image blotchy on Sony 42 wega

On Jun 11, 6:48*pm, wrote:
As someone who has bought three HD sets, and has two of then
replaced
under warranty, the moral is: buy the extended warranty. *

In my experience, the answer is never, ever, to buy the extended
warranty. Those things are essentially 100% profit. Problems are
almost always infant mortality which will come out in the first year.
Of remaining problems, (like this one) they tend towards design
defects that the manufacturer should reasonably cover anyway. (Hence
targeted manufacturer-extended warranties, which is what this should
have been.)

Moreover, often to take advantage of extended warranties involves
going through a different channel than regular warranties, and you
rapidly find that the people you're talking to has as their sole goal
to not provide to you the service that you need.

And finally, these things are commodity items. By the time your
extended warranty runs out, your appliance is a dinosaur with much
better and cheaper replacements available. My first DVD player cost
$700. I can replace it today with a better unit for $35. Under those
circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to fix the old one, even
under warranty.


Ron

Update: I got a call from the shop this morning. The service will
cost $600-something for the part, something less than $100 for the EPA
disposal fee for the old part, and the rest is labor. Total $1135,
which counting the $95 diagnosis fee leaves a grand total of $1230.

For comparison, a brand spanking new Philips 42PFL5603D/27, which has
three HDMI sockets (the Sony only has one) and supports 1080P (Sony
only does 1080i), is $1,219.98.

So the question becomes, why, as a responsible consumer, would I get
my current set fixed for *more* (grand total) than the cost of buying
a *better* TV new? Moreover, under these circumstances, why, as a
responsible consumer, would I buy another Sony TV?

And finally, after this experience, why would I buy *any* device by
Sony?

I'm not just venting, I'd really like to know the answers to these
questions, if anyone from Sony is listening.

And finally, I can't shake the feeling that I've been scammed by the
repair process. The Sony rep made a big deal about having the local
repair person come to the home instead of me taking the TV to the shop
(as I could easily have done), assuring me that Sony doesn't want me
to lug the thing around, they'll gladly pay the cost of the house
call. Well, they didn't.

Similarly, the local service center was all sweetness and honey right
up to the moment that the service guy got to the home, and then things
rapidly got grim and unfriendly. I'm left with the feeling that the
entire process is designed to get that $95 initial fee from me,
because they know damn good and well that that's all they're going to
get, when the hapless consumer discoveres that (a) Sony ain't gonna
cover it, and (b) total cost is greater than replacement. Sigh.
Well, it's a learning experience. And the learning is, no Sony, never
again. Not to say there aren't other unscrupulous vendors out there,
but fool me twice, shame on me.


Ron

On Jun 11, 4:22*pm, roc97007 wrote:
Update: *Well, I thought things were going too smoothly. *Today the
other shoe dropped. The authorized Sony repair tech visited the house
today. *It was his verdict that the blotches are the wrong color to be
covered by the Sony image block extended warranty. *(The wrong
color??) *He said it was the same part (image block) and what sounded
like the same cause (dust getting into the sealed unit) but Sony only
covered replacement of the image block if the blotches are blue. *No
other color.

I called Sony technical support back and talked to their customer
relations department. *"Rafael" said that the warranty has been
extended on several Sony LCD TVs, and for many colors of blotches on
other models, or any color blotch on some models, but only blue
blotches on this particular model (KDF-42WE655).

I said that doesn't make any sense. *Apparently it doesn't have to.

So, I said to the Sony customer relations specialist, let's summarize
he *I paid $2400 for a TV which, 6 months out of warranty, had a
major failure, requiring replacing the most expensive component (the
image block) and Sony thinks this is the normal and expected level of
quality that I should expect from Sony televisions?

Further, I said, are you really expecting me to pay in the
neighborhood of $1200 to have it fixed, which at today's prices would
buy me a new TV of comparable size with more features? *Moreover, if I
must replace the TV, wouldn't it be financially irresponsible of me to
replace it with another Sony?

So what we finally came down to is that they want me to fax them the
original receipt and they'll make a decision on how this is going to
go. *I'm willing to jump through that additional hoop (assuming the
receipt still exists after a year and a half) but I don't hold much
hope.

I guess the moral is, don't buy one of these things, and if you do, be
prepared to sharpen your debating skills. *And for God's sake save the
receipt.

My last Sony television was a 1985 XBR ($1,100) which lasted me a
little over 20 years. *Until now, I've always had a high opinion of
Sony quality. *It makes me sad to see how far they've fallen.

* *Ron

On Jun 10, 10:00*am, roc97007 wrote:

Update: *I called Sony support prepared to argue with them, but the
process was absolutely painless. *They looked up the closest service
center and told me to call and schedule an appointment. *I said I
could put the TV in the truck and just drive it there, but the sony
rep said oh no, they don't expect me to move the TV; if it really has
the described problem, they'd pay for a house call. *I've never heard
of this before.

I called the shop yesterday, and they quickly scheduled a person to
come out in two days (which would be tomorrow). *The only caveat is
that if the TV doesn't have this problem, I'm on the hook for a $95
house visit. But the issue is so obvious, and matches the photos on
Sony's support page so closely, that I don't think there's going to be
a problem.

I have to admit, I'm flabbergasted. *I remember manhandling my
extremely heavy tube tv to the shop a couple of times all by myself in
the nineties, and getting uncaring, expensive and occasionally hostile
response from a repair center that apparently knew quite well that
they were the only game in town. *Could things have changed that much
in ten years?

As said, the appointment is tomorrow. *There's still time for things
to go south. *Stay tuned...

* *Ron

On Jun 8, 3:55*pm, roc97007 wrote:

Thanks for everyone's response. *Turns outSonywill fix this if you
call them before the end of 2008.

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-i...mdl=KDF42WE655

* *Ron

On Jun 5, 8:47*pm, roc97007 wrote:

We've had aSonyKDF-42WE655 for about 18 months and the picture is
starting to look blotchy. *It's not always visible, but if there is a
bright background you can see several large (2 to 3 inches across)
dark areas on the screen. *As far as we can tell, the blotches are not
on the surface of the screen. *The blotches don't move with the
picture. *This appears to be something physical, not a decoding error.

The screen doesn't look particularly dim and the colors are still
accurate, so it doesn't appear to be a bulb issue. *Not sure what it
is. *The TV has suffered no trauma. *I don't think it's moved once
since we parked it. *Any ideas?

* *Ron

On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:09:37 -0700 (PDT), roc97007
wrote:

On Jun 11, 6:48*pm, wrote:
As someone who has bought three HD sets, and has two of then
replaced
under warranty, the moral is: buy the extended warranty. *

In my experience, the answer is never, ever, to buy the extended
warranty. Those things are essentially 100% profit. Problems are
almost always infant mortality which will come out in the first year.
Of remaining problems, (like this one) they tend towards design
defects that the manufacturer should reasonably cover anyway. (Hence
targeted manufacturer-extended warranties, which is what this should
have been.)

Moreover, often to take advantage of extended warranties involves
going through a different channel than regular warranties, and you
rapidly find that the people you're talking to has as their sole goal
to not provide to you the service that you need.

And finally, these things are commodity items. By the time your
extended warranty runs out, your appliance is a dinosaur with much
better and cheaper replacements available. My first DVD player cost
$700. I can replace it today with a better unit for $35. Under those
circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to fix the old one, even
under warranty.


Ron

I have called Circuit City to repair my Hitachi 65" twice in 5 years.
Both times they showed up the next morning and fixed the problem. One
time it was a loose connection on the cathode of one of the tubes and
the other time it was a power supply problem. Both of these were
covered completely in the 3d year of ownership and 3 years of
extended warranty cost about $300. I came out ahead. Oh yeah, the
main reason for me getting the extended warranty was that the tv is
about 6' by 2', 2'feet thick and around 250 lbs. Try taking that in
for repair.
Thumper

My RCA 32" tube tv popped and smoked. Called circuit city fixed under
warranty. I alway buy the warranty on pricey items.

On Jun 12, 3:11*pm, Thumper wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:09:37 -0700 (PDT), roc97007
wrote:





On Jun 11, 6:48*pm, wrote:
As someone who has bought three HD sets, and has two of then
replaced
under warranty, the moral is: buy the extended warranty. *

In my experience, the answer is never, ever, to buy the extended
warranty. *Those things are essentially 100% profit. *Problems are
almost always infant mortality which will come out in the first year.
Of remaining problems, (like this one) they tend towards design
defects that the manufacturer should reasonably cover anyway. *(Hence
targeted manufacturer-extended warranties, which is what this should
have been.)

Moreover, often to take advantage of extended warranties involves
going through a different channel than regular warranties, and you
rapidly find that the people you're talking to has as their sole goal
to not provide to you the service that you need.

And finally, these things are commodity items. *By the time your
extended warranty runs out, your appliance is a dinosaur with much
better and cheaper replacements available. *My first DVD player cost
$700. *I can replace it today with a better unit for $35. *Under those
circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to fix the old one, even
under warranty.

* Ron

I have called Circuit City to repair my Hitachi 65" twice in 5 years.
Both times they showed up the next morning and fixed the problem. *One
time it was a loose connection on the cathode of one of the tubes and
the other time it was a power supply problem. *Both of these were
covered *completely in the 3d year of ownership and 3 years of
extended warranty cost about $300. *I came out ahead. *Oh yeah, the
main reason for me getting the extended warranty was that the tv is
about 6' by 2', 2'feet thick and around 250 lbs. *Try taking that in
for repair.
Thumper- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:09:37 -0700 (PDT), roc97007
wrote:

On Jun 11, 6:48*pm, wrote:
As someone who has bought three HD sets, and has two of then
replaced
under warranty, the moral is: buy the extended warranty. *

In my experience, the answer is never, ever, to buy the extended
warranty. Those things are essentially 100% profit. Problems are
almost always infant mortality which will come out in the first year.
Of remaining problems, (like this one) they tend towards design
defects that the manufacturer should reasonably cover anyway. (Hence
targeted manufacturer-extended warranties, which is what this should
have been.)

Moreover, often to take advantage of extended warranties involves
going through a different channel than regular warranties, and you
rapidly find that the people you're talking to has as their sole goal
to not provide to you the service that you need.

And finally, these things are commodity items. By the time your
extended warranty runs out, your appliance is a dinosaur with much
better and cheaper replacements available. My first DVD player cost
$700. I can replace it today with a better unit for $35. Under those
circumstances, it doesn't make any sense to fix the old one, even
under warranty.


Ron
Sorry, but I now have two instances of personal experience where
buying the warranty saved me a bunch of money. Prior to these
TVs, I toed the Consumer Reports line and shunned extended warranties.
It also helps that I bought both my TVs at a military exchange where
they offered extended warranties at a much better price than the big
box retailers. My last CRT TV is 12 years old and still works great.
But the newer technology just isn't as dependable.

Dave Clary
Corpus Christi, TX
http://davegetsfit.blogspot.com
Diet, Exercise, and Golf!