Worried about repair company, please advise

TomPiltoff · 12-26-06, 08:49 PM

Hi.

I bought a KD30XS955 with a 3 year warranty last year. A few months after purchase, I began to notice a large blue cloud coming from the top left corner of the screen.

There's also a deep gouge in the plastic above the screen a few inches away from that cloud. It's only cosmetic, and the cloud was around long before that gouge appeared.

I just now got around to calling my warranty company about it and today they sent a guy out to look at it. He was obviously very suspicious about the gouge, and I'm expecting my warranty company to give me a hard time.

Is there any way to prove to him that this issue is unrelated? I mean, if I were to drop my TV from such a height that a gouge would be put in the plastic, wouldn't the screen also crack and wouldn't I see other problems?

justsc · 12-26-06, 08:56 PM

I think your story will have to be better than what's written here.

Gouges don't just appear, in my experience.

I'm not sure how you are going to prove the point you hope to make.

Marky_Mark896 · 12-26-06, 08:59 PM

Exactly. Where did the gouge come from?

TomPiltoff · 12-26-06, 09:37 PM

Well first of all I really did not drop my TV, I'm being honest here.

Of course the gouge didn't just appear. I wasn't around when it happened, but apparently some of my friends were horsing around in my room and fell into it.

justsc · 12-26-06, 10:15 PM

Obviously, it's not my place to judge.

So what I'm trying to do is help with your request, which is how to explain that it couldn't be from the gouge.

With the information given, I think you're in a tough spot. It's going to be your word against the record. The record being that the gouge wasn't reported upon delivery, so they assume it's happened since then, which happens to be accurate. At the time of the service call both the cloud and the gouge are present. So it's up to the techs imagination to determine causes.

You'll need to provide more evidence for the tech to consider that they're two different issues.

TomPiltoff · 12-26-06, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justsc

Obviously, it's not my place to judge.

Erm, what could you possibly judge me on? Not taking care of my electronics? I do. I was not around when this happened.

Marky_Mark896 · 12-27-06, 06:59 AM

Do you know for a fact that your friends didn't knock it off the stand? It may not have caused your blue cloud problem, but I think you'll be hard pressed to get someone to cover it under warranty with that story. Do you have renter's or homeowners' insurance?

Porcupine2 · 12-27-06, 04:43 PM

Not being around when something happened is not a valid excuse. If your TV was physically damaged while you owned it, it's your problem to deal with.

Your only hope is to be able to explain that the physical gouge is not the cause of the TV's picture problem. You don't have to prove it without a doubt, as long as there is a reasonable possibility that the TV problem is not the result of physical trauma that should be enough. I would try to show this in one of two ways: 1) go look around in stores and try to find another set of the same model of TV as yours with the same or similar problem, 2) if they give you problems, ask the repairman or warranty company to send you a technical explanation of what they think the problem is, and ask THEM to explain their theory on how the display-related problem you have could be caused by physical trauma to the TV.

Unfortunately I think that physical trauma on the TV looks real bad on paper and in court, so I think your only solid avenue lies in what I wrote in 1) above.

Also, find your warranty papers and read them carefully. If they say something like "Warranty service does not apply to sets that have been damaged by the user" then you are probably in big trouble regardless. If they say something more like "Warranty service does not apply to issues that are the result of user misuse or damage" then you still have hope if you can argue your case successfully.

Also, be aware that what your warranty papers say is not the end-all of a company's liability to ensure that your set functions properly. That is why there is all this legal fine-print gibberish at the bottom of any warranty card. So that can be a possibility for you as well, but generally only useful if you want to take them to court over your TV, which probably isn't going to happen.

MOtvGuy · 01-04-07, 10:33 PM

While you were away your friends got to horsing around and knocked the set off the stand. The set impacted the floor putting the gouge in it and unfortunately, knocked the purity out on the TV. I've seen it way too many times. Sorry, not a warranty issue. It's called abuse.

InYourEyes · 01-04-07, 11:01 PM

Oh dear. My Toshiba 34HF84 I used to own before didn't have any blue cloud at all. Only cracked casing.

Ratman · 01-05-07, 09:00 AM

That was probaby a stress fracture due to overtightening the screw when replacing the back cover.

12-26-06, 08:49 PM	#1 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a4ac4393' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:30&n=a4ac4393' border='0' alt=''></a>
TomPiltoff New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 14	Worried about repair company, please advise Hi. I bought a KD30XS955 with a 3 year warranty last year. A few months after purchase, I began to notice a large blue cloud coming from the top left corner of the screen. There's also a deep gouge in the plastic above the screen a few inches away from that cloud. It's only cosmetic, and the cloud was around long before that gouge appeared. I just now got around to calling my warranty company about it and today they sent a guy out to look at it. He was obviously very suspicious about the gouge, and I'm expecting my warranty company to give me a hard time. Is there any way to prove to him that this issue is unrelated? I mean, if I were to drop my TV from such a height that a gouge would be put in the plastic, wouldn't the screen also crack and wouldn't I see other problems?

12-26-06, 08:59 PM	#3 \| Link
Marky_Mark896 AVS Special Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Outside Bowling Green, Ohio Posts: 2,132	Exactly. Where did the gouge come from? __________________ It's not just a hobby, it's an obsession...

12-26-06, 10:15 PM	#5 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
justsc AVS Special Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,685	Obviously, it's not my place to judge. So what I'm trying to do is help with your request, which is how to explain that it couldn't be from the gouge. With the information given, I think you're in a tough spot. It's going to be your word against the record. The record being that the gouge wasn't reported upon delivery, so they assume it's happened since then, which happens to be accurate. At the time of the service call both the cloud and the gouge are present. So it's up to the techs imagination to determine causes. You'll need to provide more evidence for the tech to consider that they're two different issues.

12-27-06, 06:59 AM	#7 \| Link
Marky_Mark896 AVS Special Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Outside Bowling Green, Ohio Posts: 2,132	Do you know for a fact that your friends didn't knock it off the stand? It may not have caused your blue cloud problem, but I think you'll be hard pressed to get someone to cover it under warranty with that story. Do you have renter's or homeowners' insurance? __________________ It's not just a hobby, it's an obsession...

12-27-06, 04:43 PM	#8 \| Link
Porcupine2 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 405	Not being around when something happened is not a valid excuse. If your TV was physically damaged while you owned it, it's your problem to deal with. Your only hope is to be able to explain that the physical gouge is not the cause of the TV's picture problem. You don't have to prove it without a doubt, as long as there is a reasonable possibility that the TV problem is not the result of physical trauma that should be enough. I would try to show this in one of two ways: 1) go look around in stores and try to find another set of the same model of TV as yours with the same or similar problem, 2) if they give you problems, ask the repairman or warranty company to send you a technical explanation of what they think the problem is, and ask THEM to explain their theory on how the display-related problem you have could be caused by physical trauma to the TV. Unfortunately I think that physical trauma on the TV looks real bad on paper and in court, so I think your only solid avenue lies in what I wrote in 1) above. Also, find your warranty papers and read them carefully. If they say something like "Warranty service does not apply to sets that have been damaged by the user" then you are probably in big trouble regardless. If they say something more like "Warranty service does not apply to issues that are the result of user misuse or damage" then you still have hope if you can argue your case successfully. Also, be aware that what your warranty papers say is not the end-all of a company's liability to ensure that your set functions properly. That is why there is all this legal fine-print gibberish at the bottom of any warranty card. So that can be a possibility for you as well, but generally only useful if you want to take them to court over your TV, which probably isn't going to happen. Last edited by Porcupine2; 12-27-06 at 04:51 PM..

12-26-06, 08:56 PM	#2 \| Link
justsc AVS Special Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,685	I think your story will have to be better than what's written here. Gouges don't just appear, in my experience. I'm not sure how you are going to prove the point you hope to make.

12-26-06, 09:37 PM	#4 \| Link
TomPiltoff New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 14	Well first of all I really did not drop my TV, I'm being honest here. Of course the gouge didn't just appear. I wasn't around when it happened, but apparently some of my friends were horsing around in my room and fell into it.

01-04-07, 10:33 PM	#9 \| Link
MOtvGuy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 341	While you were away your friends got to horsing around and knocked the set off the stand. The set impacted the floor putting the gouge in it and unfortunately, knocked the purity out on the TV. I've seen it way too many times. Sorry, not a warranty issue. It's called abuse.

01-04-07, 11:01 PM	#10 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
InYourEyes Toshiba 37LX96 LCD Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 794	Oh dear. My Toshiba 34HF84 I used to own before didn't have any blue cloud at all. Only cracked casing.

01-05-07, 09:00 AM	#11 \| Link
Ratman AVS Special Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Collingswood, N.J. Posts: 8,242	That was probaby a stress fracture due to overtightening the screw when replacing the back cover.