Toshiba America Inc. Toshiba Inc. Does NOT back up their Warranty on TV's -* BEWARE *- Irvine, Nationwide

*BEWARE* Toshiba does not back up their warranties.

On 11/22/08, I bought a Open Box Toshiba 52 inch LCD TV from Circuit City. Circuit City at the time was struggling and was about to close so I bought this TV at a discounted price which was a display model. I remember thinking that they had it sitting up high so it was never bothered and had to be a great deal.

The TV worked great for about 9 months after I purchased it. In the meantime, Circuit City went out of business. The TV started to show a big black bar on the right one third of the screen when it first started up. I called Toshiba and explained the problem. They told me that I didn't register the TV so they would need the receipt. I couldn't find the receipt so I sent them my American Express Statement showing the purchase from Circuit City. I couldn't get a copy of the receipt due to Circuit City being out of business.

Toshiba explained to me that they could not take the AMEX statement as proof of purchase. I totally understood this and wrote this off as my mistake for losing the receipt. I lived with the TV messing up for about another year. It would get the black bar then go away within a minute of the TV starting up. After that it would work normally. In about July of 2010, it got so bad that we couldn't watch TV anymore. The bar would never go away and started coming back if I could get it to start up. I took the Toshiba TV to a TV Repair shop and they explained to me that it would be cheaper to buy a new TV than to repair it. So that's what I did. I bought a new TV and stored this Toshiba TV because it just seemed like a waste to throw out. (guess I'm a little bit of a pack rat)

This brings us up till today (1/7/2011). This past New Year weekend, I was going through some paperwork that had built up. Sure enough, I found the original receipt from Circuit City for the Toshiba TV. Viola, I thought for sure, I could just call up Toshiba and get this TV fixed. Finally!

Sigh! After talking to a tech support person and a manager, they decided they will not back up the warranty. The manager said he "understood my situation" however he would not be able to help me. It's too bad that Toshiba will not back their warranty. While I agree it was irresponsible of me misplacing the receipt, in the end I had the proof of purchase and should have been able to get the TV fixed. I was not asking for refund or any financial repercussions . I simply wanted it fixed.

Instead of Toshiba doing the right thing, they chose not to. I guess this means that I will choose not to buy Toshiba products anymore. Please beware if you think your manufacture warranty is enough; It might not be if you have bought a Toshiba TV.