I purchased a Vizio VS42L FHDTV 10A on 4/9/08. I had been saying nothing but good things about my Vizio experience until now.
This is the situation:
As I was trying to insert a HDMI cable into the HDMI 1 port, I accidentally touched the corner of the male end of the HDMI cable to a port called the "Service Port." The "Service Port" is only 3mm distance from the HDMI port in the back of the TV and when trying to insert the HDMI cable to the HDMI port, from the side of the TV, one could easily see that the "Service Port" is directly in the way of the HDMI port. When trying to plug the HDMI cable in, I accidentally touched the "Service Port" causing my entire TV to shut down. This did not produce a smell or a "pop" noise, but apparently destroyed my TV.
I contacted Vizio to ask for guidance on the matter, thinking that something so easily touched would have a "reset" button or something that would easily fix the problem. But immediately after I briefly explained to the tech support rep what happened, the Vizio rep told me, "your warranty will not cover that." Then proceeded to tell me to fax in my Proof of Purchase, serial number, case number and phone number. I questioned him why he was so sure Vizio would not honor the 2 year warranty after only getting a brief description of what happened and he told me to "just fax your info in."
I called a day later to check if my fax went through and they confirmed it did, but right away I was being told that the warranty won't cover what happened. I asked, "shouldn't a tech person check it out first to determine that"-considering how minor the touching of the HDMI cable (which wasn't connected to a power source yet) to the "Service Port" was. That person put me on hold and came back to tell me that he talked with someone at "level 3" and that I can not do anything about it. Once "level 3" says it's over, there's nothing I can do. Then he basically told me that I should hang up now and move on.
I said I wanted to speak to someone who was a supervisor in "level 3". This customer representative named Ray # 75847 told me "no". I then said that I wanted to speak with the person in charge of his department and he said NO. I even said, "I respectfully request to speak with the supervisor of your department, " and he said "NO, I can't." I played this game with him for a few minutes before I told him that, "I'm a disgruntled customer and I want to speak with someone in charge, doesn't Vizio care about that?" and he told me, (seriously), "Vizio doesn't care about disgruntled customers." I almost blew a fuse. I never cussed or cursed at him nor did I yell at him, or be condescending. I kept my cool. He didn't offer any advice on who to talk with in regards of repair. When I mentioned that nowhere in the user manual, warranty, or on the TV itself, did it mention anything about how delicate and fragile this "Service Port" is and how everyone should avoid it, h
e basically said Vizio doesn't care. I then told him that I didn't jam anything in there, I didn't force anything, it was not abuse or misuse at all. But he didn't care and tried to get me off the phone.
I realized that I was going to have to approach this a different way and told Ray to watch out for the Karma police.
I called Costco and told them the story. The Costco concierge then called Vizio, put me on hold, then after about four minutes connected me to a guy named Eric in "Level 3." Eric was useless and gave me a number for ITI the 3rd party repair people that Vizio works with. (I called during business hours, but had to leave a message, that has yet to be returned- which after reading other posts does not surprise me.) I then asked Eric how could my 2 year warranty not cover this situation when Vizio does not warn against touching the "Service Port" anywhere in the literature that came with the TV. I said, "Vizio should have a protective covering if this thing is so fragile." He said the newer models do. I said, "then you know how delicate it is and how easily it destroys the TV. Please honor my warranty." He said he can't. Then he tried to connect me to the customer service manager at Vizio- all the while the Costco concierge was listening to my whole discussion. While th
e phone was trying to connect to the customer service manager at Vizio, the Costco rep said, "it sounds like they don't care to help out." Then the phone never connected to the customer rep at Vizio.
But luckily I got the extension and dialed a few times myself. After talking with a few underlings, I talked with the floor manager Donna. She said, "I see your point, but I can't do anything about it." After about twenty minutes of re-explaining that Vizio can't use their "fix-all" excuse of not honoring the warranty because of the broad and vague "abuse" clause they have, she put me on hold to talk with some engineers. She came back and told me that the engineers said the TV cannot be repaired, that the port is "very delicate" and that I basically would have to live with it.
I then asked for her full name or ID number for I would need it in the small claims lawsuit that I was going to file against Vizio. She paused and then offered me a "very good discounted rate on a re-certified Vizio." I said, "well that's the first time anyone at Vizio has done anything positive in trying to correct this problem, but I don't want a refurbished TV." She told me that they are not refurbished and explained the difference. She then said she would call me tomorrow to tell me the deals. I told her I wasn't that interested.
I spoke well over three and a half hours with Vizio throughout this day- 1/28/09.
At this point I don't care about her deals, nor do I expect to hear from her. I will never buy a Vizio again. I will take it back to Costco and try to see if they will help me out, even though the 90-day return policy expired 6 months ago.
Damage Resulting = The TV cost just over $1000.00. It was the first big purchase for my wife and I after we got married. We are not wealthy. This was supposed to be a special treat. |
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