Hi all,

I am having my 65" Panny delivered this Monday from BuyDig.com and was wondering what the exact procedure should be for inspecting the plasma before signing off on the delivery. It is a threshold delivery to the front door. I am planning on unpacking it and visually inspecting the screen but is it common to also turn it on and make sure the picture is working?

Thanks.

Press the "on" button.

Press the "on" button.

Thanks for the reply. My real question is, when a delivery guy is waiting, do you take the time to unpack the tv and turn it on or not? I guess your answer is yes.

Hi all,

I am having my 65" Panny delivered this Monday from BuyDig.com and was wondering what the exact procedure should be for inspecting the plasma before signing off on the delivery. It is a threshold delivery to the front door. I am planning on unpacking it and visually inspecting the screen but is it common to also turn it on and make sure the picture is working?

Thanks.


I've had two panels delivered with broken glass in the last two months so it's safe to say the glass is the first thing you want to look at. Use a flashlight make sure you look over every inch of the glass because small cracks can be hard to see with the naked eye but a flashlight will pick out any problem with the glass. If the glass is intact and the box doesn't look abused, then your pretty much ok to sign off, but make sure when you sign you add "Subject to internal Inspection", it keeps the shipping company on the line for anything you may miss. As for turning the panel on, that's not something they are going to wait around for. Other than that it's always good to tip the driver at least a 10 spot so he wont give you any crap about taking a little time to check things over. Good luck

but make sure when you sign you add "Subject to internal Inspection", it keeps the shipping company on the line for anything you may miss.

Doubtful. They are not obligated to accept any terms you add unless they sign off.

Power the unit up in the box, this will require you to lift the left corner up out of the box and press in the power switch on the left bottom of the panel. Make sure you tip the guy or I dought he will stay.

Doubtful. They are not obligated to accept any terms you add unless they sign off.

Well that is what just about every forum Sponser recomends, so maybe they one of them can explain the value of doing this, if as you say, it's useless.

^^^^ Very true about us forum sponcers. The bottom line is the vender should handle how the inspection process is going to work.

^^^^ Very true about us forum sponcers. The bottom line is the vender should handle how the inspection process is going to work.

So you recommend adding "Subject to internal inspection" when signing?

Thanks.

Most LTL carriers need to have your signature before they can leave the shipment. It is not unreasonable to tell the driver you are going to open the box to inspect the unit for physical damage. The freight carrier is responsible for physical damage.

If the unit turns out to be defective the store you purchased from may end up sending you thru the Manufacture anyways depending on the warranty policy (especially on large flat panels) so it actually may not benefit you to refuse it on delivery for a Manufacture defect.

I would call Buydig and see what the normal procedure would be for a getting a defective TV serviced or replaced.

Read line 3 on the below link.

http://www.buydig.com/shop/usertpl.aspx?fle=Help.htm

I would not sign anything until the plasma was unpacked and turned on to make sure it works and is not damaged.

If the driver does not want to wait, then tell him to shove off with the plasma. Don't accept delivery and don't sign anything. Call the store and explain the driver could not wait 5 minutes to make sure the plasma is not damaged and you did not accept delivery. If the driver leaves the plasma even though you did not accept it or sign for it, then tell the store you never got the plasma, that the driver abandoned it, and someone must have drove by and took it. ;)

The store is losing a sale and will work out the problem with the shipping company. If a shipping company does not train their drivers to wait 5 minutes, they will lose business, and be out of business.

I'd NEVER sign anything before looking at the plasma. And that includes taking it out of the box (3-4 minutes) and going through the set-up screen (2-3 minutes). Offer the driver a soda or bottled water while they wait. If the driver is cool I'd give a $5 tip for his extra 5 minutes of time.

If you accept delivery and don't inspect the plasma, then find out it is broken, you could be stuck paying shipping to return the plasma and that could be expensive. Plus, some on-line stores might not accept returns or make the process so difficult it's impossible to return.

Also, I'd pay with credit card as protection to reverse charges if a problem happens.

You're paying for a new plasma that is not cracked or broken and does not have parts missing. Don't make a thousand dollar mistake just because the driver is in a hurry. It is your money!

If you want to really inspect the plasma, you could also hook up a DVD player to each HDMI port to make sure they all work. Just look for the DVD screen to appear and move on. It is only another couple minutes. A cheap pair of rabit ears will check to make sure the tuner works. Turn on a HD channel like PBS to make sure the picture and sound works. Go to a SD channel and test all the strech modes. Go into the settings mode and spend 30 seconds to make sure each setting works by changing contrast, brightness.

That'll probably add another 10 minutes to the inspection process.

The key is to never sign anything until you're satisfied the plasma has arrived in good condition and works.

You're not on the hook until you accept delivery and sign.

Lots of drivers might walk to the door first and ask you to sign before they unload. Don't do it. Tell the driver if he does not unload it and give you a reasonable amount of time to inspect that he can take the plasma back to where it came from.

One more thing you can do is add the following above where you sign: "Can return at no cost if order is broken or parts missing".

I love all the junior lawyers here that just think you can add clauses and expect them to accept whatever you write down. You know, they do offer Business Law classes at the community college.

I love all the junior lawyers here that just think you can add clauses and expect them to accept whatever you write down. You know, they do offer Business Law classes at the community college.

We live in a country where people sue.

The customer is spending a lot of money and has the right to expect the product will work as advertised.

I'm for anything that protects the customer.

Omeletpants, how would you like to spend $5,000 on a plasma and have it arrive broken, then be told you must spend another $500 to ship it back to the store, and then be told you must wait a month for a replacement to be shipped, then when you get your replacement you realize it is a floor model and not new, then be told to keep the floor model or spend another $500 in shipping and the old model is out of stock so you might have to take something else in store credit. Do you want to go through that hell?

I'd rather have a clause added to the deleviery paper that says if the product is found to be broken, then the product is not accepted and the shipper must take it away. If there is a problem, it helps in court. Maybe if the seller had to spend $1000 on a lawyer to fight in an out-of-state court they would think twice before acting like a used car salesman.

Some stores are really good and helpful. Other sellers are horrible. Compare Fry's to Costco. Which one do you think will give you a hard time and which one will help you. When you order on-line you have no idea if the seller is a good guy or a scammer.

in a case like this, with a 'threshhold delivery', i'd have an a.c. extension cord and a hdmi dvd player both placed by the 'threshhold' (door) ready to go.
then, inspect tv, do a quick hook up and make sure its ok, then sign. tip driver if appros.

speaking for myself, tho, id never buy a big item like that from on-line. id use a local b&m, even if it cost a little more. and still have them deliver it.

Just be a D*%$!

I just accepted a delivery from Bigriver whiteglove and the driver was less then pleased with me. We carried the 800u into my living room (these boxes are dirty so have a drop cloth laid down) and took off the top box. I did a quick physical inspection and said I had to power it on. The driver said to lean it up against the wall without the stand and just plug in. I gave him a $10 spot and told him it was already unboxed and I wasn't signing anything until I was satisfied. He could stand there and wait 10-12 min while I do a proper inspection with 10 bucks in his pocket or stamp around like a 2 year old with no tip. Either way he isn't leaving until I sign off. He wasn't happy but who cares! Don't let these drivers push you around. Once they are in your house and have helped take the top box off you have all the leverage. They aren't leaving until they have a signature. I know these guys have tight schedules to keep but I don't feel 10 min is too much time to take to accept a big ticket item. Find another line of work if you don't like it.

PS - Be prepared. Have all your tools, DVD player, cables laid out and ready to go.

Thats is prety much what I did.

Take the top off and has power for a DVD and rabbit ears set up with HDMI cables and Component cables

Read the manual online before you get the set so you can quickly get test the thing you want to test without a lot of fumbling around.

You're really looking for shipping samage stuff.

1) check for obvious damage to the glass and case.

2) screen cracks or pixel damage (a solid color screen or DVD breakin disk is good for this)

3) loose conectors. (test the sound and really crank it up)

4) Test all of the inputs ( at least all of the ones you're going to use)

That should cover you for most of the problems that would crop up in shipping.

Boy, you guys are cheap with your $5 and $10 tips :p. The amount of money you're saving with an on-line dealer and the amount of time you're asking the driver to wait around until things check out warrants at least $20 (if not more), especially on a high-priced item. No wonder these drivers are so quick to haul ass after delivering something. Why wait around for a "Thanks"?

(Bet you don't tip your mail carrier each year either. :D )

My driver got a $10 spot because of his attitude and he was lucky to get that. You scratch my back I'll scratch yours.

We live in a country where people sue.

The customer is spending a lot of money and has the right to expect the product will work as advertised.

I'm for anything that protects the customer.

Omeletpants, how would you like to spend $5,000 on a plasma and have it arrive broken, then be told you must spend another $500 to ship it back to the store, and then be told you must wait a month for a replacement to be shipped, then when you get your replacement you realize it is a floor model and not new, then be told to keep the floor model or spend another $500 in shipping and the old model is out of stock so you might have to take something else in store credit. Do you want to go through that hell?

I'd rather have a clause added to the deleviery paper that says if the product is found to be broken, then the product is not accepted and the shipper must take it away. If there is a problem, it helps in court. Maybe if the seller had to spend $1000 on a lawyer to fight in an out-of-state court they would think twice before acting like a used car salesman.

Some stores are really good and helpful. Other sellers are horrible. Compare Fry's to Costco. Which one do you think will give you a hard time and which one will help you. When you order on-line you have no idea if the seller is a good guy or a scammer.

I'm not disagreeing with everyone's desire to insure it's working properly. You can write anything you want on the ticket, but it's not legally binding. The delivery people cannot make a binding contract for the reseller. So scribble anything you want but it's meaningless.