SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA Manufactured a TV that lastede 24 months and major componet malfunctioned. Mt. Arlington New Jersey

My family purchased a Samsung DLP 42" TV for us in Nov. 2006 as a gift. The product was delivered at the end of Dec. 2006.

My husband and I spend 6 months in Florida with my son and 6 months in Massachusetts with my daughter, so the TV was not used that often. The TV was used a total of 13 months, if that, and the DLP went on the TV.

We contacted Samsung and they told us we would be required to get a written estimate of the cost and explanation of what was wrong with the TV. The charge for the written estimate $75.00. We had to fax the report to Samsung, which we did, and they told us we would hear from them in a couple of days. We faxed the report to the number as directed.

After not hearing from them for several days we contacted them again. They did not receive the first fax and instructed us to fax it to another number. That we did.

We waited another week and did not receive a call back so we contacted them again. We were then informed that Samsung's decision was to pay for the part only and we would have to pay for the labor and service call. Samsung's part amount was $218.00. Our cost was to be $ 330.00 because we had to pay for the previous written estimate ($75.00) and the service call and estimate by their authorized repair service($245.00) and the $10.00 for the faxes.

Samsung could have informed us to contact the company they used to repair the TV's instead of us paying for two service calls. The one for the estimate and the one for the repair.

We were informed that we had to make a decision to have the TV repaired by a certain date. If we did not, then Samsung would not pay at all to have the TV repaired. We made the decision to pay the the labor and service call. A service date was set up. The day before the service call the Repair Company called to tell us that SAMSUNG had backordered the part. It would be another two weeks before the part would be in. They could not guarantee it would be in at that time either!

So corresponding back and forth for 2 months we now have to wait another few weeks for the part to come in with no guarantee it will arrive.

We think after my children paying $847.00 for a TV, the product should be made to last a lot longer than a year.

After checking with other service TV repair centers we were told that they have seen a lot of problems with the Samsung DLP TV. It is not reliable. SAMSUNG knows this and for them to have the part on backorder they must be using a lot of replacements parts.

Why couldn't they just pay for the whole amount of the repair or replace the TV. We don't believe they care about the average consumer.

We would strongly urge anyone to think twice before purchasing a SAMSUNG product. I don't believe they are the company they once were and they do not have the Customer's interest in mind.

Joyce B
Weston, Florida
U.S.A.