LN52A850 IR Interference with DISH HD receiver box

HDTech,
Thanks for your offer to help. Per LaToya, with whom I just got off the phone at 1-800-Samsung, there is nothing in her system that indicates she can provide me this board replacement service free of charge.

I'm not sure she gave me the right transaction number: 4006808104. I followed the troubleshooting guide to set up a service call. That number is the ticket number for the service call. I have not set up an appointment yet, given that, at present, I would be paying for the fix.

Thanks again for any help you can provide.

I realize warranties aren't forever; but I don't feel I should have to suffer for being one of the early adopters for buying this TV when it was still relatively new to the market (and more expensive). I assume one of the reasons for asking the higher prices of the latest technology is to cover such things as this. I have a busy life and can't be checking the internet for fixes all the time. I'm pretty sure I contacted Samsung back in early '09, before they had a fix when I figured out the TV was causing interference (there were already a lot of discussions on it in this forum, if I remember correctly). I'm really disappointed they never got back to me with the fix as soon as they figured it out. If they deny me this fix, that will be the final straw, which will be a shame, since I've been very happy otherwise with Samsung products - starting in 2005 with a 50" pedestal HD DLP (still on the original projector bulb) and SyncMaster 2220WM LCD computer monitor bought in '08, in addition to my troubled LN52A850.

draph,

I've sent this request up this evening for them to review the case.

You'll probably hear back on this before I do, so keep me posted with any developments.

--HDTech

Thanks again for your help, HDTech.
I'll post an update as soon as I hear back.

...nothing yet after 2 days...

How long do you think it takes to review the case?

With these TVs, is margin so razor thin that doing what's right (fixing a design defect on the early lots that was missed in testing) risks the company bottom line that much? Does this case review involve a business trade-off analysis of lost sales from a CNET forum published case of screwing over an early adopter of the latest tech vs. lost profit resulting from additional out of warranty claims because of a CNET forum published case of success?

Taking this long suggests the corporate bean counters are hard at work calculating the potential liability against the bottom line if they do what's ethically the right thing to do (They're certainly spending more money analyzing the business case than what it would cost to fix my specific problem, but then again, I guess the staff accountants and legal folks are sunk costs anyway). They know how many serial numbers are still out there that have not had the fix that are potential warranty claims if they establish a precedent suggesting they'll take care of people past the original warranty period. In my case, let me remind them I've had this problem and reported it within my first two weeks of ownership. I assume they'd still have my call on record. And if they don't, or they purged it from the system (which is the more likely case) DISH Network has my call on record the first time they offered to provide me an RF remote controlled DVR as an extra cost upgrade to work around the problem back in Jan '09. It seems Samsung would lose the case if I took them to court over the issue...might have to throw in some mental anguish pain and suffering from having to get out of bed to switch the channel on the satellite the first 30 minutes as my wife and I were trying to wind down each night, which led to lost sleep, poor performance on the job, lost promotions as a result....wow, could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost wages over my lifetime...somebody call a lawyer!!!!

IMHO, any owner with the unfixed TV creates a potential case for more future lost sales (not just profit from paying for the fix). Let Samsung mull over this hypothetical: Owners of the un-fixed sets eventually go out and buy a new DVD player, or switch cable or satellite providers and discover this problem when the TV is 2, 3, 4 or more years old. They search the internet and find their problem is a design defect that has been known since at least mid '09. Samsung refuses to fix, citing out of warranty. That torques off the owner who shares his frustration and story about how a company who knew about a design defect didn't give him the option of applying the fix to his set while still under warranty; and recommends to all his friends and family to avoid Samsung products. It won't just be a lost repeat sale by that original owner.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent. From my perspective, it should be a simple decision for Samsung. They screwed up with their design. They should fix it. And help the test engineer who didn't plan for all IR frequencies of remote controls that might be used in the same room with the TV learn from his mistake and apply it to future product performance testing.

It's been over a week....still nothing.

draph,

I've asked again this morning for your case to be reviewed.

I'm sorry for the delay, but I can't make these decisions. I am trying on your behalf.

--HDTech

I appreciate anything you can do.
Please pass on my willingness to provide any proof the decision makers need that I'm the original owner who's experienced this problem from the first day I've turned it on.

They should have my serial number and be able to confirm it's from the bad lot and has not had the board replaced.

Thanks.

Well, I figured it was time I posted an update.

Back in early July I got a message from Executive Customer Service to call back "Caprice" at a certain extension. When I tried to call back, the extension was invalid. So, I called back again and talked with the first person I could get. His name was "Charles". Charles said repair of my TV would be covered by Samsung. All I had to do was email him a copy of the receipt. Since I bought on line, I emailed him the screen capture of the online receipt that showed the date, price I paid, etc.

Since then, I have heard nothing. I emailed Charles two weeks later and got nothing back. That was August 3rd.

So, am I supposed to trust Samsung will now cover and call my local authorized Samsung repair center with my ticket #? I figured I'd get some kind of written (at least emailed) confirmation...

I did some more checking.

According to the Samsung web site, my original ticket #4006808104 was canceled.

I called Executive Customer Service and spoke with Felecia. She apparently had everything involving the original ticket number and my conversations with Charles on record in their customer service system database. However, she did not tell me why my ticket was canceled. She also said she could NOT provide me a free of charge repair for my problem that existed since the TV was new.

I cannot understand Samsung's customer service policies. Why would they give me a verbal "we'll cover your repair", then drop off the face of the earth after I sent them a receipt copy, which forced me to call them back after over a month of silence, and then tell me I'm out of luck? That is much, much worse than if they just told me "no" back in July... Was Charles telling me the truth, but I was supposed to trust Samsung with a verbal and go ahead and initiate the repair on the original ticket number? Or was Charles a wimp and thought I'd be better off getting led on a wild goose chase, which is better for him since he successfully avoided confrontation with an upset customer by not telling me "no" in the first place?

BTW, I now have a new ticket number that got emailed to me while I was talking with Felicia: 4007193152

HDTech, did you ever get any other feedback on my case other than "it's under review"?

Well, after going another round with Samsung executive customer service, they once again said Samsung would cover it. This time, however, we more thoroughly communicated, which led to my understanding that I would not get any kind of separately written confirmation, but my local authorized Samsung repair center could confirm it. That, indeed, was the case; and I will be getting a new inverter board installed in my TV this week.

Thank you, Samsung.

draph,

Good to hear. I'm sorry about your previous attempts, but I'm glad you got it figured out. If something else comes up, please let me know.

--HDTech