Updated Monday July 30, 2007-Now Includes Olevia HDTVs
Flat panel TV bargains abound these days. With prices dropping 30%-40% from 2006 to 2007 (confirmed this week by LG US CEO Michael Ahn) one can easily be tempted by the leader pricing of the “new brands” (called tier two and tier three by the consumer electronics industry) that undercut top panel maker prices by hundreds of dollars.
What the enticing, price driven TV commercials and their dealers don’t tell you is that Westinghouse, Polaroid and other tier two and three set makers add costly charges during the one year warranty period and buyers may incur substantial service charges after their warranties expire. In fact, two companies surveyed don’t support service at all after the one-year warranty expires!
Polaroid’s HDTVs, which sell mainly through Circuit City, would seem to be bargain-priced compared to the “name brand” competitors. Polaroid’s 1080p 42” LCD Model number PLD 4241TLXB, for example, sells for $1149.99 at Circuit City, while Toshiba’s 42HL167 goes for $1699.99.
The Polaroid set seems like a good deal until you find out what the Circuit City and Polaroid websites fail to disclose, which is that Polaroid HDTVs cannot be repaired after the warranty period expires!
The HD Guru visited his local Circuit City and asked the salesman what to do if a Polaroid required out of warranty service. He didn’t know. The next day the HD Guru called Circuit City’s customer service (CS) department. The representative did not have a clue about either in or out of warranty service for Polaroid flat panels!
The HD Guru later contacted Polaroid customer service. A representative informed him that its HDTVs carry a one-year on-site warranty. Fine. But what about parts and service for out of warranty service? Incredibly, the customer service rep replied “there are no out of warranty repairs available, you are basically on you own,” adding that Polaroid does not offer any out of warranty support (including parts), at its US headquarters or through independent TV repair shops.
With no parts and no authorized “out of warranty service available”, what you basically get when you buy a Polaroid is a disposable HDTV— think paper towel. When the warranty expires, if the set breaks, it’s ready for the town dump.
You can always buy an extended warranty from Circuit City, but that subtracts a substantial portion of the savings gained by buying an off brand TV in the first place. The HD Guru wonders how an extended warranty will be honored since Polaroid does not have any system to sell parts to servicers.
Next up, Vizio HDTVs. Here is what appears on its website, with bold added by the HD Guru.
”Service Labor
During the one (1) year warranty period, VIZIO will provide, when needed, service labor to repair a manufacturing defect at its designated service center. To obtain warranty service in the United States, you must first contact VIZIO Technical Support via email at techsupport@VIZIO.com or via phone at (949) 428-2525. The determination of service will be made by VIZIO. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR UNIT TO VIZIO WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION.
Service
During the one (1) year warranty period, VIZIO will, at its option and sole discretion, repair or replace defective parts, which may be new or remanufactured, including replacement of the entire unit. The Customer will be required to ship the product to the service center indicated by VIZIO when the return authorization is provided. The Customer is responsible for all transportation charges to the service center. VIZIO is not responsible for the de-installation or re-installation of the product.
Packaging and Shipping Instruction
When shipping the product to an authorized VIZIO service facility, the original carton box and packing material, or an equivalent as designated by VIZIO, must be utilized.”
According to Vizio, all TVs 37” and larger must go by truck to California. Fed Ex Ground from NY to Vizio in Irvine, CA is $88.95 for its 42” LCD TV and $108.95 for its 50” plasma. You threw out the TVs packing carton? If you are in the warranty period, it’s no problem, Vizio will ship you a new cardboard box at no charge (according to its CS rep).
If the Vizio flat screen breaks after the one-year warranty expires is where it gets expensive. The prices are shocking.
For any Vizio 42” LCD, the carton and packing material with shipping is $300. Its out of warranty service is at a “Flat Rate” of $300 parts + $140 labor. Outbound shipping (FED EX ground) to Vizio cost $89. For return freight, Vizio charges $250 bringing the total cost of an out of warranty repair cost a staggering $1079. The current cost of a new Visio 42” LCD at Circuit City is $1099. Think of it, twenty bucks more and you get a brand new disposable TV with a new one-year warranty. What a deal!
Insignia
Insignia is Best Buy’s “house brand.” It offers a line of HDTVs up to 42”. According to Best Buy salesmen and the Insignia website (http://www.insignia-products.com/t-WarrantyInformationEnglish.aspx) if an Insignia TV needs repair, you must bring it into the store where it was purchased in its “original packaging or packaging affording an equal degree of protection”. Hauling a 92 pound 42” plasma television in its factory carton is quite a hassle probably requiring a large SUV, pickup truck or van. The Best Buy salesmen also said that after the factory one year warranty expires, Best Buy will not repair Insignia brand televisions, but if the two hundred dollar Best Buy extended warranty is purchased with the television, Best Buy will provide in-home service.
Westinghouse
If the set is purchased from Best Buy it must be returned to the store for warranty service regardless of the size of the TV, according to the Westinghouse customer service department. If purchased elsewhere, Westinghouse customer service must be called to determine if the set is in need of factory service. Westinghouse will issue a return authorization if they determine factory services is needed and it will pay the freight both ways if the TV was purchased within the last 90 days. From 90 days to the end of the one-year warranty, the consumer must pay the return freight and supply the original packaging or a suitable equivalent. Westinghouse does not sell replacement cartons and packing. Out of warranty service is available locally in select markets according to its customer service department. If there is no local factory authorized servicer in your area, the set owner must pay the freight both ways and the cost or repair parts and labor, which will be determined after Westinghouse receives and examines the malfunctioning television.
Olevia
Olevia’s limited customer service hours (7:00 am- 6:00 pm Pacific time) and broken links on its website regarding its warranty rules made it difficult to obtain information on its policies. Furthermore, its warranties are the most complicated the HD Guru™ has encountered. If an Olevia HDTV requires repair within the one year warranty period, the additional costs and services incurred will depend on how long you owned the set its screen size. Here is its warranty program obtained from an Olevia customer service representative.
<37” screen size – customer pays return freight from day one. Return shipping to Olevia is $55 for 32” HDTV and paid to Olevia when obtaining return authorization.
37” and larger- up to 45 days old Olevia will pay return freight to its California headquarters and replace the broken television with a new unit.
After 45 days the customer pays the return freight at a rate of $150 for it 37” models and $225 for its 42” HDTV. Olevia will replace the defective television with a rebuilt unit (as in another set that was defective and repaired) This “no repair” just replace with a refurbished set applies to all Olevia HDTVs regardless of model or size according to its customer service department. Olevia will pre-ship the refurbed TV to you and at the time of delivery, will allow you to use the same shipping carton to return your defective television.
The Olevia customer service rep said its 42″ models have on-site inspection service, but it is only to send a technician over to your home to determine of the set is actually in need of repair, for example, to make sure the power cord is connected. If the tech determines the set is broken, Olevia will ship a replacement refurbished TV after the shipping is paid.
For sets out of warranty repairs, you would obtain a return authorization, and ship at your expense the broken TV back to Olevia for a repair estimate. If you need a shipping carton, Olevia will ship you one for a very reasonable $20.
Olevia also offers extended warranty service plans, however they will charge you return freight after the initial 45 days of ownership and replace you broken HDTV with a refurbished unit. Here are the prices of the plans (you must add on the return freight charges )i.e. $225 for a 42” model which raises the cost of warranty to $474 for its 5 series with three year extension of the one year factory warranty. Of course it the set requires a second replacement, you would have to shell out another $225 for shipping.
3 Series
All Parts & Labor/ Replacement (including LCD Panel)
2 Years Total/4 Years Total)
332 $119 order $149 order
337 $159 order $189 order
342 $189 order $219 order
5 Series
All Parts & Labor/ Replacement (including LCD Panel)
2 Years Total/4 Years Total
532 $149order $169 order
537 $189order $219 order
540 $199 order $249 order
542 $199 order $249 order
.
Name Brand HDTV Service
All the top name brands including Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi Samsung, Philips, LG, Mitsubishi, Sharp and Toshiba etc. have in-home factory authorized warranty service for their larger size TVs (usually 32” and up). Out of warranty service is no problem. All the major name brand TV companies have vast parts supplies and a nationwide network of factory authorized servicers. The latest trend, started by Panasonic is “concierge” service. If a Panasonic plasma is taken out of the home for service, Panasonic will provide a loaner plasma TV until the set is returned. This extra service is free; set purchasers only need to register with Panasonic.
Bottom line: the top tier TV companies invest in the future, spending collectively many tens of millions of dollars to keep their customers coming back to them. The “new brands” look for the sale today and do not have policies that will retain customers. With better warranties and service, the top brands have an incentive to build higher quality more reliable HDTVs.
Make sure you check out the warranty and after warranty service of the brand of HDTV you are considering, or you may end up spending more money sooner than you anticipate.
Copyright 2007 HD Guru ™ All Rights Reserved
John Drake
Posted on 8th August, 2007
Thank you for the very informative article. Some of those lower cost brands have great pictures to go along with the low price, now I’m not so sure if I should take a chance on them knowing what I know now. As for Polaroid, I don’t consider anything that costs $1149 to be “disposable.”
That leads me to another point. Do we have any idea what the lifespan of a plasma or LCD HDTV will be? My current TV is around 6 years old and given me no problems and my last one lasted for 6 years as well. The one I had before that, a store brand, lasted 10 years and only needed warranty work once. My parents had a used Sears TV that was 15 years old, worked fine, and had never needed repairs. The only reason they got rid of it was they moved into a smaller house and had no place for it. Can we expect these kind of numbers with these new, $1200+ HDTVs?
When I finally do buy, I’ll probably consider one of the established brands like Sharp, Magnavox, or Samsung. Another brand I had considered was Viewsonic. They have good picture quality and the company has been making computer monitors for a long time. I wonder how their TVs are and how their warranty/parts/service are. If anyone has any info on any of the brands I mentioned, I’d like to know.
Thanks.
Name brand plasmas are rated at 60,000 hours (the measurement is to one half original brightness.) Panasonic just upped its rating on its 1080p plasmas to 100,000 hours.
LCD backlights are rated at around 50,000 (though I have yet to see any documentation to back up this claim).
Many TVs are replaced every seven to ten years, but generally they are moved to another room or handed down to a child or relative a not replaced because they break.
In the HD Guru’s experience, the traditional brands are very reliable.
The HD Guru
Jacques O.Akin
Posted on 14th November, 2007
I purchased a 20″ poloroid T.V. at walmart,,they give 90 days,,,Polorid one year,,,My T.V. went out
12months and three weeks,,,,I have tried to get it
fix,,,no success,,,no parts,,,,I was told if I had
taken out the warranty,they would have to replace it.,,,I wrote everyone but the governor,,,,JOA
Mark S., Lansing MI
Posted on 29th November, 2007
Hey Folks, Sorry for the second post, but this one is independent from the response I gave to James S above…
I know previously I had said that I got a GFM 26″ LCD HDTV from Meijer, and here is an update to that:
——————
I recently got a 19″ Trutech LCD HDTV(with DVD Built in) on BF from target, and realized after viewing the full picture on the 19″, that my GFM was cropping off about 6pct of the image all the way around the screen.. Like in a ZOOM mode.. (I knew it was doing this since I owned it, but didn’t realize just how much I was missing!)
SO, I patiently explained to the folks at my local Meijer about this defect, and surprisingly, they let me exchange my 26″ set for another GFM 26″ set to see if that would make a difference.
It turns out that GFM had updated their tv sets, so I GOT A NEW version of my set! It’s model number is now V07LCD26. And it’s all silver, and has HDMI input, and basically, had been totally redesigned. Even the remote is totally new.. I’m Frigging Lucky! PHEW!!!
bottom line: much nicer remote, better tuner (I can pull in more/clearer stations), much better blacks/color saturation, more inputs/outputs, and no picture cropping! The remote has a picture aspect button, so when I select the zoom option, it does look similar to the older version’s ‘cropped’ look of the set that I returned for exchange.
I have to give a SHOUT OUT of THANKS to Meijer for allowing me to exchange my set quite a while after their 30 day return policy!
—> SO, I’m hoping that this newly redesigned and hopefully higher quality model isn’t just a disposable HDTV! *Fingers Crossed* for luck…
I LOVE IT! (so far anyway lol …..
wink wink- *fingers crossed for luck*
Yvonne
Posted on 20th December, 2007
WHEW!
I’ve been looking at and researching LCD HDTVs for the last month and a half. Since it’s a replacement for the bedroom, which is used infrequently, I started out looking for 21″-23″ then decided if I’m going to go with 23″ why not 26″. I fell in love with the Bravia and liked Toshiba, Sharp, etc., all the top tier brands, but their price is more than I want to spend right now.
About a week ago I saw, online, what I thought was, a great sale at Walmart for the Vizio, saw an even better sale a week later at Target for Olevia and wondered about the Spcetre, Insigna and Envision, etc. TVs at the other stores. I went into the store for a personal view of the two aforementioned. Suprisingly, I wasn’t impressed with the Vizio, but very impressed with the Olevia. (A friend has the 32″ and I liked hers, though it has been replaced due to a vertical line suddenly appearing on the left of the screen–less that a year old.)
Needless to say, after reading The Guru’s extensive report (and others who has had difficulty with performance and repair), I think I’ll return a few more bottles and wait for post holiday sales to see what’s being offered before January inventory kicks in and 2008 restocking begins.
Since this is a replacement for a more than 30-yr old 20″ Sony, which was hardly ever used, the good news is that time is on my side.
Thanks again for such a great feedback!
To Kurt Rodgers from Greg
Posted on 27th December, 2007
Hi Kurt (if that’s your real name…or shall I call you SONY/SAMSUNG CSR “Kurt”?),
Put your conspiracy theories away.
I am buying a TV in the coming months, was concerned about repairs given this site’s “info” and simply went on Vizio’s website to check out the real options.
Perhaps if you did the same rather than fan the flames of paranoia and fear, you’d have found the same result.
So, if you head to Vizio.com, then to “support”, then to “extended service plans” you too can enter your model number (even if you don’t work for Vizio like me…er, I mean oh, dammit! nevermind)
Anyhow, I called and they offer *on-site* repair for the larger HDTVs here in NY. You get to input your model # and price paid and off you go. You’ll get the numbers I quoted above.
So, Kurt, the moral here is that you should not jump on the bandwagon when without research.
People buying $1,500 TVs need real information, not 12th century scare tactics and well, See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
Mad at SAMSUNG!!
Posted on 21st January, 2008
This 4671f has been giving me headaches since day one.
Makes me think the majority of the reviews on amazon are LIES!
Slow downs, double ball effects with football, now, a growing # of dead pixels..
Some people are bad mouthing 2nd tiers
Well, I sold off my 6 month old Olevia 747i to finance this Samsung ‘Upgrade’
..And I wish I hadn’t, as this Samsung is giving me degrading experiences.
And Samsung’s tech support is a bunch of low paid scripted idiots…ARGH!!
When I didn’t know about the main switch on the back of the now sold TV and called Olevia, they were courteous and insightful and helped me resolve that problem.
It seems by comparison that the folks at Samsung don’t even want to help me!!
The 2nd tiers want your business.
Seems that the likes of Samsung doesn’t care about the average Joe.
Yeh, I HOPE someone at samsung sees this, and does something about the poor quality these products and services actually are!!! – Otherwise no more Samsung products in this household!!
Jordan
Posted on 13th February, 2008
Many people are missing the point – all of these items are effectively disposable. A service tech visit to your house is going to start at about $300 to $350. Then you pay $150-$200 an hour, plus parts and shipping, to get your set fixed out of warranty. I hate to say it, but at this point, it’s actually cheaper to buy a TV and throw it away than it is to get one fixed. If you get that bargain $600 42″ TV and it dies in 3 years (most electronics which survive more than 3 months burn in will survive 2-5 years), you’ll be able to replace it with another bargain TV of the same size for about 1/2 what you paid.
If the loss of the TV will seriously set you back, you can buy failure insurance. The store will call it an extended warranty, but it’s basically an insurance policy. The failure rate of electronics is extremely low, but none of these sets has a zero failure rate. To those who have expensive sets and haven’t had them fail, I remind you that the plural of anecdote is not data.
To expect these modern electronics to last as long as my Father in law’s old console TV is irrational. He had his TV for 25 years. When he finally got rid of it, the top 2″ showed a curved portion of the VBI, and there was little to no blue left. My Mother in law still doesn’t know why they bothered to replace it…it worked “fine”. With new HDMI specs coming out every two years, and the DRM issues floating around, I wouldn’t expect you to be able to go more than about 5 years without a forced upgrade if you stay current with technology. Sets from just 5-7 years ago don’t even have HDMI, and many still don’t have more than 1 HDMI input.
While it’s good to know that your set is disposable, I wouldn’t fret too much about it. If you want a long insurance policy (warranty), buy one. If you’re okay playing your odds, know that you’re likely to get 4-5 years out of your current set, and when it fails, you’ll be able to buy a better one of the same size for less than it would cost to fix the old one. Human interaction is expensive, good human interaction is very expensive. The cost to manufacture these things in the thousands has dropped to the point where their cost is insignificant to the cost of good repair technicians. That’s the reason that most TV repair shops have gone out of business.
Ashram
Posted on 21st May, 2008
To Scott P.
The problem with your Westinghouse is not really regarding the picture quality, though on average a top tier set will outperform it.
The problem is in regards to support, or lack thereof, in the event that you encounter a problem with the set that necessitates service.
The no-names simply do not provide adequate service to their customer.
You pay through the teeth to have the set shipped for the warranty service (or a warranty swap for a refurbished set).
Or, you’ll really pay with a limb for post-warranty service (cost of shipping and service/swap).
Or you will have absolutely no recourse whatsoever to recover your investment should it fail post-warranty (no parts and service data).
Compare this to a top-tier. If you have a problem under warranty, usually the company will act satisfactorily, including having the set shipped at their own expense and not at yours. Or, they will send a tech over to fix your set. Even post-warranty service may be cheaper: you take the set to an authorized servicer or have a tech come over and fix the set in-house. And, since top-tier companies tend to keep an inventory of parts and service data, the chances of recovering your investment post-warranty is good.
I tend to think of an expensive purchase, such as an HDTV, as an investment I wish to maximize as much as possible. Therefore, for the long term it makes sense to purchase a set made by a well-established 1st tier brand. Not only will you get superior performance but, more importantly, there will be good help available to assist you when you need it.
H.Mason Welch III
Posted on 16th June, 2008
My wife,and,I bought a 37″ LCD Sylvania -6637-LCT A,last Fall,At Brandsmart U.S.A.(10-13-07) Sylvania has been a houshold name as long as I can remember,but when the picture started flickering in the top 1/3 of the screen,I was told by “Funai Corp.” customer service to,”reset TV”.3 weeks later,3 more inches were flickering,and,they said to send them the tv,(in a box they`d send us) ;a $75.00 check,and,they would either,repair,or,send us a check,for the purchase price.So,we waited for the box,and,waited,…..,and,waited.five conversations,and,3 months later,(after threatened with the BBB)the box arrived last friday.The local news had a story about flat panels,and,a tv flickering just like Ours! So I guess our Sylvania/Funai is third tier junk,Huh,???Is it worth repairing???
LinnieWV
Posted on 3rd August, 2008
In a blue funk:
In a day, I’ve read all that’s posted on this discussion site about “disposable tv’s. I had hoped to learn how to decide about the best way to spend $500 or less for a new tv. For 4 years now, I’ve been using (mostly with rabbit ears, now with cheapo cable services) a 11-or-so-inch color tv my son-in-law converted for in-home viewing from its original service in a 1988 van.
But my head is spinning now. Top tier, even if 22-inches or so? Or any tier, as long as it’s from Best Buy and I buy also the longest warranty they sell (which must reduce my total out-of-pocket …. say to $600. I just cannot spend more.
My desired uses for this tv are (1) 3-4 evenings a week, watch 1-2 hours of network tv shows; (2) if possible, hook up my dvd player to the tv and watch my small collection of good movies; and (3) sometimes hear or watch weather reports, given I live in Biloxi, MS, center of Hurricane Heaven. At 63, these past 6 months are the first time in my life I’ve lived on/near a coastline of any sort, so weather reports are important, huh?
So now what? This weekend I’ve done all the research I can find worth doing on the web, which consists (First) of the big-TV reviews on Consumer Reports (and thinking and hoping the brands of tv’s in my price range will be expected to perform like their Big Brothers and Sisters), an; and (Second) reading the entirity of this discussion posting.
I will be most eager for a wise somebody to offer a best-knowledge briefing as soon as possible. I HAD hoped to go buy that tv today. However, given the quality of much of the discussion in this venue, I’m willing to wait for some wisdom that may come my way today or any day this coming week (August 3-10).
Interesting that this thread is still “live” after two years..
A couple points that don’t seem to be made here, from a guy who owns a TV repair company that fixes about 10,000 TV’s a year…
1) To those people who are saying “since I only paid $XXXX for this set, I expect to throw it away after a year, and there’s always newer and better stuff” – hogwash. Unless you’re far richer than I am (or any of our customers) you are NOT going to feel that way if your investment goes dead after 13 months. Guaranteed. We talk to you guys all the time, EVERYONE says “but, my LAST TV lasted 10 years!”
2) This practice is patently illegal, and only exists because the consumers affected don’t have the chutzpah to take real ACTION. There’s a federal law – the Magnuson-Moss Act (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/adv/bus01.shtm), which – among other things – mandates that warranty service must be “without charge” (section 2304 (d)), the product must be replaced or refunded after a “reasonable number of attempts” at repair (section 2304 (a) (4)), and must be done in a “reasonable time and without charge” (section 2304 (a) (1)).
For those in California, the Song-Beverly Act (http://www.lemonlawca.com/songbeverly.html)further expands your rights. Song Beverly says, for instance, that every manufacturer MUST provide parts for SEVEN years (1793.03 (b)) and must maintain service “reasonably close” to all areas where their products are sold. Products also must be fixed within 30 days (1793.2 (b)) AND if the product has to be shipped, the manufacturer has to pay for the shipping (1793.2 (c)).
Why do customers put up with this? I’ve been suggesting that buyers of “off” brands that provide no service support either sue the company, or at a minimum report it to their state consumer protection agency as well as the FTC (and in CA, the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair.)
Not only are end-users hurt by this, but the companies that provide REAL support are at a disadvantage. The companies like Sony, Mits, Sharp, LG, Toshiba, etc that incur the cost of having this support CAN’T match the up front price of a company like Olevia or Polaroid. Every customer who buys one of the off brands not only runs the risk of having a very expensive boat anchor, but they’re actually furthering the process of driving companies that still provide support OUT of business…
This is the exact same dynamic as companies that hire illegal workers and pay them substandard wages (with no benefits) to do a particular job, competing against companies that hire legitimate eligible citizens and have to pay them a few bucks more.
The end product COSTS a bit more of course, but if we allow the companies that are operating ILLEGALLY to profit and gain market share by taking advantage of their low cost structure then we’re actually DAMAGING the companies that do things above board and by the books.
I certainly don’t want to pay any more for anything than I have to, but the playing field should at least be level – every company should have to comply with the same set of laws, and then if one company just “does it better” or somehow “makes it cheaper”, more power to them!
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