I purchased a 50" plasma TV made by Samsung about 4 months ago (April 20). The unit has a 1 year warranty. On August 11, the TV blew up while I was watching some movies. There was a loud pop, the picture faded from right to left and the sound became nothing but static noise. The screen cracked horizontally right above the control buttons when this happened but it is on the inside part of the glass not the outside that you can physically touch. I have found well over 50 people that have experienced the exact same problem. Samsung is refusing to repair the unit, stating that the panel has "physical damage". Of course it does, the unit self destructed and blew up! Samsung needs to realize there are two types of physical damage; that caused by the consumer, and that caused by a defect in the TV. Samsung is responsible for the damage caused by a defect regardless of whether or not this defect causes physical damage.
The TV was never moved from its original location from the time it was delivered on April 25th, and does not have a scratch on it. The outer glass and the rest of the outside compartment is blemish free. I have tried to resolve this nicely, always waiting for the call-backs that were promised and never happen, but my patience is running very thin. The service center hanging up on me on August 28th was the last straw. If this cannot get resolved soon, I will be going to court. I will have a reliable technician open the TV (chosen by my lawyer) and a write a report describing what he sees. Given from what Ive found on the internet so far, one possibility may be a series of capacitors on the power supply. There have been numerous complaints about this and Samsung is apparently fully aware of it. Also, if necessary, I will have a glass specialist analyze the fracture patterns of the plasma screen to show that the breakage was not caused by the TV being dropped or hit. The results of both studies will be made very public (posted on YouTube, twitter, facebook, and anywhere else I think it may be helpful to others). Once the studies are completed, well set the TV and the reports in front of a Judge and see what they think. I'm not going to watch my money go down the drainIm tired of being ripped off. I will also be following up with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Affairs, just to name a few.
This is obviously not a new problem given the number of people I have found experiencing the same problem. I have a PN50A450P1DXZA. I have talked to the Exec Customer relations (ECR) many times who say it's "out of their hands" that if there is physical damage to the screen the warranty is void. When I asked how tech support could make an assessment without even seeing the TV (service center has yet to send in photos it took on a cell phone 2 weeks ago), the ECR says "I'm not a technician so I can't tell you." The key words Samsung appear to use to get out of their responsibility are "Physical Damage". When that is written down, everyone stops listening or caring. It doesn't matter why or what caused the damage. I can't get a phone number for tech support to ask them and the ECR won't pass me on to a supervisor to discuss further.
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