So, just thought I'd post about a situation I've been dealing with regarding my 4 year old Sony HDTV. We purchased it four years ago, just prior to the 2006 World Cup so we'd be able to better see the little guys on screen run around the green field... Anyone with a Sony rear projection LCD TV may find this post interesting.
When we bought the TV, the salesman emphasized the ease of bulb replacement and the quality and hyped that "this could be the last TV you ever buy." I figured that if we got 7-10 years out of it, we'd be doing well. That's about how long the old Sanyo 27" was our mainstay (and is now the bedroom TV). We went with rear projection TV because of the cost vs. flat panels at the time, as well as the fact that the LR furniture footprint made the thickness of the TV rather irrelevant anyway....
The model we got was that KDF-E42A10, MSRP was around $1800 in 2006, we got it for $1350 or so on a major sale from Circuit City. I gotta say, the TV did great for about 3 1/2 years. Then, the bulb blew. No big deal... replacement Phillips bulb was $120 and one of the selling points of the TV was that the bulb was easily user-replaceable.
What we didn't know was that Sony rear projection LCD TVs made from 2002~2007 seemingly all have inherent design problems relating to the internal part called the Optical Block. The Optical Block is the internal device that takes the separate RGB LCD channels and combines them for projection. The flaw specifically relates to the blue LCD panel and discolorations that can start to appear, especially after something like the bulb heating up and popping like ours did.
At first it was barely noticeable, but got progressively worse.
Here's a pic of the issue that is very visible (which I had to print and mail to Sony):
After it reached a point of major distractions... I began doing some research and found out that most Sony rear-LCD models actually had extended warranties issed for them due to this same issue, and there were also several class-action lawsuits against Sony for selling devices with known issues that could considerably shorten its life span.
Here is a chart with specific models & extended warranty & class action info here: http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/#TOC-Summary-of-Sony-optical-block-warra
So, after resarching everything and getting rightly pissed-off that I had a lemon on my hands (and didn't buy the Circuit City extended warranty) I was all set to join the class action suit and eventually, reluctantly go TV shopping.... or, put the trusty 27" CRT screen back into service in living room. The blue in the screen really is distracting... It didn't help matters that I seemingly had the only year/model group of TV that had not had an extended warranty issued. ARRRRGHHH!
Anyway, as a long-time Sony advocate and fan (thinking back to the first walkman, actually) I thought I'd give Sony a call and see what they might be willing to do for my "out of warranty" device that did not live up to the expectations at all. In my research, I saw that Sony's "official" life expectency for my TV was an estimated 7 years.
Having done my research, I was probably more ready for my call to Sony customer care than most. I had read about other user's calls in to Sony and how they pushed back over and over again until the words "class action lawsuit" were uttered, at which point Sony care reps can then start to read from another, more consumer favored call script or flowchart.. I had started my call with this line: "hello, my name is John Tucker and I've been a Sony customer since I bought my walkman back in 1979 and can't even think of a time when I did not own at least a dozen Sony products. My TV is having the known optical block problem and since I'm really not a fan class action lawsuits, I really want to give Sony a chance to keep my business and see what you may be able to do for me with this problem I have on my hands....."
Overall, the call with the Sony rep went MUCH better than I anticipated. Here are the two options they gave:
1) Have the TV repaired at my own cost, part alone is over $1000!!!! (no way!)
2) Sony would sell me a new TV at a reduced cost. This is the part of the conversation where I felt like I was about to get some lame 10 or 20% discount coupon offer or something like that.... Check out the deals they offered me:
As discussed, we provided you an offer to replace your television.
KDL52EX701 $860.00 + local sales tax (3yr warranty)
KDL55EX501 $650.00 + local sales tax (3yr warranty)
KDL46EX700 $325.00 + local sales tax (1yr warranty, 2010 model new)
KDL46V5100 $180.00 + local sales tax (1yr warranty, 2009 model refurb)
If you decide to accept the offer, please contact Sony within 1 week.
My reaction was a total
Not so much for the larger TVs that would cause me to go $650+ out of pocket and don't really fit the area where our TV is..., but the two 46" options are really, really fair deals. After some extensive research, Based on the Price for the KDL46EX700 (2010 model selling for around $1300~$1500) it's like I'm getting a $1000 credit for my 4 year old, smaller screen and much lesser featured Sony. I really can't complain about this at all.
So, for $325 plus tax, We're getting an LED LCD flat screen (only 2 3/4" thick) that has 4" more diagonal viewing area, does full 1080p (ours only does 720i & 720p), is WiFi capable to do streaming online movies without a PC hooked up to it, has a motion sensor with auto shut-off to save energy, and even with an ambient light sensor to adjust brighness according to how much light is in the room.... This same TV sells for $1500 at our local BJ's wholesale store right now.
Granted, I've got to come out of pocket for some money that I otherwise wouldn't have had to spent, but I did get almost 4 good years out of my originally purchased TV and am making a major upgrade for not much $$. I was expecting to be really P-O'd at Sony, and now I find myself totally psyched.
What do you guys think?
And I wonder how things would have went if I had called in to Sony support without doing the research first?
When we bought the TV, the salesman emphasized the ease of bulb replacement and the quality and hyped that "this could be the last TV you ever buy." I figured that if we got 7-10 years out of it, we'd be doing well. That's about how long the old Sanyo 27" was our mainstay (and is now the bedroom TV). We went with rear projection TV because of the cost vs. flat panels at the time, as well as the fact that the LR furniture footprint made the thickness of the TV rather irrelevant anyway....
The model we got was that KDF-E42A10, MSRP was around $1800 in 2006, we got it for $1350 or so on a major sale from Circuit City. I gotta say, the TV did great for about 3 1/2 years. Then, the bulb blew. No big deal... replacement Phillips bulb was $120 and one of the selling points of the TV was that the bulb was easily user-replaceable.
What we didn't know was that Sony rear projection LCD TVs made from 2002~2007 seemingly all have inherent design problems relating to the internal part called the Optical Block. The Optical Block is the internal device that takes the separate RGB LCD channels and combines them for projection. The flaw specifically relates to the blue LCD panel and discolorations that can start to appear, especially after something like the bulb heating up and popping like ours did.
At first it was barely noticeable, but got progressively worse.
Here's a pic of the issue that is very visible (which I had to print and mail to Sony):
After it reached a point of major distractions... I began doing some research and found out that most Sony rear-LCD models actually had extended warranties issed for them due to this same issue, and there were also several class-action lawsuits against Sony for selling devices with known issues that could considerably shorten its life span.
Here is a chart with specific models & extended warranty & class action info here: http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/#TOC-Summary-of-Sony-optical-block-warra
So, after resarching everything and getting rightly pissed-off that I had a lemon on my hands (and didn't buy the Circuit City extended warranty) I was all set to join the class action suit and eventually, reluctantly go TV shopping.... or, put the trusty 27" CRT screen back into service in living room. The blue in the screen really is distracting... It didn't help matters that I seemingly had the only year/model group of TV that had not had an extended warranty issued. ARRRRGHHH!
Anyway, as a long-time Sony advocate and fan (thinking back to the first walkman, actually) I thought I'd give Sony a call and see what they might be willing to do for my "out of warranty" device that did not live up to the expectations at all. In my research, I saw that Sony's "official" life expectency for my TV was an estimated 7 years.
Having done my research, I was probably more ready for my call to Sony customer care than most. I had read about other user's calls in to Sony and how they pushed back over and over again until the words "class action lawsuit" were uttered, at which point Sony care reps can then start to read from another, more consumer favored call script or flowchart.. I had started my call with this line: "hello, my name is John Tucker and I've been a Sony customer since I bought my walkman back in 1979 and can't even think of a time when I did not own at least a dozen Sony products. My TV is having the known optical block problem and since I'm really not a fan class action lawsuits, I really want to give Sony a chance to keep my business and see what you may be able to do for me with this problem I have on my hands....."
Overall, the call with the Sony rep went MUCH better than I anticipated. Here are the two options they gave:
1) Have the TV repaired at my own cost, part alone is over $1000!!!! (no way!)
2) Sony would sell me a new TV at a reduced cost. This is the part of the conversation where I felt like I was about to get some lame 10 or 20% discount coupon offer or something like that.... Check out the deals they offered me:
As discussed, we provided you an offer to replace your television.
KDL52EX701 $860.00 + local sales tax (3yr warranty)
KDL55EX501 $650.00 + local sales tax (3yr warranty)
KDL46EX700 $325.00 + local sales tax (1yr warranty, 2010 model new)
KDL46V5100 $180.00 + local sales tax (1yr warranty, 2009 model refurb)
If you decide to accept the offer, please contact Sony within 1 week.
My reaction was a total
Not so much for the larger TVs that would cause me to go $650+ out of pocket and don't really fit the area where our TV is..., but the two 46" options are really, really fair deals. After some extensive research, Based on the Price for the KDL46EX700 (2010 model selling for around $1300~$1500) it's like I'm getting a $1000 credit for my 4 year old, smaller screen and much lesser featured Sony. I really can't complain about this at all. So, for $325 plus tax, We're getting an LED LCD flat screen (only 2 3/4" thick) that has 4" more diagonal viewing area, does full 1080p (ours only does 720i & 720p), is WiFi capable to do streaming online movies without a PC hooked up to it, has a motion sensor with auto shut-off to save energy, and even with an ambient light sensor to adjust brighness according to how much light is in the room.... This same TV sells for $1500 at our local BJ's wholesale store right now.
Granted, I've got to come out of pocket for some money that I otherwise wouldn't have had to spent, but I did get almost 4 good years out of my originally purchased TV and am making a major upgrade for not much $$. I was expecting to be really P-O'd at Sony, and now I find myself totally psyched.
What do you guys think?
And I wonder how things would have went if I had called in to Sony support without doing the research first?
