called early today and waited 45 minutes to speak with a customer rep. She was very pleasant. Told me my order had NOT been processed. I told her to cancel my order. She didn't even try to talk me out of it. Credit card hasn't been charged, no problem. Ten minutes later I placed an online order with Newegg. Wish I had checked Panasonic.com's reviews before. Will never order with them again. Potentially saving $40 wasn't worth the aggravation and not knowing when I was going to get the player, especially if you are ordering for a special occasion. Stick with reliable online sellers!"

"Order Panasonic on 10/19/10 online stated available, 3 days later nothing happened, called customer service to check status of my order, they told me the item is not available and told me to call back in two weeks. I aksed why no body notify me about my order until I call to find out myself,they said they don't do that customers have to call find out themself. Look like in this world you can only find this product with same price from them. I finally cancelled the order. People stay away from this seller if you don't want to get a headache.
I just found out they charged me for the item that they don't even have in stock. I asked my credit bank to stop any transaction with them this morning. BS seller."

"panasonic offered a great price on this great TV, they kept me up to date with my order status and fixed the price in one phone call after the stated price on the website was not the price shown on my final checkout page. will definitely do business again."

"horrible experience. our company lets us order from panasonic direct with a pretty good discount (cheaper than amazon for the item i was buying). ordered cordless iron on 7/6, system said it would ship 7/10. other irons would say "not in stock" and this one didn't, it said ships 1-3 business days, and still does to this day, 7/20. called on 7/18 to inquire about order. the guy said something like "looks like it's in the warehouse, looks like they missed the order". I felt like he was saying "it's here, we're not automated and the guys forgot to take your order off the printer". he said he'd let them know to ship it and they'd call in a few days. Called today, 7/20 - they said there are none in stock and won't ship until 7/30. I cancelled my order and went through amazon. unfortunately they said it ships 7/26. oh well, panasonic direct does not deserve business. get an updated system. i should have ordered this from amazon 2 weeks ago. horrible customer support system at panasonic."

"This review is for the (crappy) online shopping experience with Panasonic and not the item I ordered. BEWARE - do not trust the estimated shipping date provided by Panasonic during the ordering process. CALL or EMAIL them first to verify before you order!!! The online ordering process doesn't tell you an item is backordered until AFTER you place the order and even then it is inconsitent between what it says online and what the invoice and customer service says. Granted, they don't charge you until it ships but still. Read on...

I did a lot of shopping and comparing for a Home Theatre System In a Box and decided on one from Panasonic that had the features I'm looking for. One selling point was the substantial discount through my employee discount program. I had read these reviews and hesitated but decided to take my chances. Well, now I'm not so sure.

As other reviewers have noted, for a high tech company Panasonic's online shopping is not good. The item I ordered showed an estimated shipping date of 3 - 5 days. So I placed the order. When I received my order confirmation via email the order details says estimated 3 - 5 days until shipping. However the order information further down the page says estimated shipping date is 4/19/10 – 1 month after I placed the order!

So, I emailed Panasonic customer service (they are quick to reply!) and asked for clarification. They said "It does appear that the item is on backorder. We do apologize for the confusion. The item is not estimated to be available until 04/19/10. " and added "**Please note that delivery dates from the warehouse and/or from the carrier are subject to change and cannot be guaranteed**". I can not find this disclaimer ANYWHERE in the ordering process and I've looked all over.

Here is my beef - if the backorder information is available on my invoice (literally seconds after I submitted my order) it should be made available before completing the payment process so the consumer can weigh whether or not to proceed with the order. I mean come on!

Additionally, if I check the status of my order via the online tracking it does not reflect the backordered status. It stills says estimated ship date 3 - 5 days. I asked Panasonic how I'm supposed to know if that changes and their reply was "You may stay updated through email if you would like". Wow!

I'm still considering whether to cancel this order. I'm not really in a huge hurry to get the item but a month or more when I expected 2 weeks or less?!? Add the fact that it is nearly 30% cheaper than if I walked into my local Best Buy makes me think I'll wait. But I'm not happy about it.


"

"When i purchased the Lumix GF1, they origianlly said the ship date was "january." I felt this could be more specific, so I called to get some more details. The representive was very friendly but told me she did not have access to when the order would be fulfilled.

I then emailed them, asking when this would ship. The wrote back the same day, letting me know that an order was coming in and when it would ship. I was impressed."

"Bait and Switch - Buyers Beware when Buying Direct!

I had been mulling whether or not to take adavantage of a sale Panasonic Direct EPP had on the TC-P50X1. I went to my account and saw that a $100 instant rebate still showed up on the TV in my cart(couldn't remember when it expired) and after talking with my wife I tried to place the order. After I entered all my payment information and trying to submit the order the instant rebate disappeared.

So I called Panasonic and told them what happened and asked if I could still get the rebate. The associate told me I could, but that I had to place the order and then the associate would adjust the price. So that is what I did. I place the order and the associate said she went in there to adjust the price. I was told I would receive 2 emails. One with the original amount and a 2nd with the adjusted amount.
I never got the 2nd email, and my account never reflected the discounted price. Their offices were closed for Thanksgiving weekend, so I called on 11/30 and the associate against assured me the price would be adjusted but it had to be handled by the credit department.

24 hours later the price still had not been adjusted but my account said the TV had shipped. So I called Panasonic to ask again about the price. This time the associate said that Panasonic was supposed to call me to tell me the instant rebate would not be honoured and advised that I refuse delivery if I do not want to be charged for the TV (with the 25% restocking fee waived). I went back to check other online merchants that were selling the TV for $30 more than the Panasonic price (after tax) and either the price had gone up or the merchant was no longer selling the product.

So I called Panasonic back and asked to speak to a manager. The manager was apologetic, but unwavering in his refusal to adjust the price. He kept repeating "if I give you a discount I have to give everyone one." To which I responded "so your sales associates promise discounts to everyone and then do not honor them." He said not, but mentioned other people call for a discount. I explained this was different because I was assured multiple times that the discount would be honored. It wasn't until the product shipped that Panasonic changed their tune.

The manager claimed the notes on the order did not reflect a discount was offered, but curiosuly every sales associate I spoke with was aware of what happened.

The manager assured me the 25% restocking fee would be waived and the full amount refunded. I told him I was leery of taking Panasonic at their word since I was assured at multiple times I would receive the discount. He assured me that if I refused delivery of the TV that he was 98% certain the fee would be waived.

I immediately called the shipping company to tell them I would be refusing the order. Now I must wait and see if I am charged for the TV or a restocking fee.

My brothers and I might have bought a different TV from them for our parents, but after this experience I don't think so.
************************************************
Update 12/2/2009
Called the shipping company to verify they notified Panasonic I would be refusing delivery.
The shipper confirmed they notified Panasonic on 12/1. Called Panasonic to verify they were aware of this and asked how long it would take a refund. The associate I spoke with could not guarantee I would not be charged a 25% restocking fee but noted on the account that I told them the manager told me I would not. I was informed it could take 6-8 weeks to get my money back. Ridiculous. I am going to contest the charges with my bank.
**************************************************
Update 12/9
Called Panasonic to check on the status of my refund. They claim they have not received it back from the shipping company. So I contacted the shipping company and they said Panasonic has not given them the authorization to send the TV back.
***********************************************
Update 12/12/09
As of 12/6 Panasonic is giving an instant $100 rebate on the TV (the instant rebate the sales lady promised me, but I never got). So they lost a sale because why????? Still have not received my money back. "

"I bought a Panasonic Lumic DMC-FZ35K through the Panasonic.Com web site. We get Panasonic "employee pricing" as a benefit through our human resources department; we have no other connection to Panasonic. The camera was less expensive, even after adding tax, than any legitimate dealer on the internet, and less than most of the shady outfits too. The camera was back ordered, and they could not tell me when the camera would come in, which was a bit annoying. In the end, the camera was available about a week after I ordered it. No tracking number, but it came in a couple of days via UPS ground, exactly as ordered."