Televisions Discussions

While that experience is unfortunate, it is uncommon. Any mass produced item has the possibility of failure. If one out of a thousand fails, that's considered a successful batch. There is no manufacturer, no name brand, no kind of product that has 100% perfection in every single one of its products. To extrapolate that a single dud out of millions sold means that they're all of sub-par quality will mean that there isn't a single product that anyone would ever be able to buy with any reasonable expectation of quality. As one of the SearsCares crew mentioned elsewhere, even Ferraris have to get repaired.

Here is my experience with Samsung/Sears and it is still ongoing.

This is the saga of my still unresolved problem television. I would have never imagined that 3 months would pass and I would still be stuck with a dead television.

I should have never purchased a Samsung product. Plain and simple. I know this now. I purchased an LCD television and to make matters worse I purchased it from Sears. This was on 12/19/2008. I was happy. The TV worked and it looked good. Until it didn't. In late July of 2009 the TV would not power on correctly.

- I called Samsung support because the sales person said it would only have a manufacturers warranty unless I upgraded to the Sears warranty. We did some troubleshooting and the technician determined the problem. He said the parts will be shipped to me and I will call a technician who will visit and fix the TV.

- A week passes and I do not see any parts. I call the repair company Samsung has contracted and they say the parts are back ordered. Okay I wait.

- I wait a month and I see nothing. I check the status of my ticket online and it says the ticket is canceled. I call the repair company again. They say the parts are still on back order and suggest calling Samsung.

- I call Samsung and the woman tells me the parts are back ordered. I ask here for an ETA. She says there is none. I ask her what good is my warranty if there are no parts to fix the TV. At this point it seems there is no intention of fixing my TV. The apathy pours out of my earphone. I finally tell her that I just wish to sell the useless TV back to them. She offers to arrange for Executive Customer Service to exchange the TV. Since it will never be fixed I settle for that.

- After a week someone finally calls me. This is in early September. We exchange information. He says that he will prepare the exchange which will take a week (really?? a week) and then it will be sent to Sears to exchange the TV since I purchased it there. I ask how long all of this should take to get the TV. He says two weeks.

- The next week I get a call from the same representative (I guess it does take a week) and he says the information has been sent to Sears and I should hear from them shortly, riiiiiiiiight.

- I do not hear from them. I call Samsung for a status. They say they know nothing. This I do believe. I ask them to check with Sears on the status, maybe give a nudge.

- Two weeks later there is no contact. I call Samsung and ask if I can have the contact information for the person at Sears receiving the exchange request and an RMA number. The woman gives me the RMA number but will not release the contact info. I ask her if she can contact them for a status. She says she can re-submit the request.

- Still nothing. I try calling Sears contact numbers and no one knows what an RMA number is. I am not joking. Everyone said they didn't even know what an RMA was.

- A couple days later I get a call from I'm not sure if it was Sears, Samsung or an intermediary. She said she was from some company other than Sears or Samsung. They say they will contact someone at my local Sears store and make sure something happens.

- Nothing happens. I decide to visit the store (09/04/09). I am told that nothing can be done until the department manager is back and he will be in on Saturday. I come in on Sautrday. He is not there. I come in on Monday. He is not in. I am told he will be in on Thursday. I come in on Thursday. He is in. I give him the RMA number from Samsung. He checks it and calls HQ. He says it is not a Sears RMA number and is probably a Samsung reference number. He asks me to call Samsung and see if they can e-mail the exchange information to him and he will try and take care of it. He gives me his card. I call Samsung and give them the info. They need a fax number. I get the fax number and call back the rep updates the ticket and I ask him if someone will e-mail/fax the info. He's says that he is sure someone is working on the ticket and it will be done.

- (10/09/09) I am sure no one is working on it. No one ever has. Why would they now. I call Samsung. The women confirms that no one sent any information to the department manager at Sears. She says she will check with her manager to see if she can re-submit the request to Sears HQ (which has been done twice supposedly) and "maybe" in addition send it to the department manager. No promises, no hope, end of call.

I have no idea what is going on. When I get on Samsung's site both tickets, the repair and exchange ticket are canceled (but I'm sure some one is working on it). I have never encountered such an infective system as Samsung's support service. I strongly recommend not buying a Samsung product. In the meantime I relate my story to everyone I know, who are dismayed and affected by it. I am probably missing a lot of phone calls I have made but this is the meat of it.

I started a blog on it. I will update this blog as more unfolds. http://samsucks-it.blogspot.com/

Hi theputnam-Welcome to My Sears!  I am so sorry to hear of the issues you are having trying to get your TV repaired.  Did you end up buying an extended warranty?  I wasn't sure from the beginning.  Maybe another follow up call to the manager at Sears to see if he ended up commmunicating with Samsung? 

I am going to send this on to SearsCares, the customer service escalation team who helps out on this site.  I am not sure if there is anything they will be able to assist with, as this seems to be a Samsung issue, but, it is possible they can help.

Hang in there! 

JulieK,

Any help would be appreciated. I did not purchase the extended warranty. That is why I started with Samsung. From what I can understand Samsung say they have sent a request to Sears for an exchange but it has been a month since that was done. I have still not heard from Sears and cannot find anyone that can help. Samsung is also unable or unwilling to put me in contact with someone that can expedite the exchange. I don't understand where the hang up is. Is Sears not getting the request for an exchange? Yesterday I asked Samsung's Executive Customer Service to send the information to Sears again for the third time. That is all they say they can do. To me it seems very simple. I work for an IT company where issues are resolved or escalated very quickly.

 Theputnam

 It is unfortunate that you are experiencing these problems with getting your television replaced. My name is David and I work for the Sears Cares executive team and we want you to know we are here for assistance. At your convenience please contact my office via email at searscares@searshc.com so we can assist you in resolving this issue. Please provide a contact number and the phone number the television was purchased under (if different than the contact number) and we will call you at your convenience. In addition please include your screen name( theputnam) in your email so we can reference to your posting.

 Thank you,

 David V.

Senior Case Manager

Sears Cares

I have a friend in southern Calif. who purchased a 50" magnavox flatscreen tv from Sears Outlet several years ago. He also purchased an extended warranty against his better judgement or so he thought. Fate would have it; his tv went out, Sears sent out a tech. Parts had to be ordered (due to discontinued model) that would take about 30 days! Actually took longer. (approx 2 mos.)

He made several calls explaining & complaining about his case, finally a manager  in customer service/ Sears Cares returned his call. He was told to visit his local Sears retail and pick a new tv!! The extra bucks $$ is worth it get Sears extended warranty! Remember, its your hard earned money. BTW- my friend is enjoying his "new"  52"  Sony Bravia flatscreen!!  Way to go SEARS!

I purchased a 58" Samsung Plasma last Monday and was told I could get an evening delivery.  Sears scheduled the delivery for the morning hours.  I have now spent about four hour on the phone, most of it on hold trying to get an evening hour delivery.  I am on the phone right now waiting to speak with a supervisor and have been on hold for 1 hour 54 minutes and counting.  This is pathetic customer service.  Someone with Sears should call over there an tell them to pick up the **XX#@#@  phone.  I am a first time Sears customer.  I usually make electronic purchases at Best Buy, but the Sears price was slightly less and I thought I would give Sears a try.  What a mistake .  I know this is an indication of the hassle I can expect if something goes wrong once I get the TV.  I plan to cancel my order.

Update - after waiting 2hrs and 11 minutes Sears hung up on me with answering.  Way to go Sears.  You guys really do care.

Hi SAMinVirginia-Welcome to MySears!  I am so sorry to hear about the trouble you are having getting that delivery scheduled.  I have sent your problem on to SearsCares, the customer service escalation team on this site.  They will be reaching out to you in the next day or so to see if they can help.

whatever. Stil out major buck and a tv that's sitting idle with no more money to fix

all people who look to others , do not buy anything from this company until there quality and back-up customer service improves

please buyer beware. Until there products and customer service improves, I would stay away. There are far better products out there. You might have to pay more, but atleast you know they'll last

It sounds like you dealt exclusively with Samsung, and Samsung told you they were going through Sears. If there's no record of contact between Samsung and Sears other than the say-so of the Samsung representative, I'm not sure how one can reasonably fault Sears in this scenario. The best plan under warranty is to contact Sears via 800 4 MY HOME, rather than going through the manufacturer. Otherwise, the service rendered entirely beyond Sears' ability to control. And, remember that Sears does not manufacture products, any more than Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, or any other retailer does. Holding Sears directly responsible for the manufacturer's shortcomings (or, more likely, the rare but unfortunate defect) doesn't seem terribly reasonable, any more than it's reasonable to hold your cable company directly responsible for the programming on HBO.

I PURCHASED A SAMSUNG TOP OF THE LINE WASHER IN 2007 FROM LOWEL'S HERE IN WASILLA, AK, DRIER TOO, STACK SET OF FULL SIZE ONES.  I WEEK BEFORE FIRST YEAR OF USING WASHER LEAKED, CALLED LOWEL'S  AND REPAIR SERVICE CAME OUT TOOK WASHER COMPLETELY APART IN LIVINGROOM, PUT WASHER WITH PARTS ON ORDER AND DRYER IN OUR SMALL BATHROOM, UNSTACKED. OVER A MONTH AND AHALF WENT BY AND PART THAT HAD BEEN SENT WAS WRONG PART AND IT LOOKED LIKE WOULD BE ANOTHER MONTH OR MORE BEFORE WASHER WAS PUT TOGATHER AGAIN, SO TALKED WITH SAMSUNG ON THIS AND THEY AGREED TO REPLACE WASHER, WHICH WAS FAIR, HOWEVER IT WAS A MATCHED SET IN SILVER COLOR OF 2007 AND COLOR NOT SAME ANYMORE AND OUR SET SHOWED IN BATHROOM. I HAD ENOUGH, TOOK SOAP DRAWER WITH PROPER COLOR INTO LOWEL'S , AND PROCEEDED TO LET THEM AND ANY CUSTOMER WITHIN HEARING WHAT I THOUGHT OF NO WASHER FOR TWO MONTHS AND THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE !  LOWEL'S DID THE PROPER AND FAIR THING, REPLACED SET, MY CHOICE AND GOT A DUET SET AND AM VERY HAPPY WITH THEM. I WAS NOT DISPLEASED WITH SAMSUNG CUSTOMER SERVICE, BUT WILL NOT BUY SAMSUNG AS DO NOT TRUST QUALITY.

We also are not fans of Samsung.  We have a 47" we bought.  The picture quality is not the best and within 3 years it had a major problem.  We now have a red line down the screen that will cost hundreds of dollars to fix.  Maybe I expect too much, but I have other TVs we've owned for over 10 years that have not cost me a penny.

Not a Samsung fan here when it comes to TVs!

What you said is very true. but it is different when it happens to me. The service in Puero Rico is a shame and is the reflexiton of the manager Mrs. Laura Capestrani that lives so away of the problems of her coustumers that the service is very inpersonal like her.

Dear Friend;

I had the same TV problem as you. They (SEARS) said it needed an upgrade. One month and 12 day has pass and no upgrade has appear. Same problem with SEARS nobody knows anything they all turn dumm after a sale. I have a dead 52" sansung. At least I know the chinesse will not take over the USA market. I am sure we will like to know the end of your horror story. My simpaties and condoleces to you.

The issue here is that SEAR is buying defective TV sets from Samsung nad even thougth there are serious probles you can see the people that have to face the coustumers problems do not know what to do. It is clear like in my case here in Puerto Rico that the SEARS sevice representatives do not care what happens or what the complain of SEARS coustumers ae. So there are two problems; bad merchandise, and a bad actitud problem. You can solve both. Please keep SEARS name high fixing this problems.

Boy. am I glad I, unexpectedly came across these comments about Samsung and Sears customer's services. I was just about to buy a Samsung LED tv, but guess what?, I just chandged my mind. Thank you.

Angel L. Ramos

Toa Alta, PR

I'm glad i found this ,I have a 50" TV  on layaway at sears(not a sammy) but i look for customer service,and from the sounds of this ,sears is falling off

I don't usually buy the warranty they push,but from reading this im going to have to .

but im going to buy it from third party warranty  company

i always hear that sammy makes the best TV ,but after this im not going to buy a sammy (samsung)

I just hope sears holds up its end of the deal

Purchasing an extended warranty, which in many cases, just extends the "limited warranty" by the maker. Perhaps one answer for faults that occur is to reconsider Sears offerings of a Master Protection Agreement it is well worth the $$ spent especially for electronic items as LCD/LED/ Plasmas TV sets.

Those of you who are disatisfied with Samsung, the same thing can happen with Sony, Sharp or others. Having a protection warranty from Sears you deal with one entity and your covered from day one.

I had several pixels on my LCD TV go out and my set was replaced ( their is no repair for faulty pixels) .The manufactures of these sets, all of them,have very strict guidelines on this type of defect, Most cases has to be multiples on screen and their position etc,before they consider to replace under their limited warranty, but with Sears, it was a no hassle replacement.

My set was a Sony Bravia 50" LCD HD TV.

Read the manufacturers warranty when buying these types of products

To all of those who have bought a samsung  tv and say they suck, must have bad luck, or buy at the wrong store.

  I bought a 40" Samsung from circuit city about  2 years ago and have had no problems. I was offered the extended service plan but have always bought and never had to use it, it always expires before I have any problems. I recently bought another Samsung and i'm very satisfied with my tv's. Maybe like some else said on here Sears might buy defective tv's at a lower price.  You should buy electronics from an electronics store.

I just bought a Samsung 46" LCD 120hz 1080p from Costco. I priced it at Sears but it was slightly lower at Costco and they provide a 90day return policy (best policy out there... believe me I've looked) PLUS they provide an additional 1 year on top of the manufacturers warranty for free. I truly hope that Samsung's product is as good as I've read it is and that these incidents were merely flukes a we know that it happens to ALL tvs we just can't determine the ratio from brand to brand. But at the very least, I know that Costco will stand by their product. I have NEVER had a problem returning something there and thankfully have not yet had to return an electronic item.

As for Sears, I have purchased a refrigerator and a washer dryer set from there in the last five years. I had an issue with the refrigerator and they came right out found the problem, ordered a new part and it was replaced within a week. All in all, I've had great experiences with them. I do always purchase the Sears extended warranty though. I did not feel the need to do so at Costco.

Good luck to all!