"I love my Samsung Smart TV", that is until the night I was watching Broadchurch on Netflix the other evening. Right when the show was getting good with suspense, the picture on the TV suddenly went funny...funny in the sense the picture went Solarized. That is what the experts call it when the picture turns a purply, blue and wavy. I thought to myself, great, here we go, another technical issue.
God I hate technology.
Anyway, I decided to unplug the tv, and plug it back in again, no such luck. So I thought maybe I should do a picture reset, no such luck. It was almost 10pm, I was getting frustrated, so I decided now would be a good time to go to bed, and tackle it in the morning.
The next morning I woke up, made a cup of tea, a must do before starting my day. I went over and turned the TV on. Same problem. I then visited the Samsung website to see if they had any suggestions, when I was on there, it said I could do Live Chat. So clicked the Live Chat button, and started talking to someone, from God knows where.
He asked me questions, told me to do a reset, etc. etc. Nothing worked. So the he asked me when I purchased the TV, I thought oh no here we go, knowing full well the TV is probably past the warranty, because I purchased it 1 year plus 3 days ago. I know it's only 3 days past the warranty, but I have had a problem in the past where the company will not warranty it if it's just 1 day past the year. So I proceeded to tell him it was purchased on December 26, 2013, and today's date was December 30, 2014, he sent me a link to a service centre near me. I said really, that's all you're going to do? They just said, sorry for the inconvenience.
So now I'm fuming, and I decide after calming down a bit, because I have learned you have to be calm and polite to get any justice. I decide to call the 1-800 number listed on their website. I managed to reach a man, very friendly, speaks good English. I told him my situation, he asked me all the questions about the TV, and of course after trying everything he told me to do, nothing worked. So he said he will transfer me to another department that deals with warranties. I thought great, they will tell me the same thing. But I remained calm, and a lady picked up, from somewhere in Southern America. She asked me when I purchased the TV, I told her, she said she needed proof of purchase, and I'm to email her the receipt.
Oh no, I thought, I hope I kept it. She gave me the email address, I found the receipt in my last year's file folder. I scanned it, and emailed it. And immediately the email came back, she gave me the wrong email address, could this day get any worse?
I called the 1-800 number again, got the same guy as before, he said he will transfer me again, and a different girl answered, much more polite and friendlier than the last one. She gave me her email address, I asked her to stay on the line, so as to assure she receives the email. She said she received it, and she will put in a call to a Service Centre near me, no cost to me, because they do a courtesy warranty within 30 days after the 1 year. I was jumping for joy.
That same day, Angelo's TV repair called. He said he would come by and look at it. He finally came 2 days later. Him and his assistant tinkered with it, couldn't find the problem, so he said he has to take the TV away, and order parts, and hopefully I will have it back in a week.
You don't realize how much they miss a TV until it's gone. No morning news, no Judge Judy, no Coronation Street. Blah.
But to my luck, I have a wonderful Mother-in-law, said she'd lend me her small TV. I have to admit it's smaller than my computer monitor and I almost have to get my binoculars, but hey, who cares, it's something.
Now I just wait a week, and hopefully I get my Samsung Smart TV back in perfect condition.
And I have to admit, I am impressed with Samsung, standing behind their product.
