2 years ago, my husband and I bought a 26" Polaroid LCD HDTV from Circuit City for $1399.99. Having worked for some of their competitors, I was a believer in the extended repair or replace warranties, so we bought the 3 year Circuit City Advantage Protection plan for around $300.00. We felt like a repair or replace guarantee was a good investment because we aren't rich and we wanted to make sure we had a back up should the T.V. Fail in the first 3 years of ownership. Fast forward to December and we start having problems with the t.V., it would make this horrible popping noise when you would turn it on and the start-up Polaroid logo would flash in and out. It was quite ironic, since the week it went we had received our renewal to remind us that our warranty was expiring in May and to give us the option to renew for another 1-3 years. Well, I called up the Advantage line to get my repair claim started, and also clarifying with the woman that we would have the T.V. Replaced in a timely manner if it couldn't be fixed and that it was going to be fixed in a timely manner and she said oh, yes, absolutely, we'll have your t.V. Taken care of in about a week. We called them right before Christmas, so the soonest they could get the repair guy, of course due to the holidays was Dec. 31st, which wasn't a problems since we were going to be out of town.
On Dec. 31st the repair guy shows up during the alloted window they said they'd be there to look at the T.V. He informs us after watching the behavior of the television, that it was the power supply going out and that they were going to have to order it, and so since we still had some functionality to our, T.V. (Only one we own) he would leave it and come pick it up once he found out if he was going to be able to get the part. He also informed us, that rarely were they able to get the parts for Polaroid, so then, most likey to expect the T.V. To be replaced.
2 days later, the T.V. Won't turn on at all. Now we have NO T.V. So I call up the T.V. Contracting company that was going to be fixing the T.V. And they come and pick it up the next day. Now, since it is the weekend of BCS championship, in Baton Rouge, we were told to wait and call for an update on the T.V. The day after the game. So on January 8th, I call the repair shop to find out the status of the repair, and I am informed by the repair shop that the part is on back order and it will be 10-14 days before they get it! Now at this time hearing that news, I'm not happy at all, he tells me that he will call me back later that day with an update. Well, later that day he calls up with a correction, (Just like the guy who picked up the t.V. Originally told us) the part is unavailable, and there is no compatible aftermarket part available that would work with Polaroid and that they have notified the Circuit City warranty people. So I call Circuit City Advantage and I'm informed that they can't authorize a replacement, and they direct me to Consumer Relations. Well the first girl I talk to says, that she cannot Authorize a replacement until they first refer it to their "TECHNICAL" department because they have to try and get the part first for the repair company. Then ask, "Well, how on earth do you think that you can get the part if the repair company can get the part? Just replace my t.V. And be done with it! It's been 2 weeks since the T.V. Quit working properly, and I want a functioning T.V.! She tells me there is nothing she can do until their technical department looks into it and to call back the next day.
So I call back the next day and I get this jerk of a guy who answers and I give all my information AGAIN to him and explain what is going on. He proceeds to tell me that they are going to proceed with the repair and that they were going to obtain the part and that they were not going to issue a replacement. I told the guy that this was our only T.V., we spent $1300 on it, and that I could get a bigger, better T.V. For less today, and what on earth was the problem with replacing it since they cost less today, than 2 years earlier! Well he then offers me a $100 rental reimbursment, so that we can go "RENT" a T.V. For a few weeks, while we wait on the part and the repair. That really angered me, because 1, renting a T.V. Would be more than any $100, and 2 we'd have to pay out of pocket and then mail the invoice to them, and then it would be 6-8 weeks before we actually saw any reimbursement. I told the guy, absolutely not, I want my T.V. Replaced, the part is unavailable. He said he was not going to authorize the replacement. I then demanded to speak to his supervisor, he coldly says, "I am the supervisor, there is no one higher than me to speak to." I said, you have to have a boss, you aren't the owner of the company, and he again repeats the same line! (I later found online, someone else who had issues with this plan, got fed the same line I did!) I hang up the phone infuriated, that was on Wednesday, January 9th.
Well then on Thursday, January 10th, we come home to find a "Sorry We Missed You! Please call us!" flyer on our door from the T.V. Service company, it was too late to call them that evening, so I called them on Friday, January 11th, they inform me that they were trying to return my T.V. Well that left me and my husband with the impression that our T.V. Had been fixed and they arranged to drop it off with me for today (Saturday Jan. 12th).
Well this morning when they delivered the T.V., the gentleman who brings it back inform us that they did not repair the t.V. And that the power supply is no longer made by Polaroid and that we need to get it replaced. So we load the T.V. Up in the car and head to our local Circuit City to get a replacement T.V. (or so we thought.)
We get to the store, and I'm getting angrier by the minute, because as we loaded the T.V.in the car, my husband noticed that the control buttons (like the power and volume) on the side of the unit are not there, just the holes where they had been, and that screws are missing (yeah, we know the t.V. Is broken, but still, return it in the condition you took it in, is the principle there). We get to the store and ask to speak to the manager, well we are informed that the store manager isn't in and that we need to speak with the T.V. Sales Supervisor. So we go over and wait for about 15 mintues because the store was very busy. Well, we finally get the supervisor, and explain to him what is going on, and that we want our T.V. Replaced. He asks us if we have a claim number from Corporate, I informed him that calling today did us no good because we got no where, and that they were telling us one thing and the repair people were telling us somehting else and that we are fed up, the T.V. Hasn't been working properly now for a month and we want it replaced, like it said "No Hassle repair or replacement." He then goes to the back and disappears for a long time and then comes back and gives me the same phone number I already have, where the jerk told me there was no one higher than him to speak too. The supervisor says he "understands" my frustration but he has to have a claim number from the warranty people to replace it with the T.V. The warranty people pick out. That really got me, and I said, wait what, you mean they are going to tell me what T.V. To get, No, I want a T.V. That cost the same price that we paid 2 years ago, that's equal value! He said, well he can't do anything because he needs the claim number, by this point, I'm getting louder and louder and saying that this has turned out to be the largest ripoff, and the biggest hassle, and he kept say, you'll have to call them, and this takes time.By that point I'm so angry, I tell him that we will NEVER buy anything from their company ever again, and that we were going to get online and post this experience everywhere we could and tell everyone about what a scam and HASSLE, this NO HASSLE warranty turned out to be. Then as I was walking away, there was an older couple look at a T.V. And I loudly said to them, "Don't let them talk you into their Advantage Protection Plan on a T.V. If you buy one here, it's a ripoff and we're now a month without a working T.V. And we still haven't gotten this resolved!" The older gentleman's eyes got really wide and said, "Are you serious?" And I said "Yes!" and stormed out of the storm.
So Monday I'll be calling these jerks demanding my claim number and the right for $1399.99 value on a replacement at Circuit City and I WILL NEVER BUY FROM THEM AGAIN.
Their extended warranty is a big fraud and scam!!
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