One of my friends ordered a 42” Aquos 1080p hdtv (LC-42D62U) for use with his future purchase of a PS3 from www.bestbuy.com. He had it shipped to his parents address. It came in about one and a half weeks, not bad for the holidays. When it came the delivery person made his mom sign an agreement that the box showed no signs of abuse during shipping and that the product inside was ok (the box WAS fine and DID NOT show signs of damage, as far as I can tell UPS delivered this product perfectly). Last Friday I went to his parents house, gingerly packed the big ass TV into the back of my Blazer, taking care to make sure it was properly braced, not laying on its side, and had no pressure points in the middle of the box where it might crack his screen, and delivered it to him in Manhattan. Upon arrival we eagerly unpacked it with the help of a third person, again making sure to baby this thing like it was the arch of the covenant. After we had it all set up and plugged in I noticed the screen defiantly had a bad defect in it. We turned it on and the entire screen was cracked to shit and totally un-viewable. It looked like someone had kicked the screen right square in the middle right above the very bottom of the screen. Problem was, the place where the middle of the spider web crack started was actually poking OUT of the screen not in, signifying a horrible defect and not any fault of the shipping people or us. Now, if we didn’t mangle this TV, and UPS didn’t ether… how did this thing pass QC? It looked like when they were pressing the two half’s of the TV together during manufacturing something was left in there that shouldn’t have been or something wasn’t in the right place and it caused outward pressure on the screen and cracked it like a pedestrians head on a taxis windshield. Now I know you are probably pretty skeptical that Sharp would send us a totally fucked LCD HDTV that costs 2300 bucks but I assure you we did not break this TV. The person who ordered this TV is a computer programmer for a MAJOR international bank, needless to say he knows how to take care of electronics, especially an LCD monitor that is basically just a huge computer screen. I personally worked for a Major east cost University’s Computer Networking Services where I was responsible for networking, software, and hardware. I know how to take care of anything LCD. Even the third person that helped us unpack it has computer skills out the ass, he sells network security software to major banking and financial institutions. We did not break this TV; there is no possible way. I’m pretty sure UPS didn’t break this TV either, judging on the manner of the defect and the fact that the box was in flawless condition when I picked it up. I personally think Sharp knowingly sent us a defective TV, hoping we wouldn’t open it until Christmass. See this TV is sold out pretty much everywhere (because it’s the best TV money can buy for a ps3, with it being 1080p and LCD and all), hence the reason he had to order it from www.bestbuy.com. I think Sharp knowingly sent us this TV because they wanted to make the sale, and they knew they would eventually be able to get us a replacement after Christmass. There is no possible way this TV could have acquired this defect after quality control, unless Sharp has NO quality control at all. Bestbuy.com’s service statement says they allow you to take any defective (or otherwise) merchandise you bought online to any best buy store in person and they will give you a replacement EXCEPT ON BIG TVS AND OTHER LARGE APLYANCES. For those you have to call a special number. We called best buys customer service and to my surprise they were willing to schedule a pick up no questions asked. Problem was it would take 72 hours to refund the credit card AND WE WOULD HAVE HAD TO ORDER IT AGAIN, AND WAIT ANOTHER 1 AND A HALF WEEKS. As I write this www.bestbuy.com still has them in stock, so we may have been all right, but waiting 3 weeks for a 2300 buck TV is retarded. After hammering the Indian customer service representative for about 45 min we still couldn’t get her to approve us to just go to a best buy and exchange it, she would only approve a snail mail pickup and 72 hour refund. We FINALY got her to tell us that if we did take it to a best buy in person they did have the authority to give us a replacement on the spot, but it was totally up to them and they could still force us to do the pickup if they so chose. We called corporate and got the address of the closest best buy that still had one, 40 min away in Paramus, NJ. When we got there they tried to give us the ol pickup and refund line AGAIN. The person who ordered it finally made the flawless chess move to win us the on-spot replacement; He told the manager that the TV was a gift and that calling the giver and asking them to order it again would be tacky and rude (it was on his parents MC, it was actually a gift, they paid half for it). The manager finally agreed to take the beat one and give us their LAST LC-42D62U, possibly the last 42” Aquos within like 50 miles of NYC. This is not in any way to be interpreted that Best Buy didn’t handle this perfectly. This is an indictment of SHARP and its HORRABLE quality control. If you are considering purchasing this TV DO NOT BUY IT ONLINE AND HAVE IT SHIPPED TO YOU IF YOU ACTUALY WANTTO BE WATCHING IT ANY TIME BEFORE MID JANUARY. Find a store that has it in stock, and make them pull it out of the box and MAKE SURE IT IS NOT DEFECTIVE!!!!!
I'm the one who's tv it actually was so I can confirm how heinous the thing was broken when it arrived. Now I have the replacement though and can also tell you that it looks awesome. I just got thru beating Gears of War on 360 and it looked absolutely beautiful in full hd. And I'm watching the kickoff on the monday night football game right now on ESPN HD and it looks great. TV is definitely recommended by me but you'd be smart to look at the screen first before you take yours home.
I wouldn't count on Sharp sending you a set like that.Look i work for FedEx now but did a little part-time @ U.P.S trust me i bet thats were you LCD got messed up when you in a Biz like them two we just throw stuff like this in truck because they are more concern about getting it there on time than quality.Its sad i know but thats how them two does biz they care second if the package is damage plus if you sign for it,out of there hands.If you took a tour around U.P.S. or FedEx were i work you would not think in a thousand years that we handle stuff so rough like this but getting it there on time is what they care about.
"It looked like someone had kicked the screen right square in the middle right above the very bottom of the screen. Problem was, the place where the middle of the spider web crack started was actually poking OUT of the screen not in." i realy wish we took a pic then youd realize there is not way this could have been a shipping error. there was something presuring the screen itself outword from inside the set. it looks like when they were screwing the back to the front something was left in there that shouldnt have been or something was misplaced and caused outword pressure directly on the screen. we were going to take a pic and report it as a new wii-mote accident. we just packed it up as soon as we saw it was defective and didnt feel like pulling it back up for pics cause we were so pissed.
I bet it was a squezze lift they(U.P.S.) use to move your TV.They are known to do screen just like you explained.I would love to see a pic if you could post it.
unfortunatly it is in the hands of sharp by now. the day after it was delivered we gave it back to best buy and got the new one. i dont think squeeze lifitng it could have caused this because the box didnt look like it had been squeezed. the tv had a good 5 inches clearnece in both the front and back wile in the box, so if something outside the box had caused this it would have definatly bent the box at least a little. last night we finaly aquired a ps3 and watched the included blue ray dvd "talladega nights" on it and it looks stunning. when your realy realy close you can see random black noise but its extreemly minor and from more than 2 feet away you cant see it and it looks awsome. you can count sacha cohens wiskers its so sharp. unfortunatly that blue ray dvd is the only thing we have that is 1080p. so when a game finaly comes out for ether ps3 or 360 that is 1080p ill report back.
i dont know about ups i have order things from newegg and you know how good they are but when i got the pc case they broke it it had foot markes all over it i was not home was at work wife was here and did not think of looking at it
Sorry to hear about that. I heard so many horror stories of bad pixels on LCD monitors in the 90's that now I have to buy anything with a screen in the store and check it out before paying. I was buying a DS and got really funny looks when I asked to open it and check the screens, but there were 3 dead pixels on it (you should have seen the guy's face, it was priceless).
yeh you should read some companies return policies on dead pixels in screens. i think for the DS its 5 pixels, that means if you have 5 dead pixels or less THEY WILL NOT REFUND YOU, AS FAR AS THEY ARE CONCERNED 5 DEAD PIXLES IS FINE AND YOU SHOULD BE SATISFIED! for PSP its the same i think its 5. my brothers DS has 1 dead pixel. he doesn’t care cause he got it for 20 bucks used. when i was working for that major east coast university i mentioned earlier they had a program where every kid got a free ThinkPad (actually, they just included the laptop in the tuition. they required you to have a laptop and theirs were the cheapest because of the schools discount so almost everyone opted for the school laptop rather than go out and find their own) anyway the pixel count for them to be returned was 10! ten pixels is a mighty load of dead pixles to just suck up and deal with, especially if your a quality freak like me (or the rest of afterdawn). imagine if they were all clustered together? lesson to be learned: if you are buying a psp, ds, or a laptop make sure you take it out of the box first, or at least make sure you know what their dead pixel count minimum is before you order it online. also, ALWAYS make sure you buy expensive, fragile electronics with possibly questionable return policies with a CREDIT Card!!! if the company tries to screw you your credit card company will always have your back. if they refuse to take back your beat thinkpad with 9 dead pixels you might be able to tell visa to take back the money, and visa will take the laptop and deal with the ThinkPad makers from that point on.
