Quint
Footballguy
Rant incoming
[tl;dr – bought LG OLED tv that failed, now 40 days w/ no resolution]
We’ve been a Samsung household for more than 20 years and barring a couple of hiccups their tv’s have been great. We had one for about 5 years that finally kicked the bucket in March of this year. My wife did a whole bunch of research and convinced me that we should upgrade to the LG OLED 55” so we could have a better overall picture. We bought one from our local Costco on March 24, 2024, hung it up on the wall, and were enjoying it thoroughly, until…
Sunday, August 25: I’m watching tv around 7:00pm and the LG unit turns itself off. Hmmm, odd. So I try to turn it back on via the remote and it comes back for 1 second – flashes a white, 2” vertical line on the RH side of the screen – and then shuts off again. Lather, rinse, repeat for 10 minutes.
Going with the standard electronic fix, I unplug the power for 10 seconds, plug it back in and same result. Next I unplug everything for 15 min and no better. Reset the Xfinity box and modem and no luck. Tried turning it on manually from the bottom of the tv itself and nothing. Basically, it’s dead and I’m not super happy considering we spent $1,300 on this thing, not counting the extended warranty through LG.
On Tuesday the 27th, we head over to Costco to see about an exchange. Get to the Customer Service counter and SURPRISE! they’ve gone to a 90 day return/exchange policy for electronics sold in-store and won’t budge. They refer us to the Costco Concierge team and give us a number to call. I get home, make the call, CSR asks for our acct number, receipt number (we have everything, including the original packaging from the tv). She asks what the issue is, does a quick diag over the phone – e.g. is it plugged in, does the outlet have power, any damage to the screen, etc. – and all negative. She creates a case for us and sends the info off to LG. “You should hear from them in 24-48 hours.” Ok, cool.
On the 28th we get an email from LG: we need to send them pics of the tv so they can look and make sure there’s no external damage. Done. Now they’re going to contact a local repair tech to come out and diagnose the issue. Fine. Later that afternoon we get a call from a AV repair shop in Petaluma (about 40 min drive from our house). The tech, let’s call him “Sam”, asks what the problem is and then says, “Is there a line on your tv?” Why yes there is! Sam says he knows exactly what the issue is and will call me in a couple of days. Get a call on Friday the 30th: the part needed to fix the problem is on backorder and ETA is Sept 17. Will contact you when it arrives and then probably 3-4 days to set up an appointment to fix it. He’ll need to come to our place to do it. I understand supply-chains and logistics, and also that sometimes what is needed to fix things can be on backorder. Not ideal, but not much choice at this point.
Sept 2 – I get a text from LG: “We see you haven’t scheduled a repair for your tv please text back the date if scheduled.” My reply paraphrased: “Yeah, the tech is out of the country and won’t be back until the 19th”. No reply.
Fast forward to Sept 17: I call Sam to see what the status on the part is. There’s an outgoing voicemessage saying, “I’m out of the country and will return on the 19th.” Ummmm. Ok I guess. I get on the phone w/ LG on the 18th asking about what’s going on, and they say they will “elevate” my case to the LG Presidential Liaison Team and I should get a call from them in 24-48 hours. Text on Sept 18: “We see you haven’t scheduled a repair for your tv” (sounds familiar??) and that’s followed by this “Your part is scheduled to arrive on Sept 19.”
Now I’m pretty frustrated at this point. Not only with the lack of direct communication from Sam or LG themselves, but the fact that it’s been 3 weeks since I’ve been able to watch a single NCAA or NFL game from the comfort of my couch. I get back on the phone w/ Costco and ask if there’s a way they can make an exception and just exchange our tv. We’ve got all the packaging and can drive it over that day. Costco says they’ll reach out to LG and see about getting a Return Authorization done for us.
Sept 24: get an email from Costco with a copy of the response form LG. Tough luck, no exchange, gotta move forward with the repair. Feck. One bright spot: that email from LG includes a UPS tracking number for the OLED Module we need to fix this thing. Like any normal person I fire that tracking number into the UPS website and guess what??
That part arrived on Sept 19 and Sam requested to pick it up at the UPS hub. Text from Sam on Sept 26: “I’m back from vacation and will call you today or tomorrow.” Fine, whatever. No call on either day, and nothing over the weekend. I check the tracking number again on Sept 29 and the part is being RTSd (Return To Sender) to the factory because Sam never picked it up. *******.
Call Costco again on Oct 1: explain everything and let them know that we’re to the point where we cannot trust that our tv will be fixed anytime soon and we need to exchange it. They contact LG while I’m on the phone and come back with, “They’ve started a Return Authorization and we are sending them proof of purchase.” Maybe some light at the end of this tunnel? Nope.
Text from LG on Oct 1: “Your part is scheduled to arrive on October 9 and we will contact you when it does.” Now I’m seeing red: 1) why are you going to contact me when it arrives? Shouldn’t the tech be notified instead? 2) if you really wanted to get this sorted out, why is this part being shipped ground instead of Next Day Air?
Call Costco on Oct 2: again, explain everything. Rep gets on the phone with LG and now they need an “itemized receipt” to continue the Return Authorization, which Costco is going to send to them. FML, there’s only one GD item on that receipt and the proof of purchase would show that. “You’ll hear back in 24 hours.” ::waitsimpatiently::
No call, email, or text from anyone as of 12:00pst today (including our trustworthy tech Sam). Just unreal. Now 40 days without any resolution.
Bottom line: after this experience I’ll never, ever, buy another LG product even if we are able to exchange the broken one we have now. Thanks for reading.
[tl;dr – bought LG OLED tv that failed, now 40 days w/ no resolution]
We’ve been a Samsung household for more than 20 years and barring a couple of hiccups their tv’s have been great. We had one for about 5 years that finally kicked the bucket in March of this year. My wife did a whole bunch of research and convinced me that we should upgrade to the LG OLED 55” so we could have a better overall picture. We bought one from our local Costco on March 24, 2024, hung it up on the wall, and were enjoying it thoroughly, until…
Sunday, August 25: I’m watching tv around 7:00pm and the LG unit turns itself off. Hmmm, odd. So I try to turn it back on via the remote and it comes back for 1 second – flashes a white, 2” vertical line on the RH side of the screen – and then shuts off again. Lather, rinse, repeat for 10 minutes.
Going with the standard electronic fix, I unplug the power for 10 seconds, plug it back in and same result. Next I unplug everything for 15 min and no better. Reset the Xfinity box and modem and no luck. Tried turning it on manually from the bottom of the tv itself and nothing. Basically, it’s dead and I’m not super happy considering we spent $1,300 on this thing, not counting the extended warranty through LG.
On Tuesday the 27th, we head over to Costco to see about an exchange. Get to the Customer Service counter and SURPRISE! they’ve gone to a 90 day return/exchange policy for electronics sold in-store and won’t budge. They refer us to the Costco Concierge team and give us a number to call. I get home, make the call, CSR asks for our acct number, receipt number (we have everything, including the original packaging from the tv). She asks what the issue is, does a quick diag over the phone – e.g. is it plugged in, does the outlet have power, any damage to the screen, etc. – and all negative. She creates a case for us and sends the info off to LG. “You should hear from them in 24-48 hours.” Ok, cool.
On the 28th we get an email from LG: we need to send them pics of the tv so they can look and make sure there’s no external damage. Done. Now they’re going to contact a local repair tech to come out and diagnose the issue. Fine. Later that afternoon we get a call from a AV repair shop in Petaluma (about 40 min drive from our house). The tech, let’s call him “Sam”, asks what the problem is and then says, “Is there a line on your tv?” Why yes there is! Sam says he knows exactly what the issue is and will call me in a couple of days. Get a call on Friday the 30th: the part needed to fix the problem is on backorder and ETA is Sept 17. Will contact you when it arrives and then probably 3-4 days to set up an appointment to fix it. He’ll need to come to our place to do it. I understand supply-chains and logistics, and also that sometimes what is needed to fix things can be on backorder. Not ideal, but not much choice at this point.
Sept 2 – I get a text from LG: “We see you haven’t scheduled a repair for your tv please text back the date if scheduled.” My reply paraphrased: “Yeah, the tech is out of the country and won’t be back until the 19th”. No reply.
Fast forward to Sept 17: I call Sam to see what the status on the part is. There’s an outgoing voicemessage saying, “I’m out of the country and will return on the 19th.” Ummmm. Ok I guess. I get on the phone w/ LG on the 18th asking about what’s going on, and they say they will “elevate” my case to the LG Presidential Liaison Team and I should get a call from them in 24-48 hours. Text on Sept 18: “We see you haven’t scheduled a repair for your tv” (sounds familiar??) and that’s followed by this “Your part is scheduled to arrive on Sept 19.”
Now I’m pretty frustrated at this point. Not only with the lack of direct communication from Sam or LG themselves, but the fact that it’s been 3 weeks since I’ve been able to watch a single NCAA or NFL game from the comfort of my couch. I get back on the phone w/ Costco and ask if there’s a way they can make an exception and just exchange our tv. We’ve got all the packaging and can drive it over that day. Costco says they’ll reach out to LG and see about getting a Return Authorization done for us.
Sept 24: get an email from Costco with a copy of the response form LG. Tough luck, no exchange, gotta move forward with the repair. Feck. One bright spot: that email from LG includes a UPS tracking number for the OLED Module we need to fix this thing. Like any normal person I fire that tracking number into the UPS website and guess what??
That part arrived on Sept 19 and Sam requested to pick it up at the UPS hub. Text from Sam on Sept 26: “I’m back from vacation and will call you today or tomorrow.” Fine, whatever. No call on either day, and nothing over the weekend. I check the tracking number again on Sept 29 and the part is being RTSd (Return To Sender) to the factory because Sam never picked it up. *******.
Call Costco again on Oct 1: explain everything and let them know that we’re to the point where we cannot trust that our tv will be fixed anytime soon and we need to exchange it. They contact LG while I’m on the phone and come back with, “They’ve started a Return Authorization and we are sending them proof of purchase.” Maybe some light at the end of this tunnel? Nope.
Text from LG on Oct 1: “Your part is scheduled to arrive on October 9 and we will contact you when it does.” Now I’m seeing red: 1) why are you going to contact me when it arrives? Shouldn’t the tech be notified instead? 2) if you really wanted to get this sorted out, why is this part being shipped ground instead of Next Day Air?
Call Costco on Oct 2: again, explain everything. Rep gets on the phone with LG and now they need an “itemized receipt” to continue the Return Authorization, which Costco is going to send to them. FML, there’s only one GD item on that receipt and the proof of purchase would show that. “You’ll hear back in 24 hours.” ::waitsimpatiently::
No call, email, or text from anyone as of 12:00pst today (including our trustworthy tech Sam). Just unreal. Now 40 days without any resolution.
Bottom line: after this experience I’ll never, ever, buy another LG product even if we are able to exchange the broken one we have now. Thanks for reading.
: We then, politely, ask Susie to take another look at the email and note all the managers at this store who were CCd on this situation. She takes another 10 seconds to look it over, makes a face like she just took a suck off a lemon, and then says, "Ok, fine." They take the tv out of the packaging, cross check the model number against the packaging, and finally credited us back the entire purchase price. (I guess they just don't swap things out?). 
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