Mitsubishi File #2495*
BUYER BEWARE! Mitsubishi cares nothing about youas a customer. The ONLY thing they care about is money, and are another sad example of a company that thinks they're too big to need to bother with trivial things such as customer service, support, and honoring good-faith purchases. BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING with Mitsubishi's name on it, ask yourself if you like that product so much that you're willing to find yourself completely on your own when it needs service, and willing to find out the hard way that warranties, customer satisfaction, and fairness aren't evena consideration ofthis bloated giant.
On June 23, my wife and I purchased over $7,000 worth of TV and stereo equipment from a Mitsubishi dealer in Kalamazoo, Michigan.included in our purchase was a Mitsubishi WD65833 65" DLP Hi-Def TV. The dealer pushed hard to sell us a 5-year extended warranty on the TV. We have always stayed away from extended manufacturer warranties because of all the horror stories we have heard regarding these warranties actually being honored when the time comes. The dealer continued with "hey this TV will need a lamp replacement sometime in the next 5 years, and the bulbs are grossly overpriced by Mitsubishi at $350 and up. One bulb will more than pay for the $339 warranty and you'll still get the peace of mind of 5 years of free service". We reluctantly agreed after the dealer assured us that it was a factory warranty and not a fly-by-night scamand promised us zero problems at the time the bulb needed to be replaced.
Decemberwe heard that the dealer had gone out of business. Our TV was working fine, but we were concerned about aclassic run-around when it came time to replace the lamp. We called Mitsubishi Customer Service and told them about the dealer folding, asking what we should do when we needed the new lamp. "Just call us and give us this number "Case 2495*" and we'll take care of you." That got us off the phone, the only thing we think that person was trying to do.
Fast forward to December the TV blinked off two or three times. Talking tofriends with DLP sets, everyone said "your lamp is getting old, replace it andityour picture quality will shoot back up like a brand new set. Calling Mitsubishi, giving them our case number, they put us on hold interminably then told us they needed to call us back the next day. (I could feel the scheming taking place already). Next dayMitsubishi calls back telling us "they never received the paperwork from the dealer and they didn't get their money so our warranty wasn't being honored. I offered to scan and e-mail our store receipt to them, but they declined saying it didn't matter, the "didn't receive any money" so they "couldn't" help us. They followed up with an e-mail to us saying the same thing, signed only as "Adreina" with no last name.
Wecalled back asking for the name and address of the Manager of Customer Relations, and were given "Vigil White" and the complete address in Irvine CA. We sent a detailed e-mailin reply to "Adreina's" canned form-letter response, detailing everything again and including a PDF scan of our original receipt showing the TV and the 5-year extended warranty purchase. We started the e-mail with "Please deliver this e-mail and attched receipt immediately to Vigil White, Manager of Customer Relations" I asked only for a free replacement bulb, I would replace it myself even though the warranty we were sold was supposed to cover the service call to replace it. A week later we got another letter in the mail, not from Vigil White, butagain from"Adreina Nolastname" worded to make it sound like we had purchased a third-party warranty, not a factory warranty, and reiterating that Mitsubishi "got no money" from the dealer so we were on our own... Oh, but she "empathized" with our situation... Later we found a message on our answering machne that Mitsubishi would "discount" a bulb to us for "just" $200.00 plus shipping and handling and taxes and who kows what else... That's unacceptable... Only 50 bucks off, and I still have to replace it myself.
I am fed up with this runaround and this ridiculous dodging by Mitsubishi. We bought a TV and under tremendous pressurea factory extended warranty costing us an additonal $340, from a Mitsubishi dealer, acting as an agent of Mitsubishi. I suspect this dealer pocketed our $340and never turned the paperwork in to Mitsubishi. That's immaterial to us, we are not responsible for one of Mitsubishi's own dealers skimming money from them and then folding up shop. Mitsubishi regulated every aspect of their dealer's business, prices, deliveries, model allocations, sales training, etc. To have them tell us that we're "on our own" because they "didn't get their money" is nothing but turning their backs on us, as good-faith customers, on a technicalityand for no other reason than a few bucks.
Having spent 30 years as a manufacturing engineer, Iknow that these bulbs cost no more a than a dollar or two for Mitsubishi to produce. It's not enough that they already enjoyed the huge mark-up on the TVthat electronic products carry in the original purchase, they still are attempting to stab us with a smile with their "dscounted" price. I shouldn't have to lay out one additional cent! I already paid for 170of thosebulbs in a $340 warranty! Mitsubishi could and should make this right with us, they have our receipts and promised to take care of us in 2009 when we called the first time. But no, they're simply not interested in the concept of customer satisfaction, fairness, and couldn't care less about us now that they have our money. I own a small business, and anytime there is a judgement call with one of my customers, they get the benefit of the doubt, even if it results in me taking food off my table and losing money on the sale. But that's the difference, Mitsubishi is nothing but a faceless, last nameless, corporate greedmachine staffed by people trained to tell customers only what they "can't" do.
I'm e-mailing and faxing copies of this report to Vigil White at Mitsubishi, and giving them every opportunity to make this right, one last time. I highly doubt they'll budge, after all, they're too big to worry in the least about losing me as a customer forever, and all the other people they've scammed like this in the past. I'm holding off filing complaints with the FTC for warranty fraud and gross indifference to customers for a reasonable settlement, but only for a short time. If we get some reasonable response from Mitsubishi and they honor their own warranty, we'll report that here too.
Meanhwile, BUYER BEWARE when you're in the electronics store looking at Mitsubishi products... If you dont want to find yourself "on your own"with a crushing repair bill, stay way from Mitsubishi products at all costs. Even if you're willing to take the chance, don't bleed for their extended warranties, they're worthless to you and simply free money for them or their dealers.
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