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Jlabute wrote:Dear techie nerds and other related geniuses ;-)

I just had my 50" GT50 Panasonic plasma TV give up the ghost 2 1/2 weeks ago and thankfully, I had bought a 4 yr extended warranty from visions. So Digitronics picked up the TV, and said they ordered a new main logic board which hasn't shipped since none are in stock. Seeing Panasonic and Samsung or anyone no longer make plasma TVs... it might be the case that the TV might never get fixed. In which case, visions state they would replace the TV with something equal or better. Any advice as to what that could mean? How long does one wait to find their TV can't be fixed?

This happened to me. They couldn't (or wouldn't) fix it for a reasonable price to save them money and they called Visions to tell them that. When I went into Visions to get my new replacement, they didn't have my model/size in stock. It was an LG 32" so they gave me an LG 40" brand new still in box.

I was super excited lol

Another time it was an HDMI output, which they fixed. No issues with it since then.

2 tv warranty issues with Visions, 2 perfectly fine resolutions

That's great, I'm glad things worked out for you :-)
I went to Visions again today to talk to the General manager, but he wasn't in today. Another person in his place told me to wait another 3 weeks. Then she said, yup, that sucks. I told her that the General Manager said he was going to call Head Office, so, this lady took my name/number and said she would call me back today, but she didn't. So apparently, waiting 6 weeks for a part, and sloughing off your customer is acceptable. What bothers me, is that each person says something different, their warranty is too loosey-goosey, and the only warranty in all of Kelowna that makes you go without a TV for months. It is better to have an upset customer, rather than honoring a warranty helping them out?
Yesterday I was told my (upper end) plasma would be equivalent to a low end 4K sharp LCD TV, because it was 1080p. lol.

Ahh yes, service in Kelowna. And they wonder why people are shopping on-line, in droves.

Queen K wrote:Ahh yes, service in Kelowna. And they wonder why people are shopping on-line, in droves.

The drawback to that is if the product you order is defective then what? In some cases the cost to return it can be more that the purchase cost.
All in all though the savings from online shopping (from China) outweigh the negatives by a long shot.

As to the OP's issue with Visions maybe sitting outside the store with a sign or contacting the Media might result in a speedier solution.

Some credit cards double the manufacturer. Warrentry ,if your card has this it's much cheaper then getting a retailers overpriced protection.

dale mck wrote:Some credit cards double the manufacturer. Warrentry ,if your card has this it's much cheaper then getting a retailers overpriced protection.

Some debit cards have similar perks on them too but I think mostly for breakage short term. Like if you drop your purchase on the way home.

Jlabute wrote:That's great, I'm glad things worked out for you :-)
I went to Visions again today to talk to the General manager, but he wasn't in today. Another person in his place told me to wait another 3 weeks. Then she said, yup, that sucks. I told her that the General Manager said he was going to call Head Office, so, this lady took my name/number and said she would call me back today, but she didn't. So apparently, waiting 6 weeks for a part, and sloughing off your customer is acceptable. What bothers me, is that each person says something different, their warranty is too loosey-goosey, and the only warranty in all of Kelowna that makes you go without a TV for months. It is better to have an upset customer, rather than honoring a warranty helping them out?
Yesterday I was told my (upper end) plasma would be equivalent to a low end 4K sharp LCD TV, because it was 1080p. lol.

Call head office directly. Don't rely on store staff. And in all honesty a modern day 4K sharp probably is better than your old plasma...even though you paid much more.

I've spoken with head office, and Friday was their last day to get an ETA on a replacement board and the ETA just magically came in and it'll be another week to get it, lol. So, I should have a fixed TV in a week or two unless someone fibbed, or we have a different definition on what ETA means.

As for plasma, they provide a better picture quality than 90% of the LCD TVs out there today (not just my words, but the staff at Visions too) there's a big difference in picture quality when you emit RGB (plasma), and emit white while subtracting levels of RGB with filters (LCD). LCD is slow and implements a lot of gimmicks to get fast motion which only the expensive LCDs can do well. Plasmas have better black levels as well, that's why pioneer and Panasonic had what the industry considered to be a reference for all TVs. The last generation of plasmas had perfect grayscale and color replication, is there a single TV today that does this aside from OLED?

Jlabute wrote:I've spoken with head office, and Friday was their last day to get an ETA on a replacement board and the ETA just magically came in and it'll be another week to get it, lol. So, I should have a fixed TV in a week or two unless someone fibbed, or we have a different definition on what ETA means.

As for plasma, they provide a better picture quality than 90% of the LCD TVs out there today (not just my words, but the staff at Visions too) there's a big difference in picture quality when you emit RGB (plasma), and emit white while subtracting levels of RGB with filters (LCD). LCD is slow and implements a lot of gimmicks to get fast motion which only the expensive LCDs can do well. Plasmas have better black levels as well, that's why pioneer and Panasonic had what the industry considered to be a reference for all TVs. The last generation of plasmas had perfect grayscale and color replication, is there a single TV today that does this aside from OLED?

The 2 things I have issue with plasma:
1) when I have group friends over for sports championship only those with somewhat straight on view get to see a clear view of the game.
2) they generate a huge amount of heat, almost scary amount.

Good to hear your TV is being fixed

Jlabute wrote:I've spoken with head office, and Friday was their last day to get an ETA on a replacement board and the ETA just magically came in and it'll be another week to get it, lol. So, I should have a fixed TV in a week or two unless someone fibbed, or we have a different definition on what ETA means.

As for plasma, they provide a better picture quality than 90% of the LCD TVs out there today (not just my words, but the staff at Visions too) there's a big difference in picture quality when you emit RGB (plasma), and emit white while subtracting levels of RGB with filters (LCD). LCD is slow and implements a lot of gimmicks to get fast motion which only the expensive LCDs can do well. Plasmas have better black levels as well, that's why pioneer and Panasonic had what the industry considered to be a reference for all TVs. The last generation of plasmas had perfect grayscale and color replication, is there a single TV today that does this aside from OLED?

Hope it goes well...I forget the exact number my friend told me but plasma tvs generate way more warranty claims than any other tv. I haven't tv shopped in a year or so but I don't think visions even carries plasma anymore...my understanding was the technology was gone by the wayside.

Helps keep the house warm in the winter? Hehe. That's ok... a few extra hundred watts over their modern counterpart doesn't translate into much extra cost. I didn't mind that in lieu of picture quality. The viewing angle I find is still better than a lot of LCD TVs.
Will they fix it? I only have the rumour of an ETA on a logic board so, we will see :-) Viewing angle is a concern for any TV?
Yup, for me, power consumption and no future option for 4K were the biggest downsides, but not big enough to go LCD. Maybe because they run hotter they are more likely to fail. The last plasmas were in 2014 I think... with panasonics ZT model arriving.

Word today, the TV can't be fixed. So I will go to Visions to discover what sort of credit can be arranged. 5 weeks. The ETA on the board did not happen.

Are you having an informal funeral for the plasma tv?
A few words? Wine and cheese platters?
It's so sad tho.

Jlabute wrote:Word today, the TV can't be fixed. So I will go to Visions to discover what sort of credit can be arranged. 5 weeks. The ETA on the board did not happen.

For some reason this doesn't surprise me.

I hope you get a decent replacement.

Today it all ended, after 5 weeks. Getting a plasma fixed I can understand is tough, parts are very hard to get. Visions offered me a low end Samsung TV about 25% Less in cost to the plasma, they compare 'specs' and has nothing to do with picture quality. Overall I am ok with the deal and didn't have much bargaining punch, and bought the TV I chose with the credit. Boom, done. lol. Visions has good prices and I'd still go back.