An Open Letter to William Wang, CEO of Vizio TV
| Dear Mr. Wang, In June of 2008, my wife purchased a 32" Vizio Plasma television for me for Father's Day. Needless to say, I was very happy, having wanted to make the switch to HD and finally being able to do so. Our current television was over ten years old, so I was looking forward to a long relationship with this television and Vizio. Around December of 2009, I noticed some odd behavior from the television. It would flash on, and then off, and then on again. As though it were like a car having trouble turning over to start in cold weather. The problem was annoying in the beginning, and worsened over the last few weeks. Until tonight, when it refused to turn on at all. Once the holidays were over, I called technical support, to find out just what I could do to either fix the television myself, or what you could do to stand behind your product. The customer service agent, who was very polite, informed me that since my warranty had been expired, and that my wife hadn't purchased an extended warranty upon purchase, that it would cost me anywhere from $200 - $300 to repair what was determined, to be something involved with the power supply. Since my wife paid only around $650 for the television, I was shocked that the repair bill would be anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of what we paid for it. I understand that electronics and their components aren't cheap, but still - given the way that prices on LCD's and Plasma televisions have dropped over the past 18 months, I could just as easily purchase a new television for just a little more than the cost to repair my old new one. That being said, I'm very disappointed in your product, and your warranty policies. I look at televisions like other major appliances - something that will last a long time, and when it breaks down, it will be from old age. If your product can't withstand average use for 18 months, I don't believe that I can trust it to last for the time that most other appliances should, and given the financial investment involved, I'm sure you can understand my disappointment. At this point, due to financial reasons, I am going to have to go back to my now 11 year old television and use that, until I can afford to purchase a new LCD TV, which, given my understandable disappointment with Vizio, will be another brand. Thank you for your time. Jeremy Zehr Caledonia NY UPDATE 2/10/10 Approximately 24 hours ago, a link to my blog was posted on The Consumerist. I had sent this to Ben Popken when I posted it, but had actually forgotten that I'd done so. Several anonymous commenters have lambasted me, claiming that I did this purely expecting something for nothing from Vizio -- which couldn't be further from the truth, but what can you do, the Internet is full of trolls who have nothing better to do than assume the worst. However, I did just get off the phone with a Sabrina Van Gilder, who works in the Customer Service Department at Vizio. This entire situation has taken an unexpected turn, which I will keep you abreast of in the days to come. |
posted by jeremy at 12:19 AM
Comments on "An Open Letter to William Wang, CEO of Vizio TV"
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Mike Reynolds said ... (4:50 PM) :
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post a commentWhile it sucks that your TV broke down, I certainly hope this doesn't make Vizio give you a new TV set. No piece of electronics is problem-free or made perfectly in any way despite any effort the manufacturer takes to make sure they send out a quality product. This is exactly why warranties and extended-warranties are available. Who's to say you didn't drop the TV set whilst setting it up or otherwise misuse it which caused this problem in the first place? Power surge? Why should Vizio pay for that? Since your TV set is out-of-warranty, the price they quoted you for shipment/repair of the device seems pretty reasonable. Do the Internet a favor and stop crying just because something you own broke and it's manufacturer is only following their processes to try and make you happy.
If you don't mind using a screw driver try looking for a power supply here http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=vizio+power+supply&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=vizio&_osacat=0.
It's not hard to replace them
DIY power supply replacement is a good solution that's fairly cheap, but uber tightwads who can solder would probably instead replace just the electrolytic capacitors and any burned out semiconductors. Not only will this save money, but the capacitors will be better than the originals and may let the TV last 10 years.
Did you buy the TV with a credit card? Because American Express and gold or platinum Visa and Mastercard automatically add up to an additional year to the factory warranty, and I've gotten good service with this from Amex and Visa (never tried MC). You may have to pay up-front for a diagnosis, so check beforehand about reimbursed for it.
Seriously? You are crying because your Vizio for $650 broke down? Look, I've owned several Vizio TV's that I have traded out and resold to family members to upgrade my existing TV's. But seriously, these TV's aren't nearly as expensive as they use to be. If you were paying $4,000 for a Sony, complain all you want, but when you're picking up the Walmart Special, maybe that $300 extended warranty just might be worth it.
To Mike Reynolds, it seems that you must either work for Vizio or one of those electronic stores or a repair shop because of your reply. If Vizio states that the power supply is bad then why would even begin to accuse this person of damaging his TV. What if this power supply is a known issue as it has been with other brands. Guess that you are too ignorant to realize this. Yes, the TV should last for more than the time stated and as consumers reports states, an extended warranty for the most part is useless. Vizio itself is not a brand that I would purchase anyway but they should back their hardware regardless. I would email the company at the corporate level, you would be surprised at what wonders the power of words can do as they may want to improve their image and reputation with the consumer. I had a sub-woofer from JBL go bad after two years (out of warranty) and did some research online and found that other people had the same problem, sent them an email, pointed this out and sub-woofer was replaced without issue. Good luck with that.
It does not matter the amount of money that a person spends on an item. A company should stand behind their product, plain and simple and if the public, who buys these products, stops doing so, these companies would realize that a well made product equals happy customers who would recommend their products and continue to purchase. Everything in the US seems to be made in China these days because it is cheap to do so, but in my eyes losing a customer equates to being more expensive in the long run.
If your wife purchased with a credit card, call them and ask if they do extended warranty on electronics purchased with the card. My Visa automatically doubles the warranty on any product purchased with the card, under 2 years.
So, if you purchased it 18 months ago, and your credit card doubled the 1-year warranty, you might be able to salvage the deal
Most consumers really do want a TV that can be made as cheaply as possible, even if that means that some of them will fail in a year and a half. I also own a Vizio HDTV and specifically bought it because it was the cheapest.
Technology changes pretty fast, and I'd rather buy a new TV every few years than pay a lot of money now for a TV that will still be working, but won't be what I want, 5 years down the line.
Yes, that does mean some TVs will only last a year and a half. You definitely got bad luck. But if you didn't want to deal with that, you were likely offered an extended warranty.
It seems you want the benefit of the extended without having to pay of it and want the benefit of the cheapest HDTV on the market without the downsides.
Unfortunately I feel Vizio has let me down too. Initially I bought one of their TV's and had great results- they even included color laminated owner's manuals instead of the expected black and white newsprint ones that rip in your hand. I was really happy with them until I bought their 26" multimedia computer monitor which arrived with dead pixels in the center of the screen. Vizio told me over the phone that it wasn't enough to consider the product defective. I guess if it's a tv you're not going to notice a few pixels being out, but come on if the monitor is sitting right in front of your face like a computer screen it's a big problem. The seller did end up sending a new one, but with even more dead pixels! I finally just took all the shipping as a loss and bought one locally at Sam's Club hooking it up and testing it out before I left the store.
Great TV's and monitors if you can find one that works and... good luck with that. The customer service sucked.
Aside from credit card protection or buying a replacement board, I usually see LCDs flicker/turn off because of bad inverter boards, which is in turn caused by bad capacitors.
Fortunately, if you know how to solder or know someone who does (and really does and won't put the capacitors on backwards), you can usually solve the problem for $10 or under. Remove the casing, take out the board and replace the capacitors.
I agree with some of the others in regards to the extended credit card warranty... most cards offer an additional one year warranty after the manufacturers expired.
Also Vizio makes a solid product, unfortunatly for you I guess you can consider yours a defect. I own two Vizio LCD TV's a 26 and a 32 and the 26 is well over two years old and still works just as good as it did when it was pulled out of the box.
You might find better luck taking it to a TV repair spot and having them look at it first before deciding on what to do about buying a new one.
Mike, my reaction to your statement is this - you either get paid by Vizio, or you're a salesman in a high end electronics store - just like the fourth anonymous commenter said.
I didn't write this letter to William Wang to get anything. In fact, I expect nothing from Vizio. The reason I put this story out there was in case anyone was in the market for an LCD or Plasma television and considering Vizio.
The power supply problem is a known issue with Vizio televisions, and they refuse to acknowledge it. Google Pop of Death and Vizio together and you'll find that hundreds, if not thousands of people have had the same issue.
I even went so far as to post this letter on the Vizio Facebook page, forward it to Vizio on Twitter, to no avail. The Facebook page even banned me and deleted the post - they wouldn't want anyone out there dare question the quality of their product.
Try a local repair shop. Next time buy from Costco to get an extra year warranty. Even if you've got to join for 2 years, $100 for a year extended warranty isn't bad. And, their prices are rock bottom.
Or just buy the same model (if it is still available) and then put your old set in the box and return it, saying the power supply must be bad. They will return it for credit to the manufacturer anyway.
We had our plasma tv for 3 days and the power supply went bad... Panasonic wanted to send a tech out. Oh no, I said, it's going back. Then I went to Costco and bought the same model with double the warranty for $100 less (I didn't know they sold TV's).
Just my .02. Of course I would NEVER advocate being less than honest. :)
I have a vizio 50" plasma the power supply is going out, and of course, over a year old. The plasmas aren't that long lived, the LED and OLED live a lot longer, I wont buy vizio ever again, quality is crap. I am thinking of getting a projector till the oleds come down in price. projectors are versatile too, its a 60" TV you can carry to your friends house
I expect a company to honor a repair under warranty, and not so much once it runs out. So I understand them saying it is your problem. But, that said, look at Microsoft's XBox 360. The realized they had a issue that caused many (not all) units to fail, and they extended coverage to folks with problems. Vizio *knows* they have a LOT of users with failed power supplies. And they are hiding behind the 1 year warranty. That is chicken poop. My Vizio died 2 months after the warranty expired. I do expect the warranty to be the "good until date" on a loaf of bread, a TV should last 5-10-15 years if not abused. I would warn EVERYONE to avoid the Vizio brand. They are not built to last more than 2 years. I paid $3,000 for a 50" plasma, and it is a $1,500 repair?!? I can get a name brand new 50" plasma for $800! Horrible brand, you save NOTHING buying a cheap brand like Vizio.
I would LOVE to write a letter to the CEO anonymously. I am in fact a TV tech that does in and out of warranty repair work for Vizio. I can tell you firsthand that their product is by far one of the worst on the planet. I have seen Vizio's come defective right out of the box, days, weeks, or months later... if it hasn't died yet, it will. The company responsible for their repair work (ITI) is a sub-standard sub-contracted company that pays any person off the street on average of $60 to "expertly" repair the Vizio branded sets. Sad that a lot of the TVs were taking at least two repairs to resolve their problems due to poor troubleshooting and crappy internal components. Now, any repair attempt after the first, requires you to send in your set at your own cost. What a deal hey?? There is a HUGE price to pay when you pay for this cheap Chinese garbage and it would be great if the US would just block their import altogether. It may cost a little more, but do yourself a favor, all of you... buy ANYTHING BUT VIZIO.
Another thing that disappoints me more is the fact that they call themselves an American company, when everything except for the CEO's office is in China...
But then again... that's the new American way right?
You didn't know the warranty period for making the purchase?
I am a previous employee of Sam's Club and know that Vizio started selling TV's in warehouse clubs before expanding. If you bought it at Sam's Club or Costco within the past 2 years, they should be able to take it back even without your receipt. If it was Sam's Club ask them to do an "Item Lookup" and not a "Purchase History." They can do it by item # or description. Also, if they try to give you BS about electronics only having a 3 or 6 month policy, that applies mostly to computers and you purchased it in a time when such policy did not exist AND they should still give you a refund under "Member Satisfaction." Sometimes if your lucky, they'll give you your money back PLUS $50 due to the almighty "Member Satisfaction." Without a receipt you will be forced to get a gift card. Hopefully you purchased it at one of these locations and I hope this helps.
I knew the warranty period, but didn't expect a product to fail less than two years after purchase. Everyone knows that Extended Warranties are pretty much useless.
Given the issues that many people have had with Vizio power supplies, I'm really surprised that they haven't done anything to combat the bad PR. But then again, combat costs money, doesn't it?
So, let me get this straight. You purchased a TV for really cheap (I bought my TV ~1.5 years ago and paid $1400 for a Panasonic Plasma), did not buy the warranty and now want a free fix, post 1 year?
Why do you believe you deserve this? Why didn't you but the warranty? I paid an extra $200 for an extra year on my factory warranty, so why should you get the same treatment for paying $0?
I'm on the side of Vizio on this one, and I hope they don't give you anything since you are encouraging people to be babies.
Why should a consumer have to buy a warranty (even an extended one) to assure that they get a product that will work or be repaired? Shouldn't that be the requirement for a sale? That the product performs and that it lasts a reasonable time?
Around Christmas time, I attempted to buy a small Vizio tv at my local Walmart. The sales associate practically begged me not to buy it, saying that they had an extremely high return rate on Vizio products due to poor quality.
"So, let me get this straight. You purchased a TV for really cheap (I bought my TV ~1.5 years ago and paid $1400 for a Panasonic Plasma), did not buy the warranty and now want a free fix, post 1 year?"
Dude, learn to READ. I said I don't want or expect anything from Vizio. This letter is something that should serve as buyer beware for anyone who is considering buying a Vizio television.
@jeremy You posted this as an open letter to the CEO of the company. By doing that it looks a lot like do want something out of it and its not a warning to others when you address it to someone specifically. A repair for 300 dollars is rather normal it just so happens you bought the TV for a low price to begin with. Cost of buying parts and paying someone to install them for you don't go down just because the TV was cheap. I have had a vizio for 2 years with no problems and i spent around 200 on an 3 year extended warranty. I had a sony before and they soured my mouth with the very situation your shaking your finger at vizio for. Yeah it sucks but it taught me how the industry is. If you know the written warranty policy of a product don't be surprised when they stay true to policy. I mean hell i expect a company to honor the warranty during the warranty period so i may as well assume that they will keep their promise that when its over its over.
It's a shame really, I'm afraid the days of buying a quality product and expecting it to work for years are over. Good customer service went out the door too.
Americans want to pay the lowest cost possible for things, China has made that possible. It's cheap and it's crap but every American can afford to buy all the junk they want now. Younger folks already seem not to expect quality.
Anonymous commenter: Believe what you want, I at least have the balls to post something under my real name. And forgive me for expecting a product to actually be stood by when it's an issue that is common and should be taken care of.
You dont have a legitimate complaint, sorry.
You got boned, Vizio did nothing wrong here, and attempting to call out Vizio and their CEO via an "open letter" smacks of a shameless ploy to be compensated outside of their reasonable 1 year warranty policy.
Google Pop of Death and Vizio. And you'll see why I'm complaining.
Check the back light inverter transformers for open windings also
With all due credit to your situation, most knowledgeable consumers know what they're getting into when buying a Vizio. They're not known for their longevity, and when they do, it usually comes as a surprise. It's more to the credit of the company for showing exceptional customer service by assisting with your out of warranty television set, and not to their detriment if they say you're SOL.
I hope in the next update we read regarding this story isn't "Vizio offered me a new tv, and I took it."
No Vizio didn't offer me a new TV.
My only goal was to see them own up to a well known issue to their TVs, which they have done with me on the phone.