When you buy a pricey new HDTV, you expect it to last for at least five years, hopefully 10 or more. But one man says his big screen died right after the warranty ran out.
Stephen Anderson turned on his 2-year-old Sony LED TV and got ... nothing. "It just flashes that partial Sony sign and goes back off," he said.
So he called Sony customer service, but got some bad news: It was 10 months past the one-year warranty. "It's out of warranty, there is nothing they can do about it," he said.
So he called a repairman, and got even worse news about the set that cost him $1,800.
"He turned it on, turned it off, and I had to write a check for $95 just to do that. He said, there are not even any parts available if you could fix it."
Stephens discovered he wasn't alone. He went online, where he found eight pages of complaints on Sony's website, from dozens of people all saying they had the same problem with this TV.
Disposable TVs
The website HDGuru.com has coined a term for many HDTVs: It calls them disposable TVs, because they are essentially unrepairable.
Because of that, it suggests purchasing a "protection plan" for an expensive TV from Square Trade, Protect Your Bubble and similar companies with good Better Business Bureau reviews.
Or it suggests you buy a TV with an American Express card, which doubles the warranty to two years.
We contacted Sony, which after investigating, has reached an amicable settlement with Stephens, finally ending his expensive lesson in disposable TVs.
As always, don't waste your money.
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