Complaint Review: Panasonic - Nationwide

Again, I never "threatened" anyone with a lawsuit. The first conversation I had with Panasonic, I mentioned that it looked like they had a class action lawsuit although I wasn't sure of the specifics. I stayed cordial and simply told them that this was a known issue. The 7th time I talked to them, I told them that I would be "taking action". If they want to interpret that as a lawsuit, that's on them. With the amount of people that have the same issue on the same line of plasmas, I am sure it wouldn't be hard to have a case. The problem, just like the repair tech told me, is that Panasonic has the money to stretch out the case for so many years, I would be dead by the time I was compensated.

  What is the difference between this and a baby crib that has a problem that chokes kids and has to be recalled? Or a Toyota that has a gas pedal that sticks? The difference is no one's lives are at stake. We live in a disposable age and most people would want a new 4k or whatever is new and they would toss the broken tv out. Most people would figure that they got some good life out of it and it served it's purpose well. At less than 600 hours and being turned on less than 200 times, I don't feel this way. 

My opinion on how the tv should perform is unfortunatly irrelavant but the fact that this is a common and well know problem is and if someone approched me and stated that there is a case for a class action lawsuit, I would jump on faster than that plasma crapped out regardless of the amount of money I recieved.

I am aware that on many products, things will eventually fail. But when you make the statment that something should last over 50,000 hours and it fails to barley break 1 percent, that is a DEFECT. What if your car got 1% of the advertised gas milage or your cell phone battery lasted 1% of the advertised standby time? You sure as hell would be pissed warranty or not. And again, this was 3 months after the extended warranty was up and again, there are hundreds of people in the same stupid, leaking, Panasonic boat.

So all these "your warranty is up, you're out of luck" comments are understandable but they don't change the fact that Panasonic is (or was) putting out defective products on a large level. If I was an isolated case, I'd chalk it up to bad luck and call it done. That is by far not the case.

You threatened them with a 'class action lawsuit' because they are adhering to their warranty? Let us now how that goes. It would annoy me too, but it is nevertheless out of warranty.  They can fix it for free if they want to but they have no legal obligation to do so.

"An insult to those who paid for an extended warranty" Wait, unless Panasonic offers extra warranties directly, I DID have an extended warranty. Your argument is invalid.

Again, it seems the point is being missed, THEY claim a life expectancy of 50,000 plus hours, THEY originally stated they would send someone out for free. The tech flat out told me that Panasonic probably wouldn't even have an issue replacing whatever if it was a LCD tv but because plasmas are pretty much EOL, it wouldn't be worth it to fix it.

I get that I am out of warranty but the circumstanses are that it has less hours than a tv one year old and it's not like I let my kid punch the screen. It is a documented problem on MANY sets. Had I even turned on the tv in 3 months, it probably would have surfaced then and I would have done things differently. Just because they are legaly covered doesn't mean that it is good buisness.

I understand that a warranty is black and white and when the times up, the times up. I never asked Panasonic to just give me a free tv or to fix it for free. I don't want to have to pay to have someone come out just to tell me that it's going to cost more than the tv itself to fix. They were not willing to work with me.

If someone made a product with a 1 year warranty but made it so that on the 366th day, it blew up a bus load of nuns and babies, would it be ok? Maybe they would be "legally covered" but would you flame someone that got mad over it? Not saying Panasonic intentionally used parts that fail but none-the-less they did and still are failing.

Sure, it's an exaggerated illustration but my point is, it is a known issue and companies should care a little more about their customers.

I would be fine if Panasonic sent someone out on their dime and told me, yeah, it's gonna be 300 bucks to fix or it's not worth the money. That's what they told me on the first phone call so maybe they need to train their staff a little better with their communication skills. 

Am I not entitled to have the opinion that the company is a "rip off"? Put yourself in my shoes. Bottom line, lesson learned, get a longer warranty, don't buy Panasonic.

You received an additional one-year warranty from Discover so the TV is actually 15 months outside of the Panasonic warranty. You requested Panasonic to extend the warranty 125% beyond the agreed one-year warranty period. Your expectation of free service is unreasonable.

If Panasonic had honored your request it would have been an insult to the customers that paid for an extended warranty.

 I just love this guy telling me what a scammer I am. Either a Panasonic fanboi or a spoiled idiot that has never worked for anything in his life. The Panasonic Viera line IS known to have this issue, I didn't find "some complaints online about other TV's". I also love how it was my "USE" that broke the tv. 500 hours? What, was I watching TV too hard? LOL you fool. I also love how you are going to "forward my post" to thier legal department, as if they didn't hear me say it as well as read my emails? I never "threatened" anything I simply advised them of what I found. I could argue that your "left out in the desert " comment was a threat with that logic. Almost 1300 people have dead PANASONIC VIERA sets that are REPORTED, if your dad or lover works at Panasonic, it sucks to be you. Your trolling skills fall short. Move along.

Yes it is out of warranty. My cars gas tank is probably out of the drivetrain warranty too but if it is know to explode, I would expect something to be done about it. This is a $2000 tv and there are forums FLOODED with people having the same issue. Maybe some people call it a loss and move on but to have that many people have a box of usless gas on thier wall is not acceptable, not good buisness and is not ethicly right. I understand things fail but with a rated life of 50,000 plus hours and I get 500 and change and that close to warranty is unacceptable.

 See the problem is that YOU are too cheap to just pay for it yourself. YOUR WARRENTY IS EXPIRED!!!! Get over it you dead beat. Its NOT Panasonics fault that YOUR TV that YOU have owned AND used for 2+ years is no longer working. You are a cheap and SLEEZY buttmunch who is expecting the deeper pockets to pay for THEIR problem. YOU are what is wrong in this world. People like YOU who expect the world but give NOTHING back. Panasonic is RIGHT and YOU ARE WRONG!!!!! Just because YOU found some complaints online about other TV's DOES NOT make this a "Known" issue. YOUR TV DIES BECAUSE OF YOUR USE!!!!! How is this hard to understand?? WHY would YOU expect them to work with you because its ONLY 3 months out of warrenty. Its OUT OF WARRENTY PERIOD!!!!!! I swear, people like you should be taken out and left in the desert. YOU are a CHEAP and SLEEZY person who is SCAMMING Panasonic. YOU have threatened them and YOU have attempted to use blackmail to get your way. THAT IS ILLEGAL!!! Im going to forward YOUR POST onto Panasonics Legal dept. People like YOU need to be taught a lesson. I hope beyond all hope that they give YOU what YOU so richly deserve. I hope they sue you so hard your great grandchildren will be paying it back. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A DEADBEAT SCAMMER AND YOU WILL BE MADE TO PAY FOR YOUR SCAM!!

Did they fail to live up to the warranty terms?  If not advise the FTC, BBB, and mom.  If they did follow its terms, you have no case.