[plasma-black]

I just got my new 50" ST50 from Paul's TV a few days ago. The TV and all the accessories & documentation seemed perfectly brand new and in great shape when I unboxed everything. But today I noticed that the top of metal casing behind the bezel is a little wavy. In fact there's one area that I would call a good old fashioned dent. The indentations are only noticeable when the light hits them just right but you can see them pretty well in these pictures. **Another curious thing is that a few of the screws in the back of the set were loose enough for me to unscrew with my fingers.


Is this something I should be concerned about? Would this just be a general quality control issue that happened in the manufacturing process?


I also thought of the possibility that Paul's may have sent me a refurbished set. Thinking this, I went into the service menu to check how many hours are on the display. It showed around 60 hours used which is exactly how long I've been running D-Nice's slides.


So what do you guys think? I have no plans to return the set because of this but I'm just curious what other people would do in this situation.


Thanks!!


(Also, before anyone says I should have inspected the set while the delivery guy was here.... My condo is on the 8th floor of my building and the delivery company's policy was that they only deliver to the ground floor..no elevators, etc. I would have had to unbox everything on the side of a busy street in this case. I'm sure they wouldn't have waited for me to do this anyway.)

 

[Jawzey]

Well, take this into account. No one will ever see, that, except for you. If you put it up on the wall then for sure no one will see that. What I would do, however, is call PaulsTV. Tell them about your situation, and tell them how you were not able to inspect it on the busy floor level. Ask them what they can do about it to make you (the customer) happy. Just make sure you sound very unhappy or they won't try to please you.

 

[plasma-black]

Jawzey, I'm hearing you. The last thing I want to do is return the set, though. I think I could probably massage the dents out myself but I'd have to remove the cover. I'm just wondering how these dents and ripples got there. And why were some of the screws loose?? I'm assuming a human assembles these at the factory. It's just a weird thing to me.

Anybody else want to chime in?

 

[jpcamaro70]

you just paid a lot of money for a new set, not a used one or a damaged one. Personally, I would call the retailer and get it exchanged.

 

[RandyWalters]

It looks like something damaged the set somehow before you got it - it's not likely that the assembly plant would have packed that TV with such an obvious dent in the top where it's clearly visible. I would compare the serial number on the TV's sticker to the sticker on the box and see if they match. I'm wondering if they removed that TV from the box to use as a store display then somehow dropped something on it, then quietly put it back in the box and stashed it back in the warehouse to keep from getting in trouble.....


I'd find out if the driver is supposed to wait 30 seconds while you inspect the TV for damage, and i'd also insist on a no-charge replacement. It takes literally 10 seconds to pop the upper half of the box off which exposes the whole upper 2/3rds of the set and allows for easy inspection for physical damage - we've done it at curbside before and even once on the back of the truck before unloading the TV.

 

[plasma-black]

Thanks for the reply Randy.


I just checked the serial numbers and the number on the set does match the number on the box. This situation is strange because everything in the box seemed perfectly factory sealed and brand new to me. The plastic wrap and stickers around the bezel were factory fresh as well. I also checked the hours used on the set in the service menu and the hours listed matched the hours I've had it running. I think I will go ahead and call Paul's and explain the situation and see what they say.

 

[plasma-black]

I just got off the phone with Pau's TV. I just shot straight with them and explained the situation. I was a little surprised at the customer service agent's attitude. He actually talked down to me about the situation which I wasn't expecting at all because they have been great to me until now.


Anyway, he asked me to take all sorts of pictures of the TV and the box and they would file a claim with the delivery company. I told him it doesn't look like the damage happened during delivery, though, but I guess that must not matter. We'll see what happens next!!

 

[Jawzey]



Quote:
Originally Posted by plasma-black  /t/1414749/dents-behind-the-bezel-o...plasma-should-i-be-worried-pics#post_22116303


I just got off the phone with Pau's TV. I just shot straight with them and explained the situation. I was a little surprised at the customer service agent's attitude. He actually talked down to me about the situation which I wasn't expecting at all because they have been great to me until now.

Anyway, he asked me to take all sorts of pictures of the TV and the box and they would file a claim with the delivery company. I told him it doesn't look like the damage happened during delivery, though, but I guess that must not matter. We'll see what happens next!!

Did you order it from their site or from a store? If you ordered it from one of their stores I would advise calling that number, not the direct number to Pauls. Best of luck to you though! I recently got a 42UT50 and I wouldn't be happy either, but then again no one sees it. But then again, you paid big money for this set so this is no bueno.

 

[plasma-black]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jawzey  /t/1414749/dents-behind-the-bezel-o...plasma-should-i-be-worried-pics#post_22116908


Did you order it from their site or from a store? If you ordered it from one of their stores I would advise calling that number, not the direct number to Pauls. Best of luck to you though! I recently got a 42UT50 and I wouldn't be happy either, but then again no one sees it. But then again, you paid big money for this set so this is no bueno.

That's a good idea about calling the store instead. There was a manager in one of their stores in California that originally helped me with this order. I almost hate to call him, though. Long story, but there was a problem involving the price and an online promo code when I bought the TV. We were going back and forth for a few days before everything got straightened out. And now there's this problem with the dents.


Honestly, when I noticed these indentations I just wanted to pretend like I didn't see them because I know it's usually such a pain to go through a return process....unless you're dealing with Amazon. I started to buy from Amazon for this very same reason but Paul's price was over $100 cheaper. Something to think about next time I guess.

 

[Jawzey]



Quote:
Originally Posted by plasma-black  /t/1414749/dents-behind-the-bezel-o...plasma-should-i-be-worried-pics#post_22117003


That's a good idea about calling the store instead. There was a manager in one of their stores in California that originally helped me with this order. I almost hate to call him, though. Long story, but there was a problem involving the price and an online promo code when I bought the TV. We were going back and forth for a few days before everything got straightened out. And now there's this problem with the dents.

Honestly, when I noticed these indentations I just wanted to pretend like I didn't see them because I know it's usually such a pain to go through a return process....unless you're dealing with Amazon. I started to buy from Amazon for this very same reason but Paul's price was over $100 cheaper. Something to think about next time I guess.

Don't feel intimidated. Just give them a call and tell them what happened. Tell them you want a local Paul's that is near you to come and swap the TV out with a different one. If there is a Paul's near you then they should be able to do it. If there isn't, and you don't want to deal with a return process, just keep the set and ask them for some sort of IOU or store credit, since a return is too much of a hassle to go through.

 

[jpcamaro70]

This won't help you now, but this is why I buy everything through best buy. If the price is off they will price match and if something is damaged they have the best customer service as far as returns.


Best of luck to you, I hope it comes out in your favor.

 

[Killyamomz]

Return it, don't risk it.


This could be an issue in the long run.


I too received my Panny just a few days ago and could not inspect it because...I was at work.


I would return it, get a refund, call up amazon have them price match pauls tv and get the set through amazon. I have returned 2 sets that have had issues and yes it's a hassle having to box everything back up but you're either getting your money back or exchanging for the same or different set. So far amazon has been solid about returns, refunds or exchanges.


Off topic question though - you mentioned running D-Nice's slides on your set....is it worth running the slides for 100hrs?

 

[plasma-black]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Killyamomz  /t/1414749/dents-behind-the-bezel-o...plasma-should-i-be-worried-pics#post_22121511


Return it, don't risk it.

This could be an issue in the long run.

I too received my Panny just a few days ago and could not inspect it because...I was at work.

I would return it, get a refund, call up amazon have them price match pauls tv and get the set through amazon. I have returned 2 sets that have had issues and yes it's a hassle having to box everything back up but you're either getting your money back or exchanging for the same or different set. So far amazon has been solid about returns, refunds or exchanges.

Off topic question though - you mentioned running D-Nice's slides on your set....is it worth running the slides for 100hrs?

I think you're right about returning it. What ever caused these dents must have been a pretty hard impact because that metal seems pretty sturdy. I'm also hearing you about your Amazon advice. I probably should have just followed my first instinct and bought from them from the beginning.


As far as D-Nice's slides go... Everything I've read said that the set would have a better overall picture if you allow the slides to prep the panel for the 100 hours and then calibrate using his settings. D-Nice and others made a pretty compelling argument in favor of it so I gave it shot. One thing they say is that the display has a certain amount of color shift during those 100 hours so that's why it's important to calibrate after that time.


Believe it or not, I could actually see a difference in the color of the slides towards the end of the process. I'm in the graphics and printing industry so I guess my eye is trained to see that sort of thing. The green seemed to start off as a grass green but ended up brighter and more fluorescent. The red also started out a deeper red and ended up being lighter and brighter.


I will say that the picture quality looked outstanding afterwards with D-Nice's settings. The set just finished the slides last night so I haven't had a lot of time to really check it out yet. The only thing I changed so far was I set the color temperature to Normal instead of Warm2 like he has. The Warm2 setting gave everything a yellowish tint that I didn't like.


Hope that helps.

 

[rogo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jpcamaro70  /t/1414749/dents-behind-the-bezel-o...plasma-should-i-be-worried-pics#post_22117364


This won't help you now, but this is why I buy everything through best buy. If the price is off they will price match and if something is damaged they have the best customer service as far as returns.

Best of luck to you, I hope it comes out in your favor.

Agreed on the wishing you luck.


As for retailers, I think putting Costco and Amazon in the same pantheon as Best Buy is more than fair.


Costco will take anything back for 90 days. Amazon will take anything back for (I believe) 30. Neither gives you grief about it either.

 

[EAGLEFAN67]

Don't massage them out...don't remove the cover...you'll void your warranty.

I say go for a new one...or request a full refund and pick it up.

 

[fatuglyguy]

I would exchange it, but I'd hate the hassle. I've seen warping in some cheap bezel plastic, but since this is the rear metal casing it's a bigger deal IMO. Something had to have happened to the TV before it got to you, even it works fine.

 

[jpcamaro70]

I love Amazon too, but for electronics, I have a best buy right in town so it's easy for me to got there, no shipping, just drive 5 minutes.

 

[mohanman]

Good luck with Pauls TV. I bought a VT30 there, and had picture quality issues. They won't do anything, they'll pass around your phone call, never call you back, and then finally give you another number and so fourth. Best of luck, hope it works out for you, but in future, I wouldn't buy from there again.

 

[hidefpaul]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jpcamaro70  /t/1414749/dents-behind-the-bezel-o...plasma-should-i-be-worried-pics#post_22116126


you just paid a lot of money for a new set, not a used one or a damaged one. Personally, I would call the retailer and get it exchanged.

+1


Paul

 

[Mac13]

I would exchange as well. Good luck!


On another note, where are D-Nice's settings posted? Does he have them for all the 2012 Panasonic lines?

Quote:
Originally Posted by plasma-black  /t/1414749/dents-behind-the-bezel-o...plasma-should-i-be-worried-pics#post_22122624


I will say that the picture quality looked outstanding afterwards with D-Nice's settings