Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[grod]

I just thought I'd post my experience with my 4 yr PSP on my 42" Westinghouse TX-42F430S. After reading  through these forums and through other forums online I thought I was going to be in for a long wait and maybe even a battle. When finally getting a replacement conf # and going into the store I still thought I would have to argue about getting something other then the Insignia that most people have said they were offered as replacement. Well everything went great and here is how it went down.

I purchased the TX-42F430S on Jan 2008 along with the 4 yr extended warranty plan. Starting in November I experienced the HDMI no input issues many Westinghouse owners had. I would be watching something and all of a sudden NO INPUT and a black screen. I had to unplug the TV to pick up the input again. The problem started getting worse so I submitted a repair request via the Live Chat at the end of Jan, they scheduled me for a service call on Feb. 11th and when the tech came he simply said the same thing most Westinghouse owners have heard. "It's the main board and it has to be ordered", well the tech told me it would be 5 days and they would come out the following week (they would call before they come).

So 20 days have gone by and I figured I would contact Best Buy to see what the status was since I knew that this part was very elusive. This past Tuesday (March 3rd) I logged into the Live Chat and asked for status, I was told the part showed an ETA of March 20th. Without me having to ask the Rep told me she could put in for a replacement since I had already been waiting over 14 days and the part was still not available. I agreed to the replacement and she said I would have a call with an approval and confirmation # in 3-5 days.

The following day March 4th I get a call with the approval and confirmation #! They tell me to take the TV and number to a BB store and they would replace my TV with something "comparable".

Last night I went into BB with the TV and # and they entered the info into the computer a couple of mins later they give me receipts and a paper, they tell me that I can go pick out a new TV (any TV!) and have them bring it to the service desk and give them the papers and receipts back. What they did was issue me a store credit from the original purchase price of the Westinghouse including Tax. 

I picked out a 42" 1080p Sony Bravia and the difference was $50 that I had to pay!

If you want to get technical the real price of the replacement cost $50 extra plus $129 which was the cost of the original extended warranty on the Westinghouse.

This was a great experiance and I feel for all of you who are having issues regarding this same thing. I guess it all depends on the reps and stores that you deal with. Hopefully it works out for the people having long wait times and replacement issues.

[StPaddy81]

Wow!  Your story gives me hope.  I have been working with Allan on this forum and most recently Abby on the Live Chat link to get my situation resolved with my TX-47F430S.  I have been waiting nearly two weeks for parts, and all told 4 weeks since my original service call was placed.   I was told today by Abby on Live Chat that she would be submitting my TV for replacement after she discovered that the "Main I/O Board" ETA had been pushed back to 4/8/2009.  How wonderful would it be if I received a call tomorrow and I could have a new TV this weekend!

As Tom Petty says: "The Waiting is the hardest part..."  :-)

[StPaddy81]

I forgot to mention that you can read about my experience here:  http://forums.bestbuy.com/bb/board/message?board.id=Warranties&thread.id=2343

[grod · Accepted solution]

StPaddy81, after reading your post and a couple of others on here I really thought I was going to be in for a long battle as I said, but it was nothing close. Glad to hear you are getting close to getting your replacement. By the way the Westinghouse to the Sony Bravia is like day and night. I should have gone with something like this in the first place but instead I wanted to save money and got the Westy. Live and learn.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hi grod,

I just want to let you know that Dorothy, one of our Community Connectors, is currently looking into your concern and will follow up with you shortly.  Thanks for your patience!

Cheers,

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon grod -

Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experience with us.  While I know there are many, many people who have similar positive outcomes like you did, it is rare we have someone take the time to post about it.

Thank you again, and welcome to the forums!

Regards,

Dorothy

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate