Mitsubishi WD-52825 Diamond More Like A Lump of Coal

[teamsimple]

Jan. 19, 2008

Today marks 30 days since our Mitsubishi WD-52825 HDTV was picked up by the
factory authorized service representatives to be serviced for the fourth
time since we purchased from Tweeters Home Entertainment Group for $3,899.99
on 4/6/2005.

Sold as the "top of the line model" the television came without the proper
software to allow the DVR to work with the set and the TV Guide on Screen.
Within 10 days of install by Tweeters the picture failed. The Tweeters
representative said it was the cable provider and we had the cable card
replaced. Since that date we have had 11 cable cards and three cable boxes
installed in the TV. On 10/19/2005 the factory representative came with a
complete light engine to service the set. Because of the 10 plus days the TV
was out of service I had contacted Mitsubishi and found out that there was a
software upgrade that would "resolve" the problem. It was sent to me and I
installed it prior to the service and it brought the picture back to life.

Never did Mitsubishi or Tweeters let us know that there were multiple
software upgrades released over the two years since our purchase of the television to address problems with the product. None of the upgrades have resolved our problems.

When the service representative came for the third visit November 16th of
this past year, the set had not been working for over a week. It is now 60
plus days without a set even though we purchased the Tweeter Factory Service
Extended Warranty. The service representative came back the second week of
December with several parts which he installed and the HDTV would not power
up. This was the first time that the cabinet was completely disassembled and
the tech stated that there were wires that were severed on a cable that
looked like it came from the factory defective and " he was surprised that
the set had functioned at all from the beginning." He also stated that this
was a part that was not in the Mitsubishi parts bin and he would try to get it
as soon as possible.

We believe that we are covered or should be covered by Mitsubishi for this
factory defect. We believe (see attached) that Tweeter should under their
extended warranty provide us with a new set. Mitsubishi has been of no
help at all yet their outsourcing call center folks have impeccable English.
We have not heard back from Tweeters, as stated at the beginning of this
letter, in 30 days.

Should not "Mitsubishi THE LEADER IN TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY FOR MORE THAN 25
YEARS" stand behind their product and correct the problem and should not
Tweeter honor the terms of the Extended Warranty?

Please facilitate this request and please help us. We are not asking for
anything that was not contracted, agreed upon, paid for or covered under law.

[lcaillo]

My experience is that Mitsubishi has stood behind their products very well. Your problem is more with ineffective service through tweeter. Mitsubishi has nothing to do with that. If you will email me with the details of your contacts, names, phone numbers, etc. will be happy to review the matter and offer suggestions.

Your need to focus on the problem at hand. All of the previous headaches with cablecard and spftware are irrelevant to the current problem. Cablecard issues have been a headache for most manufacturers and have in almost all cases been more related to the cable companies than the TV maker. Guide problems have been very similar. Mitsubishi has always made software updates available directly to consumers when they related to specific problems. The fact that Tweeter has been unable to provide effective service and has not comminicated with Mitsubishi to get the right info is not the manufacturer's fault.

Focus on the current service problem, get your info in order, and send it to me privately. I will make recommendations on how to proceed, and if necessary, refer you to the right contacts at Mitsubishi. Most of what I have seen in your post is that you have a problem with Tweeter, however. Your product is out of Mitsubishi's warranty period, and unless there is an exceptional situation, the problem should be handled by Tweeter. Even if there is some warranty exception to be made here, Tweeter should be the path to get it done. I have contacts at Mitsubishi, but not much with tweeter.

[teamsimple]

The Problem is Mitsubishi for releasing a product that was defective and did not have the proper software upon being sold. Failure to tell the consumer that there would be software upgrades available, and failure to have a suply of parts for failed HDTV. THe failed part was identified by the OEM repair representative as a defective cable which is connected to the area that takes the cable card signal in. Mitisubish Consumer folks failed to return calls, address my concerns, or respond anymore than happy hand holding. I was told by the OEM repair person that they made so little spare parts for these sets that they have to wait for a set to come back to Mitsubishi to be refurbished and gutted for spares to fix the ones out there. I spent over $5,200 on the day of purchase. For what, a set that did not work correctly from the get go. I also installed 3 or 4 cable boxes to no avail. the set would power down and to longer and longer to reset before use. the DVR is was a total waste. NOT AS PROMISED by Mitsubishi. Tweeter is a whole other matter. Thank you for your offer to assist.. I will follow up with you shortly.

[lcaillo]

The product was not defective. The software was revised to make the sets more tolerant of guide and cablecard systems that did not and in many cases still do not adhere to the industry's aggreed upon standards for their operation. The cable and programming operators have been quite uncooperative in these systems, to the point that they have been virtually given up on by the major TV makers. We sold any of these sets and have had only a couple of problems, though it did take Cox here months to figure out that they were running the wrong SA software for cablecard. It took Mitsubishi sending someone to Atlanta to help them figure it out.

While Mitsubishi customer service has degraded somewhat recently, they continue to provide some of the best support and have offered to replace sets for which parts have not been available in a reasonable amount of time for our clients. It takes a responsible dealer or servicer to intervene on the part of the consumer sometimes, so you need to be putting some pressure on Tweeter.

I suggest that you stop focusing on problems and take a more constructive approach to gaining a solution. Recriminations and complaining are no substitute for facts. You need to document everything and pay attention to details.

[teamsimple]

the facts are in the post. Please re-read. THE FACTORY REP. FOUND A FACTORY INSTALLED CABLE THAT WAS DAMAGED IN ASSEMBLY of the UNIT. THE UNIT WAS DEFECTIVE FROM THE FACTORY.I have addressed Tweeter, Mitsubishi, and the Office of Consumer Affairs. TO BUILD A PRODUCT THAT HAS little or no spares warrents me to post so future consumers of Mitsubishi Products can make up their own minds. Remember Mitsubishi is a company where massive fraud has occured and there top management has gone off to prison. ...at some level that kind of Philosophy filters downthe corporate lader. BUYER BEWARE!

[lcaillo]

Facts would be dates of contact, dates of service, names and phone numbers, etc. Ranting does not solve your problem.

[LRC91]

lcaillo is right. I have dealt with Mitsubishi for over 10 years now and they are a very good company. I have 2 Mitsubishi's my self. If the person you are dealing with is an authorized Mitsubishi repair center he can normally get parts within 2 to 3 days at the most as long as they are in stock. Very seldom have I ever ran in to a situation when they didn't have parts for a new model. Field support has pulled parts off new TVs in there warehouse in GA and shipped them to me overnight at no additional charge when the parts department couldn't find something. I know you are upset with the TV not working but you must understand that all manufacturers have problems with there product from time to time. Anything man made can and will break. My company is a sales and service company. We service everything we sell and we are a factory authorized service center for 16 different brands of electronics. If a set is within its normal warranty period and several attempts have been made to repair it you can contact Mitsubishi Consumer Relations with the date of purchase, model number, serial number, number of times set has been worked on and the number of days you have been without it and they will exchange it for you. I just had a set in our shop that was 3 years old. The customer contacted Mitsubishi and they repaired it at no charge to the customer. 3 weeks later the set came down with another problem that was not related to the first and Mitsubishi Field scrapped the set and gave the customer his money back. You want find very many companies that will even talk to you once the set is out of warranty.