Repair policies

[lcaillo]

This is an article that I was pointed to on a listserve for technicians. It is a good read for those getting ready to buy a new set. It points out information that has become common knowledge to techs, and a large reason for the demise of many shops and anger of many consumers. The rest of the story is that even some of the name brand companies are not supporting some products or are only supporting them for board level repair. I have a Magnavox 26" LCD in the shop right now that Philips supplies no parts for at all.

We see sets all the time for which we simply cannot get the parts, and are very hard to fix if the problem is a generic part, because we can't get schematics or any other service literature. Others are essentially unrepairable because of the cost of parts. A recent conversation on the matter with a sales rep form one of the companies that has been best about support over the years, Mitsubishi, resulted in him telling me that we should simply sell everyone an extended warranty. Others may be faced with outrageous repair costs.

http://hdguru.com/?p=107

[F1 fan]

Inertesting.Im glad I decide on purchasing a Panasonic plasma instead of one of the second tier LCD units I was considering.

[lcaillo]

Understand that the service you get from Panasonic or any other vendor is only as good as the local provider that serves as their ASC (authorized service center). I am not sure how they are making their service program work at this point in time, but based on my previous experience with them, I am skeptical. Probably better than the "second tier" vendors you mentioned, but the implication that the mainstream TV companies are not sharing some of the same issues is misleading.

My point is that one needs to check out the local service options BEFORE buying. If there is an ASC for a product that has a good relationship with the manfacturer, is experienced on the product, well trained, and has an excellent history of customer relations, then there is reason to favor that product over others. Check out the service options BEFORE buying. If more consumers asked these questions up front, it would begin to get the attention of the manufacturers.

[Bob_99]

Interesting and scary all at once. It seems that the more advanced technology gets, the more disposable it gets. This is great information. Thanks for posting the link.

Bob

[F1 fan]

lcaillo wrote:

Understand that the service you get from Panasonic or any other vendor is only as good as the local provider that serves as their ASC (authorized service center). I am not sure how they are making their service program work at this point in time, but based on my previous experience with them, I am skeptical. Probably better than the "second tier" vendors you mentioned, but the implication that the mainstream TV companies are not sharing some of the same issues is misleading.

The fact that I have a local ASC gives me atleast some confidence that parts and service will be attainable after the warranty period has expired.Had I bought the Olevia I was considering my only option appears to be shipping the unit at great expence to and from CA,USA plus the cost of the repair.

The rapid pace of technology and high cost of labor makes everything disposible. The 42" Sony LCD RP I bought 3 1/2 years ago for $2700 can be had now for about $1000. The optical block went bad and the repair cost is $1250!! Unless you have an extended warranty, sometimes it just doesn't make sense to have a 3 or 4 year old TV (or anything else electronic) repaired.

P.S. Sony is standing behind their product with me: http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/manufacturers-service-support/5351-help-sony-lcd-rear-projection-blue-spots.html

[lcaillo]

If Sony would make the parts available to repair the optical block, the repair could easily be cost effectve. The problem is that they do not supply discrete parts that are common failure points in a three chip system such as polarizing filters, UV filters, and the panels. If they did, they would likely not have had the kinds of complaints that people have made about these sets. The failure rate is likely much lower than the common failures in CRT based sets, but you can't fix them for a few hundred bucks.

The only people that I know of that have been able to get parts to rebuild the optical blocks are the big rebuilders like PTS, who does so for $375, but you have to send the OB to them, if they have the right parts. They are big enough to deal with the OEM for the parts that Sony uses.

Tri-State Module has optical blocks also. That was going to be my second option. I had a chat with the service tech where my set was diagnosed and he mentioned the fact that parts simply aren't available for a lot of products. I guess some manufacturers are more concerned with making a cheap product at a price the consumer likes than building a quality product with proper support. I mean the ones in the article you referenced, not Sony.

[lcaillo]

But it is Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Samsung, etc, that have some of the same isues. It is true that they provide much better support in many cases than companies like BenQ, Vizio, Infocus, Polaroid, etc, but the big names have begun to support some products only at the board or large assembly level. This makes repairs far more expensive and it drives the small shops out of the business. I makes the skills of the experienced service tech less necessary and makes it hard for them to make a living. The result will be that in a few years no one is going to be supporting much of anything for anything other than board swapping, and if you don't buy an insurance policy up front, your product will be disposable. We are very colse to that point now.

The drive toward lower prices, which is driven by consumer demand, with low expectations before the sale, is forcing those manufacturers who have provided support in the past to cut everywhere they can. The problem is that enough people essentially accept that even expensive products are disposable after a couple of years. Many others want to have their cake and eat it, too, getting the lowest tier pricing when they purchase, then expecting top tier support when something breaks. Or they just get angry when it does break, swear that the vendor makes a product, then go buy a worse POE from the next lowest priced vendor.

The only solution is for consumers to demand more up front, ask the hard questions before the sale, and be willing to pay a little more up front. It will not likely happen in any meaningful way, and things will not get much better. Eventually, all of the experienced techs will be gone and replacement or board swapping will be the only choice. No one is being trained into the service business any more. There wil be a few large scale service vendors who do a large neough volume to deal directly with the OEMs overseas and get components (like PTS or TSM), and the local service shops will gradualy get squeezed out of the market, except for the low skill tasks of swapping modules and carrying out a replacement set.