Andy writes:

I've been a DirecTV customer for a good 8-9 years. Other than the last few weeks, and my very first installation (had to pay $700 for a professional install throughout the house, and we made sure to future-proof it by having two available jacks per area where we wanted to access a tv), I've had, for the most part, been very happy with my DirecTV services, and dealing with DirecTV representatives on the phone. I give them a lot of credit, as my past experience with them until lately has been very satisfactory, and they were very accommodating and patient. With that said, let me tell you of my last 4 week experience with them that has gone from worse to a complete disaster.

Here is a little background information for you. About 4 weeks ago, we decided to purchase another HDTV (we, at the time, had two), and decided we would go the HD/DVR route with this one. We had purchased our previous two HD-Receivers from Best Buy, and after the TV-arrived, and we were satisfied with the Picture Quality, so we decided to do the next logical step and get some toys for it. On August 14th, we bought a HD-DVR receiver from Best Buy. It came to about $169.99 before taxes. I call up DirecTV to activate my receiver, but we had a lot of problems getting it to work; the tech decided that the problem was my satellite, and that I needed to order professional installation. He indicated the HD-DVR would only work with a 5-LNB satellite. I went ahead and ordered the installation, and was charged $99 for it. I had also found out that very same that, that none of the equipment we purchased from Best Buy or Circuit City, or any store that sell these receivers at "reduced" price, we were just leasing! You got that right, after doing a little research after the fact, this is a common misconception! But this isn't the point of this e-mail. When we found that out, a light bulb went on in my head, and I had called DirecTV a little bit later that day to ask for a free upgrade on those HD-Receivers I paid Best Buy for, but what I've been leasing this entire time, and were I to cancel my service, I'd have to return it to DirecTV or pay something like $240 bucks! I was granted the free HD-DVR upgrade, and I had asked for a second one. The DirecTV representative was very nice, I had explained to her that I had purchased them from Best Buy, and was very angry that nobody from DirecTV or Best Buy would straight out tell their customer that these equipments were not there's to keep. She said the only way to give me another HD-DVR was to cancel out my first order for the install, and charge my Credit Card for $99+S&H. She would then reimburse me the equipment fee, minus the S&H. So she went ahead and did that, cancelled out my first order, and put in another one. I had also decided to activate the HD-DVR that I purchased just to save myself the trouble.

A week later, on August 23rd, the DirecTV installer comes with a HD-DVR in hand, and the first thing out of his mouth was: did you order a HD-DVR, because I only brought the 3-LNB satellite, you know, the one that doesn't work with your HD-DVR, and is probably only the roof! Yes, even though I know you ordered the HD-DVR which only works with the 5-LNB satellite, I came out here to tell you this anyways, just to waste your time! I was completely dumb-founded and baffled at what I was witnessing. Luckily, the one on the roof was the correct satellite. Luckily, if you want to call it that, the installer decided to look up, on the roof, and figured out it was the correct satellite after all! But here comes the fun part. His work order only shows that he would install the HD-DVR for one he brought out, and not the one I had purchased from Best Buy! He said if I wanted the other rooms installed, it would be $53 per room, and this is most-likely off the books, probably tax-fee, and against DirecTV's contract with these subcontractors. I said I would not install anything, but we went with the install on HD-DVR he brought. He had no face plates. He has no splitters. Nothing. He said DirecTV does not supply us with any of that, it made me wonder, how the hell would they do a typical install? The HD-DVR has 2-tuners, and it needed two coaxial cables for it to work. But like I said, we future-proof our house with 2 coaxial jacks, granted, our face plate only had one of the jacks showing. He removed the face plates, ran both cables to the DVR, and put the face plate back on. I have a cable running on the right side of the face plate, sticking out, looking ridiculous and half-assed, which is probably very unsafe, but hey, at least the DVR works right? When the work was done, I was represented with the work order and a pen. I declined to sign it, and they were pretty outraged, demanded the HD-DVR back that I had purchased through DirecTV, but I said it was mines and paid for it, and shortly stormed out! What did they expect? I got a half-ass install, no install on the DVR I purchased, and no the guy completely came out with the wrong satellite, and I was supposed to be satisfied?

I called to DirecTV. I tried to stay calm, and for the most part was, explained them the situation where 1 room was not finished being installed, and two other rooms needed installs. The phone representative was very sympathetic and understanding and said he would take care of everything. He would waive the install fee, and schedule another install, with all the problems resolved. This was a good hour into the call, and very detailed, so I got off the phone, thinking everything would be okay. Unfortunately the earliest install date I could get from there was September 12th, a whole 3 weeks later, but there was nothing I could of done about it at this point, so I shrugged my shoulder, with a heavy sigh, just said okay. Now, I am usually not the type who thinks he is entitled to anything, or that I should be treated this much better, or compensated for this, but I figured, I've had to go through all the hassle thus far, why not ask for nothing. I called back later, and was given 3 months free HBO and Showtime. I had also inquired about the credit to my credit card for the equipment I paid, and was told I should see that shortly on my credit card, and to call back if there were any problems.

Two weeks had gone by, and I had been checking my credit card statement to if I was ever reimbursed for the equipment, but alas, it was not there, nor on my DirecTV bill. I called in again, and after an hour or two, after trying to tell the phone representative that I was not credited the equipment. He tried to tell me that the HD-DVR was free, and the $124.90 charge on my account was for the installation fee, which got waived *$99* of it, anyways. Well, no, sir, the $124.99 was for the HD-DVR I ordered, plus Shipping & Handling. He tried to tell me my tax was $25! Seriously, I was like, is this guy kidding? My Credit Card statement even says DirecTV hardware, not install, he finally conceded, said I was right, and that he would credit me the equipment fee minus the S&H. I had asked again about the other HD-DVR I was supposed to receive, and he said it should be in the mail by September 2nd. I would see this credit on my DirecTV bill.

September 2nd had come and passed, and still no receiver. A few days later, I had called DirecTV to get a tracking number for my package, they said there wasn't one, and that the installer that would be coming out. I had confirmed with the phone person that I was suppose to get a FREE HD-DVR upgrade, and that I indeed ordered another one.

A few days later, we decided that we would install the HD-DVR that we purchased from Best Buy ourselves in another room that was already pre-wired properly to receive both signals. It had decided to move it from the basement to the library. I had to call DirecTV again to activate the card and receiver, and there were problems. They were telling me the card did not match the receiver. Are you kidding me? Well, their system was completely messed up because I have the original paperwork in the box that list both the card and the receiver's # *together*. Well, an hour later, the problem was resolved, apparently some sort of error in their system.

Today, the 12th of September, was the install date. The installer was supposed to arrive between noon and 4PM. I had left work a little bit early so I could meet the installer. Around 5PM, the installer came, and the first thing he asked me was if I have a HD-DVR that I owned. I had answered yes. Let me tell you, the installer came to the door, holding a box for an HD-DVR, but soon as I answered, he said, "well, this is for my next customer, and not you. My work order is only to install a customer's owned HD-DVR!" I was dumbfounded. I had to endure this crap the first time; do I really have to do it a 2nd time? I figure I would handle the receiver issue with DirecTV after he finish the install, but he did not have a work order to install the other room (or bring a receiver), nor did he have one to finish the first install (put a face plate on). There you have it, 4 weeks since I decided to get a HD-DVR and to get 2-equipment upgrades, my experience has been a complete and utter failure. The installer drew a big X on the work order, and left.

Here is where the real fun happens. A 3-hour phone call with DirecTV! The explained my situation to the first phone representative, very calmly, and she had indicated that there was no free HD-DVR upgrade in the system and that it would cost me another $99+S&H, with no reimbursement, if I wanted one. Sadly, we got disconnected before anything else happened. That was a good waste of 25 minutes. I called in again, got another person, who was very polite, understanding, but unfortunately there was not a whole lot she could do for me because the way the DirecTV system works, and how it flagged things down, or prevents "abuse" I suppose. After some investigation, and having to explain myself again, she tracked indeed that her system shows a free HD-DVR and paid order for a HD-DVR! She confirmed it with her co-worker/supervisor, but unfortunately, it wasn't like that on the system that goes to the installer. After an hour and a half of trying to figure all this out for me, she said she could order another HD-DVR and reimburse me for it, but then we find out it wouldn't do that, and I had asked to be escalated to a specialist. The specialist was a real jerk, and very stubborn. He said basically you could only get a free upgrade every 6 months. I can agree with that. I can agree or understand DirecTV's rules and policies concerning equipment. He apologized, and said the best he could do for me is to 1) call the local office to try to schedule an install for tomorrow, and 2) reimburse me the equipment charge. I was like, what? I've already been reimbursed the equipment charge, except for S&H! Well, it turns out, I've been lied to from the very beginning, and the middle, and finally got the truth. The first person never initiated a credit for the equipment. I called in again, and the second person said he would credit me the equipment, JUST TO GET ME OFF THE PHONE IT SEEMS, but never did. So all this time, I've been thinking I got a free HD-DVR and another one except I had to pay the upfront cost, and be reimbursed everything but S&H. Turns out I was wrong. Very wrong. This is where I raised my voice. This was where I was angry. You've got to be kidding me! Do DirecTV just tell people that they will do something, but never do, just to get you off the phone? I've seriously been lied to, on numerous occasions by DirecTV's customer support representatives, and misinformed about a lot of things. I was still expecting my other HD-DVR, and well, an actual install, it being 4 weeks later already, because that's all he could do for me, I asked to be escalated further more. I did, and basically was told the same thing. The only arrangement that could be worked out that I would have to buy another HD-DVR receiver from the retail store, because somehow, they are incompletely unable to order one for me through their system, and I would be reimbursed $124.90. That still means I have to pay another $45 dollars, and still pay them a monthly leasing fee for each active receiver, and when you aren't using it anymore (their equipment tend to get upgraded yearly) then send it to them otherwise I'd owe $240. What a crock of—!!! I guess that's better than nothing, considering I cannot get cable television or television from the phone company. At least I got 3 months of Cinema, and 6 months of Starz? Definitely has not been worth the 4 weeks of headaches and pain. 3 hours. I seriously was on the phone with DirecTV for 3 hours. And now I have to wait for another install come October 4th for the HD-DVR I have to buy from Best Buy or Circuit, only to LEASE IT. 2 MONTH INSTALL???? GREAT!!

Why would I pay for a free UPGRADE if it's a free UPGRADE? When I asked for a free upgrade? When it's free? Common sense anyone?

Thank you DirecTV. You earned that #1 Customer Satisfaction Rating… just not today!

I've not wrote a letter to DirecTV, but I think I would be wasting my time. I just wanted to share my experience because I feel like I am going to explode, or destroy pieces of furniture. I've never had it this bad. Never.

Robert B.

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One page illustrates the difference between standard definition 480p and HD 1080p by asking the reader to "take your crayon and draw 480 dots inside this TV," then "take a different color crayon and draw 1,080 dots inside this HDTV." Aha! Also included is a Blu-Ray maze; it took us a few tries to complete it, but we feel like we now have a better understanding of HDTV, 1080p versus 1080i, and upconverting.

Free Coloring Book - HD for Kids! [NonToxicReviews]

First, Firedog technicians should only perform services that they are properly trained in completing. Second, the employee’s testimonial is not accurate regarding the way in which Circuit City calibrates televisions. Firedog technicians follow procedures recommended by Sound & Vision, a professional authority on home theater, audio, video and multimedia products. When conducted properly, the test patterns improve television performance including contrast, brightness and power usage, among other aspects. Additionally, on an unrelated note, an e-mail appears to be circulating that claims Circuit City and other stores have filed for bankruptcy. If you receive this e-mail, please know that the information is completely false, as far as Circuit City is concerned.

I've worked for Circuit City's Firedog for the last 11 months. Since the day I started performing in-home installations I knew that the company was not truly concerned with the service their customer received, but only with the money the customer has in his/her wallet. The point: Purchasing a TV calibration from Circuit City Firedog is a complete waste of money.

I knew a lot about installation and repair when I started Firedog, but one of the things I had never done was calibrate a TV. When I checked my appointments for the day and saw that I had to go perform a calibration, I approached one of the managers and said "How do we perform calibrations? Do we have a calibration unit or something?" The manager replied "Come over here and I'll show you." So I followed him to the TV department and he handed me an old Circuit City Advantage TV Care Kit. (These are the pamphlets/packets we USED TO hand out to customers when they purchase an extended warranty.) He pulls out a DVD and "calibration glasses" which were nothing more than those cardboard 3-D glasses you get at the movie theater except there's blue film for both eyes instead of red for one and blue for the other. He says "Put this DVD in their DVD player and follow the instructions." At this point I was bothered by the fact that I had to go to someone's house to perform a task that I'm not even trained to do. Unlike these "bonus-driven" managers, I actually have a conscience. I told the manager that I didn't feel comfortable going to do the job and that he should reschedule it to another installer. His response was "It's not hard, just goto their house, pop in the DVD, look at the test patterns with the glasses, and make believe you're changing some settings. When you're done, tell them how much better their TV looks. Besides, once you perform the calibration, they can't get a refund."

At this point I straight out refused to do that, and my manager threatened my job. I was told that if I didn't goto the customer's house and perform a service that I did not know how to perform, that I would be terminated. For fear of losing my job, I went to the customer's home to calibrate his TV. I put in the disc and skipped to the calibration "test patterns". While the patterns were displayed I looked through the glorified 3-D glasses I was given, and made small adjustments to the brightness, tint, sharpness, etc. By the time I was done, I noticed that the levels I ended up with were no different from the levels that were set from the factory. After I was done, the TV looked no better than when I had started, but in following my managers instructions I told the customer how much of a difference I saw in the TV. I left the house after about 10 minutes, and had a horrible feeling in my stomach.

Since then I've been arguing with store management about calibrations, and how we should stop selling this service unless we use an actual professional calibration unit. I always get the same answer though, and end up going to the customer's home and playing with their remote control for a few minutes, and then lie to them about how much better I made their TV look. I'm writing this because I can't refuse to perform the job once you pay for it...hopefully you'll read this and think twice before you purchase the service.

analyst Kris has entered room
Kris: Hello amanda_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Kris. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Kris: I will be happy to assist you with your questions today.
amanda: ok
Kris: I apologize for the inconvenience, I can understand your frustration.
Kris; Please give me a minute while I pull up your account.
Kris: Can you please provide the serial number from the bottom of the box?
amanda: I understand you are compressing HD channels now on the History HD channel to make more room for other channels, this seems to be effecting my HD quality.. is this a known problem?
Kris: This is the first of its kind that we encountered and I am having it noted.
Kris: Can you please provide the serial number from the bottom of the box?
amanda: I am not able to lift it up... is there another way to get the SN out of it from a menu command?
amanda: or can I give some personal info to look up my account?
Kris: is that the only HD box?
amanda: yes, the only one
Kris: I already have your account. I just need to trouble shoot the correct box,.
amanda: ok
Kris: Please make sure that the box is turned on.
amanda: cause I have look at several articles stating that several HD channels are now being compressed to carry more HD content, and for the last few days, my A&E Hd, and history channel HD look very degraded..
amanda: yes it is on
Kris: i will send a signal to refresh your box.
amanda: ok
Kris: I will now send a hit signal.
amanda: ok.. waiting...
Kris: I have sent a signal to your digital box. Can you please check to see if this has resolved your issue?
amanda: one sec
amanda: I have degraded service on A&E, discovery, and history HD...
amanda: FROM THE WEB, Wow. Can this company be any more evil? "It looks like Comcast is degrading the quality of some HD channels in order to make room for more channels. So far the Comcast channels receiving extra compression are: Discovery Channel, SciFi, USA, Food, NatGeo, UHD, A&E, HGTV, Starz, Cinemax, HBO, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery HD Theater, and History HD.
amanda: that is the info I have
Kris: There are no HD issues reported for your area. Is it fine with you if I schedule a technician to have it checked?
Kris: I am sorry but we are not degrading services.
amanda: it sure seems like it.. because all the channels in the list are degraded... seems real weird.... is there a new HD box top that might solve this problem? mine is kind of old
amanda: I think I might just cancel my HD service... how do I go about doing that?
Kris: I can process that for you and schedule a tech to have your box replaced. Another option is to return the box to your local office and replace it with a regular box.

—-—-—-- Forwarded message —-—-—--
From: David R
To: brian_roberts@comcast.com
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 16:14:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: NO MORE HD

Dear Mr. Roberts,

I want to let you know about my total dissatisfaction with your new attempt to carry 3 HD channels worth of bandwidth in the space of 2, effectively degrading my HD service.

I am a avid History Channel watcher, and enjoy the HD service for it's crisp picture and clarity. Now that you have decided to try and compete with FIOS, you have degraded your own HD signals to try and carry more channels. This has totally messed up my HD channels that I watch, and makes me wonder why I am paying full price now for down-graded service.

This is just another reason why I might leave Comcast and move to FIOS. Don't degrade your own channels to say "we have more HD", just give me good HD on the channels I have now... PLEASE!!!!

Dave R

—- "Asbury, Cynthia" Cynthia_Asbury@cable.comcast.com wrote:

Good evening Mr. R,

Thank you for the feedback to Brian Roberts. As you are aware, we are constantly striving to provide improved services to our Customers, including a wide variety of HD content. In an effort to do this, we have recently started using a new system to deliver some HD channels.

While this system works well with clean 1080i signals, we're making some adjustments to improve how it handles other types of HD signals so we can bring you the best HD picture. We apologize this has not created the HD experience that we intended, but we will work towards getting it right.

Thank you for being a Comcast Customer!

Sincerely,
Ms. Asbury

National Customer Operations
Executive Office
One Comcast Center
Phila, Pa. 19103

—-—-—-- Forwarded message —-—-—--
From: David Rogers
To: "Asbury, Cynthia" Cynthia_Asbury@cable.comcast.com
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 20:39:41 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Comcast HD channels

Ms. Asbury,

I beg to differ. This has nothing to do with 1080i vs 720i. This seems to have every thing to due with Comcast over compressing HD singles in limited bandwidth, and not informing your customers regarding the degraded HD signals, nor offering your customers a reduced rate for the degraded HD signal.

This seems to be nothing more than a marketing campaign to try and be able to state that "we have more HD than XYZ". Seeing that FIOS is available, and that Direct TV has just launched another satellite offering HD, I no longer see any reason to hang on to Comcast's degraded HD service.

Dave R

Comcast HD Quality Reduction: Details, Screenshots [AVSforum] (Thanks to thedave!)

(Photo: tonystl)

Half of HDTV owners who responded to Best Buy's survey "admit they are either not watching HD programming, or they aren't sure if they are. Of these respondents, 35% didn't realize they needed to subscribe to HD programming to watch HDTV." Ok, this is sad. Just... sad.

The survey also suggested that ignorance about how to set up the HDTV was a source of embarrassment:

While 41% of HDTV owners admit to knowing little to nothing at all about HD, they would not want to admit that to friends and family; Half (52%) of HDTV owners agree it would be difficult to admit their HDTV wasn't set up right after showing off to friends and family.

Best Buy HD Done Right Survey Results (PDF) (Press Release)
(Photo:epicharmus)

Cleverly, Mr. Brandon went and picked up the HDTV receiver at the TWC office himself, ducking the $30 fee. However, they still charged him a $10 "switching fee" for the extreme effort it took to do the following:

"The guy literally scanned my old box, went to the back room, picked up the new box, took it out to me, scanned that box, gave me a cable, and typed in a few things in to the computer. It took him 2 minutes to do this and it cost $10 dollars — thats a $300/hour rate (at least thats one way to look at it)."

His letter, inside...

I recently got an HD TV and if there's one thing you'll learn from the experts at Best Buy, the picture quality of anything you view will be very poor if you aren't using the latest Blu-ray technology, or if you aren't using there $100 HDMI cables, or if your cable service isn't streaming HD.

My digital cable service with Time Warner Cable gives pretty poor quality viewing on my HD TV, so what I did was call in to ask if I could switch my digital cable receiver with an HD receiver so that I could start viewing HD quality broadcasts. They said that it would be no problem, that the receiver would cost a few dollars extra, but my monthly service charge would be the same, but I would have to pay a one time "carrying fee" for the delivery. I told them that I would think about it first so I hung up.

I e-mailed a friend of mine who's into HD and he suggested that I just go to the local Time Warner Cable store and swap the boxes myself. It seemed like a pretty good idea, so I called Time Warner Cable again to find out if I could do that. Please note that the TWC website actually lists all of the local Cable stores, but the phone number is the toll free TWC number, not the local store's phone number. So I had to wait on the line for about 20 minutes listening to the recording tell me that "a Time Warner Cable representative will be with you shortly" every 30 seconds.

Finally someone came up and I asked if I could do the "carrying" myself and switch cable boxes at the local Cable store and she said yes. Finally I felt like I one-upped this company for the first time. They were about to charge me $30 dollars to drive the HD reciever less than a mile from their local cable store to my place — a mere 15 minute transaction.

While switching boxes at the store I was still charged $10 for a "switching fee". Although $10 is not a lot of money, its all about the principle. The guy literally scanned my old box, went to the back room, picked up the new box, took it out to me, scanned that box, gave me a cable, and typed in a few things in to the computer. It took him 2 minutes to do this and it cost $10 dollars — thats a $300/hour rate (at least thats one way to look at it).

My advice to the Consumer is that if you want to deal with TWC, find out what you can do yourself instead of leaving it them and incurring a heavy service charge.

— BEN POPKEN

Anyone who thinks consumers understand high-definition television should consider a recent survey by Leichtman Research Group.

It concluded that close to one-half of the 24 million households with HDTVs don't actually watch high-definition programs because they haven't obtained the necessary hardware from their cable, phone or satellite operators.

And about one half of those viewers - about six million - don't even realize they're not watching HDTV. Bruce Leichtman, the market research firm's president, figures the confusion is partly because the consumers spend so much money on the set they can't believe they're not getting what they paid for. "This is cognitive dissonance," he says.

Consumers confused over TV technology [AZ Central]
(Photo:jenlight)

Pioneer Elite Pro-FHD1 $6,000
Sony XBR2 $3000
Panasonic TH-42PX60U $2000 (but seen at some online retailers around $1300)

Presumably, the television sets will work throughout the rest of the year as well. — BEN POPKEN

The Last-Minute HD Super Bowl Party Guide [Gizmodo]

Thankfully, regular prices on flat-panel TVs have already dropped significantly.

Retailers punt Super Bowl TV discounts [CNN]

"Perplexed TV purchasers often will hook up an HDTV incorrectly, then return it to a store as defective, says Rich Dinsmore, an executive with RCA Television's parent company, TCL-Thomson Electronics told USA Today.

What's the big mystery? Customers are not being informed that while HDTVs are "higher definition" and display a much clearer picture than a standard television, to actually take advantage of the technology consumers need access to HD programming.
Standard programming often looks worse on an HD set. The picture can be stretched or pixelated. Ugh.

USA Today says the problem is widespread: "One in four HDTV owners is still watching regular programming and doesn't know it, says Bruce Leichtman, head of the Leichtman Research Group."

Some quick info for HD n00bs:

• "digital cable" does not mean "HD." Digital means the type of signal, not the quality.

• New HD owners can call Panasonic's "Plasma Concierge" for answers to their questions. Callers do not need to be Panasonic owners to take advantage of the service. Call: 888-777-7134

• You may need to upgrade your satellite dish or cable box. If you'd like to use an antenna, you can learn more at antennaweb.org

Good luck! —MEGHANN MARCO

TV companies aim to demystify HDTV [USA Today]

Sandar went to BestBuy in Atlanta, GA, and got the hots for a 50 inch plasma. It had everything he was looking for and a great price.

A salesperson then informed him the unit was mispriced, Best Buy was really selling it for $1899.

Sandar kept asking Best Buy to sell him the TV at the price it was advertised at when he walked inside. Salesperson after salesperson, and a supervisor and a manager tried to tell him no, it was too much of a loss for Best Buy.

Sandar continued to reiterate his demands.

Finally, a supervisor relented and the store sold him the 50 inch Maxent plasma HDTV with 1080i resolution for $1499.

A good thing, because if Best Buy hadn't, they would have been breaking the law. If an item is listed at a price inside the store, even if "by accident," the store must, must honor that price. Remember this and insist upon it the next time it happens to you.

UPDATE: Laws on this vary by state, see inside for more info.

— BEN POPKEN

Sandar's letter, inside...

Sandar writes:

UPDATE:

We asked Edgar Dworsky, former Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General, and current editor of ConsumerWorld and Mouseprint, "Isn't it the law that if a product is displayed at a certain price inside the store, the store has to honor it, even if the price is a mistake?"

His response:

So then, if BestBuy got away with refusing Sandar, they could have been subject to legal repercussion, depending on the state. However, since Best Buy acquiesced, we'll bet dimes to donuts that the state this Best Buy was in one with laws protecting consumers and penalizing businesses for mispricing.

We've asked Sandar to tell us what state he bought his plasma in, and whether the price was a misprint or a misplace, hopefully he will be good enough to respond.

UPDATE: Sandar bought this in Atlanta, GA. He says the price tag was typed incorrectly.

He adds, "I didn't really know it could be illegal for them to not sell it to me for that price. I just knew it felt wrong."

Ohhh, get shopping!—MEGHANN MARCO

Rear-Projection HDTVs: More Screen, Less Green [Consumer Reports]
HD for the holidays [Consumer Reports]

"We've more than doubled the amount of viewing choices for customers who now have the most HDTV and VOD (video-on-demand) viewing options with 100 hours of HD on demand and nearly 7,000 video on demand titles each month," Steve Kipp, a Comcast vice president of communications, told The Everett Herald."

Can a national rate increase be far off?—MEGHANN MARCO

HDTV: Will Comcast Hike Prices? — Yes [TV Predictions]

The first may be a RCA 52" Widescreen Projection HDTV for $474.00.

Walmart will only show the full monty online on Thanksgiving Day. The 8 Secret Deals will not appear in circulars.

Yay, more hype beast. Expect to see more of these super secret deals oops onto the internet at the last minutes.

Black Friday isn't even here, we've never been to one or heard of it before this year, and we already hate it. What a pile of tomfoolery and malarkey. Yes, we're still going.— BEN POPKEN

Jeez, with all those grade-school innuendos, you would think the copywriters are stealing a page from our playbook!

Can anyone find these commercials?

Styrofoam peanuts, we're thinking. They protect and then after you take the TV out, the box becomes a playground.

Whee!

We hear there's treasure hidden underneath the alien snow. And in Danilo's case, shards of HDTV casing.

A note of caution, after the jump...

Danilo writes:

"Dear Consumerist,

I must advise your readers against purchasing a television from Amazon. Not that Amazon is a bunch of bad guys — I like them, most of the time —but they're just not a smart move for purchasing large electronics.

Fresh from breaking up with my longtime girlfriend, who took the television with her, I decided to indulge in some manly, single dude purchases. Like a high-definition television to go with the Xbox 360 whose procurement would, eventually, be required by my status as a newly-free man.

Not wanting to blow an entire paycheck on this device, I shopped Amazon for a sensibly-sized but effective CRT HDTV. I found one that suited my needs and ordered it for $399 + $100 shipping.

The problem, of course, is that UPS will deliver any TV you order from Amazon. This is horrifying enough, giving their fabled abuse of packages. Moreover, UPS will show up whenever they decide to show up, so receiving my television meant getting permission from my boss to work from home for an afternoon.

Inconvenient, but I bite the bullet and wait around for my television. It comes. I help UPS dude lug it up the stairs to my apartment. As I unpack the television, though, I find that at some point in transit, the television has been dropped. Violently. The plastic casing is shattered along one corner.

I explain the situation to Amazon. I don't want to repeat this whole inconvenient day for the replacement television, and after some chatting, the manager I spoke to agreed to refund me $120 and allow me to keep the cosmetically damaged television. The picture looked fine. Why bother sending it back for some plastic?

After enjoying my television for a few hours, though, the picture began to get fuzzy. What began crisp as a starched shirt ended up as soft and shapeless as dryer lint.

So I call Amazon and the process repeats, a new television shipped out. Again, an afternoon working (uncomfortably) from home, waiting for the TV to come. UPS dude lugs it up the stairs with me again and is happy enough to take my old TV back with him, since Amazon has helpfully provided a return shipping label at no cost to me.

That evening, I set about happily preparing my new television. The casing was intact and I was looking forward to sitting down Jack Bauer for some high-stakes adventure.

Except now, there's no picture at all. The new TV doesn't work, except for its little menu system. No picture or sound comes through — not even fuzzy. So I have to send it back to them. Again. Which means bringing an
enormous box of lead and glass to a UPS store. The box won't fit in my car and I can't spend any more afternoons waiting around for UPS dude. I'll have to get a friend with a truck to help me.

The shipping mechanisms involved with ordering a TV from Amazon make it really inconvenient to get satisfaction if anything at all goes wrong with your order. Purchasing other stuff from Amazon is usually painless and I'm a happy member of their Prime discount shipping program. But taking a risk with a large, cumbersome object that is not easily shipped just isn't worth it with Amazon. I guess once I get this piece of junk shipped back off I'll brave a big-box store and hope for the best. At least they deliver on Saturdays.

Common sense, maybe, should have told me all this, but I thought you might enjoy this tale of warning.

Danilo"

Penned by Gawker's own Joel Johnson, here's, "the HDTV Primer that's anything but comprehensive, but short enough you can stick it in your pocket on your next trip to the showroom." *

"HDTV Guide: The short and sweet version" [Lifehacker]

*Disclaimer: May not actually solve your nerd ninja problem. But at least you're sitting pretty with an HDTV while they're still skulking along dirty rooftops.

• Dealnews has purchase details on two of the best values in LCD HDTVs, the Sceptre 37-inch Widescreen LCD available at Costco for $1,600 (with an additional $100 rebate), and the Westinghouse lVM-37W1 37-inch Widescreen LCD, available at Bestbuy for the same price. Both of these displays reviewed very well for the price, can be used as a PC monitor, and support true 1080p resolution. (Get a wall mount from Amazon for 50 bucks.)

• Nordstrom has free shipping through next month, if you don't have one close enough for an afternoon stroll. [via TechBargains]

• Three dollar rebate for Colgate toothpaste means you finally have an excuse to brush. [via BensBargains]

Highlights from Dealhack

• Viking 1GB Secure Digital Card only $25 at Buy.com

• Dell Photo Printer 540 only $79 with Coupon at Dell Home

• Best Selling Blackberry Models All Free After Rebate at Amazon

• While you're feeling handy, The Home Depot has a 50% off clearance sale, including lighting and fixtures. [via TechBargains]

• But don't forget the Amazon Friday Sale, made espiecally nice this week with bonus coupon codes. Use CECUSTAPPRCT for an additional 5% in Electronics and Computers purchases.

• Today's Woot! is a a Pulsar Woman's Watch by Seiko, with real Swarovski Crystals—the only glass that costs like real diamond. They want $45 for these particular combo, but we have no frame of reference here, as we force our women to stand tall in the sun and watch their shadow to determine at what time to plant the corn.

Highlights from Dealhack

• Lexar 1GB Compact Flash 12X Card only $35 at Buy.com after $55 rebate

• Canon Digital Camcorders 25% off at Dell Home
(Get instant savings on the top Canon Camcorders.)

• Save 20% off Valentine's Day Photo Gifts at Snapfish
(Take a photo. Make a gift. Apologize for corn crack.)

Highlihgts from Bradsdeals

• 2GB iPod Nano for $180 at J&R. $2 shipping and only NY State sales tax.

• Philips 30" HD LCD TV $720 Shipped. 1280 x 720 resolution, DVI connection.

• If you live within driving distance of a Microcenter (sort of a half-sized Fry's), they've got the Syntax Olevia LT30HVS 30-inch LCD HDTV on sale for $560, no rebates. That's a pretty fantastic deal. The resolution isn't half bad, either, at 1,280 by 1,024 (720p native). [via SlickDeals]

• Gamestop will give you 10% off any in-stock Nintendo DS or Game Boy Advance game if you use the code: GBA10DS. Expires this morning.

• Hammacher Schlemmer—the poor man's Sky Mall—is having their "Rather Famous Annual Sale," with discounts up to 75% off.

• Get the iPod Video in White, with 60GB of storage, for just $375.37 shipped at eBuyer. It's only a $25 discount, but that's a lot for an iPod. [via DealNews]

• Today's Woot! is... well, let's just say you won't be sorry you missed it.

Highlights from Dealhack

• Buy Three Books and Get Fourth Book Free at Amazon
(Choose from tens of thousands of titles. Get one free for every three.)

• Audiovox
EV-DO PC Card Free with Verizon Service at Buy.com
(Service is $80/month, but extremely useful. Free with no rebates.)

• Dell Inspiron 2200 Notebook PC for $649 at Dell Home
(Entry-level Dell laptop with Pentium M processor. Ships within 24 hours.)

• DLP bulbs and Dynamic settings [HDBeat] This goes for all bulb-based displays, including projectors. And these bulbs cost hundreds of bucks, on average.

• Restaurant Sued For Playing Copyrighted Music [CBS13] This isn't a new development, actually. BMI licenses are also technically required by restaurants or clubs featuring cover bands.

• Apple Ranked Top Brand in U.S. [MacObserver]

• What to do when they ask for your Social Security Number [Totse]

• Sick and Twisted: The creepy new ad for Theraflu. [Slate]

• Congratulations, You've Been Upgraded: What I learned from my medical-insurance victory. [Slate]

• Get up and get out to Banana Republic, where the muted colors are on sale for an additional 20% off the already discounted prices. But if you can't escape from the candy shell that ties you to your chair, the online code BRHOLBB should get you 15% off $125 or more at BananaRepublic.com. (Thanks, Ben!)

• Specialized is selling their 04 Speed Zone 5.0 Elite Bike Computer for just $20, down from $70. Fedex Ground shipping for $5. [via TechBargains]

• $15 off a $75 purchase at Petco. [via Ben's Bargains]

• New customers at iPrint.com can get a free, customized rubber stamp as long as you're willing to pay $3.50 in shipping. Professor Chumblesworth of 1337 Lane here we come. [via Dealnews]

• This deal for a Canon SD450 5-megapixel camera takes a little extra skill, but we think it's time you moved to the next level. Buy the camera from Dell Home, receive an automatic 20% off, then buy a $35 off $300 coupon from eBay to bring your total price to $244 shipped free. Trouble? A little. Worth it? By over $50 off the going rate. [via Slickdeals]

• Today's Woot! is the LG Progressive Scan DVD/Divx Player with HD Upconversion for $65 dollars, shipped. It's a refurb, but that don't scare us none. This one has got all the right features, but sadly we're not up to snuff with the wide world of DVD players. (We use our Xbox Media Center for all DVD playback.)

Highlights from Dealhack

• Save up to 50% off during January Clearance at Wine.com
(Over 125 selections on sale from under $10 to a few $100+)

• Save $25 off Kitchen & Housewares or Bed & Bath at Amazon
(Valid on single items or multiple items in orders of $125 or more.)

• Samsung 56-inch 1080p DLP HDTV + DVD Player & Harmony Remote $2700 at TigerDirect.com

• If all the goofy Hot Coffee controversy didn't inspire you to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in one of its two versions on the Playstation 2, Best Buy is taking orders for the Xbox version for only $20. Ships in mid-February. [via TechBargains]

• Dell has extended their point-and-shoot camera sale for another day, with discounts in the 15 to 20% range. Ben's Bargains has a thorough index of cameras available with pre- and post-discount prices.

• Buy.com is selling the ACP-EP Memory 128MB USB 2.0 Mini Flash Drive for $4.95 with $6 shipping. Thing is, the shipping doesn't increase much when you order more, so toss in a couple dozen and give them out to your friends. [via Dealnews]

• Woot! is selling that damn InFocus 61-inch DLP HDTV again for $2,505 shipped—but this time they're throwing in a blender. You can help put feel a little sorry for these guys. It's one thing to have a whole bunch of extra USB keys sitting around, but these HDTVs have to be taking up a lot of space.

Highlights from Dealhack

• 30% off Dimension Desktop PCs (expires 1/18)

• Refurb iRobot Roomba 4210 Discovery over 50% off at Amazon

• Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP Digital SLR $2804 at Dell Home [This is a great deal for a great camera. -Ed.]

I (Joel) had been a bit hesitant to dive into a primer on HDTV. Not because it's a bad idea, but because I had just written a big piece for Popular Mechanics about the very same thing, in the issue that is currently on the stands.

Good on PopMech, then, for putting a copy of the article online for Consumerist readers. They didn't have to do that, but it's saved me from having to be something besides totally slovenly. Be sure to tell them you appreciated it if you, you know, did.

One minor caveat: The article was published for the Christmas buying season. There's a big chart of suggested televisions in the article and while I easily stand by our choices—we often picked slightly older TVs that had reviewed well rather than newer, shinier models—there will also be dozens of HDTVs announced this week at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show). Model lines may be updated with new features while retailing for the same price; prices will fall on existing models, etc. Take the time to educate yourself about HDTVs this week, then start shopping next.

• Amazon has a new 5% off $100 in Electronics coupon, code: CUSTAPPRSAVE. Many other coupons are still available.

• Office Max is selling the Casio KL-780 Label Printer for all your GTD freakout needs. The regular price is $30—not that great—but there's a $20 mail-in rebate. Let's see how well your 43 folders work when it comes to rebates. [via DealNews]

• Today's Woot: That god-damn InFocus 61" DLP HDTV again, for $2,505, shipped. We really wish someone would purchase one of these and do a proper review.