Amazon Replacement on Out of Stock Item?

EDIT: My issue was solved a week ago. Though now others in a similar situation are discussing this. Amazon offered me the same discount of $196.31 on a comparable tv model.


I recently bought the TCL 40" TV from amazon for $200 on their lightning deal. As I'm sure everyone on slick deals knows, every other 40" tv costs at least $300 on sale, and more commonly $400. So obviously I got a good deal. However the tv I got is defective and amazon no longer carries the tv, or at the very least it is out of stock with no idea when it will come back in stock. I really just want a functioning tv, but the warranty as many reviewers noted, is a complete joke. Trying to get people on the phone takes 20+ phone calls, and I'm not even sure they will make the warranty replacement/repair work as most people seem to get faulty tv's. Plus they even told me I should go to amazon for a replacement. However since amazon has a policy not to substitute items, I seem to be a bit stuck, between attempting a lengthy warranty process that may or may not get me a working tv, and may or may not cost me money, or I can return to amazon. Honestly I wish I could get amazon to substitute some other crap brand tv for the one I got, but I'm not sure how to go about getting that. The people on the phone basically told me it was impossible as they don't do that sort of thing. I'd think it would be good customer service to make sure when a customer orders an item and doesn't get a working one, that they can get the same or a comparable working item though. Has anyone ever managed to get amazon to substitute items and if so, how? Phone? online? email?

Quote from ben7337 : I recently bought the TCL 40" TV from amazon for $200 on their lightning deal. As I'm sure everyone on slick deals knows, every other 40" tv costs at least $300 on sale, and more commonly $400. So obviously I got a good deal. However the tv I got is defective and amazon no longer carries the tv, or at the very least it is out of stock with no idea when it will come back in stock. I really just want a functioning tv, but the warranty as many reviewers noted, is a complete joke. Trying to get people on the phone takes 20+ phone calls, and I'm not even sure they will make the warranty replacement/repair work as most people seem to get faulty tv's. Plus they even told me I should go to amazon for a replacement. However since amazon has a policy not to substitute items, I seem to be a bit stuck, between attempting a lengthy warranty process that may or may not get me a working tv, and may or may not cost me money, or I can return to amazon. Honestly I wish I could get amazon to substitute some other crap brand tv for the one I got, but I'm not sure how to go about getting that. The people on the phone basically told me it was impossible as they don't do that sort of thing. I'd think it would be good customer service to make sure when a customer orders an item and doesn't get a working one, that they can get the same or a comparable working item though. Has anyone ever managed to get amazon to substitute items and if so, how? Phone? online? email?

I'm going to try tomorrow, and I'll let you know if I have any luck. I have the exact same set as you, btw. What sort of problem is yours having? There's a firmware fix for the power on/off problem. But I'm returning mine because of an issue with the colors. No kind of adjustments will make this thing display properly. It's either washed out, or doesn't display hues of red correctly.

Quote from siryoink : I'm going to try tomorrow, and I'll let you know if I have any luck. I have the exact same set as you, btw. What sort of problem is yours having? There's a firmware fix for the power on/off problem. But I'm returning mine because of an issue with the colors. No kind of adjustments will make this thing display properly. It's either washed out, or doesn't display hues of red correctly.

My set got the firmware update then wouldn't turn on afterwards. The deal talk thread on the lightning deal has many people noting that. I was one of the first people to have that issue and since the tv basically wouldn't display anything, I had to return it to amazon. I got them to adjust another tv by $196.31 though. The same adjustment the lightning deal tv had, and the indian woman who made the adjustment for me thought the price was supposed to be $196.31, so in the end I got a 42" LG 1080p 120hz led tv for $196.31, not a bad deal, but hardly replicable. Either way I'm happy, and amazon got my old tv this morning from UPS, they haven't notified me of receipt yet, but the UPS tracking info has delivery confirmation so I think I'm all good.

Quote from ben7337 : My set got the firmware update then wouldn't turn on afterwards. The deal talk thread on the lightning deal has many people noting that. I was one of the first people to have that issue and since the tv basically wouldn't display anything, I had to return it to amazon. I got them to adjust another tv by $196.31 though. The same adjustment the lightning deal tv had, and the indian woman who made the adjustment for me thought the price was supposed to be $196.31, so in the end I got a 42" LG 1080p 120hz led tv for $196.31, not a bad deal, but hardly replicable. Either way I'm happy, and amazon got my old tv this morning from UPS, they haven't notified me of receipt yet, but the UPS tracking info has delivery confirmation so I think I'm all good.

I would be more than happy with the LG set at that price, that is a mind blowing steal.

Quote from tennisplayer123 : I would be more than happy with the LG set at that price, that is a mind blowing steal.

Yeah, I am very happy, though some people on the bestbuy tv thread got a nicer LG LCD tv for $200 instead. I'm not complaining by any means, but there actually were some people who got an even better deal, and theirs was replicable, mine isn't.

The challenge now is getting $200 for my 32" sharp 1080p tv, so I end up having paid nothing for a bigger nicer tv. I have someone coming to see my tv tomorrow though, so fingers crossed.

Sounds like this 'deal' was anything but. Sometimes you just need to do some research before pulling the trigger and know when to walk away no matter how much you can 'save' because of issues like this. But you sure saved some money!

Quote from ben7337 : Trying to get people on the phone takes 20+ phone calls

Are you sure you're dialing correctly? I've had to call them three times in the past week and have gotten a live person within two minutes each time (twice they were even American.) They

Return the TV get a refund and buy a name brand one next time. If you are reasonable they might just offer you a promotional credit on top of the refunded item cost.

Quote from Monkfish : Are you sure you're dialing correctly? I've had to call them three times in the past week and have gotten a live person within two minutes each time (twice they were even American.) They Return the TV get a refund and buy a name brand one next time. If you are reasonable they might just offer you a promotional credit on top of the refunded item cost.

I think you're confused. The 20+ calls was not to amazon. It was to A&D Electronics. The company which handles TCL warranty repairs who TCL told me to call once they determined that I was in fact covered under warranty and did have a faulty tv. Calling Amazon I have never had a problem getting a person, though the general help line does often lead to an Indian person, i can say with confidence that it was the Indian customer service which did everything for me. They were the ones who adjusted a replacement tv by the same price.

Also you'd have to be mad if you think anyone who paid $200 for a tv would just return it and go buy a $400-$600 replacement tv. I had a set $200 limit, if i couldn't get a tv for that price I'd have just stuck with the 32" that I had in the first place. However amazon did technically break their own policy by helping me and some others with this tv, they showed good customer service by standing behind their products. Which is good, because as I said before, getting a human at the company that handles TCL warranties (A&D Electronics) is not easy by any means, then getting someone who speaks english and can do more than just put you on hold and drop you or give you the wrong email address to even attempt to contact them is nearly impossible.

Quote from coulditbeSatan : Sounds like this 'deal' was anything but. Sometimes you just need to do some research before pulling the trigger and know when to walk away no matter how much you can 'save' because of issues like this. But you sure saved some money!

May I ask what you're talking about? I'm confused as to what you're referring to. It took me almost no time or effort with amazon to get a good deal. Most of my time was spent trying to get TCL and A&D electronics on the phone, and even that was only like a 6-8hr period. Furthermore the TCL tv was a good deal, most people have had no issues with it whatsoever. The main problem was that I had prime shipping and got it fast, which meant I was one of the first people in the deal to try the firmware update, which a number of us have learned by now, apparently bricks the tv. It's sad that a company would release a firmware that does that, but it seems to do it to everyone who tries.

Are amazon threads the new fleabay threads now?

Quote from ben7337 : May I ask what you're talking about? I'm confused as to what you're referring to.

You edited your OP last night to say your issue was satisfied a week ago.....so then what is the purpose of your thread now? You're the one that stated in your OP 'I really just want a functioning tv, but the warranty as many reviewers noted, is a complete joke.' That's where I would have done some research. Not just on this manufacturer and this model but on their warranty and reputation with satisfying warranty claims. Sound like you didn't.

Quote from IVIal : Are amazon threads the new fleabay threads now?

Call it end of year catch up.

Quote from IVIal : Are amazon threads the new fleabay threads now?

It's going to be epic here when Jeff Bezos tries to sell Amazon on Ebay.

Quote from coulditbeSatan : Sounds like this 'deal' was anything but. Sometimes you just need to do some research before pulling the trigger and know when to walk away no matter how much you can 'save' because of issues like this. But you sure saved some money!

Agreed buy a TV from an unknown manufacturer for a dirt low price, and have problems. What a surprise. Like the people whining about the Best Buy Lenovo laptop "deal" from Black Friday. As always, you get what you pay for.