Now From Panasonic: The Disposable Plasma TV Set

panasonic_helpKevin spent a lot of money on a plasma TV from Panasonic just a few short years ago. Like many consumers, he assumed that the company would support a product that cost four figures for more than a year. Sure, someone who can afford a home 3D system can probably afford to hire a repair technician to come out with the capacitor needed to make the set actually turn on, but should they have to? Kevin doesn’t think so.

He sent this letter off to the contacts posted on the company’s page at the Better Business Bureau, but no one at Panasonic has seen fit to call him back. He wrote:

I purchased a Panasonic Plasma Model# M1-045prk-wpc (serial# [redacted]) in the Spring of 2011. Earlier this year, when I went to turn the power to the television on, the TV would click several times before it actually turned on. I called Panasonic support and they said that this is a known issue with the capacitor and if the problem continued or worsened that I should call them back and they would get someone out to fix it at no cost.

I was still having this problem as of two months ago. So I called Panasonic customer support and they refused to fix it at no cost because it is outside of Warranty.

So I have dealt with the problem it since then because the TV ultimately would turn on after a minute of clicking. However, my TV is at the point where it does not turn on at all. Basically, it is completely useless to me now.

I spent a lot of money on this television and now I feel like I wasted my money. This problem is extremely well documented online. So many people have had the same exact issue and have had Panasonic replace their capacitor at no cost (it’s a relatively inexpensive part), even outside of warranty.

I do not understand how these products can be built and sold for so much money, yet the manufacturer (Panasonic) only stands behind it for 1 year. This is ridiculous. I know there are some consumer protection laws out there that protect such a well documented problem as this. It’s is obviously a faulty part that Panasonic has mass produced in their televisions and then sold to consumers.

[Panasonic] should at least stand behind their products and consumers should expect such an expensive product to last more than 23 months before it becomes completely useless. I would expect that you provide a replacement part and come out to my home to install it. This is an outrage.

Panasonic sells some pricey TV sets, but now that something has gone wrong, Kevin is on his own.

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