My family has unwittingly joined a horde of Seriously Unhappy Consumers of RCA televisions and other products.
As a user experience evanglist who often extends her reach into customer service departments and processes, I find myself wondering… just where IS the fine line between poor, inept, inadequate customer service, and intentional theft by a large corporation who has brand equity (though apparently, not the reputation to back it up any longer.)
Remember the good ‘ole days (before I was born, even), when families gathered round the TV and watched a world they’d never before seen unfold in front of them? The RCA brand was at the forefront of color television technology, and started demonstrating capability for color with NBC as early as 1940. Wired actually named the RCA TV from 1954 as “The Greatest Gadget of All Time.” When Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color became popular in 1961, so did requests for color televisions. This is the RCA a lot of people, who grew up as television technology advanced, remember. The moniker “RCA” used to denote a compelling brand that meant quality, value, and ownership by modern consumers who embraced new and exciting technologies. (Photo by Roadside Pictures)
Ad for 1961 RCA Color Television with Remote Control
Nearly 50 years later, the brand, the company and the quality have all changed. The RCA brand is owned by Thomson SA and the rights, licenses and lines of ownership and responsibilites are a blur of changing hands over the last decade. I don’t know if parts are made of cheaper quality stuff than they used to be, but the website promoting RCA is pretty and professional enough.
Our Bad Experience with RCA
Here’s what happened to us, and why I am pondering this company’s history and customer service commitment… we purchased a large screen RCA HDTV from Walmart in Ottawa, Kansas on December 30, 2007. We love this TV – it was just 1000.00, but has a nice matte screen, and we have a Wii now and have had so much fun playing with it on the nice big screen. In early July, I turned it on one Saturday morning, having just watched it in action the night before, and it wouldn’t show the picture. Eventually, the picture came off and on, and kept doing that to the point where we realized this TV was not usable in its current state. Hmm… and it’s barely half a year old? (To us, at least.)
We gather up the paperwork and I had kept the receipt, so my husband starts calling the number for Thomson. They explicity tell you in the paperwork NOT to contact the store you purchased it from, but to contact them. (If you are reading this, and lucky enough to still have time to return it as a refund, take yours back now and say a little prayer of thanks!) He also spoke to our local TV repairman, and searched online and at Ebay/Craiglist for parts, and he did found a single lamp kit for sale for 260.00.
He waits on hold through various phone calls with customer service, because this thing has a 1 year warranty, and speaks to someone he can barely understand (the connection was so bad, I have to wonder if the support center is in China or very distant to us.) She says that she will send a shipping label to his email address, and to expect in either 4-8 hours, 48 hours, or 4-8 days. (That horrible connection!) At any rate, all of those have passed, and we still have no email. The shipping label is to send the lamp back, at which point the story is that they will send us a replacement that I guess we are responsible for installing.
I have also spoken to someone at Walmart, who says there is nothing they can do, and she expressed surprise that we could even locate a phone number for Thomson. She also recommended we buy a Phillips next time. 😐
Our Bad Experience with RCA is Far from Unique!
Sounds okay so far, right? Well… many people have been told this same story. In fact, I have saved a bunch of links of sites with names like “pissed consumer”, “complaints”, “ripoff report”, and “my three cents” all of which have multiple complaints from RCA buyers who have sad stories of their own to tell, some of them exactly like ours. Not exactly reassuring. Our lamp issue is fairly common, as is the TV turning itself off and on in some demonic-like state of possession, which would certainly be annoying. Several people online claimed RCA/Thomson customer service representatives and managers said that their TV would be picked up, and a refund check delivered within 6-8 weeks. I did not see saw an update to these complaints that confirmed a refund check had arrived.
So… I am not an expert on product laws and consumer satisfaction rights, and this post only intends to pose the question about a company’s legal responsibility regarding electronic devices and equipment. We all hear about cases of fraud that are obvious, such as the Enron fiasco, but can a company make and sell products, that last just long enough to hopefully make it out of warranty before failing, and still be allowed to exist as a company? Or could this be some form of theft that somehow goes unpunished? When someone pays upwards of a hundred or a thousand dollars for something that works for a few months, but in case after case it fails and the company does NOT make good on warranty promises, why is that called “bad customer service” and not grand larceny?
One of the complaint web sites has a tagline that says something like “customers in control”. But a volume of complaints online, for all the world to see, some with such heated vocabulary that as they write and start typing in all caps, you can picture the steam poring from their heads, has not yet done a thing for many of these consumers. Some have spent less than a hundred, some less than a thousand, and some have spent thousands on RCA products that may only work a few months to a few years. Is this the new expectation of electronics? Or is this the hallmark of a company who legally should have to make better products or stop selling them to people? Are there laws governing the length of time a tangible product has to work?
This post will be updated, for the morbidly curious, as events happen in our attempt to either fix this television or obtain a refund. If you’ve had experiences, good or bad, with RCA products or the Thomson company, I’d love to read your comments, so please leave one.
>> To read comments from other RCA buyers, go to my Delicious links on RCA
July 5, 2008
Our RCA HDTV television bites the dust. The picture keeps going black. 🙁
August 4, 2008
Today I called the customer service center and waited on hold forever before finally hanging up, and submitted a request via the RCA Contact Form, which states: “We’re always in the mood to talk RCA Television. As far as we’re concerned, it’s the most important thing in the world. After our customers, that is.” We’ll see.
August 4, 2008
My husband had received the shipping label in his email this morning. Now he has to remove the lamp kit from our TV and send it back to them. It would be nice if they had sent some instructions. Fortunately for us, hubby is excellent at figuring out how things work, so he’ll manage just fine.
August 7, 2008
Fedex picked up the bulb to deliver it back to RCA. Unfortunately, they didn’t leave a tracking number so I can only hope it has arrived and we will get a new one back to replace it. I am tired of this giant TV sitting behind my couch! (And I miss playing with the Wii.)
UPDATE: August 29, 2008
Fedex delivered the bulb and The Oilman happened to be here and he fixed the TV immediately. Yay!!! We have our giant TV back. I hope this bulb will last a lot longer than the first one.
For now, this issue has been resolved.
Hi,
I am glad you got yours resolved. We purchased an RCA LCD HDTV in Sept. 07. In Feb. 08 it started shutting down. We called RCA and they said we could send it back with $201.00 for repair and we pay the shipping to them. We did not agree. After numerous emails and phone calls we got no resolution. I contacted the Attorney General for our state and they contacted RCA/Thomson. In Sept. 08 they sent a letter and called saying they would buy the set back at a prorated amount of $493.52, we paid $1000.00. This was Sept. 29,2008. We contacted Thomson again in early October and were assured we would receive our check in 4 weeks. On Nov. 7 we contacted RCA again and were told that the check was approved but was held up at their Indianapolis office. We have since made over 20 phone calls and cannot get the person handling our case to return our calls. I have also sent at least 10 emails threatening a class actions suit. Today, Dec, 2 we contacted RCA again and were assured that our rep would return our call but never did. I send another email to the AG, I will update when we hear something again. As a note, I have purchased RCA TV’s for the last 35 years with no trouble like this. I am glad you resolved your problem, I hope we can get satisfaction too. BTW we also sent our TV back to them so we don’t even have it to get it repaired.
Sorry about everyone’s problems, but alas, I also am like you and have them too. I purchased a 26in for my bedroom and within a few months started having problems with it. When i contacted Thompson there cure was to unplug the set for a few minute to reset it. This would work for a few month or so then the problem started again… I finally had enough and demanded that the set be replaced, of course by this time the Tv was about 10 months and they wanted to charge me about $100. to replace it…. guess what, when I finally receive the TV its a refurisb set…. I was P.O. then to top it off this set goes out in 6 weeks and I have to return it….. If anyone has the web address, phone number or address for the corporate offices I would love to have them. Thank you very much. My email is
[email protected]
I bought a 36″LCD for my parents due to the analog switch over and they needed there tv upgraded. Purch the tv in Sept 08 tv quit March 09 lasted 6 months. we also bought extended warrenty which is a total rip off. I was on the phone with RCA for a total of 2 hurs being told to call this number and that number finally got it into a repair shop on 4-29-09 which I called may 11 to check the statis of the tv which was told there still waiting on parts, called again on may 26th, still waiting on parts and was told buy RCA that we had to pay for Labor and Repair. So now were out $700.00 for a new TV, $80.00 FOR THE Extended Warrenty and no telling what for repairs if and when we get the TV out of the shop if we even do. I think the public should take action on RCA. T
Hello – I am sorry for your RCA grief- I too am a victim of a bad product and customer service – I am a disabled senior and don’t get around like I used to – My wonderful son bought me a 50″ RCA TV in April of 2008 – I was so proud and so happy -I was raised with RCA products and new I had a great TV!! I am a big fan of TCM and he always teased me because he buys me a big screen and I watch Black and White movies all day…lol
In Sept of 2008 my Tv started going black – it turned out to be the Lamp – like yours. I went through all the reciepts – faxes and confusing customer service,I had a hard time understanding what they said, it took 3 phone calls but 3 weeks later I had my part – my son installed it for me and once again I was back on TCM – I was without TV during that 3 weeks – nobody at RCA cared. NOW it is July 2009 and my replacement lamp is going out again. I called the local RCA dealer before calling RCA support and he said RCA is not what it used to be – my answer was Amen brother!! After calling RCA customer support I now have learned the replacement bulb only had a 90 day warranty(that says alot about RCA right there) It has been 9 months and I will have to pay over $300.00 to replace the lamp and $55.00 service call. When I was talking with RCA support I asked to speak with a manager but was told after holding for over 10 minutes they were all busy and once agian he told me there was no warranty on the replacement lamp. He also told me the life expectancy of the Lamp is between 4,000 and 6,000 hours – when you divide that by 365 days in a year – you actually would have to replace the lamp every year if you watch over 14 hours a day of TV – Now I don’t watch that much but I used to leave it on all day – now I turn it off when I am not in front of it. To think I used to leave it on all day for my little Pomeranian when I was gone…they don’t tell you this when you buy the TV..
You seem to be our leader here on the Internet and I think your lamp will soon go out again – sorry, I hate saying that – but I agree with the poster before me – we need to do something – we should organize and find someone to help – this is Corp. greed at it’s worst – If they can not make a lamp that last longer than a year they shouldn’t being selling it.
So once again I went to the RCA website and wrote them an email which I am sure they will never answer. My son wants me to make a YOUTUBE.com video and tell the world what a rip off this company is…Let me know what you think – Thank you for posting this story – it has been a blessing to find out I was not alone..
Best wishes to you and your family –
Rose
I used to service TVs and RCA is the worst to work on. Wont get parts to me in time, dont know what to do about troubleshooting or get a schematic and so on…Buy Sony or Toshiba.
In December 2009 we bought a L32HD31 from Wal-Mart for our mother and it appeared to work fine for 4 months or so. It went to no sound the blackscreen. I called customer service reps to no avail. They keep changing their time frame and send you looking for other details on the set. “Does there appear to be a glowing light coming from the back of the set, is the power light blinking or on”. We have the set placed back into the orignal box. I don’t want to keep taking it out of the box look for blinking lights or soft glowing lights. My mother is 81, what would she have done if she had no one to help her. What rights do we have to insure us that a product will actually work. This seems to be a scram. I wish I had this info regarding RCA before we bought this TV. You would think WEal-Mart would be a little concerned about who they are in business with.
i have canceled along time ago and still fighting them.. i was just surfing around to see about a pay day loan. next thing i know they are taking out of my account.. now my account keeps overdrafting.. i might have to take this matter to the next level. its my money they are messing with.. and ill make them pay my fees to the bank….plus they dont even have my email address the one they got dont even exist
Purchased 2 RCA tvs in 2007. After less than 4 years both tvs are dead. Corp. customer service said they would repair or replace. A week later they changed their mind. RCA does not stand behind their products. It is a corporation of theives and liars. I thought RCA was a quality brand. My mistake. STAY AWAY FROM ANYTHING WITH THE RCA LABEL!!! They make trash.
David, I hear you. This TV we bought in 2007 that I wrote about, is going to have to be replaced. Now the screen has white “snow” dots all over it, at the bottom, and they are rising to the top. I guess anything electrical is just not made to last at all. It’s 5 years old. I remember when TV’s were made to last 20, 30, 40 years. We are choosing a replacement and it will NOT be RCA.