Marnin would like some help from the Consumerist hive mind. He writes that his friend purchased a Proscan TV from a retailer that declared bankruptcy a week after the purchase. The TV, of course,

I have a story that is happening to a friend of mine and would like your readers input.

My friend bought 5 TVs from Bernies.com for his new house. The TVs sat in their boxes for one week until the rooms were ready for installation. Unfortunately, no one inspected the TVs upon delivery and when I arrived to start installing them noticed a medium sized break on the box and a corresponding bashed and cracked LCD screen.

I contacted Bernies and explained the situation to them and was happy to hear that there would be no problem returning the TV They would issue a FedEx return label and issue a credit (since they no longer had that TV in stock). That was on a Friday and the FedEx Pickup was scheduled for the following Monday.

Monday came and went and there was no FedEx Pickup.

On Tuesday I call FedEx and asked about the pickup and was told that it was cancelled because the account had been closed!

Well, I then went to Bernies.com to get the CS # and the site I saw last week was replaced with a new site announcing that Bernies had declared Bankruptcy!! All my calls to them went to full voicemail.

He started a dispute with his credit card, but I thought it might be faster if he contacted the manufacturer and have it repaired under warranty.

That avenue has lead him nowhere. The manufacturer, Proscan, has come up with several reasons no to repair the TV. From it wasn’t bought from an authorized reseller (there is no mention of an authorization program or a list of stores to buy from on their site).

Then he was told the LCD panel can’t be repaired (and their warranty said different), or it was a refurbished TV (there is no indication that it was refurbished).

So, dear readers. Should my friend pursue the manufacturer or wait out the credit card Co’s verdict?

My advice would be to wait out the credit card company’s verdict, and go from there. It sounds like the issue with the LCD is accidental damage that occurred either at the store or sometime during the delivery. Unless Proscan has a fabulous manufacturer’s warranty, this is unlikely.

Have you had similar dealings with the smoldering remains of Bernie’s? Have you done battle with Proscan for a warranty repair? Share your wisdom in comments.

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