Know When To Fold Them

We recently had a very long, drawn out, expensive TV repair experience. A little over 6 months ago the picture on our 50" Samsung plasma TV went out. The volume still worked and the picture would work occasionally, and then it stopped working at all. We decided to see if we could have it repaired.

We went with a local company that does TV repairs. They will come get the TV and do a diagnosis to determine what is wrong. They charge $85 to look at it, and if you have the repair done, that goes toward the final charges. It was determined that a board went out and would be almost $400 to repair. We decided to go ahead and have them fix it since we already paid $85. After a few days, the TV was ready. We went and picked it up because they were "too busy" to deliver it to us. We were just glad to have it back and working.

After about 2 weeks, the TV went out again with the same problem. They came and got the TV, and told us it was a different board that went out and needed to be replaced. At this point, I was very unhappy. We had just paid almost $400 to have our TV for 2 weeks. After discussing this with the owner, he told us he would replace it for just the cost of the board at his price and no labor...... another $200. We decided that since we just spent $400 we should pay the $200 and get it fixed.

After about a week the owner told us that the part was on back order and he would let us know when it was ready. After about a month of it being in the shop, I called to let them know that we were moving out of town soon. He said that he would see if he could expedite the process to get it fixed. That did not happen!!!!

After 6 MONTHS of it being in the repair shop, it was finally fixed. This was after repeated phone calls and this guy being excessively rude. He talked to me as though this entire thing was my fault and I was just a thorn in his side (that I'm sure was true). When the part came in, he wanted me to pay up front to have it fixed. I let him know I was not paying him a thing until I had the working TV in my possession. He said it would be done the next week.

When the TV was finally ready, he called to let me know I needed to get it immediately because his shop was full and he has already been storing it there for 6 months. I laughed a lot when he told me this. Yes sir, you have kindly been "storing" it for me the last 6 months!!! Thankfully we only moved two hours away so I could drive and get it. I had to make this 4 hour trip for the long awaited TV with my 15 month old, that was an adventure.

There are many lessons that I learned during this process. Next time I will know when to cut my losses and walk away. I am sure that I could have just purchased a new TV for the same cost as fixing this 5 year old TV. Some things just aren't worth repairing, and sometimes local isn't better.