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They just don't make things like they used to.

About 14 months ago, as I blogged about, my neighborhood had yet another power surge, which resulted in my trusty, but not exactly spry, 26" TV (among many other things) meeting its demise. I was willing to go back to our even older 19" TV, which we had kept in our storage shed, but Brian insisted it was time for a new TV, hoping that Duquesne Light would help cover the cost.

We found one we liked, a Westinghouse 32" LED HDTV, and it worked just fine until two nights ago, when all of a sudden the screen turned green and everything froze. I tried turning the TV off and on, and I unplugged it, but the TV would not come back on. Brian tested the power supply, which was fine. We tested it again the next day, but still no life.

Of course, our TV is no longer under warranty, and apparently not a lot of companies fix Westinghouse TVs. Right now, I am waiting for two companies to call me back (does no one answer the phone anymore?!); one may not even service that brand. I called Westinghouse directly to let someone know how dismayed I am that my young TV stopped working. I told the customer service rep that I retrieved our over 15-year-old 19" TV from our storage shed, and that baby, despite being exposed to cold temps over the winter, still works like a champ. Yet this 14-month-old TV is dead.

The funny (not funny "ha-ha") thing is, just a few days ago, I was thinking how fortunate we have been that we have not had any unexpected expenses come up. It seems as if at least once a year, something in our house needs to be repaired or replaced, and I thought we managed to get through an entire year without that expense. I thought wrong.

Who knows? Maybe it will be an easy, relatively inexpensive fix. But I am not counting on it.

Grr.

Oh, and for the record, when we finally got our settlement from Duquesne Light, the company decided our 11-year-old TV, which had been working just fine before the power surge, was worth only $57. Which is sadly probably what our current 14-months-young TV is worth now.
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Facie said…
Well, the two places did call me back. The one affiliated with Westinghouse, which called me back about 8 hours after I had left a message, will charge a flat rate of $225 plus shipping to and from. I think I will pass. I just cannot see spending about 60 percent of what my TV originally cost and then waiting for the next thing to go wrong.

The only other option, which is local, charges $75 for the diagnostic. Of course, they cannot tell me what the repair will cost until they diagnose it, and I might be in the same boat as the other place. Ugh. I will be sending a strongly worded letter to Westinghouse, expecting nothing in return. But I have to try.
November 15, 2011 at 9:32 AM
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