Black spots on a new tv screen?

[mbarker]

That's very irritating. End of April, I bought a new small TV to use as a monitor and watch "my shows" in my room. I also got the recording rig, so that I could "tape" my shows. So when we went to a conference recently, I happily set it up and left. No problems, right?

Come back this week, flip the set on, and ... ouch! The bottom of the screen seems to have sprouted some greenish moss growing here and there, and there were three black blobs setting on the bottom edge, one large, two smaller. Nothing seems to make them go away!

So we call for service. Guy comes out, we turn it on, and the first thing he says is "You dropped it?" At which point I hit my flashpoint and told him no way. "Well, you hit it?" Grumble, grumble... wait a second, there's only TWO now. Both big! Then he says he's never seen this before. He opens it up, fiddles with it a while, sends a picture to the office, and finally asks to take it with him. Says they should be able to fix it by Saturday.

This morning, he calls and tells me when they opened it, it's clear that I dropped it. At which point, I hit the roof, and ask him if he dropped it, because I didn't! Or maybe there was an earthquake while we weren't here, because it was just sitting there. I tell him that he can just refund the price, but I am not paying them to fix this. I remind him that it is new, and still well under warranty, and ask if this is what they want their image to be? He says he needs to talk with his manager, and he'll call back.

Poking around on the web, it looks as if this is a common problem for this kind of screen -- and while a few clearly are the result of someone dropping or pushing on it, many just "appear."

So -- we'll have to see what happens. In the meantime, I'm irritated and upset. There's something about that continuing accusation of having broken it that really sets me off. All I did was turn it on, with a remote control, no less.

Comments

[dialyn.livejournal.com]

That doesn't seem like something that would be common for any screen. After all that has happened, it is the small things that push us over the edge--especially when someone tries to make it seem like it is our fault that it happened and you know darn well it had nothing to do with anything you did. Hope they work this out in your favor...and soon!

Friday's update

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Sigh. The day started with another call, explaining that management knew that I had broken the TV. After peeling me off the ceiling, I suggested that instead of this mysterious "boss" talking indirectly about someone he has never talked to, he should talk to me. At which point they wanted to call back, instead of putting him on right away. Except, of course, that I was going to work.

So he talked with Mitsuko, my wife. Apparently he spent 40 minutes, said he understood completely, but... we still needed to pay for the repair. At which point my dear wife blew her lid, told him that they had better deliver the TV tomorrow free, and hung up on him.

Then she called the electronics store where we bought this, their main office, and the consumer complaints office. All of whom said they understood. The electronics store and their main office said they would call the service group. The consumer complaints folks said we should not accept the charges!

So... we're waiting to see what happens tomorrow.

Re: Friday's update

[dialyn.livejournal.com]

Makes you wonder if it is really worth losing a customer over this? I'd assume you'd be reluctant to buy from them again, and certainly you wouldn't recommend them to other people. It doesn't seem like they are making much of an effort to solve the problem, which is really stupid. I realize the strain everyone must be under, but that doesn't excuse flushing customer service down the toilet.

Saturday's Update

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Now, that's frustrating. Today the manager called. He admitted that he doesn't know how the TV broke, but he insists that we should pay for repairing it. He says that the warranty doesn't matter!

He did offer to bring it back unrepaired. We refused that, and I'm a bit amazed that they haven't even fixed it -- since today was the promised repair date.

So, we went and talked to the people at the electronics store where we bought the set. They said they would talk with the maker, too.

But I'm very doubtful at this point that there is a good solution to this. Since the maker apparently can't admit that it might be a flaw in the set, and insists that we pay for replacing the panel, while we are equally sure that simply turning the set on and off with the remote control shouldn't result in a failure...

So right now, they have the set. I joked that we should tell the police someone stole our TV, and we know who -- and they demanded money to return it. Sounds like a kidnapping when you think about it that way.

Monday update

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Hum. Not sure what happened, but at lunch time, the manager called. Said this time, they would pay for the repair. They're bringing the set back (fixed) sometime this week.

Of course, the really bad part is that I'm pretty sour on them at this point. Even if we do get the set repaired.

Thursday Update

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Most peculiar. The original guy called this morning, and said they had fixed the set, when would we like him to deliver it. So about 6 this evening, he came in, set it up, and connected everything. Seems to be working fine -- at least the black blobs are gone.

I did ask him where the damage was -- he said on the bottom edge. When I asked him how anyone could do that, he said all they could think of was somehow dropping it straight down on its stand. I didn't bother pointing out to him that the stand actually screws into the back structure, not the panel -- so there's nothing that should be able to exert pressure there.

Anyway, fixed now.