Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[jb555]

I purchased a new Samsung 42" plasma about 2 years ago from Best Buy and was told then it had a 5 year warrantee.

2 weeks after purchase I began noticing these blue 'splotches' in the bottom left corner of the screen

  ( see picture of this here: http://www.highdefforum.com/flat-panel-TV's/41763-blue-spots-lower-left-part-screen-show-not-full-sc...  )

Granted, it's an intermittent problem but it happens 1 of every 3 times I turn the TV on and for a new, $1k+ TV it's really annoying.

Called Best Buy and the tech came out, but of course the friendly blue ghost didn't appear that day, or any other on which the tech came out. Was told there was nothing to do but reschedule and hope it appears next time.

2 years of blue-splotchy-ness and 6 support visits later, I find out that this is a common problem with Samsungs and HAD I CALLED SAMSUNG immediately they would have fixed or *replaced* the defective TV. Looking through the forums on this issue, it appears that *replacement* is possible

  ( This samsung, for example, was replaced for the same problem : http://axewielderx.wordpress.com/2007/05/28/the-truth-about-plasma-TVs/  )

Now I call Samsung and my 1-year manufacturer's warrantee has expired!! So there's nothing they can do! and Best Buy is still struggling to fix this really annoying problem.

My question is :: why is it that Best Buy NEVER ONCE advised me to speak to Samsung? I didn't know there were *TWO* warranties on my device! and that one would expire in the first year! I must have talked to them at least 10 times in the past two years and they kept saying there's nothing you can do but schedule another visit. ...

I should have known, should have called Samsung earlier, etc etc etc. I'm kicking myself.

I just wish the 2 warranties were more clearly described at the point of purchase .. Let this be a warning to future users of this forum. CALL THE MANUFACTURER FIRST

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello jb555 - 

Allan, one our Community Connectors, will be reviewing your case and reaching out to you in the next few days.  Thank you for your patience!

[jb555]

Sorry --

The first link I gave (the image) had a typo, wanted to update it:

http://www.highdefforum.com/flat-panel-tvs/41763-blue-spots-lower-left-part-screen-show-not-full-scr...

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi jb555,

Having a TV with a problem for two years would be too long for anyone, and I’m sure the fact that you purchased a Performance Service Plan (PSP) along with the TV makes it even more frustrating that this still isn’t resolved.

I’m definitely not a home theater expert and would not be qualified to say if this is a known issue with this model TV, but I do know that if there is a known issue with a particular model the manufacturer could recall the product and would make the public aware of this. It is very likely that the technicians were not aware of any known issue with your TV, and in addition wouldn’t be able to order parts to repair your TV until they can replicate the problem.

You are correct that during the first year of owning this TV it would be covered by both the manufacturer’s warranty and your PSP, and the manufacturer’s warranty would expire after one year; while your PSP would cover repairs of your TV for four years.

I would like to personally look into this for you, and hopefully get this finally resolved for you. I am sending you a private message, and to check your messages you should log into the forum and then click on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Thanks for posting,