I need some help From the SJ.com Big Brains Please (long story long)

Try changing the bulb in the back of the TV.

It's about $200 bucks, but the things do burn out.

You have the TV on a surge protector, right?

 

you should tell your story to anyone who will listen. If you have a blog that more than 8 people read, tell the full story--name names, etc.

You'd be surprised at how much influence one person can have. You may not get your money back, but someone out there will read your story and never shop there becuase of it. Odds are more than one person will tell another friend about your situation and it goes from there...

 

My brother-in-law's 61" Toshiba was not working correctly as of late..warranty had just expired.....turns out the TV was recalled due to some defective part. Service was called;TV is fine. You need to find out why a TV would all of a sudden stop working after only 3 years.

 

Actually, by the letter of the law I don't think you are screwed. If you can prove that the store promised you that the warranty would go into effect the day you purchased the warranty, and you relied on that promise to your detriment, then you have what appears to be a pretty strong case against him. The big issue here will be proving your contention.

You say he told you it doesn't matter what you were told, you should read the fine print -- bullshit. That might even amount to an admission on his part. If you have a witness or store clerk or any circumstantial facts (like telling a friend you had the warranty for the longer period) to help you out you are a winner. If not, you still have a valid reason to hold his feet to the fire and make him perform on his promise to you.

edit: To be clear, and after reading other posts, your claim is definitely against the store where you bought the television and the warranty, and not against the warranty company. You need to find a way to make blowing you off more trouble than it's worth.

 

As Point of Order says, I also don't think you're screwed. There should be some documentation somewhere showing the delivery date. If the store is running your extended warranty from the time of purchase rather than the time of delivery and the difference is the five months you mentioned, then you should have at least a fraud claim. No way does an extended warranty include five months they held onto the product.

 

I think the fact that you purchased the warranty on the day you received the TV should help, as opposed to buying it when you got the TV.

 

A dumbass store clerk who no longer works there may have made the verbal promise just to make sure they got the sale. Unless our friend has something in writing, they're under no legal obligation to start the warranty in May. And it's the original manufacturer who controls the warranty, not the retailer.

Worst thing you can do is go all hardass on the store because they'll flip you off.

If you want to get something done about it, contact the manager and tell him that "WE have a problem and how can WE resolve it?

 

Yikes, don't ever do that unless you are 100% indisputably in the right, and even then, don't do it. You can be sued for every possible kind of demafation, loss of business, etc. Happened to a friend of mine (in this business) who thought she got ripped off by a clothes store...they dragged her into court for circulating an email about the incident, I think it cost her a small fortune in legal fees before the case was dropped.

 

What's the cereal number going to do?

 

Maybe that's the problem, there's cereal in the TV.

 

Hey Dirk, if it's a locally owned store and you talked to the owner and he wouldn't help you, that kind of sucks, but maybe not the end of the road. Don't know if you want to go this far with it, but you could file a complaint with a local consumer protection office, if there is one, or the state attorney general. Regardless of what was in the fine print, it's bad business practice for them to sell you a warranty for an item that they haven't delivered to you. They shouldn't be doing that. Are they even allowed to be doing that? Maybe there's a rule/law against it.

Tough to believe the owner was unwilling to work with you. You'd think the last thing a small business owner would want is a pissed off customer who's never coming back. Sounds like a stubborn SOB. Your story has me scared ... bought my TV just about three years ago, so I'm sure I'm due for some trouble.