Our 65" LG OLED Wall Mounted TV is a lemon

[Rianne]

We purchased this amazing TV from Costco in 2020. The inner power source is completely burned out. We had Geek Squad come out and check every cord, restart, power down power up and bought a new Amazon Fire stick.

Costco is hard to deal with. I have no idea if they're going to stand behind this TV. I called and gave all the info, serial numbers, and SV #s which is a real pain when the TV is wall mounted. You have to squeeze your iPhone behind the screen and hope it takes the right picture of all the numbers.

Now, they want to send a tech guy out to replace the power thing in the TV. I assume this will take weeks. So frustrated.

The Geek Squad guy said if we had bought it from Best Buy, all this would be taken care of, with no charge and little hassle. No more buying electronics from Costco.

 

[Qs Laptop]

We purchased this amazing TV from Costco in 2020. The inner power source is completely burned out. We had Geek Squad come out and check every cord, restart, power down power up and bought a new Amazon Fire stick.

Costco is hard to deal with. I have no idea if they're going to stand behind this TV. I called and gave all the info, serial numbers, and SV #s which is a real pain when the TV is wall mounted. You have to squeeze your iPhone behind the screen and hope it takes the right picture of all the numbers.

Now, they want to send a tech guy out to replace the power thing in the TV. I assume this will take weeks. So frustrated.

The Geek Squad guy said if we had bought it from Best Buy, all this would be taken care of, with no charge and little hassle. No more buying electronics from Costco.

Costco has one of the best warranty policies on electronics in the industry. They add onto the factory warranty by up to two additional years. Thus if the TV had a one year warranty (typical) Costco will warranty it for up to 3 years.

The Geek Squad was not being completely honest with you. (shocking, I know.) Best Buy would not have taken care of it with no charge unless you had bought an extended warranty, the Geek Squad Protection Plan. Even if you had purchased this additional warranty ($175 for an additional year) since you have a power supply issue they would repair the problem. This is exactly what Costco is promising to do.

As to the repair taking weeks, I would call them every day and ask when the repair person is coming out. Just be the squeaky wheel.

 

[Rianne]

Costco has one of the best warranty policies on electronics in the industry. They add onto the factory warranty by up to two additional years. Thus if the TV had a one year warranty (typical) Costco will warranty it for up to 3 years.

The Geek Squad was not being completely honest with you. (shocking, I know.) Best Buy would not have taken care of it with no charge unless you had bought an extended warranty, the Geek Squad Protection Plan. Even if you had purchased this additional warranty ($175 for an additional year) since you have a power supply issue they would repair the problem. This is exactly what Costco is promising to do.

As to the repair taking weeks, I would call them every day and ask when the repair person is coming out. Just be the squeaky wheel.

I will reply back when our TV is fixed and how long it took. Our old TVs, very nice and wall mounted, but not smart TVs have lasted over 10 years. We have two of them and one is on most of the day with news and weather. I have a sinking feeling about smart TVs.

 

[Ian S]

We purchased this amazing TV from Costco in 2020. The inner power source is completely burned out. We had Geek Squad come out and check every cord, restart, power down power up and bought a new Amazon Fire stick.

Costco is hard to deal with. I have no idea if they're going to stand behind this TV. I called and gave all the info, serial numbers, and SV #s which is a real pain when the TV is wall mounted. You have to squeeze your iPhone behind the screen and hope it takes the right picture of all the numbers.

Now, they want to send a tech guy out to replace the power thing in the TV. I assume this will take weeks. So frustrated.

The Geek Squad guy said if we had bought it from Best Buy, all this would be taken care of, with no charge and little hassle. No more buying electronics from Costco.

Unless I'm mistaken, the manufacturer's warranty is only 1 year parts and labor so I'm not sure why, in the absence of an extended warranty, it's Costco's obligation to fix it for free. TBH, I suspect the Geek Squad guy was feeding you a line of bull: I'll bet you would only get no charge hassle-free repair if you have purchased their extended warranty. As for LG TV's their reliability according to Consumer Reports is good but still a notch below Samsung and Sony. Has anyone given you an estimate of what the cost to repair might be? A quick search of the internet suggests there was a recall of some LG TV's a few years ago for defective power supply boards. You might want to look into that further by contacting LG directly. Good luck!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We have the same TV, not the same problem though. It came with a 5 year warranty, so you should be good. Take it back to Costco or claim the warranty repair.

 

[Midpack]

I will reply back when our TV is fixed and how long it took. Our old TVs, very nice and wall mounted, but not smart TVs have lasted over 10 years. We have two of them and one is on most of the day with news and weather. I have a sinking feeling about smart TVs.

Our newest Samsung Smart TV (main TV) has been going strong since 2014, and it was a low end 4K model to boot. Our next oldest Sony Smart TV is 11 years old, also still going strong. Both are used several hours daily. I don’t have any reservations about the longevity of smart TVs. YMMV

 

[pb4uski]

^^^ +1 I'm watching a 47" Vizio right now that we bought from Costco in Sept 2008 that I have been hoping that it would die for a number of years now so I can replace it with a bigger one.

All of our tvs are wall mounted with swivel mounts, so getting to the SN is easy.

 

[bobandsherry]

Unless I'm mistaken, the manufacturer's warranty is only 1 year parts and labor so I'm not sure why, in the absence of an extended warranty, it's Costco's obligation to fix it for free. TBH, I suspect the Geek Squad guy was feeding you a line of bull: I'll bet you would only get no charge hassle-free repair if you have purchased their extended warranty. As for LG TV's their reliability according to Consumer Reports is good but still a notch below Samsung and Sony. Has anyone given you an estimate of what the cost to repair might be? A quick search of the internet suggests there was a recall of some LG TV's a few years ago for defective power supply boards. You might want to look into that further by contacting LG directly. Good luck!

Costco doubles the warranty, usually 2 years on their TV's. And many are packaged with extended warranties if a sale. And if you use your Costco credit card that adds one more year of warranty service.

 

[NW-Bound]

The failure may be a just a random thing. Or if it is frequent with a particular model, it may be caused by a batch of bad components that the manufacturer unfortunately got from a lousy supplier.

It has nothing to do with the "smart" of the TV.

More than 10 years ago, a batch of electrolytic capacitors from a lousy Chinese part maker wiped out billions of dollars worth of electronics, from computers to TV and other consumer electronic devices. This plague affected brands from Dell to HP, IBM, Intel, Samsung, what have you.

See: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2010/jun/29/dell-problems-capacitors

and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague.

About Costco, would the OP be better without their free extended warranty? Parts may be in short supply now due to supply chain problems, so would Best Buy be able to get the part faster if you pay for their extended warranty?

I think the OP should get a smaller inexpensive TV to satisfy the daily fix, while waiting for the repair.

 

[camfused]

...I have been hoping that it would die for a number of years now so I can replace it ...

Me too, brother. My darn Samsung I got in 2016 keeps going strong! I want it to die so that I can get a 2022 LG OLED.

 

[Midpack]

^^^ +1 I'm watching a 47" Vizio right now that we bought from Costco in Sept 2008 that I have been hoping that it would die for a number of years now so I can replace it with a bigger one.

I’m the same way. Enjoy getting new stuff, but refuse to replace something that’s still humming along…

 

[DrRoy]

We've had one for about 2 years. So far, so good.

 

[Rianne]

A quick search of the internet suggests there was a recall of some LG TV's a few years ago for defective power supply boards. You might want to look into that further by contacting LG directly. Good luck!

Geek Squad said this is the issue, my bold. Waiting for Costco to respond.

 

[bloom2708]

I'm not following why the OP didn't work with Costco and/or LG?

We have 2 non-smart TVs. They won't die.

2008 Panasonic 50" Viera Plasma - Still excellent picture.
2012 Sharp 60" Aquos LED - Has 3D functions, but haven't used too much.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Geek Squad said this is the issue, my bold. Waiting for Costco to respond.

My Neighbor had this happen AFTER a local (Not directly at our or their home) lightning strike. Luckily it was on an old TV. I repaired it for $25 as parts were cheap.

Here is the power board for our TV. Maybe yours too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284667103259?epid=24034903467&hash=item42477b481b:g:OwgAAOSwatJiFodi

 

[Freedom56]

We have two OLED TVs, and three LCD TVs that we bought at Costco a few years ago and all of them are running fine. We also have a 42" Sharp LCD TV that we bought in 2006 that still runs fine. We even have an LCD TV in our garage that refuses to die after 20 years. I think you just got one with a faulty power supply or you had a power surge that damaged it. You should put surge protectors between the TV and the plug. At our condo in Florida where power surges are frequent during electrical storms, all electronics and appliances are on surge protectors.

 

[Rianne]

I'm not following why the OP didn't work with Costco and/or LG?

We have 2 non-smart TVs. They won't die.

2008 Panasonic 50" Viera Plasma - Still excellent picture.
2012 Sharp 60" Aquos LED - Has 3D functions, but haven't used too much.

We are working with Costco. Dragging their feet. I called the Costco team more than a week ago. First said, 90-day warranty. Then said an added 2-year warranty. We wanted to be sure it wasn't our power source, electrical, old Amazon Firestick. Geek Squad appt. was free b/c we have a year contract with them. Geek Squad spoke with Costco and told them what he thought the problem was. Waiting...

 

[Chuckanut]

^^^ +1 I'm watching a 47" Vizio right now that we bought from Costco in Sept 2008 that I have been hoping that it would die for a number of years now so I can replace it with a bigger one.

All of our tvs are wall mounted with swivel mounts, so getting to the SN is easy.

My 42 inch Panasonic plasma TV still works great. I would love to upgrade to a 50 inch High Definition model. Maybe an OLED. But, the thing keeps working and I like the picture.

 

[ivinsfan]

My 42 inch Panasonic plasma TV still works great. I would love to upgrade to a 50 inch High Definition model. Maybe an OLED. But, the thing keeps working and I like the picture.

Me too ! ours is in the bedroom and they give off so much heat..which is nice in the winter, but not in Summer..

 

[Rianne]

I sent via e-mail six pictures of the back of the TV. Now, 2 more business days to respond. I don't think it was a power surge. We haven't had bad storms. They will send technical out to repair, I hope. Bought the TV in March 2021. Still in the 2-year warranty time. To be continued...

 

[Qs Laptop]

You people with a 15+ year old plasma TV that think it still has a great picture...if you also have a LCD TV less than 5 years old I dare you to compare them side-by-side. I think your opinion of the picture on the plasma TV will be downgraded.

 

[ivinsfan]

You people with a 15+ year old plasma TV that think it still has a great picture...if you also have a LCD TV less than 5 years old I dare you to compare them side-by-side. I think your opinion of the picture on the plasma TV will be downgraded.

So..I have a functional TV with a good picture..not sure why that bothers you, if a person wants the best picture you'd literally be throwing out your TV every couple years.

 

[NW-Bound]

Whenever we go to Costco, I always look at the displayed TVs near the entrance. Wow, nice picture. And look, prices so cheap too!

Then, I recall that we hardly turn ours on at home.

OK. Let's walk down to the back to get the rotisserie chicken and get outta here.

 

[ncbill]

You people with a 15+ year old plasma TV that think it still has a great picture...if you also have a LCD TV less than 5 years old I dare you to compare them side-by-side. I think your opinion of the picture on the plasma TV will be downgraded.

Most LCD HDTVs less than 5 years old will still have much narrower viewing angles, slower response/refresh rates & inferior black levels than a 15 year old plasma HDTV.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/lcd-vs-led-vs-plasma

 

[Qs Laptop]

Most LCD HDTVs less than 5 years old will still have much narrower viewing angles, slower response/refresh rates & inferior black levels than a 15 year old plasma HDTV.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/lcd-vs-led-vs-plasma

My comment was to put them side by side and compare the picture.

The things you list might be true, but:

Most people don't sit 40 degrees off axis when they view a TV. They pretty much sit directly in front of the TV.

Most people (all?) will not notice a difference response/refresh rates unless they are watching a hockey puck being shot at 90 mph.

Most people will not be able to discern that an LED TV has inferior black levels to a plasma TV. In fact, most people don't give a hoot about incremental, machine measurable black level differences. The latest QLED TV's have excellent black levels. Of course the OLED TV's are the best for black levels.

Any person that compares them side-by-side will be able to see the plasma TV is darker and and not as sharp looking as the LCD TV. Plasma TV's give off heat in waves and burn electricity like the Las Vegas strip.

Most (all?) people with LCD TV's don't have to worry about image burn in.