GatewayRedbirds.com

I recently bought a TV from a reputable internet site, the TV didn't work out of the box, the internet site (so far) has refused to replace the TV and have told me that I must use my warranty and go through the manufacture. Thankfully the manufacturer has been very good about this and will repair/replace the TV at their cost, but that will take a while so I'm sticking to my guns and trying to go through the reseller for a straight-up exchange.

Is it not absurd for a reseller to sell me defective goods and then tell me that they've essentially washed their hands of the deal? That would never fly at a brick and mortar store. They keep bringing up that the manufacturer and them have a policy that any repairs are to go directly through the manufacture... and I could understand that if the TV worked for a while and then broke, obviously that's a warranty issue and I should go through the manufacturer. But for a reseller to sell me a defective product out of the box, yet still tell me that I have go through the warranty process, seems completely unreasonable.

For all I know, they could have a whole warehouse of broken TVs they're selling off and all they have to do is tell their customers that they need to go through the manufacturer.

It's a REALLY good deal on a TV though, so I'm hoping they don't call my bluff that I'll simply return the item and have my CC company handle the reimbursement. I might do that out of principle, but I really don't want to.

maddash wrote:I recently bought a TV from a reputable internet site, the TV didn't work out of the box, the internet site (so far) has refused to replace the TV and have told me that I must use my warranty and go through the manufacture. Thankfully the manufacturer has been very good about this and will repair/replace the TV at their cost, but that will take a while so I'm sticking to my guns and trying to go through the reseller for a straight-up exchange.

Is it not absurd for a reseller to sell me defective goods and then tell me that they've essentially washed their hands of the deal? That would never fly at a brick and mortar store. They keep bringing up that the manufacturer and them have a policy that any repairs are to go directly through the manufacture... and I could understand that if the TV worked for a while and then broke, obviously that's a warranty issue and I should go through the manufacturer. But for a reseller to sell me a defective product out of the box, yet still tell me that I have go through the warranty process, seems completely unreasonable.

For all I know, they could have a whole warehouse of broken TVs they're selling off and all they have to do is tell their customers that they need to go through the manufacturer.

It's a REALLY good deal on a TV though, so I'm hoping they don't call my bluff that I'll simply return the item and have my CC company handle the reimbursement. I might do that out of principle, but I really don't want to.

You are dealing with chumps. Competition in the electronics industry has pretty much made it a given that retailers must honor warranties if they want to be considered a player.

Who is the Internet retailer who sold you the box?

eCost.com

I'd call them a third tier retailer - behind places like TigerDirect.com or NewEgg.com

The TV itself is a third tier brand - Westinghouse - but I've found Westinghouse to be a solid manufacture (nothing innovative, but they make quality stuff... most of the time ).

Could be shipping costs. By the time they pay to ship it back to them, and reship to you, they lose money.

That's why I was worried about purchasing a TV through that method when I bought my flatscreen. They do offer really good prices but I've heard of a few nightmares which kept me from going that route.

Actually I think I'm going to have to call the manufacture abput my TV (Samsung 50" plasma). Its starting to make a fairly loud "buzzing" noise (which I've heard some of them have had this problem) and a card in the TV needs to be replaced. I'm hoping to just get a new tv. If not through them, luckily I bought the 3 yr warranty through Best Buy and they may be the one's that have to replace the TV.

maddash wrote:It's a REALLY good deal on a TV though, so I'm hoping they don't call my bluff that I'll simply return the item and have my CC company handle the reimbursement. I might do that out of principle, but I really don't want to.

Its not a really good deal on a TV that doesn't work though.

The internet site is being unreasonable, but I've just come to accept that anything I buy online(whether from an online company or just a seller off of Amazon or E-bay) has the biggest "Caveat Emptor" sticker possible stuck on it because I've had too many situations similar to this one where the item was defective and/or not what I was told I had actually bought that I've given up on a lot of those third-tier seller and resellers. They are great deals, but sometimes you get a lot of risk with that. And most all of the time they'll say "Go take it up with the manufacturer" and the manufacturer will say "Umm we don't have any responsibility for sitex.com selling things, take it up with them".

As a result I stick to the big places online like E-bay and Amazon(and the company itself, not the re-sellers on it if I can help it) because then I know that even though I might pay a little more I'm going to get the product I order in the condition I order it in and if it isn't, they replace it quickly and easily.

Thankfully the manufacturer is being very good about it all. I've been issued an RMA and they'll pay all shipping charges.

... now I just have to wait probably a month for it to be fixed. About 5 days to ship, probably 10-15 for repair (it being the holidays and all) and 5 days to ship back.

I just bought a 60 GB external hard drive on buy.com for $39.99. Free shipping. I hope it shows up before xmas.

docellis wrote:I just bought a 60 GB external hard drive on buy.com for $39.99. Free shipping. I hope it shows up before xmas.

Lightweight.