ian_storrs's Full Review: Sharp Aquos LC-37D43U 32 in. HDTV-Ready TV
I selected this television based on the reputation of Sharp as an LCD manufacturer and the quality of their televisions I saw in retail stores.
I made the mistake of purchasing this TV from Buy.com. I did so because they had a good price and I had some store credit to use. Buy.Com will not accept returns.
Anyway after a rather painful ordering and delivery process the TV arrived after 14 days.
Tuesday:
When I took it out of the box and turned it on, I was utterly amazed at what I saw. Absolutely nothing! No picture. No on screen menus. No sound. Just a back light.
I called the Sharp help number 1800-BE-SHARP. They were very sympathetic and said they would arrange a prompt in house service. They faxed my case to one of two local service centers and said I would be called next day.
Wednesday, no call! I called the service center. They claimed not to have received the fax. I called Sharp. After 15 minutes on hold, they said they would call the other center. They said they were on the other line and promised to call me immediately.
Thursday, no call. I called Sharp and let them know how unhappy I was. They called both service centers. Again both service centers said they would call. Both service centers claimed they had problems reaching me on all of the 3 phone numbers I provided.
Friday, both service centers call. Both say they are backed up and cannot come to my house for a week. Both say they cannot do in home service and must take the TV away. One states openly that they have never worked on a Sharp LCD TV before and must try to find some schematics and technical documents. Both say they have no spare parts on hand.
I call Sharp again. They say there is nothing I can do but wait. They refuse to consider replacing this DOA television. They say it would have to be at least 5 weeks waiting for repair, and then it would take the approval of two managers. They are very nice support staff, but they just want to stall you.
So much for the state of the art factory in Japan. So much for quality control. So much for caring about customers who have spent thousands of dollars on their products. I know that Sharp in Japan would never treat their customers like this. But the American management clearly does not care.
This service is such a contrast to Sony, who made my other LCD TV. That TV needed a firmware update and they sent a service technical to my house without me even making a request.
A minor issue with the physical build quality, the rear is all plastic, and the supplied stand is quite unstable. It does not attach to the TV at a high enough point to keep the TV from wobbling.
Update March 7th 2007: No representative of Sharp has come to repair the television. It has been over a week, and nothing has been done. I have contact the Better Business Bureau in Trenton, New Jersey where Sharp has its US Headquarters.
Update March 8th 2007: An authorized repair center sent two guys and a pickup truck to take the TV in for analysis. I insisted that they pack the TV in the original box rather than wrapping it in shipping blankets. The whole experience was a little surreal.
Update March 9th 2007: An employee of Sharp call me to apologise for how this had been handled, and told me they would ship me a replacement 1080P LC-37D62U television with a week.
Update March 16th 2007: I called Sharp to find out the status. They informed me that the replacement television had shipped and was now scheduled to arrive on March 19th.
Update March 23rd 2007: My replacement LC-37D62U arrived. It is amazing. I am so relieved this nightmare is over.
This Flatscreen Hdtv Brings Movies And Programming To Life With 1366x768 Pixels Of Resolution And A Big Brilliant 32" Lcd Screen. A Cinematic Experien...More at Target
32-inch LCD TV ready for HDTV right out of the box; measures 32.3 x 25.5 x 10.8 inches (WxHxD) with stand Integrated NTSC, ATSC tuners; QAM tuner comp...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.