marshall_mosty
03-23-2010, 11:28 AM
From one of my co-workers.
On August 8, 2008 I purchased my first high definition TV. It was a 42” Vizio LCD from Wal-Mart. It seemed like a pretty good deal just under $1000. I will say that the TV had a really good picture while it lasted. The problem is it didn’t last. Yesterday, (3-23-2010) It died! I pulled my receipt and warranty information out of the filing cabinet to see what my options were. The warranty was only good for 1 year. I called Vizio’s customer service to explore my options. The representative was defensive from the start and fairly quickly informed me that I was out of luck because the 1 yr. warranty was up. I then asked, So, I can only expect a $1000 television to last a year? She stated that I could have no expectation to how long a piece of electronics was supposed to last. I informed her that I was an electrical engineer and that there was such a thing as a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and that there should be some reasonable life expectancy for solid state electronics. I have two analog televisions that are about 15 and 18 years old and they still function today.
When I purchased the TV I researched Vizio’s products online and the responses were pretty good. Yesterday my wife and I did some follow-up research. What we found is that our problem is not an isolated incident. People all over the country are having similar issues with their Visio TVs and are getting very little to no satisfaction from Vizio. Most of the TVs are malfunctioning between 18 months and 2 years. Many people have complained to the Better Business Bureau but Vizio still has an A+ rating.
In short, I now have a $1000 boat anchor that I am going to have to take apart and attempt to repair myself in order to try and salvage my investment. I know that the warranty is technically expired and Visio is within their legal rights to do nothing about their many customers’ inconvenience. But, it seems that there is a quality problem with Visio’s products and they should do something for their customers. Since they refuse to acknowledge there is a problem the internet is my only recourse.
I know that many people are getting tax returns back now and may use that money to purchase more costly items. I do not wish any of the consumers out there to waste their money on one of Vizio’s products that will just die on them after the warranty expires.
On August 8, 2008 I purchased my first high definition TV. It was a 42” Vizio LCD from Wal-Mart. It seemed like a pretty good deal just under $1000. I will say that the TV had a really good picture while it lasted. The problem is it didn’t last. Yesterday, (3-23-2010) It died! I pulled my receipt and warranty information out of the filing cabinet to see what my options were. The warranty was only good for 1 year. I called Vizio’s customer service to explore my options. The representative was defensive from the start and fairly quickly informed me that I was out of luck because the 1 yr. warranty was up. I then asked, So, I can only expect a $1000 television to last a year? She stated that I could have no expectation to how long a piece of electronics was supposed to last. I informed her that I was an electrical engineer and that there was such a thing as a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and that there should be some reasonable life expectancy for solid state electronics. I have two analog televisions that are about 15 and 18 years old and they still function today.
When I purchased the TV I researched Vizio’s products online and the responses were pretty good. Yesterday my wife and I did some follow-up research. What we found is that our problem is not an isolated incident. People all over the country are having similar issues with their Visio TVs and are getting very little to no satisfaction from Vizio. Most of the TVs are malfunctioning between 18 months and 2 years. Many people have complained to the Better Business Bureau but Vizio still has an A+ rating.
In short, I now have a $1000 boat anchor that I am going to have to take apart and attempt to repair myself in order to try and salvage my investment. I know that the warranty is technically expired and Visio is within their legal rights to do nothing about their many customers’ inconvenience. But, it seems that there is a quality problem with Visio’s products and they should do something for their customers. Since they refuse to acknowledge there is a problem the internet is my only recourse.
I know that many people are getting tax returns back now and may use that money to purchase more costly items. I do not wish any of the consumers out there to waste their money on one of Vizio’s products that will just die on them after the warranty expires.