I purchased a 50" Hitachi LCD 720P HDTV on 11-22-05 from the ABC Warehouse store in Waterford, Michigan which cost $2,300. Plus tax and warranty.in addition to the TV, I purchased another $6,000 worth of household appliances and purchased their 5 year extended 'Warranty Plus' on everything at that time.
The TV began having intermittant problems of powering off & on in January. ABC Warranty Co. Called Universal TV Repair to pick it up for service, which they did on 2-11-08. They replaced the Light Engine and returned the TV to me on 2-13-08. After plugging the TV in and turning it on, it powered off again and would not power back on. I calld Universal TV and they picked up the TV for a 2nd time on 2-14-08. On 2-22-08, Universal TV replaced both the Ballast and Lamp. When that didn't fix the problem, they emailed Hitachi for advice.
According to Universal TV, they weren't able to connect with Hitachi for advice until 3-7-08, at which time Hitachi suggested that the Light Engine replaced on 2-12-08 may have been defective and ordered a 2nd one. At this time, Universal TV's repair bill to ABC Warranty Co. Totaled $1,445.54!
By 3-17-08,5 weeks from the TV's initial service pickup, I hadrun out of patience. Universal TV was saying that they still hadn't received the 2nd Light Engine (ordered on 3/7).in the meantime, they had swapped some parts with another 50" LCD 720P HDTV in the shop and my TV began working! When they switched those parts back to their original TV's, mine still continued to work. Universal said they didn't know what to make of it, but felt a "connection must have been jarred back into place or something". (Huh?!?!)
After 2 more weeks of my phone calls to Universal TV, during which time they insisted they ran my TV without incident, my TV was finally delivered back to me on 3-31-08, after 7 weeks of service, and deemed "repaired". Much to my surprise, after the TV was plugged in & ran for 10 minutes, it again powered off & on & off & on then finally off for good. I couldn't believe it! It's the exact same problem... Nothing had changed! They said they ran it for 2 weeks straight without incident! So, back on the phone to Universal TV I went, where an irate owner (Keith) admonished me for insinuating they did a poor job repairing my TV. Sorry, but it was picked up & delivered twice and still remains broken... What am I supposed to think?!
Finally, I figured I needed to get ABC Warranty Co.involved since it was they who were paying for this poor service. Big mistake! They obviously employ the rudest customer service agents on the planet! When I asked for details on the warranty, they refused to provide them. I wanted to know what the policy was for time-out-of-service and to know "how much was too much" when it came to dollars spent on a TV such as mine, and finally what their policy was for replacement on units deemed "unfixable".
Again, they refused to answer my questions and kept trying to placate me by saying I needed to be patient. I placed more than a half dozen calls to different Customer Service Agents and one so-called supervisor called Eve, all of whom refused to give me details, saying "it is up to ABC Warranty's discression to decide how long to wait and how much to spend".
On 4-4-08, I received a call from "Pat" at ABC Warranty Co. Who barked that they will not replace my TV because Keith at Universal TV says he's not willing to declare the TV "unfixable" and now wants to replace the Digital Module and, if that doesn't work, resolder all of the connections and get the Light Engine changed out again.
In other words (in my opinion), he basically wants to keep this cash-cow in his shop for as long as he can milk ABC Warranty for repair costs. And ABC Warranty Co. Is refusing to replace the TV (likely) because they've dumped so much money into it already that they're not willing to walk away from it & pay out for a new unit. Pat firmly told me that they have the right to work on the TV "indefinately" and to invest "as much money as they choose" into it. When I again asked her for a copy of the warranty contract listing these terms, she again refused to provide them.
So, I have a $2,300 TV that doesn't work. When I asked ABC to send it to another repair shop, they refused saying they have too much invested in Universal TV on this unit (I wonder... Does ABC perhaps have a financial interest in Universal TV or visa versa?!) They're saying either I agree to have ABC enter a 3rd repair order & allow Universal to pick up my TV again (to be held indefinately until Universal either fixes it or admits defeat) or they will assume I am refusing service and thus voiding my warranty!
2 months... I want to sue... I want to picket... I want to scream...
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