My story...
I bought a 46" Sharp Aquos HD TV from Best Buy (SF, CA) in December and was urged by the sales rep to purchase the 4-year plan for several hundred dollars, which, at the time, seemed like the right thing to do to secure my large purchase. After less than 2 years, my TV starts to have intermittent audio problems, cutting out at random times. Although annoying, it did not stop me from watching TV, however, after talking with other Sharp TV owners, and reading in forums, it became clear to me that this was a common problem, only to get worse over time. Therefore, I took advantage of my Service Plan.
September 10th:
My first call to report my audio problems was in early September, and I am directed to Geek Squad who tell me the first available appointment would be in 3 weeks, or October 1st. Although the amount of time was a bit shocking, I said fine, as I had mentioned, I could still watch TV and was not in any urgent need of an immediate fix. During the 3 week time, however, a green bar appeared on the right hand side of the TV on the HD channels.
October 1st:
On Oct 1st, a repair agent came to my home, and determined that both the audio problem AND the green line were caused by a bad video board, and Best Buy would replace it under the service agreement. I think this sounds great, though I am not told of any specific time this could be done, but rather "we need to order the part and then we'll contact you".
First week of November:
A full month goes by and I call Best Buy (redirected to Geek Squad) only to be told that the part was never ordered, and they will go ahead and order it right away. I call again in yet another week - oops, the ordered part was given to someone else, but they will order it right away for me. My frustration starts to grow.
December 1st:
2 repair agents show up to my house on Dec 1st and tell me the green bar is caused by nothing more than an alignment of the screen, and fix it in the TV's preferences, however, determine the audio problem is indeed caused by the board, so they replace the video board. Just as they are leaving I call out to them "I can't turn off the TV!" - and this was because they had not put the entire power panel back on! Oops, no problem, they quickly put it back on, and the TV turns off and on fine. As they were leaving, I call out to them again - they had left some tools under my ottoman. After they leave, I notice a random screw on the TV stand behind the TV, but I didn't see where it could be from, and the TV seems to be working fine, so although skeptical of what just happened, I am relieved my TV has been repaired after over 2 months. But it was not...
2 days go by, and the TV starts to all of a sudden makes loud noises coupled with all blue and green lines on the TV before shutting off completely, then restarting itself. It starts happening every 30 or so minutes, then the longer the TV was on, the quicker this happened, as quick as every 30 seconds, until the TV finally shut off completely, flashing the Power and OPC lights. After that, all HD channels cannot stay on longer than a few minutes at first, into every second, with the SD channels a little longer in between loud noises/screen problems and TV resetting itself.
I call Best Buy (directed to Geek Squad), who tell me the quickest they can get someone out to "determine the problem" would be Dec 18th (another 3 weeks to determine they put in a defective part!). I tell them the last agents broke my TV, and could they just come back and replace the obviously defective part. No, Geek Squad is sorry they cannot do that, and the phone operator does not have any information on which repair agents worked on my TV, not even their names. I call Best Buy back, and tell the first operator my story, and I would like to talk to someone at Best Buy, not Geek Squad. She sympathizes with me, and after being on hold for 15 minutes, she tells me she found someone I can talk to. I am then directed to the same number at Geek Squad, who explains my service plan does not provide loaner TVs, even if the problem is a result of their work.
December 18th:
A repair agent shows up on Dec 18th and determines the video board they had installed is indeed defective, and he will need to order a new video board. It is set to come in Jan 3rd. I get the email and phone number of the repair agent.
January 5th:
After inquiring to the repair agent, by email, he informs me that the part that was scheduled to come in on Jan 3rd has a new ETA of Jan 14th. This is now where I stand...
Jason
San Francisco, California
U.S.A.
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