hunts1uk said:
Did you recive a full refund?How long had you had your LCD and how long was it from first reporting the problem to getting your refund?
Cheers
OK, I`ll try to keep it brief.
TV 5 weeks old, developed a fault. I phoned Sharp (I assume it was actually Sharpserv). I was told that the "kit" of parts wasn`t in stock, but should be available soon. I thought about contacting savastore.com, who I bought the TV from.
About an hour later, I had a call from Sharpserv. They told me there was an engineer in my area the next day. I asked about spares availability, can`t remember the exact repsponse, but I assumed that the parts were available. I arranged the service call.
Engineer called, promptly, the next morning. He tried to fix the fault, with the single PCB that he had. It didn`t cure the problem, so he made a phonecall and told me that my TV would have to go back to the workshop, so that parts could be ordered. I asked how long it would take, he told me it would be about 2 weeks to get the parts. I thought about contacting savastore.com, but thought that it would be a good idea to "get the ball rolling" and allow my TV to be repaired (hopefully in time for the World Cup, about 3 weeks later).
I waited just over 2 weeks before I made my first call to Sharpserv. I was told that the parts were on order from Sharp, but they couldn`t tell me how long they would take, but they were chasing up every day (I don`t know what difference that would make).
I phoned another couple of times, each time I waited about a week. After 4-5 weeks, I decided that I had put up with enough, and asked if they would replace my TV, they told me to contact savastore.com. This is where it got "messy". I won`t go into details, but it seemed that nobody was doing much about the situation.
In the meantime I wrote directly to Sharp, complaining about the delay. In the end, savastore.com offered me a refund, but said that Sharpserv were sending the TV back to Sharp. Then, Sharp were going to credit savastore.com, and then I would get my refund. Seemed reasonable to me, even though I would have thought that I could have had my refund sooner. After about 5 days, without any warning, (we are now about 6 weeks since my TV went to Sharpserv) I had a suprise delivery. Before I took the box into my house, I opened it to find out what it was. It turned out to be my Sharp TV, but I didn`t know if it had been repaired or not. I refused to accept delivery, and it got sent back to Sharpserv. I contacted savastore.com, who told me that I shouldn`t have had my TV back. A few days later, I had a letter from Sharp, explaining that my TV had indeed been repaired, and they hoped I would accept it back. I phoned Sharpserv and told them that I didn`t want my TV back, as I had already been offered a refund, and I was fed up with the whole episode.
I finally got my refund, savastore.com credited my credit card, without bothering to email, call or write me a letter.
In conclusion, looking back at what happened, I should have kicked up a fuss earlier, possibly when the TV first developed the fault. However, I thought that as the TV was only 5 weeks old, Sharp/Sharpserv would "pull out the stops" to get my TV sorted reasonably quickly. If it had come back to me in about 2-4 weeks, I would have been happy, and I wouldn`t be typing this post. Even when I did start to complain, the customer support from savastore.com and Sharpserv was shoddy, in my opinion.
I have learned a valuable lesson. If I buy another LCD TV, and it develops a fault, I won`t be so "patient". I will be reluctant to give the retailer/service agent any chance to start messing me about. The other thing I have learned is not to buy Sharp products.
Sorry, that wasn`t very brief.