November: We purchased a brand new 47 JVC flat-panel high definition LCD television. We did exhaustive research to find the brand, features, and price that fit our needs. We decided on the JVC brand and HHGregg as the store to purchase it from.
The sales staff at HHGregg could not have been more helpful. We purchased the television, a wall mount for it, and a very expensive HDMI cable to plug into our cable box. We also purchased a 5-year extended service contract at a cost of $450.
July 20: Lightning struck the ground outside of our home, traveled through our phone line and cable system (which had never been properly grounded by the way), and into our television. We literally saw sparks and smoke shoot out the back of our television! The digital cable box was destroyed, pictures got knocked off of the wall, our phones died, and our internet router burned up. According to experts that I have talked to, short of unplugging every cable phone line, etc., nothing could have protected us from this happening, not even an expensive surge protector.
July 21: I called my insurance company, Allstate, and filed a homeowners insurance claim. My wife suggested that I call the warranty company just to see if it was covered by our extended service plan, so I called the warranty company and was assured that the warranty covered lightning strikes (which is the reason we purchased the extended service contract in the first place), and they scheduled Blue Chip Electronic Service in Cincinnati to come and look at the set. They arrived Wednesday, July 23rd as promised, and removed the set from the wall mount and took it to their shop, stating that it would take 10 days or so to get the parts on order and promising to contact us when they knew a date when we would get it back.
August 1: It has been over a month since we have seen our television. I have been in contact with Blue Chip Electronics a half-dozen times, and have contacted the extended warranty company two or three times. Blue Chip Electronics hadn't even looked at our set when I contacted them. That evening, I called the warranty company to tell them that I found this to be unacceptable, and they assured me that they would contact Blue Chip and have them call me on Monday, August 4th. No one ever called me.
August 8: Called Blue Chip Electronics. They stated that they had ordered a part on August 5th and were waiting for it to come in.
August 12: Called Blue Chip Electronics, again. No part yet.
August 15: Called Blue Chip Electronics, again. No part yet.
August 19: Called Blue Chip Electronics, again. No part yet.
August 25th: We spoke with Blue Chip Electronics again, and the answer was that they had no idea when the part would come in and if JVC couldn't get the part they would have to do a search for it and had no idea when we might get our television back! I called the warranty company, again, and was told that they would be contacting Blue Chip Electronics directly and would call us back on the 26th of August.
September 3: Called Blue Chip Electronics. Still waiting on part. Called warranty company and was told that authorization to order part was issued on August 26 or 27 (not August 5th like originally told). Warranty company put me on hold while they talked to Blue Chip Electronics. When they came back, they said part had just arrived, would be installed and tested and I would receive call when ready.
September 9: Called Blue Chip Electronics again. Was told that one of two parts had arrivedfirst I heard of two parts being ordered. Was told that maybe information was not up to date. She would speak with technician and call me back. Never received a call back. Called HHGregg and spoke to salesman who sold us the TV. He connected me with the operations manager for Florence store. She agreed with me that our wait time was ridicules and promised to get a hold of HHGregg corporate customer care. She also stated that policy is that if a repair goes beyond 60 days, the warranty company must authorize a new replacement television.
As usual, we haven't heard a thing from anyone.
September 15: Called Blue Chip again. No part yet. Was told that part was on order, in stock, and would arrive in 3-5 business days. No word from HHGregg. No TV.
September 18: Called Blue Chip again. Was told that they were without power for a couple of days but had power now. Supposedly, our repair had top priority, but still waiting on parts. Was told they would check on part status and call me back. Never heard a word. Had to call back myself at 5:30 pm. Was told they would check and would receive a call back first thing in the morning.
September 19: Received a call from Blue Chip (amazing). Was told that they had not received the part, there were none in stock, and it was back ordered. Don't know when they will receive the part. What happened to the part being on stock and available in 3-5 business days?
September 19: All I can say is WOW!!! After talking to HHGregg, again, and the warranty company, again, I have now been told that my television is in fact not covered by the extended service plan and besides, it never would have been covered due to a lightning strike being an act of God. They also gave me a wholehearted sorry for the inconvenience. So why, in all of my communications with GE Consumer and Industrial Warranty Management (the warranty company), and all of my conversations with HHGregg, am I just now being told that it is not covered by the extended warranty plan?!? This has now turned into much more than an inconvenienceit is a full fledged major fiasco.
So here we are, over nearly TWO MONTHS later, with half a wall mount bolted to our wall, cable wires dangling all over the place, and no HDTV. I cannot believe that I paid so much for a nice TV, including extra money for the extended warranty/service contract, and we get the run-around. The telephone company and cable companies responded very quickly and got everything fixed that was damaged due to the lightning strike, including correcting the ungrounded cable problem. The really sad part is that I am not sure if this television will ever be the same as far as the picture quality. I was assured by the serviceman who picked it up that it would be, but now I'm not convinced. And if it is not, I'll have to go back to the warranty company and go through this whole process again.
The bottom line is that I want my television. We feel lied to, cheated, and deceived. I believe we should get a new replacement. I believe that we've had to wait long enough. I believe that we have been completely patient and have been given a run around. I believe
If in fact the lightning strike is not covered under extended warranty, I wouldn't have a problem with it had we been told this FROM THE BEGINNING! I would have continued with the homeowners insurance claim and probably would have had my television back by now because we would not have had to deal with Blue Chip Electronics. But in the dozens of phone calls I have made to the HHGregg (GE) warranty company, and the many times I have stated that it was a lightning related issue, I am just now being told that it is not covered. I now have to file another claim with my insurance company which will take who knows how long to get processed.
I have already filed complaints with the BBB of Indiana (HHGregg) and the BBB of Louisville, KY (GE Consumer and Industrial Warranty Management). I have sent the story off to Howard Ain, a local television troubleshooter reporter in hopes that this will get on the air and he might help.
I am supposed to contact HHGregg again this afternoon to see if they can "do" anything for me but I doubt it. I know this much; I will never buy another thing from HHGregg.
Steve c
Covington, Kentucky
U.S.A.
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