Complaint Review: RCA Thomson

Bought an RCA 42" HDTV (model L42WD22) from Wal-Mart for $998 on March 15, 2008. Has a one-year waranty. It was used lightly, typically less than one hour/day. Screen started going dark in October. Electronics started to burn/smell in early November. Called RCA. They recommended a local (RCA certified) shop. TV could not be repaired - needed new display and electronics. RCA Thomson said they would replace.

RCA sent a refurbished unit in January 2009. Refurbished unit (installed by their certified shop) would not work. Local shop technicians could not repair the refurbished unit even with two weeks of RCA Thomson technical support. (Imagine a quality control process so flawed that they don't even turn the refurbished unit on before sending it out to the consumer!)

After many (ten or more phone calls to RCA with a promise from them each time to call me back in 3-5 days but which they never did). Now RCA wants to send a 2nd refurbished unit. They will not send a new unit and will not refund my money. The 2nd refurbished unit will be warrantied for 90 days - even though I have been without their TV now for over two months. Asked to speak to some level of management. They refused. Said I could write corporate at P.O. Box 671988m Marietta, GA.

This RCA Model apparently has either a serious design or manufacturing flaw. Fully expect 2nd refurbished unit to either not work or to fail quickly. But RCA Thomson simply wants to get past March 15 2009 when original warranty expires. Appears to be no reasonable/fair solution for the consumer for a flawed/faulty product with a $1000 price tag!

Dave
Draper, Utah
U.S.A.