NO---I will not deal with Circuit City again---EVER and I will never purchase another Sony product! On April the 9th., 2006 I purchased a Sony KDS-R50XBR1 SXRD Projection TV from the RT. 202 store in Wilmington, Delaware. I paid $3,249.97 for the TV and $319.99 for a two year extended warranty. At the same time I also purchased a stand for the TV for $314.99. That is a total of 3884.95. The main reason I decided on this TV was the “True 1080P HD Display”----more on that later.
Approximately two weeks after the TV was delivered, I went to turn it on and------NOTHING! It would not power up. I wanted this TV because I was going through Chemotherapy and Radiation and I knew that I would be laid up for many weeks. I give my old TV to my daughter, so now I had nothing. My next logical step was to call Circuit City (where I had just spent all this money) and schedule a repair. I was informed that they were very busy and it would take at least 4 weeks to get to me. ONE MONTH!! OK, I am under the Sony warranty so I called Sony. It took a week, but Sony came out to fix the TV. Sure enough---the repair man took one look at it and said--- “Yep, you're right, it won't power on”! Now he needed to order the correct part that it needed because he couldn't fix it. Weeks later I received a call from Sony that the part had come in and we scheduled a repair date for about one week later. TWO men showed up and it took 21/2 hours for them to repair the TV. They had to completely tear it apart and install an entirely new optical unit, etc. Low and behold---they told me that this is happening to all the Sony KDS-R50XBR1 TV's---and it will happen again. GREAT! So, now I have a working TV. Beautiful picture, and I love movies, so I insanely purchased a Sony Playstation 3 so I could watch Blu-Ray movies. NO, I can't. The TV is not capable of 1080P. The forums are full of people complaining that they were told that the TV would play 1080P. The salesman at Circuit City told me it would play 1080P. Apparently the HDMI inputs are not 1080P, but the display itself is capable of displaying 1080P. This means---------NO 1080P---period!
There was nothing I could do. The Salesman at Circuit City told me it was 1080P. My word against his. I could not find anything in writing about 1080P----------until now (more on this later).
Sooooo, now I have a VERY expensive 1080i TV with a gorgeous picture--------------------------------------which has now turned a horrible shade of green----------over the entire screen. Adjustments won't help. OH----I have an extended warranty through Circuit City. They will come to my rescue! NADA. On September the 18th., 2007, I called Circuit City for my third repair call. They were able to come out and fix it on September the 26th.! Great!. NADA. A really nice repair man named Joe (and I mean that) from Circuit City arrived at my door with a big smile. He already knew what was wrong with the TV because he knows that TV----and Sony. “Yep, you're right, the screen is green” he said. Now he needed to order the correct part that it needed because he couldn't fix it. “This part takes a month to get in” he told me. He also told me that my TV qualifies as a “LEMON” and Sony should replace it. He would talk to his Boss---Mr. Eric Morales at Circuit City, and Mr. Morales would call me. Sure enough----same day even, Mr Morales called me. He would see what he could do to get the TV replaced. Finally, some help from the trusted folks at Circuit City! NADA. I received a call from Mr Morales saying he could not locate any previous repair records. If I could find any repair Claim numbers, to call them in. Two days later I called in TWO Claim numbers, but Mr Morales was not available. OK---it shouldn't take too long now! NADA. SIX weeks later I have become really disgusted so I contacted my attorney about this matter. He suggested I contact Circuit City one last time before he proceded. OK, I called Mr. Eric Morales but he wasn't in. After a few minutes of trying to make the girl understand that I wanted to leave a message---please write it down, she finally understood. Two days later I received a call from Mr. Morales. He seemed a bit dazed and confused. He said that the man from Circuit City that I said came out for the repair, couldn't have because he was in the hospital. Wow! I know there was a man from Circuit City named Joe standing in my living room. My Fiance'e even saw him. She even wrote his name down along with the advice he gave us! Mr. Morales did not have the claim numbers I had called in many weeks earlier. Mr. Morales then informed me that the repair was cancelled on October the 18th., 2007. What? I reminded him of our fairly long conversation six weeks prior----but he didn't remember. He did tell me that he knew my brother had the same problem with HIS TV. I don't have a brother. I have a sister. She may, at times, look like a brother, but she is definitely my SISTER---and she doesn't watch TV. Mr Eric Morales was speechless. He simply had no idea who I was or what had happened. Meanwhile my attorney is drowning in his own drool at the thought of attacking Circuit City. You see, when the TV was delivered it still had the store sale tag on the screen. I hadn't noticed until just the other morning. In BOLD black letters the tag reads ---- “1080P True HD Display”. I have it in writing on Circuit City's own display tag. I am REALLY pissed now. Plus the fact that I paid for a two year extended warranty---which is a ONE YEAR WARRANTY. Sony warrants this TV for one year. The Circuit City warranty runs concurrently, meaning that when the Sony warranty expired—I have one year left—not two years. That was my fault entirely and it will never happen again. All the wasted time (with still no repair) has eaten into my warranty also! By the way, the TV was only operated about 8-10 hours per week. It still crashed and burned with so few hours of operation. Every several months (of normal use) the optical unit will need to be replaced according to the many forums and Tech sites I visit.
Back to Mr. Eric Morales. He is still dumbfounded. He tells me that he will take care of the problem and gives me his personal Cell phone number. Wonderful. This is on Monday, Nov. 5th.. He promises to call me with an update on Tuesday, Nov. The 6th. No phone call. I did receive a call, however from a TV repair place a few miles from me. They called to confirm their scheduled appointment for Saturday morning. What scheduled appointment Saturday morning? AND-- I will be away on Saturday!!!! “OH”, the very nice Lady said. I explained the entire situation to her and she informed me that they were only coming to see what was wrong with the TV. OK, now I am starting to reach my limit. I am a very calm and collected person, but when pushed to my limit, believe me---all Hell breaks loose. She understood that the problem had already been diagnosed by the Phantom Circuit City man, and she will order a part for the TV. Does she have any idea what to order? Still no word from Mr. Eric Morales. Here I sit after almost two months, with a green TV. Everything is green. Yesterday I tried to watch the Eagles football game—because the Eagles wear green uniforms. Horrible. Tonight I may try to watch a movie. I have selected SHREK—maybe I can watch that.
To sum things up, the time before I was in Circuit City (before buying the TV), a salesman came up to me and asked if he could help. I was just looking so I said something to that effect. Later on, I was looking at the TV's and another salesman asked if he could answer any questions. I had a question---so I asked. I was told the answer and happily walked away only to be verbally assaulted by the first Salesman. He literally got in my face about how he had asked to help me first! I was shocked and astounded to say the least. From that point on, every time I walked into that store I received a very dirty look from that Salesman. It's not my style to cause problems. I am not a vindictive person. I have my own company and I treat my employees as I would like to be treated. I have very happy employees. I am at the point where I have no option but to give my attorney the green light. My Fiance'e is urging me to send this complaint to Circuit City and to Sony before I file suit, but I am having great problems with that. How much is too much? Bottom line----I want this TV replaced by either Circuit City or Sony. It is NOT what I was told it was. It has been broken way too long and it will continue to break after being repaired. This is common knowledge in the forums AND with Sony and Circuit City. To me it's an either/or situation. Today is November the 12th., and still no word from Mr. Morales. He once again pushed the matter aside for someone else to handle and wiped his hands of the matter. I want this Sony TV removed from my home.