Panasonic VIERA TC-P65GT50 65-Inch 3D HDTV $2,125.99 or 2019.70 with discovercard shipped at Rakuten.com

Quote from moremoney : So if they are not an authorized dealer how are warranty issues handled?? That doesn't sound good!

Ok so I called twice and chatted once. Every time I was told that as long as the TV was purchased new and you have a receipt then you are covered for the 1 year warranty. The chat was the least informative but it gives you an answer. You might want to chat with them just so you could have a copy of their response in your email for future reference. See below transcript


Transcript from Panasonic dated Feb 6, 2013 1:16:56 PM
In response to question: Plasma HDTV
System: Welcome to Panasonic Chat. A transcript of this chat will be emailed to you once you disconnect.
Agent Ashlee R. says: Hello. How may I assist you?

Customer billy says: hi i was wondering if you could tell me if buy.com or rakuten.com is an authorized panasonic retailer
Agent Ashlee R. says: not that I am aware off , you can call Sales at 1-800-405-0652
Customer billy says: If the product is purchased new from a retailer not on your list is there a warranty still?
Agent Ashlee R. says: yes
Customer billy says: ok thank you for verifying that for me. I appreciate it
Agent Ashlee R. says: Thank you for visiting. Please contact us at anytime.

Customer billy says:
ok have a good day. bye
System: http://www.chatredirect.panasonic...survey.jsp

Panasonic Corporation of North America
www.panasonic.com

Quote from IRPILOT : You are 100% correct about the not authorized dealer but I have used buy.com/Rakuten a lot and I have returned a couple of products with zero hassle at all. I was wondering if you could share a personal experience where you had a tough time with a return to them? I want people to be aware of what they are or are not getting themselves into. Thanks. Sounds like you got a great deal on the VT. Congrats.

Biggest concern with returns: Who wud pay teh return shipping, Its a 65" monster, after all.
Glad u clarified the warranty stance with panasonic, hopw they stand by their word, or better yet buy a Squaretrade 3 yr warranty from costco for 99$.
Overall good deal!

i'm on the phone with amazon right now trying to price match. haven't had a damn bit of luck price matching any tv in the last few weeks though. hopefully it goes through.

Thanks for clearing the warranty issue up with the chat at Panasonic. I called Rakuten customer service via phone and they also said there would be no issues with Panasonic honoring the warranty and, in fact, gave me Panasonic's phone numbers to call and verify.

Quote from batcatman : Biggest concern with returns: Who wud pay teh return shipping, Its a 65" monster, after all. Glad u clarified the warranty stance with panasonic, hopw they stand by their word, or better yet buy a Squaretrade 3 yr warranty from costco for 99$. Overall good deal!

I'm presuming you're returning it because it's damaged or defective not because you don't like it...The below should answer your question. The first speaks about the time frame for returns which is longer than most retailers 30 day policy and the second deals with oversized items such as this TV. The urls are inlcuded for reference:


http://support.rakuten.com/app/an...l/a_id/924

At Rakuten, we made our return policy as fast and painless as possible with a 45 day return policy; one of the best in the industry!

Items shipped by Rakuten may be returned for any reason within 45 days from the date of shipment with the exception of those items found here.

Items shipped and sold by a Rakuten Marketplace Seller are subject to the return policy of the seller. Please go here for more information about returning a Rakuten Marketplace Seller's item.



http://support.rakuten.com/app/an...l/a_id/921


What do I do if my specially shipped or oversized item is damaged or defective?
Published 07/30/2012 10:55 AM | Updated 01/31/2013 07:48 AM
If your oversized item was shipped by a Rakuten Marketplace Seller, please contact them immediately regarding the defect or damage in accordance to their return policy. You can find out more about how to contact a Rakuten Marketplace Seller here.

For items shipped by Rakuten, most oversized items such as televisions 32 inches and larger, washers, dryers, and refrigerators, require special freight delivery service. Please carefully inspect the item before you sign to accept the package.

If your oversized item is defective, please report the situation to Rakuten Customer Support using the "Ask a Question" link to the right and we will be glad to work with you regarding a refund or replacement.

If your oversized or specially shipped item is damaged:

The Carrier is Still There

If the item is damaged and the carrier has not left your location, please have the carrier note on the delivery paperwork that the item has been received in damaged condition, and that you are refusing the shipment. The carrier will then take the damaged item and return it to Rakuten.

Once the package has been refused and taken back by the carrier, please contact Rakuten immediately and inform us here. Based on stock availability and your preference, we will issue you a replacement or a refund once we have confirmed the refusal.

The Carrier has Left

If the damage has been discovered after the carrier has already left your location, please contact the carrier that delivered your item immediately to alert them of the situation. Then, please contact Rakuten Customer Support to report the situation using the "Ask a Question" link to the right and we will be glad to work with you regarding a refund or replacement. Please have the following details ready:

Digital pictures of the damage (if available)
A description of the damage to the contents
A description of the condition of the package
How the order was received (left at front door, signed for, etc.)
Please DO NOT ship the item back to Rakuten without first being instructed to do so. Additionally, please DO NOT discard the product itself, or any of the shipping box or packing materials. These items are needed by the carrier to investigate what happened. Without these items, we may have to deny your damaged item claim because of the shipping carriers’ claims guidelines.

Quote from moremoney : Thanks for clearing the warranty issue up with the chat at Panasonic. I called Rakuten customer service via phone and they also said there would be no issues with Panasonic honoring the warranty and, in fact, gave me Panasonic's phone numbers to call and verify.

No problem. I understand it's a big purchase and wanted to make sure we were going to be covered. Linked some good info about their return policy in the last post as well. This is a lot of work for a thread with 2 thumbs up lol

Scratch that. I'm the only one that give this thread a thumbs up...come on people rate the thread so we can get some more people chiming in on the tv and the deal

Amazon will price match but they are charging like $25 shipping. I have a 24 hour price match gurantee if i want to call and order it within 24 hours i'll get it for $2150 or so. another $350 and I could get the VT from pauls though. I do want to use amazon financing. Should I get the GT or VT?

Quote from IRPILOT : No problem. I understand it's a big purchase and wanted to make sure we were going to be covered. Linked some good info about their return policy in the last post as well. This is a lot of work for a thread with 2 thumbs up lol Scratch that. I'm the only one that give this thread a thumbs up...come on people rate the thread so we can get some more people chiming in on the tv and the deal

I'm one of the two who bought it and that automatically gives a TU and a rep. But, a couple of people have given thumbs down which negates the thumbs up.

Quote from moremoney : I'm one of the two who bought it and that automatically gives a TU and a rep. But, a couple of people have given thumbs down which negates the thumbs up.

Ok thanks for the info. I'm a newb.

FYI

Hello Charles,

Your pre-order TV Low Price Guarantee request for the Panasonic VIERA TC-P65GT50 against Buy.com has been approved. If you place your order within the next 24 hours, you will qualify for a price match refund.

The current price for the Panasonic VIERA TC-P65GT50 on Amazon.com is $2639.00. The same television is currently listed on Buy.com for $2124.99.

Most large and/or Plasma televisions are shipped with free “Enhanced Delivery” by Amazon. The carrier will bring the television to the room of your choice, unpack the television, and allow you to plug-in the television to ensure it works before leaving. To account for this free service, we must select a comparable shipping method when processing TV Low Price Guarantee claims. In this circumstance, the comparable shipping method is “White Glove” and costs an extra $38.61 on Buy.com. Therefore, your refund may be lower than expected.

If you place your order within the next 24 hours, you will qualify for a refund in the amount of $ to the payment method used to purchase the television. The refund will be processed after the television is shipped. Please contact us below to accept the TV Low Price Guarantee after purchasing your television.

PM with a store if you can. We bought the 60 inch version from buydig.com and the sound messed up the first night and if we end up returning it, we have to pay shipping. =\ Hopefully buy.com doesn't carry the same policy.

After Shop Discover for 5% cashback by clicking through on the merchant and then purchasing the item, I saved $106. Also received 10625 rakuten points using the promo code rakuten5x which gives another $106 savings. Final out of pocket shipped price is $1913. Understandably, Amazon isn't going to match all that, so the question becomes are you willing to pay $250 more for the customer service of an Amazon purchase?

Quote from cbiggers : Amazon will price match but they are charging like $25 shipping. I have a 24 hour price match gurantee if i want to call and order it within 24 hours i'll get it for $2150 or so. another $350 and I could get the VT from pauls though. I do want to use amazon financing. Should I get the GT or VT?

Some people actually like the GT a litlle better than the VT...from plasmabuyingguide.com

"There is a lot more picture quality performance in the higher end lines of Panasonic Plasma. The GT50 series has exceptional blacks and not as much of the magnifying effect as the VT50 series (due to the louvered screen overlay)"

The main reason I got this intead of the ST is because of the bright room thx setting...I have a bright room.

In regards to the VT. It has these additional features
Viera touchpad controller...I use logitech harmony one
24P at 96Hz. This is supposed to smooth out image judder. Most people can't tell the difference between 48Hz and 96Hz and some state that you get more flickering at 96Hz.
ISFccc Alows a qualified professional calibrater to access more picture adjustments through the service menu. If you're using a service like best buy, it's pretty unlikely that they would even utilize the ISFccc feature as it takes a few hours to do a calibration of that magnitude and as far as I know they're limited to 2 hours.

But ultimately it's your call. I'm personally think the best bang for the buck for a bright lit room is the GT. Let us know what you end up doing

Quote from meaggiej : PM with a store if you can. We bought the 60 inch version from buydig.com and the sound messed up the first night and if we end up returning it, we have to pay shipping. =\ Hopefully buy.com doesn't carry the same policy.

No they don't. They cover shipping for returns within the first 45 days for defects or damage only. Even if you can get a b&m store to do a pm, you're still out, in my case, 8.25% tax or approx. $160.00

Quote from moremoney : After Shop Discover for 5% cashback by clicking through on the merchant and then purchasing the item, I saved $106. Also received 10625 rakuten points using the promo code rakuten5x which gives another $106 savings. Final out of pocket shipped price is $1913. Understandably, Amazon isn't going to match all that, so the question becomes are you willing to pay $250 more for the customer service of an Amazon purchase?

I'm not but some people are. I would rather spend the extra money I saved on a Costco squaretrade warranty and some 3D glasses