As my luck would have it, I am watching TV three weeks ago when all of the sudden, it turns off as if I had pressed the power button. Odd, because I didn’t. Maybe Jacinta did on accident? I tried turning it back on. The unit clicked on like normal, the green LED light lit up like normal… but there was no picture. After about 10 seconds, the TV turns itself back off. Yay, now I have a new black mirror in my living room!
The TV is only 8 months old and was manufactured in the same month I purchased it. I had the TV connected to my APC Battery Backup so there is little chance it was an electrical issue with the power it was being fed.
On the bright side, the TV is only 8 months old which means it is still under the 1 year manufacturer’s warranty!
The Warranty Process
I called Sanyo tech support the same day it broke and was told that I wouldn’t have to pay for anything and it would be fixed under warranty. He told me that a technician would call me the next day. He did, but he needed the serial number which I didn’t have access to at the time. Two days later, I called back with the serial number and again was told that a technician would return my call (I was calling “after hours” apparently and was getting a foreign phone rep).
The technician called the next day, I explained that I had called previously but didn’t have the S/N at the time. He tried to look up my information but couldn’t find it. So, I gave him all of my info. again along with the S/N and explained that if possible, it would be great if someone could do an in-home repair as it would be difficult for me to take the TV somewhere myself. He said he would check around and call me back the very next day. Of course, he never did.
A few days later, I call back and speak to the same guy. They had no record of me in their system, nice. After repeating my story for the third time, he said he would print out the info. and put it on his boss’ desk and that there shouldn’t be any problems getting this taken care of. He assured me someone would call me the next day. Guess what - they didn’t.
I was busy the next few days and never got around to making the return call. Last Friday, however, I finally called them back and talked to the same guy once again. He said he couldn’t find my info. at first, put me on hold then magically returned with it. He gave me the number to a local shop and told me to call them in an hour to schedule the in-home repair. Now we are making progress!
I did as I was told an hour later but Sanyo still had not contacted them. The lady at the repair shop said she would call me when they got the info. from Sanyo, which she did about 30 minutes later.
I explained what had happened and she said they couldn’t fix it in-home but would come and pick the TV up and take it back to their shop. That’s fine, I suppose and everything was scheduled for today. I was told they would call before they came to verify someone was at home.
Today rolls around and still no call around 3pm, so I call the local shop. She said they tried to call me earlier - nope! Turns out, Sanyo gave them the wrong number for me and now, they can’t make it back out until Thursday.
Gah, what a headache! Three weeks in and the TV is still sitting here staring at me. If only all companies were as good as Apple about replacing broken equipment. Their 3 day turnaround was mind blowing!
Fortunately, I have still been able to watch television and play Xbox using a 24″ computer monitor with HDMI that I reviewed earlier this month. Strangely enough, I really haven’t missed not having the big TV all that much.
Have any of you had nightmare stories trying to get work done under warranty?
