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General discussion

HELP! RCA 52 Inch Burnt out after 6 months of purchase!

Jun 24, 2004 4:25AM PDT

I am in desperate need of help. I recently purchased a 52 inch RCA HDTV projection from circuit city in dec 2003. Last week, I wake up to the smell of smoke coming from the TV. I call RCA and they send over an authorized tech to check it out and he states that he has seen the same Scenium HD52W140YX1 with the same problem with 10 other customers. Apparently, a major part of the TV ( a head or something board) had burnt out and it is a design problem and that getting the TV replaced would be the best option, because if the part is replaced, the TV would get serviced numerous times in the future. After hearing this distressing information, I went to circuit city, and was unfortunately rejected because i did not purchase the extended warranty and that RCA would be my only resort because i have my one year warranty with them. SO i call RCA, and i speak to the manager (supposedly), and explain to her that purchasing a $2000 TV that apparently has major design faults for it to burn out in less than six months is unaccpetable. She completely ignores my obvious frusteration and states repeatedly that Thomson, maker of RCA, only covers parts and labor warranty even if the TV had gone up in flames. I had never been treated so terribly and had never encountered customer service that was so unhelpful. I am now stuck with a 2000.00 dollar tv that does not work, along with maintenance that has to be done perhapes every 3-4 months. My warranty expires in Dec., so I would be obligated to purchase $200.00 warranty for the entire time i keep the tv. does anyone have any advice as to what can be done, I am very frusterated at the fact that i just flushed 2000.00 dollars on a worthless tv down the toilet from a company that i thought cared about the consumer.

Discussion is locked

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So,.,....
Jun 26, 2004 4:47AM PDT

Did you get it fixed?

Bob

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Worst TV made by RCA
Jan 9, 2005 10:17PM PST

I had the same problem, my tv burned in 10 months. I called RCA, and a they had me contact local service center, after they had my tv for almost 6 weeks, they returned it to me. It worked for about 1 month, I moved to another state, was configuring the tv, and it went out. Since I had purchased the extended warranty from Circuit City, i called them. They had a local service center tech come out to fix. He came out once each week for 3 weeks replacing parts before he determined that the burned boards were never replaced, so he had to order new boards. By the time it was all done, another 6 weeks had past. Now, less than 1 month later, the TV is out again. Circuit City said that there has to be 3 service calls before they will replace the TV. I'm confident that when they come out this time, that there will be another service call before my warranty expires, and then I'll get a new TV.

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RCA SUCKS!
Jan 9, 2005 11:09PM PST

Don't buy anything by RCA or Thompson...for that matter Circuit sucks too! It goes to say, that buying from a company that has actual SALES PEOPLE has it's benefits. Try this, legally you can buy an extended gaurantee after you buy a product with in 30 days before your manufactures warranty expires. I highly suggest you go swallow some pride and spend the cash to get the extended program and get your tv fixed. Then, you will be covered by a no lemon policy. If they fix it for the same thing 4 times you can get a NEW tv! Don't buy another RCA!
Best Regards,
Former Circuit City SALES PROFFESSIONAL, now with a real company!