Customer service FTW

[allisolm]

Bought a Vizio flat screen on Thanksgiving. Beginning of this week the picture went all wonky (wonky being the technical term for whatever happened.)

I thought, "no problem, we'll just return it to Walmart. We still have the box, don't we, dear?" Turns out husband, in a recent garage-clearing episode, decided the box was too big and got rid of it. Okay. Plan B! Looked at Vizio return policies and was not encouraged as sending it back at my expense seemed to be mentioned several times and I'm thinking that, for a 60" TV, it wasn't going to happen.

Called Vizio -
they asked us to email a couple of pics of the screen and a copy of the receipt and an hour later they called to say a new TV would be shipped to us, brought into the house, hooked up, and old TV removed. The only thing they wouldn't do was hang it on the wall. Next day we had a tracking number for the TV. They said for problems during the first 90 days this was standard procedure.

Color me impressed.

 

[bigrash]

Nice! Didn't know Vizio customer service was good.

 

[Jimzz]

Yea Vizio has been really good from what i have heard.

Westinghouse is utter crap from everything I have read and would never touch.

 

[techs]

Meh. Should have sent you a Samsung instead.

 

[dabuddha]

That's awesome of Vizio but I'd be a bit concerned that the TV is already going bad after 1.5 months.

 

[waggy]

Meh. Should have sent you a Samsung instead.

fuck samsung. i refuse to buy any Samsung items after my monitor died after a year. They were putting cheap/bad caps in them. they would last between a year and 2.

 

[CZroe]

fuck samsung. i refuse to buy any Samsung items after my monitor died after a year. They were putting cheap/bad caps in them. they would last between a year and 2.

Easy fix though.

 

[Wyndru]

Nice to hear that, I always wondered how CS for defects was for these smaller companies.

Meh. Should have sent you a Samsung instead.

[cringe]

I'm assuming that is sarcastic, Samsung is the worst...company....ever (when it comes to TV's)

Almost all of the flat screens (both LCD and Plasma) my family and I have bought from samsung have died within 5 years. Starting with all of the bad capacitors in the power boards and now I've got one that is overheating, which caused the screen to die and need to be replaced (under warranty). The samsung rep acknowledged it was a design flaw and suggested I hook up computer fans in the back of the unit to keep it cooler

I am completely done with that company.

 

[Juddog]

fuck samsung. i refuse to buy any Samsung items after my monitor died after a year. They were putting cheap/bad caps in them. they would last between a year and 2.

My Samsung TV has been awesome for me, owned it several years without a single problem yet. I have a feeling their monitor and TV divisions are separate.

 

[SandEagle]

i used to think of Vizio the way i thought of Kia and Hyundai many years ago. major turnaround now in terms of product quality, styling, and customer service.

i still wouldn't buy one though. I'm more of a Sony/Samsung and Honda/Toyota type of guy.

anyway, congrats OP on the new TV. you should invite me over sometimes for coffee and a movie. my treat.

 

[d4a2n0k]

Ive had 3 Samsung 50"+ LCD crap out within 18 months. If they replace the TV (after a huge fight) they only give a 90 day warranty on the replacement. Well the replacements also stopped working within 12-18 months.

All started with lines of dead pixels then after a few months they just wont turn on anymore. I will never buy Samsung again, even with an extended warranty.

 

[PClark99]

Owned 2 vizio tvs for 3 years, they are still chugging along.

Good to hear CS isn't dead, I buy them from costco anyway so you get an extra yr warranty plus 90 days return NQA.

 

[waggy]

Easy fix though.

yeah it was.

but a $200-300 monitor should last longer then 15 months. it got just outside of the warentee time when it died. fuck that i won't buy another Samsung product.

oddly i have 15 yr old samsung monitor that still works.

 

[allisolm]

i used to think of Vizio the way i thought of Kia and Hyundai many years ago.

Same here but I know that my son has 4 or 5 Vizios in his home and daughter has 2 and neither of then has ever had any problems with them. The picture quality on all of them is great and the price for mine could not be beat. Hopefully the problem was a one-time thing (keeping fingers crossed.)

 

[tommo123]

Ive had 3 Samsung 50"+ LCD crap out within 18 months. If they replace the TV (after a huge fight) they only give a 90 day warranty on the replacement. Well the replacements also stopped working within 12-18 months.

All started with lines of dead pixels then after a few months they just wont turn on anymore. I will never buy Samsung again, even with an extended warranty.

whats the warranty deal in the US then? i mean in europe it's 2 years iirc and can argue for more based on cost and what it's for. i.e you should reasonably be able to assume an expensive washing machine will last for more than 2 years and people (in the UK anyway) have had companies repair/replace 3-4 year old machines based on that.

 

[Jimzz]

whats the warranty deal in the US then? i mean in europe it's 2 years iirc and can argue for more based on cost and what it's for. i.e you should reasonably be able to assume an expensive washing machine will last for more than 2 years and people (in the UK anyway) have had companies repair/replace 3-4 year old machines based on that.

In the US 1 year is average but some are moving toward 90days on some smaller items.

 

[d4a2n0k]

whats the warranty deal in the US then? i mean in europe it's 2 years iirc and can argue for more based on cost and what it's for. i.e you should reasonably be able to assume an expensive washing machine will last for more than 2 years and people (in the UK anyway) have had companies repair/replace 3-4 year old machines based on that.

Standard warranty is 12 months and if you register the TV on the Samsung website, they give you an extra 2 months. Of course you can purchase an extended warranty but that can only be used once. It does not transfer if they give you a warranty replacement TV. They also do not allow you to purchase an extended warranty on a replacement TV. You get 90 days and thats it.

The first TV, (LNT-5271) had green lines about 2" wide running vertically. It was unwatchable. That TV started giving me problems after 12 months. They replaced that with an LN52A850 since the original was no longer in production. After 12 months again, the new set started with black lines running vertically when the TV was cold. When it warmed up they would go away. After a few months of living with that, the TV just didnt turn on anymore. Samsung would not do anything for me.

I also had a UN55C6400 which just stopped working after about 16 months. Dead panel. Out of warranty and Samsung again would do nothing for me.

I had moved in the process and also have other brand LCD's (LG, Sharp, Vizio) that have no issue. So it was nothing to do with my electric etc. I have a 9 year old 32" Sharp thats still going strong along with a few PC monitors.

Unfortunately, the way the prices dropped on these sets something had to give. Everybody wants cheaper and thinner and something has to suffer. Just 10 years ago, you couldnt find a 32" CRT set for less than $600-700. Now you can get a 50" LCD for the same price. They are disposable these days, at least thats what the manufacturers believe.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

fuck samsung. i refuse to buy any Samsung items after my monitor died after a year. They were putting cheap/bad caps in them. they would last between a year and 2.

Their monitors do generally have 3 year warranties...

 

[Baked]

Or you can just buy it at Costco and return it 3 years later. j/k

 

[DaTT]

Panasonic or nothing!!!!!

It's always nice to hear when a customer service department does well. You always phone expecting the worst, it's always nice when you get the best.

 

[tommo123]

In the US 1 year is average but some are moving toward 90days on some smaller items.

90 days! fuck that! seriously :thumbsdown:

 

[swanysto]

I have been extremely happy with my Sharp TV. I bought it 6 years ago, back when 42" was $1100. I would buy another one, cause the thing looks as good as it did when I bought it. I have no reason to replace it at this point.

I haven't heard anything from my family members and friends about their Vizio's. That is usually a good thing, cause the only time I hear about products is when there is something wrong, so I can assume no one has had issues.

 

[CZroe]

I have been extremely happy with my Sharp TV. I bought it 6 years ago, back when 42" was $1100. I would buy another one, cause the thing looks as good as it did when I bought it. I have no reason to replace it at this point.

I haven't heard anything from my family members and friends about their Vizio's. That is usually a good thing, cause the only time I hear about products is when there is something wrong, so I can assume no one has had issues.

I wish I could say that for my 52" Sony XBR LCD that I paid $5,000 for less than 6 years ago. Picture quality went to hell in a few years as it developed a blotchy and uneven backlight and increasingly poor black levels. It looks water damaged every time anything fades to black (gray splotchy mess). I can't believe they got $5,000 from me for this crap. My old 30" $2,300 XBR910 still looks amazing, but it's a 1080i CRT.

 

[olds]

Meh. Should have sent you a Samsung Panasonic VT50 instead.

Now I concur.

 

[SheHateMe]

I've had a 42" 3D Vizio for like 3 years now and its still kicking. The picture is awesome. Unfortunately, I am giving the TV to my lil sis so I can get a Plasma.