Last month my TV went on the "fritz". It is a 55" Rear Projection Phillps that is about 31/2 years old. The convergence was skewed on the top
right and bottom center of the screen. I called a shop that claimed to be able to "repair any TV in your home". This was perfect since the set isn't something that I can just haul in to a shop myself. They told me that there would be a $95.00 fee to come out and determine the problem with the set. This fee could then be used towards the final cost of the repairs if I choose to have it fixed.
On January 19th they came out to diagnose the problem. I thought to myself, this is great, my TV will be fixed by the next Chicago Bears game. I would only have to watch 1 game with the terrible blue ghosting. The tech said that it is a convergence problem and they would have to replace to red and blue convergence chips on the board. I tell him that is fine, and ask when the soonest a repair tech can be out? I schedule an appointment for Tuesday, January 23 2007.
I took off work on Tuesday to make sure I was home when they decided to show up to fix my TV. At 2:30 PM the repair tech showed up. He explained to me that he was going to replace the 2 convergence chips with the replacements. For the next hour and a half the repair tech spent taking out the old chips and putting in the new ones. After that he turned on the TV... It turned off immediately. He tried again, but it turned off again. He called his shop and spoke to a shop tech. He told me that he was told to use what are called "180" chips , but the set had "120" chips in originally. The chips are supposed to be backwards compatible but it seemed this wasn't the case here. He was told by the shop tech to use "120" chips, or "150" chips. This value, so I am told, is the amount of voltage that the chips can handle. The tech in my home said he didn't have 120's so he began the process again of taking out the 2 chips and putting in 2 new chips...
After he finished changing the chips again, he tried turning on the TV and again, it turned off right away. He then called his shop to let them know the problem. The tech told me they would have to order a new board and have another tech come out to replace it when it arrives. So now I have a TV that doesn't even turn on. I called the repair shop and asked when the parts would be in and when the tech can get out. They told me that they ordered the parts and they were shipped next day air so they should be out on the 26th. I also get them to reduce my quote price by $100 since I now have a television that doesn't turn on because of them.
A different tech came out on the 26th and replaced the board. The TV turned on for about 5 - 10 minutes, then turned off and would not turn back on. Again the tech told me they need to replace the board that they just replaced and they were going to replace the power supply board as well. They had to order these parts and I was told they would call me when they get them. They finally call me on February 2nd and I set up a tech to come out on the following day. I was hoping that my TV would be repaired by the 4th which was Super Bowl Sunday.
They tech came out on the 2nd as planned and replaced the 2 boards. The television still didn't turn on. Now the tech said that they would have to pick up the television and bring it in to the shop. The tech told me the repair shop would call me to set up a pickup. They called me on the 12th and set up the pickup for the 16th. They told me that they would bring my TV back repaired in 10 - 14 business days.I called them on the 23rd because I didn't receive a call from them at all about the status of my television. They told me that it was working and the tech was fixing the convergence alignment and they should be able to delivery the set to me on Saturday, February 24th 2007 or Monday the 26th at the latest. I called on Monday at about 11:30am because I had not yet heard from them. They told me that the tech was still finishing up the green convergence and their delivery truck was already out for the day so they wouldn't be able to deliver my television until Tuesday the 27th.
The repair shop said they would deliver my television to me after 4:30pm. At 6:30pm they called and said they would be there at about 7:00pm. At about 7:00pm they arrived with my TV. They brought my television in the house and hooked up the coax. I turned on the tv. It powered up. But the screen that should be black because I was on an AV channel with nothing hooked up, was green. There was an arch at the bottom center of the screen which was part of the original problem, there was a red and green line arched in the top center of the screen and there was some curvy lines going from top to bottom on the left side of the screen. The television audio starts as soon as you turn the power on but the video takes about 15 - 20 seconds to show up. This has never happened before. Also when turning off the television, the audio shuts off right away but the 3 lights (red, green and blue) stay on for about 15 - 20 seconds then a loud noise comes through the speakers and the lights shut down.
I spoke to the repair shop this morning, they are sending out a tech this afternoon. I just hope I can finally put an end to this madness. What I think bothers me most about this whole thing is they never offered an apology of any kind for putting me in a worse position since the first time they tried to fix me television.
Update: The tech came out to my house this afternoon. I was at work but my wife was at home. They messed with the settings and adjusted the convergence. It appeared to my wife that everything was ok. She signed the invoice and wrote them a check for the amount we owed. 10 minutes after they left, she was watching something on tv and notice that where there was white on the screen you could see a blue shadow around the white. She called me and told me the problem. I called the repair shop and asked them to send someone back out today since they only left my house 15 minutes ago. They told me that would not be possible. That the earliest they could get someone out was tomorrow. I told them that since my TV was not repaired and if they couldn't get someone out today that I was going to stop payment on the check that was written to them earlier today. The owner / manager (not sure of his role) told me not to worry about stopping payment, he would mail me the check back and that he was "washing his hands" of me as a customer. He then hung up the phone. So I now have to either figure out how to fix this blue bur myself or if I can't figure it out I will have to call someone else to fix this problem. I am sort of glad that he "washed his hands" of me but I am also a little mad at the fact that now I am out the original $95 I paid them since they are not fixing my tv any longer. If anyone has any info that they think can help me in this situation please leave me a comment. I hope this is the last post I ever have to make on this topic.