The “Break it Down” Blog

This is a great blog setup by this guy that has been, for 2 months, given the run-around by Samsung.

It seems that he got a Samsung HPS-5073 that was dead on arrival, it just flickered strange images, a high pitched squeal and from what I could tell, wouldn’t display a picture:

After calling his retailer right back the day after delivery they told him that there is a 15%+ restocking fee, essentially a nice way of saying “Piss off”. This is such an important thing to check when buying a set. You have to assume that your set is going to be delivered DOA (Dead on Arrival) and you need to know your options before you ever put down the money to order it. If your retailer is telling you that the charge a restocking fee on broken devices even, you need to find another retailer, even if that means finding a different TV.

Restocking fees are nothing more than fees used to discourage buyers from frivolously buying merchandise, trying it out for 29 days, then returning it. There is no functional requirement for restocking fees. So to charge a restocking fee for a *broken* device that the retailer delivered to you is absolutely ludicrous. I would even get restocking fee policy in writing on your receipt before walking out of a store.

Anyway this gentleman has logged every single interaction in surprising detail with Samsung, and it’s been over 2 months and about 7 broken promises later and it looks like he’s caused them enough of a headache that they are going to send him an LCD TV instead… but like he says on the blog, he hasn’t actually received anything yet, so until that happens the site stays put.

I think this would be a good read for anyone considering a Samsung set. He also offers some great informative links at the bottom of the page for more Samsung issues.