Sharp Electronics Their warranties on their small lcd TVs is a total scam Internet

Your assumptions not withstanding, the facts about the warranty are exactly as I related them to be.

I live alone. Nobody touched the TV after it was first placed on the shelf where it was used. Something simply went wrong inside the set. 

My comments about Best Buy are also true. They lied to me when they told me they were sending it to Sharp. And while I don't think the salesman did so intentionally, they lied to me about the warranty on the set when I bought it.

I could contrast this experience with a problem I had with A larger SONY TV many years ago. I took it into a Sony service center just before the 1 year warranty expired. They fixed it, no questions asked. THAT's the way a warranty is supposed to work. 

The small print in the warranty on the small Sharp set says all that needs to be said.

I realize I have come to this a bit on the late side, but my awareness of this site was only just started today due to an issue with another company.  Despite your request to the last poster however, I would like to make the below statements.  Allow me to start out by saying I'm making an assumption that the unit was purchased sometime in 2007 or 2008, as I'm fairly certain that the 15" tvs were no longer manufactured after that point (definitely not after start of 2009).

Starting with your first post and working my way down, The lack of power suddenly to your unit suggested a possibility of the power supply being at fault.  Granted, when you mentioned the multicolored lines when you had it taken to Best Buy to have them look at the unit, I knew at that point it was potentially the equivalent of the graphics card for the tv, or worst case scenario the lcd panel (which still is always 80-90% of the value of the television).

Now, on to the next segment, your statement of "I also found out the truth about Sharps warranty. When I purchased the set, during the inevitable pitch from the salesperson to get me to buy an extended warranty... When I read the fine print on the warranty however, I found out that the one year parts and labor warranty was only for Canadian buyers. In the USA, the warranty is one year for parts, but only 90 days for labor"

This is erroneous to all of my experience working with sharp (approximately 1 1/2 years).  Item one, no matter the warantee period purchased through Sharp, parts, labor, even shipping for this direct repair only item, would be covered if there's manufacturer defects in the unit, and the only things I've experienced that are not corrected is direct physical damage.

Now, before you grow angry at what I mentioned just then, please understand that I am quite aware that to your knowledge it has not seen any abuse, mistreatment or the like. I'm not making any accusation that you did anything to the television, only what my experience has shown.  More likely than not, it could have been something in shipping or handling of the unit.  I've seen more than my fair share of forklift failures as I call them, but that's neither here nor there.

The second item to correct, is that the greatest irony is that, being a Canadian procedure trained rep, we don't offer extended warantees to Canadians anyway, though I've never had an explination why.  The fact that your statement of showing only 90 days of labor coverage is NOT something sharp does.  Granted, your assumption that the parts would be covered only costing about 50 cents is a bit exaggerated.  While i've never worked directly with the servicers or have direct access to parts costs, usually a part costs at least 25-50 dollars, depending, and in cases of larger tvs, does not count the near 500 dollars that is paid to have the servicer perform with prompt service and so on for house calls.

In this case, the next thing you stated about needing to ship the television sounds accurate, as for whatever reason that had not been explained to me, almost all of the tvs 23" or smaller, as well as combo units are only repairable at the factory.  Now, I find that to be rather unsensible, but if your unit were covered under warantee, there would have been shipping labels sent, there would have been packaging sent, and pretty much everything covered as long as there's a defect in the unit (again, short of damage)

The only response initially to the consumer who responded in post 1 that needs to be added to the above, is that I've had too many personal stories of damage directly to a unit while the parent or another figure was away and once the tv gave a pattern indicating (95% of the time anyway) that the tv knew the panel was broken, they nodded (heard it over the phone) and said they had their suspicions.  Again, not saying that this happened, especially if you live alone, since you haven't said anything of that nature I will assume you are alone, no pets, and no accidental run-ins with vaccuum handles (Yes, I've had that one.)

I have no idea where you had retreived that listing of warantee coverage, but as stated before, no matter the country of the North American continent, minimum of one year parts and labor, and in us, shipping to facility.  Granted, if the best buy techs have said that it was damaged, while they aren't a SASS (Sharp something service center, no idea why they used that initial...)

The Consumer's posting of "Best Buy has nothing to lose in this case, since you paid shipping anyhow. They sent it out to their repair center, which is authorized to diagnose and service Sharp LCD TV's." seems relatively accurate, with one probable exception, one of "their" centers.  Not necessarily a Sharp certified center.  Granted if you were in their warantee period (bearing in mind you bought a tv that was last made in 2009 at latest, you didn't have a warnatee through Sharp unless receipt proved otherwise)

Simply put, you still have the option or opportunity to call directly even despite it being about 10 more months later.  I couldn't guarantee the likelihood of coverage if they do have a way of detecting physical damage to the unit, but if there's an issue in the unit, lets put it this way; I've seen tvs despite the age or who covers the warantee period get taken care of ultimately because the customer felt THAT upset over it.  Its a bit of work and stress all around (on your part as well as ours, because lets face it, wen you get angry and vent it out, even a friend will feel the tension), but it has happened.  It may take having mentioned that you posted a report here, in which case my position may be in jeapordy saying that (as there's always policies about reporting procedural stuff that is only to be give under some circumstances), but hey, it gets you closer to what you're looking for anyway, and I'm reasonably sure the information will be accurate unless you provide a serial number/PoP that I assumed incorrectly.

If you've already thrown out the tv or something else like that, There probably won't be much able to be done regardless and i'm sorry to have wasted your time reading it and mine for typing it and thinking it through off duty, but if there's the off chance of it helping, that's why I work where I do.

I know it sounds to you like I am defending BestBuy but I am simply telling you how they work. When they ship items to the service centers they are wrapped in thick layers of protective plastic in the back, which is removed before given back to the customer. They generally ship a bunch of items at once to the service centers and they are placed in cages.

If they didn't actually send it out, it would only be because it was physically apparent that abuse or accidental damage occurred. If not, the shipping charge was to ship it out.

as far as what you posted about geek squad...

Best Buy has nothing to lose in this case, since you paid shipping anyhow. They sent it out to their repair center, which is authorized to diagnose and service Sharp LCD TV's.

The service center determined it is not covered under warranty. or as you stated..."the problem with the TV was a result of mistreatment or damage of some kind"

Were they any more specific then "some kind" of damage? The TV has a one year warranty at least that covers labor..so only Sharp stands to lose anything. And you stand to lose if you can't defend the damage they claim has occurred. I can understand you lodging a report here if the TV truly did not see any misuse or accidental damage.

I would contact BestBuy corporate headquarters as I am sure that Sharp does not want to be on BestBuys bad side..and as well, try to be more aggressive with Sharps customer service. That is about all I can suggest.

You're right...

In response to your question:

A few things I should clarify since I worked for BestBuy before.

Bestbuy does not repair or diagnose TVs in some little room behind customer service. The only thing in those rooms are where they put stuff that is getting sent out, or returned..and the Agents may do some computer work there. No one in the store is qualified, or authorized to service or diagnose televisions. Those are sent to an AUTHORIZED service center where they determine cause of failure, and fix it if they can.

Now when you say you found out the "truth" about Sharps warranty...why didn't you find this out when you purchased the TV..did someone steal the warranty card? Granted what the employee told you could be wrong..but most manufacturers warranty is one year parts and labor so perhaps the employee made a blunder..but regardless the employee did not buy the TV so you always need to check the manufacturers warranty yourself. If you don't like the warranty, return it for full refund or store credit within 30 days.

The "inevitable pitch" to buy the "extended warranty" is for the customers good as well. To note..BestBuy does not actually sell extended warranties, they sell "service plans" which run concurrent with the manufacturers warranty, but generally cover more, and for a few years longer, but those plans have nothing to do with the manufacturer. The plans break down on an LCD TV to around 5 cents a day, but that does no good anyhow if the damage is not covered.

I don't think they charge 100 dollars for a 50 cent part. I am sure there is a mark up but if the screen is damaged on your LCD TV..it is going to cost a lot more then 50 cents, that is probably the most expensive part of the TV.
Nobody wants to call you a liar...but unless you were with that TV alone 24 hours a day..how do you know someone else did not drop or damage it when you were not around and then kept quiet? I did that when I was a child if I broke something to avoid repercussions..try to cover it up..but I always got caught somehow and experienced the tough love.

I will say after reading this report, that I am a little disappointed in Sharp. They should not charge you to diagnose anything. They should have you ship the TV to them, tell you if it is covered under warranty or not, and give you an estimate for repair, or fix it under warranty if they can not verify abuse or accidental damage and ship it back.