Complaint Review: PANASONIC - Secaucus New Jersey

PANASONIC 42" PLASMA VIERA TV purchased 4/28/10

In April of this year (2010) we purchased 2 Panasonic 42" Plasma flat screen televisions....one for our living room & one for a bedroom.

This was done after reseaching & looking at many brands.....we had concluded for the money these were the best buy at the time.

They were purchased from the BestBuy Store on line--Best Buy delievered promptly & both TV's did have very decent pictures & 'seemed to be operating properly'....however at 4-1/2 months/Sept 20th - the living room one started having big blue lines spaced evenly apart rolling across the screen!

As per the 1 yr Warranty-we contacted Panasonic-they said 'no problem' just take it to our local service center as: 42" and under TV's are NOT covered for IN HOME REPAIR - they MUST be taken to a Service Center by the Consumer! **This of course does not apply if your in Puerto Rico or Canada-so aren't we lucky to live in the US!

This led to several things - first there was NO service center in our area - so it required a 3 hr round trip for us to deliver the TV to a Service Center (who stated they had never had a Panasonic TV as yet to work on & they were just recently certified by Panasonic - so our TV is their first! Lucky Us!) Panasonic said most service centers can give you a loaner TV until yours is repaired-however this small repair shop had none. Panasonic also stated 'we should call a Rental Place-rent a TV at our expense & FAX them the bill when our TV was returned & they would take care of it-after you read below-you can see why we did not wish to 'rent at our expense' for fear we would get stuck with the bill!

Next-after several weeks & tons of phone calls between us, the Service Center AND Panasonic-they CAN NOT seem to provide an A Board for the repair....we said please just send us another TV - as that is one option on their Warranty - however Panasonic employees have "stalled & Flat Out Lied in every form possible to resolve or honor the Warranty" from producing the part or replacing the 4-1/2 month old television after 22 days of it sitting in a corner at the Service Center (which is really the guy's garage BTW!).....if you have seen the commercial of the guy named Peggy answering a phone in outer Siberia-you have a good idea what it has been like dealing with Panasonic! I talked to a Nick (he told me & service center owner the part was sent-it never was), Laverne, Lavonda, (these ladies were personally monitering our case & said they would call us back-they didn't)Kanika, Antoinette & several others and I am now waiting for a call from a Dexter which I have no faith will come-as Antoinette the supposed manager from the Virginia office said she'd call us twice already as soon as she can locate the part (swore on a stack of bibles & her 1st born) and never did call back! BTW she stated Nick had no business telling anyone a part was on the way!...So it goes on & on! I was even told by one person that they may have to have the board made in China & shipped here which could take many more weeks!

Everyone was so helpful - not monitoring our case.......not locating our part......calling our service center.....putting us on hold......disconnecting our call.....passing the buck and NEVER once returning a call! One concierge (as they like to call themselves) even had to 'share her Aunt & Uncle's illness & weather in Missouri!'

We have had contact with Best Buy-and we actually heard the BB tech being placed on hold by Panasonic & they were given a run around too & told they'd get a call back in 3-4 working days!!

So everyone PLEASE take note-Panasonic is not exactly a company you would wish to purchase from or deal with-I am hoping the 2nd TV makes it thru a few more months!

My first advise to anyone purchasing electronics-DON"T till you actually read the company's current Warranty and research to be sure there is a Service Center in your area.........while I know no product purchase is 100% - I hope others don't have to experience our dealings with Panasonic.