Bradshaw's High def tv repair ripoff! Abington Illinois

On March 19th, I called in to american tv & appliance to get service for my high def projection tv. I was told the in home service didn't apply, since I was out of warranty coverage area. I called the warranty shop, which was bradshaw's, & was told they would pick it up for $180., since they would have to make a special trip, send a couple guys, etc. Decided to do some checking on my own at this point, & found out that they actually came to Rex tv every week! I made arragements to drop it off there, where they picked it up. They did the repair, but only after I called them 3 times, waited a month & had to purchase a new tv, then they wouldn't send it back unless I gave them a credit card up front, even though it was under warranty. I do understand this, as that's how that particular warranty service worked.

So I paid, actually got tv back on the 7th of MAY, 2006, it worked for 2 weeks & crapped out again, same problem. When I contacted Bradshaw's, they said it was possible the new parts were bad, but it could be something else.
So once again, I borrowed a truck, hauled it over to Rex's Tv, & waited. Approx another month goes by, and I call, it hasn't been looked at yet, but it will be tommorrow, so a couple days later I pick it up. I gets regular tv, but no high def, and the menus on the bottom are CURVED. Also, I can't even begin to set the convergence, the crosses are all skuewed. So I call them back, this time not so polite, and they agree to pick it up at my place. Another 10 days passes, and I call, it hasn't been seen yet, but it's going to be looked at tommorrow. $ days later they wake me at 9am, (I work nights), & I check it out, and it seems ok, so they leave, then the guy says, "oh, by the way, the high def only works on the 480/1080 setting". Why? It worked both ways before? Then I start watching it the next night, and I notice the menu still is slightly skuewed, and there appears to be so kind of distortion in the middle of the screen which causes straight lines to ripple slightly.

After a short which it becomes increasingly annoying, faces get fatter & thinnner across it! When I call them up, an extremely hostile repairman, (not the owner, whom I requested) tells me it is EXACTLY to faactory specs, and the effect is due to conversion from reg tv format to widescreen for high def. Now, I fix computers for businesses, so it seems a bit odd to me that it never did this before! Would LOVE to sell this set, still have a year left on the warranty, but what good is it, if the only place that does warranty service within a 500 mile radius won't fix it? Next stop, lawyer's office.

Barbara
Burlington, Iowa
U.S.A.