I'm the moron who ruined a 40" LCD TV!

[Knottscott]

I'm so mad at myself I could spit! I dropped our 40" LCD TV and punctured the screen while packing it up for service yesterday.

Here's the convoluted version...I bought and sold a lot of stuff on Ebay last summer and fall, and worked the Microsoft Cashback discounts pretty well. The TV was a Christmas gift to the family, paid for with the Cashback proceeds. It was a refurb purchased online for $660, (-$198 cashback), plus $100 s/h, plus $64 for an extended warranty. The TV starting taking a very long time to warm up and got continually worse (~ 30 minutes), so I filed a warranty claim, and got reimbursed for the whole $660 purchase price (their idea, not mine). I found a service tech who thought he knew what the problem was and seemed confident he could fix it for $150-$200. At this point I'm thinking that I'm up several hundred dollars, and will still have the TV. That situation change in nanosecond with a disheartening thud, that resulted in a hole through the middle of the screen! I haven't vomitted in decades, but I sure felt sick.

Rehashing the math has offered a little bit of consolation because it was a heck of a great deal all the way around, but dipping into the coffers after several months to retrieve that "free" money sure seems like I'm just plain spending it. I suppose I could suffer through with our old 25" console, but then I'd feel really guilty about just taking the warranty money. I also think a replacement LCD big screen will help me forgive myself for dropping it.

I considered an homeowner's insurance claim, but after the $500 deductable, I really don't think it's worth filing a claim over....besides, it was my fault and caused by my stupidity.

Thanks for listening....I guess confession is good for the soul!

[430752]

It is okay, step back from the ledge, everything will be alright.

But seriously, as I read it, you're not out a nickle due to insurance money. Sure, you didn't get a double bonus since you broke it and now can't fix it on the cheap, but so what. You could file a homeowners' claim, it is insurance for stupid and often self-inflicted things, as long as not intentional, but with a high deductible, likely not worth it.

Go out an buy a nice new plasma, not lcd. Plasmas are better quality (when pitting good glass vs good glass). They just don't come below 42" in size. But I've been seeing the 720p Panny's in the 42" size for like 700 or 750. And if you look now, the Pioneers may be discounted cheap since they've announced they're switching to lcd. Pioneer was a very good plasma brand with (almost as a rule) the latest generation of glass. Ehh..I'd consider it a blessing to get the 50" you always wanted.

[Tom Miller]

I feel your pain.

You might consider calling that service tech and tell him what happened. However improbable, there's always the chance he can do something -- especially if motivated by pity and a little $$.

Regards,
Tom

[radhak]

That's just The Universe making it even...

[LarryG]

Oh, ouch.

Your story sorta-kinda reminds me of the time I bought a vintage #80 cabinet scraper off eBay, for about half what the less-well-made new ones cost, had it shipped to my office, and on the way out of the building on the day it arrived, dropped it on the quarry tile (over concrete) floor in the hall and busted the sole clean in half. Before I'd ever had a chance to use it.

(Do I win? Mine was a tool, yours was just a silly old TV ... )

[vaking]

Consider it a blessing.
My experience is that refurb electronics is not worth buying. It practically never works "quite right". It probably has to do with the fact that when people return electroinics - it's because there is a problem and that problem is usually not immediately apparent (like taking too long to warm up). If such unit comes back for repair without good description of a problem - the factory will find "nothing wrong" and will resell the unit as refurb without fixing original problem. Once you explained the problem - you got your money back and did not have to return the unit. Consider it a hint - it probably is because manufacturer already knows this type of problem is not worth fixing. There is always a service technician that thinks he is smarter than the manufacturer.But if he turnes out to be not as smart - you would have been out few more $$$ without any return.

[JeffG78]

I didn't cause my TV troubles, but I just went through a tough time as well. My 42" plasma TV crapped out after only 1-1/2 years. I took it to a repair shop and dropped another $55. In the end, it was not repairable, so I had to go out and buy a new one. I ended up getting a 50" Samsung 720P plasma for $860. I did NOT plan on a $900 expense, but having a dead TV hanging above the fireplace wasn't working for LOML. A large chunk of the tax refund went right out the window.

[Knottscott]

There's a new LG 30 42" LCD screen sitting in my living room helping to keep peace in the house, and looking pretty! So far so good...

[Tom Miller]

You might want to leave this one in the bubble wrap....


Regards,
Tom

[Ed62]

There's a new LG 30 42" LCD screen sitting in my living room helping to keep peace in the house, and looking pretty! So far so good...

After reading about your old 25", I wondered how you could possibly get the family to agree to it after having the 40". It sounds like everyone is happy now.

Ed