I'm sorry... (I hate blaming the OP) but unless the dates are wrong I really don't understand why he contacted consumerist. Exercise some patience, you and I both know how bureaucracies work. If the time span exceeded 2 or 3 months then I would understand that headline.

@FTWGeek: yeah, I kind of agree. I understand that this must be incredibly frustrating for him, but it's barely been 3 weeks since his TV died. If he was having these problems for a couple months I could understand, but right now I think it is too soon.

Call me a Luddite if you will, but contemporary televisions are way more trouble than they're worth. Give me an old 27" Sony tube TV any day. It's not as pretty, and it doesn't hang on the wall like a picture or show movies in high definition, but at the end of the day...I can actually watch my television.

@FTWGeek: It is too soon. Companies move titanically slow. 3 weeks is frustrating but nothing worthy of reporting to the consumerist.

I want to make it clear: I am NOT blaming the OP and I have a couple of questions:

Did you purchase this on your credit card? Could you apply the credit card warranty on the TV?

I think a letter to the state/county attorney and BBB would be warranted. After exhausting these avenues, small claims court!

@FTWGeek: Totally. It's only been three weeks, hardly enough time for all the wise-ass editorializing in the 'summary' (which leaves out a ton of useful information... including what's wrong with it).

Hmm, not sure where the OP bought his TV, but if there were at least three repairs, I think it would qualify under the state's lemon laws? In florida, if the item has been repaired three times with no improvement made, the seller is obligated to replace the item with one of equal or greater value and to the accorded specifications of the item that has been repaired.

Props to him for not losing his sh_t and freaking out.

@AshCatScram: I disagree. If it's going to take them three weeks to repair the TV (and if they can't get their acts together to get the right part) then they should replace it. End of story.

It should NOT take three weeks to fix a TV. It's sad that we've become so accustomed to shoddy service that we can shrug and say "three weeks isn't so bad..."

@winstonthorne: Yeah, but I can watch my HD LCD television too, I don't get snow, the picture is amazing, and it receives the digital signals that stations send out these days.

Given the nature of this blog, you're getting a bad sampling in terms of "contemporary televisions" and how well they work. Although I have no research, I wouldn't be surprised to find that 99% (or more) of customers of these new-fangled TVs have no issue with them.

@winstonthorne: I would agree, as I love my old Sony tube TV, but if it breaks - I have no one to fix it. I have no idea where to even find someone to fix it. We plan on keeping it until it stops working, but if it breaks it's not as if we're going to try to breathe life back into a 20+ year old TV. We'll probably just get a HDTV.

By all the religious references in his post, I can only assume the OP's god is television

@Chumas: Since it was an Insignia, which is Best Buy's house brand, I'd venture a guess and say that the OP bought his TV at Best Buy.

Also, it says right at the beginning of the post that he purchased it at Best Buy.

@winstonthorne: You're a Luddite.

Actually, one of the reasons I've held off buying a new TV is the fact that my 11 year old 32" Toshiba runs just fine, and I assume anything I replace it with won't last nearly as long.

I think it's crazy that people think its ok to wait 3 weeks to get a tv repaired under warranty. Would you wait 3 weeks for your refrigerator or your washing machine? Why should his tv be any different?

@burnedout: I completely agree with you. Especially a company like Best Buy who could, at this point, just swap it for another one in their giant inventory.

It is not ok to take three weeks to fix something, two maybe, perhaps even a week added on for shipping if necessary (not here), but at the three week mark with no sign of resolution? That's a different story.

I have studio equipment that has had to be sent back to England for repair and it only took a week and a half. And that was a small, boutique operation.

The lethargy of giant companies is astounding these days. They're not all like that, but when companies seem to rely on the apathy of the ladder rungs, we should take our business elsewhere.

I was dazzled by Insignia's prices for awhile--I'm SOOO glad I didn't buy one. I stuck to my guns and bought a smaller Panasonic plasma.

Insignia TV's have a 2 year warranty. I think Best Buy owns Insignia but if calling Best Buy is not working, try calling the number for Insignia instead.

If that doesn't work. Ask to speak to a manager and advise them that you are going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) if this issue is not resolved in a timely manner.

@burnedout:
I agree; three weeks is way too long for a TV repair. I would be unhappy, too, if it were me.

@pecan 3.14159265: I'm guessing Chumas' question was more along the lines of where the Best Buy was located, as he cites laws in florida as example.

@pecan 3.14159265: The state of Best Buy?

Same here. I am one of the seven people left in the country that does not own a flat panel tv. It is a flat screen however. I have a Sony Trinitron that is almost seven yrs. old, and it still works like a champ. I even dropped it once while moving.

@nnj: I accidentally slammed a chair leg into my TV, and it cracked the casing - but it's still going strong. The reason I haven't replaced mine isn't because I want to hang onto it for the rest of eternity - it's that I can't justify spending $500 for a new TV right now when mine works perfectly fine.

@FTWGeek: 3 weeks may not be long enough to "wait" for repair.

However, I would expect that a tv that is less than 6 months old to not crap out. I know that there can be faulty electronics in every bunch, but I would expect a company to fix it as soon as possible to preserve the sale.

First mistake: Buying at Best Buy
Second Mistake: Buying an Insignia

For $1,398.99 the OP could have gotten himself a very nice 50" 1080p plasma from either Panasonic or Samsung, or a 46" 1080p 120hz LCD from Sony/Samsung/Toshiba. It is pretty well known in AV circles that they don't 'repair' the store-brand TVs, they just replace them when they fail. I think he has a paperwieght on his hands personally, and if he has the extended warranty he should be fighting for a new TV, not a repair.

Did the OP buy the extended warranty? With an Insignia he actually should have, or just spent that extra money on a real brand.

Not trying to blame the OP here, just wondering why someone would spend close to $1.5k on a brand that is an unknown quantity.

@Thanatos:

Because contacting those two agencies will yield the the OP approximatly...... nothing. BBB is a for-profit company that other companies pay to be advertised in. FTC doesn't handle small peanut complaints.

You will always face problems when you buy an tier 3 or in -house tv. If the consumer would have spent the extra money on a name brand like Panasonic, he would not have run into such problems. I was a manager at Best Buy for three Insignia and Dynex are horrible investments when buying a HDTV. They are outsourced products and are unrepairable after the warranty expires. Side note, it does sometimes take two to three weeks for service, but they should have gave him a loaner tv for the inconvenience.

@TVGenius:

It's only been three weeks, hardly enough time for all the wise-ass editorializing in the 'summary' (which leaves out a ton of useful information... including what's wrong with it).

On the other hand, I can absolutely understand the frustration, especially given how much people tend to pay for cable, etc. Good on him for shutting off the cable proactively, but it's right at the start of the new fall season!

@pecan 3.14159265: "And where are you now?"
"In my house."
"And where's that?"
"Between my neighbors' houses."
"*sigh* And what STATE is your house in?"
"Hey, I do all my own maintenance! I could sell this place tomorrow if I wanted to!"

@winstonthorne: I feel the same way. I'm in the market for a new tv, probably within the year. I hear so many horror stories of HD tv's breaking, and I look at the TV in the basement, which was given to me back in the early 90's. It's a 27 in Panasonic. Other then a light greenish tint in one 4 sq in area that's only seen in overly white pictures, it still works fantastic. I've moved it probably 8 times in the back of my car or a movie truck, bumped it, stored it in moist basements, etc, and it still works as the secondary tv in the basement of the house I live in now.

I _want_ an HD tv, but I fear spending hundreds of dollars on one that won't even last me 5 years, let alone the 15+ this one is giving me. Sure, it's a bit fuzzy, but it's total value that wins me over.

@FTWGeek: Wow, what is this nonsense. I sent in my story involving a TV repair with Westinghouse Digital Electronics a while back. At the time I had been waiting 3 MONTHS (during which time they stopped returning calls and disconnected their support phone number!) and my story wasn't posted.

@duffman13: Very clearly, you are blaming the OP. His mistake was not "shopping at Best Buy" - it was the product he wanted, and it was the price he agreed to pay. Notice that neither of your examples are the 52" that he purchased. It might seem measly, but 46" and 50" are obviously not 52" so find a comparable television and then we'll talk about whether this was the OP's best decision.

I think it's hard for some people to understand that outside of Consumerist and a certain other sites, people are really just plain consumers who don't know half the stuff that most of us know. And it's easy to say, "well, everyone knows..." when no, not everyone knows.

@jessedybka: Is that near Buymoria?

@Chumas: The lemon laws usually state that the item has to BREAK three times in order to qualify for a replacement as a lemon. As crappy as that is, it does NOT qualify as a lemon because it has only broken once, despite having three repair attempts.

@mmmsoap: Not loving the summary. Yes, it is very frustrating to wait 3+ weeks for a successful repair, but the summary isn't very helpful. What's wrong with the TV? What does "parts research purgatory" mean? What contact has been made with Best Buy, and when? Etc. etc. etc.

I'll go ahead and be that jerk: Wh s ths n Cnsmrst?

@Thanatos: Contacting Insignia will also likely be a dead-end...it's Best Buy's in-house brand. I bet it's actually the same people he's already in contact with.

@duffman13:

First mistake: blaming the OP in the most offensive way possible: saying he shouldn't have bought that item at that store in the first place. Let's at least be original, here.
Second mistake: claiming you aren't blaming the OP.
Third mistake: misuse of the word quantity.

@ssaoi: Neighbors, in fact - but after the Missle Command battle of 2008, don't mention Buymoria in the presence of blue shirts. It's not pretty.

Buy cheap: less than a few hundred dollars. If it breaks, buy a new one. This is my way. Sorry. Extended warranties from Worst Buy are useless and service takes way too long. It's better to take your chance, buy a very cheap mass produced item that is designed to last but can fail and be done with it. This is one reason I have not joined the HDTV revolution: I'm not willing to risk over one grand to a huge piece of plastic and electronic parts and be a slave to Worst Buy or any big box retailer's whims.

@TVGenius: a) college football, b) it's their house brand. If you can't stand behind your own products better than this, then maybe you shouldn't sell any.

@FTWGeek: I have to agree with you. Unfortunately, gone are the days of "Bob's TV repair" where Bob came out and did the repair himself. What we are left with for most appliances are checklist repair people who systematically replace components until the problem is solved (perhaps there is some level of troubleshooting) and we are left wil slow wait times. While not having a TV may be annoying, it is not a "we can't live without this" item like a refrigerator or a "this is a pain in the @$$ to live without" appliance like a stove, washer/dryer, or dishwasher. It is a television, a place to spend countless hours doing nothing.

I had a dishwasher repair take 5 months (all the while arguing with the repair center, $400+ in parts, and 5 service technicians later. I recently waited 5 weeks to have a locally owned, 1-man shop repair my refrigerator because I did not want to deal with the hassle of a large corporate owned, checklist repair shop come in and screw things up. The local guy diagnosed the likely problem over the phone, and came equipped with the parts and tools necessary to do a temporary repair until he could order and install the parts to do the permanent repair.

AT 3 weeks, keep the pressure on them, and document your conversations with them, and you will be much happier.

@solareclipse2: I waited 5 months to have my dishwasher repaired under warranty, all the while cursing the repair company, A&E Factory Service. After 5 repair technicians, and $500 in parts, the "repair" technicians ultimately broke the dishwasher so bad, that they had to replace the whole thing (especially aggrevating as I diagnosed the problem in 20 minutes and knew it had to be replaced from the very start, but I had to play their game, or simply give up and buy a new dishwasher out of my own pocket.

@vastrightwing: Your post is entirely irrelevant. You would never be able to get a 52" TV for a few hundred dollars. And how is it that we've come from valuing quality to being a disposable culture in which we simply replace what breaks just because it was cheap? You bet that if I had a $500 HDTV and it broke, I'd get it fixed. Money isn't to be spent like water.

@burnedout:

It should NOT take three weeks to fix a TV. It's sad that we've become so accustomed to shoddy service that we can shrug and say "three weeks isn't so bad..."

Spot on.

I recently had my 5 month old plasma tv fritz out and die. Fortunately, I bought it from Costco. Fifteen minutes or so with the tech support guy on the phone determined that it wasn't something I could fix, so a tech was dispatched.

Four days total, and that included waiting time for a part that had to be ordered. That is what customer service should be like for this kind of thing.

@FTWGeek: Since when do you set the policies around what parameters consumers have to have on their situations before writing consumerist?

My JVC from Best Buy has had a couple of problems... the first set delivered to me had a defective analog tuner. They swapped the entire set out the next day.

A few months later, the digital tuner died. Seems there is a bug in the firmware that will cause the thing to brick if it receives bad data during a ClearQAM channel scan. Thank you Comcast.

BB sent a tech out, who diagnosed the problem as a bad tuner. Tech comes back a week later with a tuner.. as in the analog tuner can, NOT the digital tuner board. I manage to point this out sometime after he takes the set apart but thankfully before he attacks it with a soldering iron.

So, estimated two more weeks to get the right part. In the meantime, I have managed to locate the board on the JVC parts site, and from watching the tech, I know the chassis is dead simple to remove from the set... so I could do it myself... to the tune of $300 or so...

The tech finally returns with the ATSC board, swaps it out, and then shows me the service bulletin about the firmware bug. The solution is to update the firmware via SD card, and the tech's laptop has no card slot. So he gives me the JVC Service login, and we load the firmware from mine.

So, big brand or store brand, it will take BB 3-4 weeks to repair your TV, but if you are lucky, you'll end up with credentials that will let you download every tech manual, schematic, service bulletin and firmware update, you could ever want.

I did get an PSP on the set, but the service was done under the JVC warranty. Haven't had a problem since, but the PSP has been worth it for the replacement lamps.

@burnedout: I couldn't agree more! It should have taken ONE (1) visit to get it done right. The tech should have come WITH all necessary replacement parts in his van, NOT have to order them, let alone come back multiple times.

@darkforcesjedi: Amen, Consumerist seems to just post on a whim, I have sent them all kinds of leads and verified stories, not a one posted.

Not trying to blame the OP, but just wondering - is there not enough negative publicity already to stop people from buying anything at any time from Best Buy?

@Rachacha: I want to add in here that BB did the same thing to me on a "CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT ITEM" - a refrigerator - took 4 visits before they could stop it from sounding like a lawn mower - started after month 2.

The techs were mostly nice, a few of them incompetent, but the CSRs on the phone with them during repair were rude to me almost every time, telling me what I was "allowed" to have as far as repairs, but not making sure the repair was actually DONE correctly.

The only disagreement I have with the OP therefore is that I most certainly was "THAT" customer with them and they haven't forgotten it, nor has their manager I'm sure and I DO have a correctly working fridge now, WITH an extended warranty (proportional to time not working.)