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April 30, 2008
Non existent support and warranty service
I purchased a Westinghouse LCD TV model LTV-37w2 HD in August of 2007. I received the product and was initially happy. We put this TV in a spare room thus the TV was used very little, 50 - 100 hours by my estimation.
Early in March of 2008, after having the television for about 7 months the screen would no longer stay on. When the unit was powered on, the screen would display for about a second and then go blank. I tried hooking up devices to all the different ports with the same result. Sound is heard but you can not see the display after the initial flash.
I called customer support towards the end of March of 2008 and was told I could take the unit for service to the nearest center which is about 1.5 hours drive away. I later called back and was told I also had the option of sending the unit in for warranty service to the service center in California. I asked to be sent a box for the TV to ship in safely and was told that was not an option. I asked about the shipping charges and I was told that if I had read the fine print in the warranty that shipping charges are not covered either.
When I asked to escalate my call I was told that I would receive a call back from a supervisor within "24 to 72 hours." I placed my request and waited patiently. I did eventually get a call, which went to voicemail because I was on the phone at the time. The supervisor left a message but did not leave a callback number. I was forced to call the general support center number back and go through the same process. I provided them with an alternate number, hoping to catch their call this time. Once again, I waited the typical 24 to 72 hours. I received a call again which went unanswered at the original number. The supervisor made no attempt to call the alternate number. I had to call back a third time and request a call from a supervisor. I eventually got in touch with a supervisor by the agent at the help desk transferring me, not because the supervisor called me. The supervisor, Ben, was completely unsympathetic and unwavering in the policy of paying for nothing and making no attempt to help support this defective product.
Looking for other options, I even found a local TV repair place that was more than happy to help out if they would get some cooperation from Westinghouse in becoming warranty authorized. I acted as a middle man, took the information from Westinghouse and provided it to the TV repair shop. After over a week I was told that Westinhouse made no effort to even contact the local repair shop.
At that point I called back and was told there was no guarantee that even if I brought the unit in to the other service center that they coudl fix it. Thus my options were to incur the cost to do that and still be faced with shipping charges to California or simply send it directly to California. With no other option, decided to send the unit to California. I was told today that the charges would be about $300. I find that completely unreasonable. I went back to the website and the warranty there is listed simply as "1 year parts and labor." I feel that this is false advertising.
This issue has been going on for more than a month already. I expect to be contacted ASAP by phone or email and be provided with a shipping label so I can receive warranty service with minimal cost to me. I am thus far very dissatisfied with the product and the service I've received. I am willing to be understanding and accept that electronics occasionally fail but I expect the manufacturer to provide support during the warranty period.
I request that this matter be resolved immediately to avoid future action. I await your prompt response and resolution.
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