Sears tried to scare Anthony into buying an unnecessary protection plan several days after he purchased a new plasma tv. The sales rep who called explained that Anthony’s new plasma would need to be recharged every five years, which isn’t true. According to Consumer Reports: “There is no such thing as recharging a plasma TV with new gas. It is sealed at the factory.”

Anthony writes:

I just bought a Plasma TV from Sears. I declined to buy the $300/3 yr protection plan because of the price. Sears called me at home a few days later. The sales lady asked my why I chose a Plasma TV instead of an LCD. I thought this odd, but just answered the truth – there was a deal on this TV. She then told me a personal anecdote about her friend who repairs Plasma TVs who told her that Plasma TV’s needed to be recharged every 5 years for a cost of $500 or so. She then tried to sell me the protection plan that would cover this service (the same one I declined before, which would expire before the 5 year recharging date anyway). I declined, ended our call, then got on the internet and discovered rather quickly that this is a myth about plasma tvs that lots of salespeople are propagating.

I am certain that there are people buying these protection plans to cover their plasma tv’s future “recharging” which they will discover never happens.

General TV Topics [Consumer Reports]
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