LCD TV problem - Diesel Forum

J.C. · 10-01-2009, 07:37 PM

I have a Sony 46W4100 LCD tv that I bought 15 months ago and it has two places at the top of the screen that have 5"X3" sections that have horizontal lines. Anyone have any idea what the problem might be and how much it would cost and/or how hard it would be to fix? I'm going to try calling Sony tomorrow to see if they'll help me out but from what I've read it doesn't sound too promising. After spending $2000+ on the thing you would think it should last a little longer than 15 months.

LC · 10-02-2009, 07:14 AM

I have had a 46" Sony LCD two years. Absolutely no problems yet. Also have a 26" Sharp LCD with no problems.

J.C. · 10-02-2009, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rupesh12

I hit only had it for 6 months and it already broke.

Have you tried getting it fixed through the warranty?
I called Sony about mine but the guy answering the phone couldn't do anything for me since it is out of warranty. I told him that was unacceptable so, someone higher up the ladder is suppose to be calling me. We'll see how that turns out. The tv isn't as old as I thought, it's less than 14 months old.

short_stuff · 10-05-2009, 03:22 PM

Good luck. I've had electronic items be 1 week beyond the 12 month warranty period and the manufacturer (Sony) wouldn't do anything for me.
It's for this reason that when I bought my 50 inch Samsung, I went ahead and bought an extended warranty. Hope I don't have to use it, but it is there if I need to.
As much heat as these tv's produce, it's amazing they don't go out quicker. Mine has been professionally tuned down, and it still uses close to twice as much power (and produces at least twice as much heat) as my 13 year old JVC 40 inch cathode tube tv used. While I love the HD aspect of television watching now, I've learned to take anything the manufacturers state concerning how 'green' their products are with a grain of salt. just my .02 cents worth

short_stuff

J.C. · 10-05-2009, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by short_stuff

Good luck. I've had electronic items be 1 week beyond the 12 month warranty period and the manufacturer (Sony) wouldn't do anything for me.

Your sure not telling me anything I'd like to hear. I got a call back from them Sat. night and so far they haven't given me a flat out "no" but they sure haven't given me a "yes" to anything yet. I dropped it off at a repair place today and I'm suppose to get a written quote from them and I have to fax the quote along with the original receipt for the tv to Sony and they're suppose to give me another call to tell me if they plan on doing anything.

Sad thing is when I was first looking at buying a tv, the reason I went with a Sony instead of a Samsung is because I heard of complaints from people about Samsung not doing too much for them if they had any problems. Is there any TV manufacturers out there that actually stand behind their products?

ckanderson · 10-05-2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.C.

Your sure not telling me anything I'd like to hear. I got a call back from them Sat. night and so far they haven't given me a flat out "no" but they sure haven't given me a "yes" to anything yet. I dropped it off at a repair place today and I'm suppose to get a written quote from them and I have to fax the quote along with the original receipt for the tv to Sony and they're suppose to give me another call to tell me if they plan on doing anything.

Sad thing is when I was first looking at buying a tv, the reason I went with a Sony instead of a Samsung is because I heard of complaints from people about Samsung not doing too much for them if they had any problems. Is there any TV manufacturers out there that actually stand behind their products?

interested to hear what sony says.....

Going_Going_Gone · 10-05-2009, 07:08 PM

Did you buy this TV with an Amex or Gold card? Many times there are warranty extensions for products purchased with credit cards. I know purchases made on my Visa Gold card qualify for an extended warranty period. Just a thought

J.C. · 10-19-2009, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Going_Going_Gone

Did you buy this TV with an Amex or Gold card? Many times there are warranty extensions for products purchased with credit cards. I know purchases made on my Visa Gold card qualify for an extended warranty period. Just a thought

No, it was bought with a Best Buy credit card. I got the estimate for it today and the T-con board is bad (whatever that is). They want $533.25 to fix it and the part is back ordered and they won't get it until at least mid November.

The lady at the repair place seemed to think if I complain enough she wouldn't be surprised if Sony just sends out a replacement TV. Now I just have to get everything faxed to Sony and see what they say.

J.C. · 10-20-2009, 08:19 PM

Sent the fax at 7:45 this morning and got a call back at 11:30. The lady said, "my tv is out of warranty but, they would like to keep me as a customer so they'll pay to have it fixed." I was shocked. She wasn't aware that the part is on back order so she said she'll give me a call back within the next three days to say if there's anything else they can do or if I'll just have to wait. There's no doubt the whole thing is a hassle and I haven't had a tv for over two weeks now but I really can't complain about their service so far. I thought for sure the best I could hope for on their first offer would have been that they would pay for the part and I'd have to pay the rest. As long as this isn't a yearly occurance I wouldn't have a problem with buying another Sony.

short_stuff · 10-21-2009, 04:37 PM

That's good to hear. Maybe they are quietly handling these issues so that the government doesn't force them into a major recall.
Wish GE had been as cooperative. I have a 23 cft side-by-side fridge that I bought, along with a 3 year extended warranty. Before the fridge was a year old, I noticed that the ice flapper in the door wasn't shutting all the way, letting air into the freezer compartment and putting it into a continuous thaw-freeze cycle.
I contacted GE, and they gave me the name of someone in my area that would handle GE warranty work. I called that company, and they said they hadn't been associated with GE for at least a year. So, back to square one. Got the extended warranty people involved, and after a year of being stood up by servicemen that were going to come out and fix the fridge, I finally gave up. I bought the parts to fix it myself (about $100 worth), but I was still trying to get someone knowledgeable to work on it, at my expense. The warranty company felt bad enough about it that they refunded my entire $1000 purchase price of the fridge. I had done my homework, and found out that GE had issues with about 1800 different models spread over 4 years on this issue (they had changed the circuit design and heating element size), and their 'recall' was for you, the consumer, to call a service guy to come out and survey the problem. You, the consumer, would be responsible for the first $100 of the service call. Then, if the repairman determined that the parts to replace fell within the scope of GE's recall, then GE would pay the cost after the first $100 was spent. No thanks. That's why I thought I was safe with an extended warranty. So, I've vowed that I will never again own any GE appliance, big or small.

short_stuff

J.C. · 10-22-2009, 07:10 PM

Looks like I was a little premature on my thumbs up post.

Their latest call is to tell they'll be happy to send me the latest version of my tv for only $300+tax plus I pay the $100 for the estimate that I got on the old tv. I tell them they can keep their new tv and I'll just wait for the parts for my old tv. She says they won't pay everything to have my old tv fixed because they'll only cover up to $900. I tell here it is only suppose to cost $533 to fix my old tv so what she is talking about? She then tells me they've decided the only way to fix my old tv to change the entire LCD panel and it will cost in the thousands and I would be much better off just paying for the new tv. This is news to me.
I get off the phone with her and call the repair place and this is the first that they've heard of it too. They say there is a possiblity that the T-con board won't fix the problem and then the only option would be to replace the LCD panel but they feel that the T-con board will fix it. So, Sony has given me 2 weeks to decide what I want to do with the thing. I can think of a few things I'd like to tell them to do with it but, none of them are the options that they gave me.

hapaschold · 10-25-2009, 08:59 AM

imo take the lastest offer and run...and hope the new one lasts about 5 years without incident..my understanding is lcds plasmas have only a 5 year lifespan average use anyway.....

perhaps try and get sony to throw in at least a 2 year warranty on replacement set.....

like my situation with my first sony lcd, i accepted what the problem was, burned out pixels that was considered normal by sony, then the house got hit by lightning and ins co bought a new tv.......

fyi, new tv 3 years old now, another sony lcd projection, 60in, flawless operation, and no burned pixels......not one......

short_stuff · 10-28-2009, 03:01 PM

J.C., sorry to hear. I don't know what to tell you. On the one hand, a new tv for $400 (more or less) doesn't sound like a bad deal, until you look at how long your other tv lasted. Maybe if you were able to get an extended warranty, it would be worth it.
I think if it were me, I would probably balk at their offer, and go out and spend the money on new tv, different brand. As I said previously, once I get burnt on a brand, I don't go back to them. I don't know what the Sony cost you when you bought it new, but Samsungs less than 50 inch size can be had for less than $1500. When we were looking (and looking, and looking), Samsung was updating their tv's every 3 months or so. I studied the different tv's for over 3 years before we decided we had to dump our 40 inch JVC tube tv (for safety reasons). The Samsung model that we got had dropped over $600 in the 6 months that we were deciding whether we were going to buy it or not. And then we got some other discounts kicked in, so it was definitely a purchase we could live with.

just my .02 cents worth

short_stuff

J.C. · 10-28-2009, 07:49 PM

Well, I ended up just taking their offer. I sure don't like giving them another $300 but at this point it's my best option. Other than an old walkman and old discman, this is the only thing I own made by Sony. I always thought Sony stuff was overrated and this just confirmed it. Unless by some miracle this new new tv lasts 20 years you won't see me buying another Sony anything.

The worst part of the whole thing is I built my entertainment center when I got the thing and it's pretty much built for that tv. The new tv is 3" shorter and 1" narrower than the old one.

J.C. · 10-28-2009, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by short_stuff

Wish GE had been as cooperative.
short_stuff

I had a customer about 6 years ago that just got all new GE appliances and he had all kinds of problems with them. He got a call from GE when I was there the one day and I heard him say, "Are you calling about the GE junk?"

I can't remember what problems he was having but I decided I would never buy a GE appliance.