|
Review NaN of
, from Wash, VA
Price Paid:
$2350.00
from Sight & Sound Systems, Chantilly, VA Summary:
In Feb. 2000 I bought a Toshiba TW40X81, and was extremely happy about it for about 9 months. In late October TW1 suddenly became totally screwed, 64pt convergence screen looked much like a 3D surface graph of mountainous terrain. It was not until April that Toshiba found a service technician in my area to work on the set - after months of arguing that regardless of my location, they must honor my in-home warranty.
The technician came to my house twice but was unable to fix the set, after replacing EEPROMS. It went into his shop in late May where a new convergence board was replaced (which I initially told the tech was likely the problem based on information I gathered here and other sites), and I received the set back on August 9 due to incessant delays from Toshiba's parts department. When I finally received the set I found TW1 to be fine, but in all modes focus was quite blurred in the middle of the screen, and in HD mode I had to do 64pt convergence every time I turned on the set - both red and blue would drift off center in many areas of the screen by as much as .25 in.
Again the technician came to my house, was unable to fix, and picked up the set. This was on September 26. I have still not gotten my set back.
I have called Toshiba customer service at least once a month since May, and have talked with so many representatives I am beginning to connect to people who know me. I have been told, at several times, different stories; that the technical support department was trying to determine the parts needed, that the Toshiba home office was now determining what set to replace mine with, etc. In each of these calls my frustration grew, and each time the representative assured me that Toshiba customer support would get back with me within the week to give me an updated status.
I have yet to receive one call from Toshiba customer support despite repeated promises. No correspondence whatsoever has been initiated to me by Toshiba.
I received an email on New Year's Eve from the service center (great guy by the way, and none of my dissatisfaction lies with the way he has treated me or the situation) stating that Toshiba tech finally got in touch with him after not hearing from them for more than two months, stating that they wanted to replace the entire convergence PCB, but the part was backordered until sometime in February.
I have been extremely, agonizingly patient, but this set me through the roof. I called customer service once again, once again talked with a supervisor who agreed that I had been without a set entirely too long. When he looked into my case he told me that the current status was that Toshiba was once again determining the parts needed, but due to the fact that I have not had a set that has worked in 14 months his assurance was that he would escalate the matter and have news for me of a replacement. He was even then adding his notes and recommending that my set be replaced immediately.
I got an email yesterday from the service center, and lo and behold the new parts have arrived well ahead of schedule (this despite all he tried to do to get the part as quickly as possible).
The final chapter to this saga has yet to be written.
I would not buy another Toshiba product, not at any price. If they replace my set I will likely sell it in the carton and look for something else. Having paid $2350 for a product that had so many defects, an incredibly slow technical support response and delivery time to service centers, and a customer support center that is reminiscent of the false casino in The Sting is absolutely unacceptable.
Consider yourselves informed.
Happy New Year to all.
Strengths:
it was fantastic while it worked! Weaknesses:
customer support
| 
2 of 5
4 of 5
5 of 5
1 of 5
