Quote:
Originally Posted by
jliem 
Thanks to all for your responses regarding this issue. So I wanted to follow-up and let everyone know the resolution. I went back to Costco and talked to the guy at the Returns desk, and as grpape alludes to above, he explained that the likeliest scenario is that someone returned the unit and lied about never having used it, so Costco simply placed the unit back on the shelf. Unfortunately, he claims he had no way of looking up the history of the set, although he indicated that it must have been a return and not a display unit.
Anyway, the clerk's initial solution was to simply have us return the unit and exchange it for a new one. However, I explained that I didn't really have the means do that (since my original transportation vehicle was only available for the weekend). Further, I mentioned that I was actually willing to keep the set (since it didn't appear to have any issues), but I was unwilling to pay full price for a used item that was advertised as new. So the clerk brought his manager into the conversation. After explaining the situation, the manager said he'd be willing to give me a discount. He said the best he could do was to give me the discount offered for display units, which was 20% (in my case, that worked out to $330). I'm not sure whether grpape considers 20% as being not very much of a markdown, but it seemed pretty reasonable to me, so I decided to take him up on the offer. I also verified that I'm still covered by the 90-day return policy and 2-year warranty. So all in all, I'm very happy that Costco was willing to work with me to come up with what I felt was a reasonable resolution to this issue.
Now I'm off to play with my slightly-used new toy some more and verify that there really isn't anything wrong with it.
Again, thanks to all for the feedback!
The mark downs I usually see are about 10% (display models). So to me, all the hours at torch levels aren't worth the 10% off of any unit. It's just me, but, I like to get new things (I know if it breaks, it's my fault).
Your set was probably just a return with not many hours on it (I would figure the most it could have is 900 before the 90 day return period). I personally would take a new set, but that's me (I tend to break a lot of things).
I just got a Pio 1120 AVR and the component (G,B,R) doesn't work (not such a big deal because it's only used for my kids playing Wii). Amazon gave me 30% off which I accepted. They also cracked the base of my RC 50 speaker and also gave me 30%. The only way I agreed to take the 30% instead of a new unit, is because I live in Hawaii and the UPS guys like to damage my stuff in transit (twice returned, twice damaged).
It seemed like a lot of units and shipping would be wasted, and this was the best scenario for both parties.
Anyway. Enjoy your set. And if anything comes up, just return it for a new one.
I got home last night to find a mysterious glow coming from underneath the door in the man cave. Sure enough, I open the door and the TV is on yet again, but this time (unlike last time quoted above), the screen is blue and displaying "480P." Not sure how/why this thing is randomly turning on but it's starting to become bothersome.
