Circuit City Extended Warranty ripoff Nationwide
Here is my response to Circuit City shipping an inferior monitor to replace a failing Sony CRT. It's long, but detailed for documentation...
I have just received a replacement monitor for my failing Sony HMDA440 19" Trinitron CRT. While my experience on the phone processing the repair/replacement request was very satisfactory - the associate was very courteous and professional, the actual fulfillment of the warranty terms was not.
I was lead to believe on the phone while processing the repair replacement request that your warranty would not opt to try to repair the Sony (which would have been the most satisfactory solution as Sony no longer makes CRTs) due to costs, but would try to find a new or refurbished replacement. If the replacement could not be found, a generous CC gift card would be sent so I could apply it to a replacement monitor of my choice.
After being placed on hold for a few minutes (assuming a search had been initiated), the associate returned and suggested that fulfillment would likely come in the form of a gift check. I assumed the associate found that there were no replacements available or it would be less costly for the warrantor to fulfill in this manner. I told him if it wasn't possible to repair or replace than that would be fine, as I knew it was difficult to find Sony CRTs.
I was surprised to see a replacement monitor arrive in a box from Viewsonic, but thought "maybe they got lucky and found a refurbished Sony packed in the Viewsonic box". It was, however, a Viewsonic E90f, and not a comparable top-of-the-line model like the Sony HMDA440, but their entry-level monitor, at that!!!
The monitor sent as a replacement is not an acceptable, satisfactory fulfillment of the warranty. This ViewSonic E90f is an entry-level traditional "everyday business use" CRT. This monitor cannot in any way, other than having a 19" screen size, be considered an equivalent or similar replacement. The Sony monitor, with good reason, retailed for twice the price the price of the Viewsonic E90f ($400 vs. $200).
For all my years as graphic artist and then IT manager, the only CRT monitors I have purchased for my own personal use have been Sony branded, or Sony Trinitron-based CRTs. Particularly for graphics use, they are far superior in brightness, crispness edge-to-edge, color gamut, and offer a higher refresh rate at usable resolutions than other monitors (to reduce eye strain and headaches).
In comparison, the Viewsonic E90f is about 1/4 the brightness of the Sony rendering it unusable for digital photo post processing, it has an unusual dissimilar vertical and horizontal dot pitch which causes frequent waviness or convergence issues, does not offer nearly as sharp text rendering (Shadow-mask vs. Trinitron aperture grille technology), its refresh rate at comparable resolution is lower, and the color rendition is inaccurate.
Bottom line is that these are the reasons why the Sony HMDA440 retailed for $200+ more than the Viewsonic E90f, or roughly twice the price! It cannot be considered an acceptable replacement practically, or even under the more strict terms of the warranty.
I would like to reopen this case if it has been marked as closed, and return the Viewsonic monitor. I would prefer to have the Sony fixed, as there really is no comparable CRT type monitors still in production. If that is not feasible or cost justifiable under terms of the warranty, I would like a CC gift card so I can apply it towards a monitor of my choice, which (unfortunately for me) may mean a much more costly LCD based solution due to current offerings.
And finally, I have a question about absolute terms of the warranty. If the consumer takes advantage of special pricing/rebates/sales at the Circuit City store, is the warranty then only obligated to the value of the sale (including the discount(s)), or to the replacement value of the item (based on CC usual pricing). In other words, since I
8 Updates & Rebuttals
Jonathan
Santa Rosa,California,
U.S.A.
Good to hear
#9Consumer Comment
Tue, January 04, 2005
Well, In the end I am glad to hear that it worked out for you. Even though it was a hassel, as those warranties usually are, isn't it better than being out the entier amount you paid for the warranty?
I realize they put you through the ringer when you go to use them, but If I added up the money I have saved from just having to "throw the old one out" and cough up the money for the new one I am sure it would be substantial. I have also found that after the first few encounters, after I knew what to expect, it was a much easier process to endure. I still think Circuit City makes it more difficult than any other place, with the exception of Best Buy of course. I actually talked to my friend of mine who works at a different retail chain as their tech manager and he said these days they don't even bother to try a replacement for discontinued items any longer. If it cannot be replaced they automatically give a gift card for the amout origionally purchased.
Kevin
Mahwah,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced
#9Author of original report
Tue, January 04, 2005
Jonathan, you are correct... "unfortunately it is up to them to decide". That means the terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced - ie they are subjective and at the sole discretion of the warrantor. Buyer beware!
The Viewsonic they sent may be defective, but more likely just poorly shielded. I have higher end Viewsonics I purchased for work (I am an IT manager) and they are fine for business use. And yes the Sony HMDA440 is not top of SOny's line (they make wonderful industrial / professional series equipment that I also make use of), my point is it was a top of the line graphics monitor in the realm of consumer offerings.
Your point about gift cards is right on... All companies should adopt this policy. If you or I spend the time to research our wants before making a purchasing decision, then it stands to reason that we would not want something else as a replacement. If we wanted that choice, we would have made it to begin with, right? Well, that's my point - I chose to pay twice as much for the Sony monitor because I highly valued the advanced capabilities it offered, for my particular needs. If I highly valued the manufacturer's warranty, CRT size and maximum resolution, I would have been a fool to pay more for a Sony, and the Viewsonic would have been a more satisfactory choice at half the price.
12/30/04: I received a CC gift card for the amount I paid for the Sony (on sale mind you) which is satisfactory, and what should have been done to begin with. I went down to CC and used it to buy a Sony LCD, as I can't locate a CRT similar to the Sony a had.
Here's the funny tag line... As I'm paying for the Sony LCD the clerk says "you really need to get an extended warranty with that - the manufacturer won't help you when the pixels burn out and you can just bring to back to us and we'll give you a new one..."
Maybe a Viewsonic?
Too funny!
Lackosleep
Kevin
Mahwah,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced
#9Author of original report
Tue, January 04, 2005
Jonathan, you are correct... "unfortunately it is up to them to decide". That means the terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced - ie they are subjective and at the sole discretion of the warrantor. Buyer beware!
The Viewsonic they sent may be defective, but more likely just poorly shielded. I have higher end Viewsonics I purchased for work (I am an IT manager) and they are fine for business use. And yes the Sony HMDA440 is not top of SOny's line (they make wonderful industrial / professional series equipment that I also make use of), my point is it was a top of the line graphics monitor in the realm of consumer offerings.
Your point about gift cards is right on... All companies should adopt this policy. If you or I spend the time to research our wants before making a purchasing decision, then it stands to reason that we would not want something else as a replacement. If we wanted that choice, we would have made it to begin with, right? Well, that's my point - I chose to pay twice as much for the Sony monitor because I highly valued the advanced capabilities it offered, for my particular needs. If I highly valued the manufacturer's warranty, CRT size and maximum resolution, I would have been a fool to pay more for a Sony, and the Viewsonic would have been a more satisfactory choice at half the price.
12/30/04: I received a CC gift card for the amount I paid for the Sony (on sale mind you) which is satisfactory, and what should have been done to begin with. I went down to CC and used it to buy a Sony LCD, as I can't locate a CRT similar to the Sony a had.
Here's the funny tag line... As I'm paying for the Sony LCD the clerk says "you really need to get an extended warranty with that - the manufacturer won't help you when the pixels burn out and you can just bring to back to us and we'll give you a new one..."
Maybe a Viewsonic?
Too funny!
Lackosleep
Kevin
Mahwah,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced
#9Author of original report
Tue, January 04, 2005
Jonathan, you are correct... "unfortunately it is up to them to decide". That means the terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced - ie they are subjective and at the sole discretion of the warrantor. Buyer beware!
The Viewsonic they sent may be defective, but more likely just poorly shielded. I have higher end Viewsonics I purchased for work (I am an IT manager) and they are fine for business use. And yes the Sony HMDA440 is not top of SOny's line (they make wonderful industrial / professional series equipment that I also make use of), my point is it was a top of the line graphics monitor in the realm of consumer offerings.
Your point about gift cards is right on... All companies should adopt this policy. If you or I spend the time to research our wants before making a purchasing decision, then it stands to reason that we would not want something else as a replacement. If we wanted that choice, we would have made it to begin with, right? Well, that's my point - I chose to pay twice as much for the Sony monitor because I highly valued the advanced capabilities it offered, for my particular needs. If I highly valued the manufacturer's warranty, CRT size and maximum resolution, I would have been a fool to pay more for a Sony, and the Viewsonic would have been a more satisfactory choice at half the price.
12/30/04: I received a CC gift card for the amount I paid for the Sony (on sale mind you) which is satisfactory, and what should have been done to begin with. I went down to CC and used it to buy a Sony LCD, as I can't locate a CRT similar to the Sony a had.
Here's the funny tag line... As I'm paying for the Sony LCD the clerk says "you really need to get an extended warranty with that - the manufacturer won't help you when the pixels burn out and you can just bring to back to us and we'll give you a new one..."
Maybe a Viewsonic?
Too funny!
Lackosleep
Kevin
Mahwah,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced
#9Author of original report
Tue, January 04, 2005
Jonathan, you are correct... "unfortunately it is up to them to decide". That means the terms of the warranty are too broad to be reasonably enforced - ie they are subjective and at the sole discretion of the warrantor. Buyer beware!
The Viewsonic they sent may be defective, but more likely just poorly shielded. I have higher end Viewsonics I purchased for work (I am an IT manager) and they are fine for business use. And yes the Sony HMDA440 is not top of SOny's line (they make wonderful industrial / professional series equipment that I also make use of), my point is it was a top of the line graphics monitor in the realm of consumer offerings.
Your point about gift cards is right on... All companies should adopt this policy. If you or I spend the time to research our wants before making a purchasing decision, then it stands to reason that we would not want something else as a replacement. If we wanted that choice, we would have made it to begin with, right? Well, that's my point - I chose to pay twice as much for the Sony monitor because I highly valued the advanced capabilities it offered, for my particular needs. If I highly valued the manufacturer's warranty, CRT size and maximum resolution, I would have been a fool to pay more for a Sony, and the Viewsonic would have been a more satisfactory choice at half the price.
12/30/04: I received a CC gift card for the amount I paid for the Sony (on sale mind you) which is satisfactory, and what should have been done to begin with. I went down to CC and used it to buy a Sony LCD, as I can't locate a CRT similar to the Sony a had.
Here's the funny tag line... As I'm paying for the Sony LCD the clerk says "you really need to get an extended warranty with that - the manufacturer won't help you when the pixels burn out and you can just bring to back to us and we'll give you a new one..."
Maybe a Viewsonic?
Too funny!
Lackosleep
Jonathan
Santa Rosa,California,
U.S.A.
They did as expected, even if it was not "good business"
#9Consumer Comment
Wed, December 29, 2004
Unfortunatly it is up to them to decide what a reasonable replacement is based on what is currently available on the market. Many times what you get as a replacement is not really what you gave up.
As for Veiwsonic monitors, using them almost exclusivly, it may very well be the one they send you was defective as well. If you look over the specs of the viewsonic they sent you comapred to the Sony you had, they are very similar in what quality of image they should produce. The Sony HMDA440 is far from Sony's top of the line as well and actually fits very closly in line with the Viewsonic. However, most people, not unlike you or myself are generally not happy with their choice in waht they replace it with.
Quite a few companies have swiched now to just going straight to the gift card instead of trying to replace the unit. They will give you what is considered "fair current market value" for your old part. This will usually not come anywhere close to the amount you origionally paid for it if it has been any amount of time since the purchase.
Since they no longer make the Sony you purchased, they have to replace it with what is teh "most comparable" model they currently sell, even if you as the consumer veiw it as an inferior product.
In short, if they give you the option of a gift card, that is your best bet, but you have to realize they are not going to give you a full refund of your purchase price on an older item.
Kevin
Mahwah,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
They may be Having a Change of Heart (?)
#9Author of original report
Tue, December 28, 2004
12/27/04: After several more correspondence and telephone calls that lead to fairly heated (yet still professional) arguments, The Assurant Team has verbally agreed to take back the inferior (and possibly even defective) monitor. They have offered to send me a CC gift card.
However, they tell me they will only send a gift card up to the amount of the value of the replacement part. We'll see what that turns out to be. I will report when I actually receive it.
That would seem to be pretty much a scam in and of itself -- "We'll replace your $75K Mercedes with a $12K Ford Festiva, or if you prefer we can give you a credit up to the $12K value of the replacement we offered that you didn't like because it was inferior." I hope I misunderstood the logic!
Kevin
Mahwah,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Their Response, and now mine (again!)
#9Author of original report
Thu, December 09, 2004
City Advantage (Circuit City) response to my email...the phone number was wrong, by the way.
Hello-
Please contact 800-615-8156 to have an associate look over your claim.
I apologize for any inconvenience.
Thank you for your business.
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My action was to call the (corrected) number, then after getting no further with again, a very courteous associate... my follow up... which is where I am now 12-08-04.
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Thank you for the response. I have contacted an associate at the (corrected) 888-615-8156 number as per your instructions. I was transferred to the computer dept and I relayed my case to the associate, who although tried to be helpful and sympathetic to my complaint, offered no resolution. He put me on hold for a while to talk to a "level 2" associate and when he returned told me that there was nothing he could do, as the "liason to the vendor" or the "ecost vendor" deemed the entry level Viewsonic e90f to be "a better monitor than the Sony because it had a three year warranty"
I am sure that if I had asked Viewsonic themselves which of their monitors would be a comparable or similar in feature, function and performance replacement for the Sony HMDA440, the e90f would certainly not be one that the manufacturer would recommend. And I may have already done this.
The associate did give me an email address to forward my complaint, but could not tell me what authority the recipient(s) would have in intervening.
I'm not sure what is to be gained by "shortchanging" me with an inferior product -- save an immediate $50-$100 out-of-pocket cost and for that have a dissatisfied customer who is in a position as IT manager of a $1Billion+ company to influence substantially many others on their technology purchasing decisons, including purchase/decline of your warranty offerings and choice of vendor or retailer. (?)
Right now, I am left with a very unpleasant experience with Circuit City's extended warranty service and I am certainly not enjoying having to repeatedly express myself in this manner, or expend the time to do so. I believe that I am being unfairly taken advantage of and am asking again for a better, reasonable, and equitable resolution to repairing/replacing my failing Sony HMDA440. The Viewsonic monitor sent as a replacement does not share the same/similar specifications as the Sony covered under the warranty, and neither meets the standard your warranty implicitely represents, nor is defined by its terms.
I would appreciate a call at the number below or an email response with guidance to resolve this. If you are not in authority to respond, please forward this to the appropriate party.
Thank you again for your attention.