Two days ago I received a phonecall from Veronica Pratt, Presidential Liaison for Philips Consumer Electronics.

I discussed the issues with Ms Pratt and she told me that she would call SOS Electronics and provided they confirmed that I had taken the TV in prior to the expiration of my warranty for the same issues, she'd authorize them to fix it against our warranty.

She called me back today to confirm that she'd spoken with SOS Electronics and that they (Philips) would indeed pay for my repairs. She will follow up with a letter of authorization to SOS.

*does a happy dance* I win!

From: paul.zeven@philips.com
Sent: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: Customer Complaint


Dear Ms Myers,

I think there may have been a communication mistake from my side between me and our team; I have re-directed the mails and you should be contacted shortly.

Sincerely,

Paul Zeven
CEO
Philips North America Region
1251 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Tel: (212)536-0526

I recently sent the following email to Philips Electronics:

To: Rudy.Provoost@philips.com; paul.zeven@philps.com; Gerard.Kleisterlee@philips.com
Sent: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 10:09 AM
Subject: Customer Complaint

To whom it may concern,

In May of 2005, I purchased a Philps Magnavox 42" Plasma television, (information deleted).

About a month before the warranty expired the television stopped responding to the remote when we attempted to turn it off. The buttons on the console did not respond nor did the menu. Eventually we had to unplug the unit in order to shut it off. After doing this, the unit would not turn on, even when plugging it back in while pressing the power button on the unit. If we let it sit for a couple of days it would eventually begin working again, but only for a while.

At that point we opened a service ticket. They tried having us reset the system by making sure the set had been unplugged for a minute or so, then plugging it back in while simultaneously holding in the power button on the unit. This is supposed to "reset" the unit. This also did not work. Your helpdesk recommended that we take it in to a local authorized repair place.

5/1/06
SOS Electronics
(details deleted)

When we took the unit in to be serviced, the unit seemed to be working fine and the repair company could not get the unit to replicate the problem.

After getting the unit back home, it worked for a while, then a couple weeks or so passed and it again began experiencing problems again. Sometimes we have been able to get the unit to work again by either letting it sit unplugged for a time or by plugging the unit in while holding the power button in, as suggested previously.

The problems began getting worse and occurring with more frequency. Eventually it just shut off and wouldn't come back on again.

Summary:

We took the television back to SOS Electronics and this time they were able to replicate the problem and have now determined that the imageboard is faulty and needs to be replaced at a cost of $727.00. The repair shop logged our complaints when we first took the television in and can attest to the fact that we brought it in for the same complaints we now have and that need attention.

I called your customer service number on Sept. 11th, but was told there was nothing you could do to help me and that we are basically on our own now.

Later that day I submitted an email to your customer service through your website. The site indicates that I should have received a reply within 4 business days. It is now Oct 2nd and I have yet to receive a reply to that message or the follow-up letter I sent 5 or six business days later.

In light of the obvious communications problems with your company, I am writing to you directly in the hope of resolving these issues. If you are not the appropriate person to deal with these issues, I'd appreciate it if you could point me in the correct direction.

I feel that this work should be covered under our previous warranty as we did take it in and report the problems prior to the expiration of our warranty as SOS Electronics will confirm. We paid a lot of money for this television and we should certainly get more than one years use out of it. We are highly frustrated with the television and it is now in your hands to make our experience a good one by assisting us with this problem or to lose us as customers for life, along with our friends and family and the 300+ people who read my blog daily.

Thank you,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few day later I received this response:

-----Original Message-----
From: paul.zeven@philips.com
Cc: gerard.j.kleisterlee@philips.com; rudy.provoost@philips.com
Sent: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: Customer Complaint


Dear ............,

I acknowledge receipt of your e-mail dated 2 October.

I regret that the 42 inch Plasma TV that you bought did not function properly and that the service centre did not give a solution that was satisfactory.

I am copying our Consumer Service Manager and he or one of his staff from the Presidential Escalations group will be in touch with you in the coming one or two days to inform you how we will proceed.

Sincerely,

Paul Zeven
CEO
Philips North America Region
1251 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Tel: (212)536-0526