http://www.HPplasmaLAWSUIT.info

HP 42" Plasma HDTV / HP PL426ON
Model # -- CPTOH-0602
Product # EK429AA
S/N CNH6091713

----- First HP contact ----- 1-800-474-6836 HP Tech Support

Was watching TV the other night and heard a loud "pop" sound. Picture went black but could still hear sound and could use the functions and menu's ... even change the channel ... but no picture. Contacted HP that evening to inquire what could be the problem. HP representative said she thought the TV needed to be "reset" she had me disconnect the power supply and then depress the power button while TV was off for 30 seconds. I did just that, then turned the TV back on as instructed ... same problem no picture with sound. She then said it was likely the bulb/lamp in the TV and that she would pullup some specs and see if we could check on that over the phone. When she came back she stated that my product didn't allow for the bulb/lamp to be replaced and then said my TV needed to be looked at by a technician and she would be happy to setup that appointment for me. She informed me that the technician would cost $629.00 + tax ... nearly 700 dollars. She also stated that the technician would only be able to "attempt" to fix the problem by swapping in and out boards in the TV. 3 boards ; YSUS BOARD, CONTROLLER/LOGIC BOARD, XSUS BOARD. As the TV was powering on and off the power board was fine. It was explained to me that if the technician was unable to fix my TV in 3 attempts, that HP would refund half the 629.00 - tax of course because something had to be paid to the technician for their trouble, at my expense. I didn't schedule the appointment that night because it seemed like alot of money to "attempt" to fix a bad board and something seemed fishy about the whole customer service experience I was receiving.

I then spent the next day researching online and what I found is that I wasn't alone. Online websites made several suggestions as to what to do to get the TV back working. Replacing fuses, boards, contacting various HP employees, and some "fix it" solution suggestions.

----- Second HP Contact ----- 1-877-917-4380 HP Case Manager / Tara S. ext. 79

This contact was a further complete waste of time. She sounded like a broken record repeating the same "scripted" response to nearly everything I asked, even when the question had nothing to do with what I had just asked. End case she said she could setup a technician to come out at my expense blah blah blah 629.00 + tax later for the "attempt" at fixing it. Also that HP had replaced this "known" issue with HP PL426ON until Jan. 2009 but I was well past that expiration date by many months. Current date Nov. 2009. HP has now made it very clear that they will do nothing for me other than the technician solution. Which by the way is simply scheduling me an appointment with the geek squad from Best Buy to come out and "attempt" to fix my known issue. This led me to try various other avenues of investigation.

----- PTS electronics ----- 1-812-824-9331

PTS electronics will no longer work on this product. They will no longer deal with or support any HP TV product. In short this was a dead-end. It may have helped someone at sometime but it didn't help me.

----- Contact Best Buy (1-6)-----

I started then searching for the part that the best buy Geek squad people would be swapping in and out of my TV. I didn't want to pay all that money to have another "known defective" YSUS board installed and have it crap out on me. This process has been extremely time consuming and frustrating.

1. bestbuy.partsearch.com ----- no help, can't find the part at all and they no longer deal with HP. No surprise.
2. I was then forwarded to Best Buy Geek Squad ----- they couldn't help me, other then to schedule a technician to come out and "talk" to me for 150.00 minimum charge, which would be applied to my "attempts" to fix for 629.00 + tax ... blah blah blah.
3. bestbuy.partsearch.com ------ yes again, I wanted to know what part a geek squad technician was going to use to replace my existing board, simple right ? This respresentative really tried his best to help me, but to no avail. He then suggested I talk to someone at Best Buy Corporate Customer Care.
4. Best Buy Corporate Customer Care ----- Talked with (name withheld case pending) she took all my information and seemed sympathetic to my case. She told me she would do whatever she could to further help me and provided me with the phone number to the place where geek squad technicians from Best Buy get their parts. National Parts 1-877-681-2270. Been a couple weeks now and still nothing btw. it's almost Dec. 2009.
5. National Parts ----- Calling this number is NOT recommended. When a women answered the phone after like 20 + rings she was noticablely pissed. She wanted to know who gave me this number and informed me that they don't sell to the public and are ONLY a distributor for the geek squad. After she calmed down I managed to inquire about my part I was searching for. YSUS board 6870QYH005B (HP). She said she couldn't find the part number and inquired the manufacturer, I said HP, she said "oh" like she knew exactly what was going on. She said they no longer carry anything to do with HP TVs. She did however quote me on some "replacement" parts that would likely be the ones that the technicians would use to "try" and fix my TV. YSUS 6871QYH953A (LG) or 6871QYH053B (Zenith) and quoted me a price of around 175.00 + tax. She said of course that my cost would likely be different because I couldn't order the "attempt to fix" parts ... only a geek from geek squad could do that.
6. Also trying to confirm these new part numbers and the likely hood of them working as replacements and not getting screwed outta half of my 629.00 + tax (was still considering repairing the TV at this point) for doing nothing I also tried calling 1-888-best-buy to confirm the existence of the parts. This was a dead-end also, as they referred me to Best Buy Corporate Customer Care. (notice a theme here ?)

----- Online parts contacts -----

So far ... ebay, discount merchant, and many others online have the parts ;

1. 6870QYH005B (HP)
2. 6871QYH953A (LG)
3. 6871QYH053B (Zenith)

However, refurbished, no or (very) limited warranty ( i.e. used parts), and installation by a certified technician (wash hands of responsiblity) or all of the very little warranty is voided. This is very convenient if you are selling suspect parts for a suspect product online, as you can side step any recourse for many different reasons.

Long story short let me save you many many hours of frustration to no avail and join the rest of us that have been taken advantage of by HP, and go to HPplasmaLawsuit.info

HPplasmaLawsuit.info