Complaint Review: Circuit City And Hitachi HDTV - Racine Wisconsin
- Circuit City And Hitachi HDTV Green Bay Rd Racine, Wisconsin U.S.A.
- Phone:
- Web:
- Category: Electronic Manufacturers
Circuit City and Hitachi HDTV Terrible warranty and repairs- mistreated and pissed off ripoff Racine Wisconsin
*Author of original report: Circuit City and Hitachi- being mistreated in Racine
*UPDATE Employee: Sorry
*Consumer Comment: CC didn't make the TV
listed on other sites?
Those sites steal
Ripoff Report's
content.
We can get those
removed for you!
Find out more here.
Ripoff Report
willing to make a
commitment to
customer satisfaction
Click here now..
Approximately eight weeks ago, we bought Hitachi's 43" HDTV from Circuit City. We brought it home, hooked everything up (HDTV dish and receiver, surround sound, VCR, etc.) and everything seemed to be okay. Upon our return from visiting relatives for Christmas, we had a problem.
When we turned on the TV, the screen went red, faded to a black dot, and then the TV turned off. We read the manual, consulted the web, contacted Hitachi, and called Circuit City. The first three were not helpful, and Circuit City "washed their hands of us"- we missed the end of the 30 day warranty by 2 days. I was not pleased.
We contacted Hitachi who told us to contact one of their certified repair technicians. The nearest certified repair technician they offered was 1.5 hours away. When we called, we were told we'd have to wait a week for them to come out and look at the TV. We waited, still not pleased, until the following Saturday. The repairmen came, took one look at it, and said, "Yup, you've got a blown tube...funny, we just picked up another one of these, the same model, one street over in this subdivision yesterday." NOT so funny to me. They then told us that they'd have to take the TV for two weeks. I still wasn't pleased.
[flash forward two weeks] My husband left my nephew's 1st b-day party to make it home in time to meet the repairmen with the TV. When they arrived at 4:30p, they dropped off the TV and told him not to turn it on for 3-4 hours because it was in the cold truck since 8:00a. He signed the receipt (we didn't have to pay anything b/c it's under Hitachi's warranty), they left, and we did not turn on the TV until 12:00a, over 7 hours later.
When we turned it on, yup, you guessed it, red screen, fade to black dot, and turned off just like before. My husband threw the remote. We were extremely pissed off. He called the repairmen and Hitachi Customer Service on Monday. They called yesterday- the repairmen are coming out again on Saturday. We asked Hitachi if they would just give us a new TV- same model and everything- they obviously said "No." The repair bill was for $638 (over $100 was for travel expenses to drive 1.5 hrs)- nearly half of the price of the TV.
We've had the TV for 8 weeks- it worked for FIVE weeks, sat broken for a week, was in for repairs for two weeks, and now is sitting here again broken. $1500 for FIVE weeks! Am I bitter? YOU BET! Will I ever buy a Hitachi piece of sh*t again? HELL NO! Their online customer service apologized for my inconvience. I can't even begin to tell them how pissed off I am that one of our HDTVs will not be working during our huge SUPERBOWL party. I will be telling EVERY SINGLE PERSON I KNOW and don't know not to buy a Hitachi TV. I am also not happy with Circuit City's response- they were absolutely no help at all. The certified repairmen can go to hell, too...$600 for a month+ of not being able to use my TV. I am definitely, absolutely NOT pleased with anyone I have dealt with- AND I work in the Customer Service business, so I am normally very forgiving and lenient. TO HELL WITH HITACHI!
For the record, the TV is Hitachi's 43FDX15B. Has anyone else had this problem?!
Larissa
Winthrop Harbor, Illinois
U.S.A.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/22/2003 09:55 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/circuit-city-and-hitachi-hdtv/racine-wisconsin/circuit-city-and-hitachi-hdtv-terrible-warranty-and-repairs-mistreated-and-pissed-off-rip-42513. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
If you would like to see more Rip-off Reports on this company/individual, search here:
#3 Author of original report
Circuit City and Hitachi- being mistreated in Racine
AUTHOR: Larissa - (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, February 20, 2003
In response to the two rebuttals I have received on my situation with Circuit City and Hitachi, please consider the following:
I did appreciate the 2/3/03 rebuttal and agree that Circuit City should have made an exception for us. Apparently the Racine store and its manager weren't as generous or helpful as they could have been and I find that rather interesting. As far as the "catching flies" cliche, I agree and I do believe that is true, however, I never said that I was being a b***h. As stated, I work in customer service (and have done so for over 8 years) and know how difficult it is to work with irrate customers... I don't get irrate until I believe that I am not being fairly treated. Perhaps our Racine store could learn from yours and be a bit more accomodating.
It is, however, the attitude of the CC employee, Michele, whom responded on 2/13/03 that is precisely the reason why I have trouble with CC. No, Ms. Michele, I did not buy the warranty and, quite frankly, I think these types of warranties are a load of crap, but I won't get into that here. Yes, I am quite aware of Hitachi's standing in the manufacturing arena, but that does not mean that I, as a consumer, have to put up with bad service- again, I won't go there. "As for the store," believe it- it was two days and they did nothing.
We tried talking to the floor rep, sales floor supervisor, and the store manager and they could not, nor would not, offer us any assistance. I am rather pleasant and did not "rant or rave" until they blew me off with an attitude quite similar to yours.
I did not yell, and my "understanding of corporate policy" also got me "no where fast" as you stated. Your apology is not needed and neither is your attitude- we did call Hitachi. I am also aware that you don't have "elves out back making the tv's," and I think you are being rather trite and rude to suggest I think that and to automatically assume that I ranted and raved my way through the store taking my anger out on the poor members of your employment staff. Please.
For anyone else curious- the television has finally been fixed. After blowing yet another tube, the repair service put in a third and discovered some crossed and loose wires in the bottom of the box. All is resolved, but I am still not happy with Hitachi at all.
Circuit City is, however, a little closer to being off of my sh*t list...I had a remarkably pleasant experience working with the installation service for some work I had done on our vehicles. They repaired some damage left by Best Buy at no additional charge, and installed my system promptly, correctly, and with great customer service. So, my kudos to Racine's automobile installation center and the two nice gentlemen I worked with.
#2 UPDATE Employee
Sorry
AUTHOR: Michele - (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, February 19, 2003
I just have a few things to say to this woman about her tv. DID YOU BUY THE WARRANTY? I'm sure the sales person told you that it was a good idea...so therefore you do have to deal with Hitachi...and although unfortunatley you had a bad experiance with them....they are a leading manufacture of tv's...
no matter what company...there will always be a dud. As for the store...I can't believe that it was "2 days" past the return policy....b/c 1st of all we take things back for up to 45 days for certain issues and sometimes, if you are pleasant, we go above and beyond and take it back way over our return policy.
Every upset person puts their own spin on things....and I see it in you. You probably called someone in the store and ranted and raved about tv that you refused to buy the guarantee on and now want us to answer,...well you guessed it...yelling gets you no where fast....Sorry mam, call HItachi. WE DON'T have elves out back making the tv's you know...we sell them for places like Hitachi!
#1 Consumer Comment
CC didn't make the TV
AUTHOR: Greg - (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Monday, February 03, 2003
Hitachi is definitely dropping the ball on this one. I can understand your frustrations, but that's why they give you a warranty. CC, like most other retailers, give you 30 days to make sure that it works. In this case, I think they should have made an exception for you though, being only 2 days over the 30. It all depends on what store you go to, and what type of manager you have to deal with. Also, it does depend on your attitude when contacting the store about your problem. You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. If you weren't satisfied with the store decision, did you call the corporate cool line? They can make the decision and have the store replace the set, especially after only a couple of days past the 30. I've known others with similar issues, and the store in my area usually takes care of them. Maybe even moreso now that there's a Best Buy opening soon.
Advertisers above have met our
strict standards for business conduct.