Complaint Review: Samsung Electronics America - Ridgefield Park New Jersey

So about 6 years ago, we bought a new tv. We wanted to get something that was HD capable, because we heard in a few years, we'd need it. We got a Samsung HDTV (the boxy kind, but with a flat screen) from Sears. We also had never had a DVD player before, but we still had numerous video cassettes, and our VCR was almost broken (after 10 years of hard use, mind you! (Zenith!)) so we bought a VCR/DVD combo...again, Samsung.

In all, we spent about $800 that day, in Samsung electronics.

From the START, the DVD player worked horrible. BUT...we didn't know it! We thought that getting disturbed in the middle of movies often, with a boxy digitally stuck picture was NORMAL for DVD's! We didn't know any better! I thought DVD technology sucked.
And I thought that for a YEAR, until I learned it wasn't supposed to be that way!

And about 4 months after purchase, our new TV starting acting strange.
It had "touchy feely" buttons, or something...they weren't really "buttons" on the front of the tv, but you touched them gently and they'd control all the stuff the remote would control. Kinda cool, really.

NOT kinda cool, actually.
Watching tv one day, suddenly the sound increased in volume until it was WAY loud!
I thought I was sitting on the remote or something. Nope. It was the tv.
And from then on, it would keep doing this, whenever it felt like it! Just automatically turning it's own volume up whenever! I thought we had ghosts!

Soon after, the tv started doing other weird things by itself. I can't remember exactly what, since it was like 6 years ago....but it clearly was NOT working right! It was to the point that we almost couldn't watch the d**n thing anymore.

Again, we put up with that for months and months (I didn't know about warantees or anything...I never really had to use one!) until finally, I called Samsung, after learning that DVD's did NOT actually freeze up and stop constantly as a general rule.
(we had finally gotten a $30 tiny DVD player from Walmart, which worked GREAT!!!!!
That was when I realized it was the Samsung piece of crap that was the problem!
DVD's WERE cool!!!! Wow! Who knew???

So I called Samsung and told them about the DVD/VCR and how crappily it worked since we got it, and how the TV had a brain of its own, and all they told me, was that it was JUST past a year, and the warranty was up, so TOO BAD.
I was stuck with $800 worth of NON working equiptment, after only ONE year.
They said I could try calling the place of purchase (Sears).

So I called Sears. They said it was past a year, and I should call Samsung.

I was getting nowhere.
I couldn't believe that a company would not want to help a customer, even though it was just out of warranty. Especially after buying a $600 tv, and a $200 DVD/VCR.
I mean, come on! Ya gotta at least TRY to help a customer, so they continue to buy your stuff, right? I'd think.

I finally wrote Samsung a letter, again stating my problem, and that I had gotten the run around.
Samsung NEVER GOT BACK TO ME.
They didn't care. They didn't bother.

So....eventually my husband had to take the tv apart, and take out whatever was behind those "touchy feely" buttons on the tv, so they can no longer work at all.
In other words, if we lose the remots, we're screwed!! We can turn it on, and off. That's it. No channel changing, no volume, etc...
Now the tv works fine. But we had to fix it ourselves.

As for the DVD/VCR combo......the DVD stopped working altogether not long after that. The whole unit is in the kid's playroom, cause they still have kid video cassettes. And our Walmart $30 DVD is working great.

I have since told my ENTIRE family and ALL my friends about my crappy experience with Samsung. I have them all NOT buying ANYTHING from Samsung. Not even a cell phone. Not a big screen tv, not a radio, not ANYTHING with the Samsung name.
And may I say, I have a LOT of family, and a LOT of friends.
I'm sure my experience has cost them thousands so far. And it will continue to cost them, for the rest of my life. And my kid's lives. And hopefully all their friends and family's lives. I am very adamant when it comes to boycotting this company's products. Everything we bought from them in the first year, BROKE within 6 months or less. NOT impressive. NOT good quality stuff. Wouldn't you say??

We are not starting to think about getting our first flat panel LCD or Plasma screen TV soon.
Guess which company we will NOT be looking at?

DON'T BUY SAMSUNG PRODUCTS......THEY ARE CRAP.