1 Year Old TV delivered by Snapdeal. Should I be concerned?

[Raccoon]

1 Year, 2 Month Old, defective, unsealed TV Delivered by Snapdeal

Hello audio and videophiles! New here, and would really appreciate some inputs regarding a new purchase.

Purchased a Toshiba 32PT200 (32" HDTV)thru Snapdeal (seller: Channel Four Agencies) and it was delivered today. But the manufacturing date label on the box reads October 2012. This caused me much concern. Is this a very old piece? Or is it normal to have get a more than 1 year old TV? This is the 1st flat screen we have bought... and after several years, so not aware of how things work in the TV market.

Also, though the product is listed as 32PT200 on Snapdeal, what was delivered (as per the box and TV) is 32PT200ZE. Are these two different models?

Would really appreciate some inputs/advice.

 

[sanro]

PT200 ( not ZE) is listed on Toshiba India website so it appears that model is still in production . you should contact their service center and enquire about ZE model . Toll Free No.'s 1800 200 8674 / 1800 11 8674 (8AM-10PM)

for both models, specs looks like the same. see if you find usage of that tv.

i think snapdeal is a crapdeal and definitely not for a big ticket shopping . their customer care is horrible.

 

[zoozoo]

Log a complaint with snapdeal's customer care. Ask them to take this set back and instead provide you with the model that is listed on their website. And also insist on the latest 2013 model. Tell them if not replaced you'll mention this incident on twitter, Facebook, mouth shut etc websites. Also save the snapdeal's page where the tv is listed on your computer which will be your proof later on.

 

[haisaikat]

sometimes tvs have very minimal diufferences in the same segment so i would suggest if you get the warranty and can check the previous usage within acceptable limits like less than 3 days then better you keep it. The additional toil of following up with the customer care will just give rise to your BP.

 

[Rupam]

Another snapdeal sufferer ! I hope that there will not be any problem with your TV.

 

[Raccoon]

sometimes tvs have very minimal diufferences in the same segment so i would suggest if you get the warranty and can check the previous usage within acceptable limits like less than 3 days then better you keep it. The additional toil of following up with the customer care will just give rise to your BP.

Thanks Sanro and Zoozoo. I guess I will take it up with them. A 1 year and 2 month old TV does not sound good to me at all.

As for the model, both the model seem to have identical specs. Still dunno if this part matters.

@Sanro, you said "see if you find usage of that tv". Do you mean the log of the time the TV has been used? Could not find that in the menu... will have to peruse the manual to see if/where this is displayed. Sorry, I'm a newbie wrt LCD/LED TVs.

I agree about their customer care isn't good. I'v experienced them with smaller purchases. Used their return policy also once and they did honor it, though it wasn't exact smooth. But this was for small value items. Wish I wasn't tempted with their discount coupon. Also, could couple of the local shops did not have this model or any Full HD Toshiba model in stock, so ordered on Snapdeal. Else, very wary to buy higher value stuff online. Main reason for going with Toshiba is the 3 year warranty.

Turned on the tv and connected the cables and all now to find that the sound volume is barely audible... even on max! There definitely seems to be a sound issue, as the sound on our old (CRT) tv on the same set top box is perfectly normal. The picture too looks really bad, compared to our old CRT... thats on our old Tata Sky SD box. But I'v used this same box with a HD Ready Toshiba TV of same size, and the picture quality on that was much better. Is it that SD input is worse on a HD than it is on a HD Ready TV? If not, then the TV has a picture issue as well.

Now getting really pissed with this purchase.

 

[Raccoon]

sometimes tvs have very minimal diufferences in the same segment so i would suggest if you get the warranty and can check the previous usage within acceptable limits like less than 3 days then better you keep it. The additional toil of following up with the customer care will just give rise to your BP.

From what I can see on websites, the specs seem the same. Price also seems identical, at least from what I see here - Toshiba 32" FULL HD 1920*1080 LED TV 32PT200ZE 3 Yr Toshiba Warranty | eBay

So I'm inclined to think this part at least isn't worth making an issue about... unless I hear something better, hopefully from someone here about the differeence between these to (supposedly?) different models.

Another snapdeal sufferer ! I hope that there will not be any problem with your TV.

Seems there is an issue with the sound as mentioned earlier. Picture also seems to below par... unless this is "normal" on a HD TV (as mentioned earlier).

Anyway, have raised the issue with Snapdeal. Lets see their response. Providing such a 1yr, 2month old TV itself is an issue.

 

[Raccoon]

sometimes tvs have very minimal diufferences in the same segment so i would suggest if you get the warranty and can check the previous usage within acceptable limits like less than 3 days then better you keep it. The additional toil of following up with the customer care will just give rise to your BP.

Still unable to figure out how to find the previous usage. Can anybody help?

From what specs I see online, I could not find a difference between these 2 supposedly different models. So I'm not sure I can make an issue about this. Also, at least from what I see here, price also seems to be identical - Toshiba 32" FULL HD 1920*1080 LED TV 32PT200ZE 3 Yr Toshiba Warranty | eBay

Another snapdeal sufferer ! I hope that there will not be any problem with your TV.

Seems there is a problem with the sound at least, as mentioned earlier. Picture too seems below par... unless that is normal when you connect a SD (Tata Sky) box to a HD TV. But as mentioned earlier, the picture quality was significantly better when using this same box with a Toshiba HD Ready TV. So I have my doubts about the picture too.

 

[Raccoon]

Ok, one more bombshell -

The box seal did not show any definite signs of tampering on the top. There were 2 metal clips at the extreme ends and transparent tape which seemed to be intact, with no double taping visible. Just now though about looking at the bottom, and found that there are holes on both extreme ends for the metal clips, but no metal clips! And the trasparent tape clearly has another transparent tape applied over it!

So its 100% sure this is not a sealed TV that was delivered. Also, the plastic sheet that the TV was covered in is torn in couple of places, which I noticed when I opened the box. The screen has no protective sheet on the screen.

Since this is a 1 yr 2 month old set that has been delivered and with seal broken, its very likely to have been a demo piece.

 

[jagdish_p]

A CRT TV will have better sound and better picture quality compared to a low end flat panel TV.

Do ensure that you take a demo of the SD channels and not the blue rays which showrooms put up for your next purchase after you return this TV.

 

[Raccoon]

^^^From what I'v observed and know, a CRT would be better with SD input compared to flat panel. 720p or 1080p input should obviously look better on flat panel even on a low end TV. Sound will of course likely to be better with CRTs.

Anyway, as I said, I'm comparing my experience with other HD Ready flat panel only. This TV definitely is defective on the sound front. Picture too is below par, as I'v mentioned. Its pretty certain now that this is both an old and defective piece.

Seems the online route is a good way for sellers to get rid of defective and/or showroom display products. Now its upto Snapdeal how they deal with this. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have a good review system for individual sellers, which is going to work against them. Quality of product reviews is also low.

 

[Raccoon]

No response from Snapdeal till date other than the usual "we are looking into it". However, got the set checked out by Toshiba technician. Service was very prompt, and the TV was looked at and fiddled with the next day itself. The quality of these tech people leave a LOT to be desired though. Without getting into those details, the person at the ASC was cooperative enough to give me copy of their report which clearly admits that there are issues with both sound and picture. Though they have mentioned that customer is not ready to repair.

I obviously refused to repair, esp. when they said we will try to repair by swapping components and stuff... sounded like a very hit and miss game to me. In any case repairs are not an acceptable solution for a product that is this old and defective (and possibly used as a demo piece or whatever) out of the box.

 

[madbullram]

post in snapdeal FB page

 

[Raccoon]

Tweeted it yesterday. Okay, I'll post it on FB too, shortly... maybe with the pics. They can expect a hell lot of publicity in other places too, if they don't resolve this fast.

But I felt its right to give them some time to resolve, before defaming them too much.

 

[Raccoon]

They took the set back several days ago. Finally got a call from them today apologising for the issue and said refund is being processed. Phew! Though the final relief will be when the refund is actually reflected in the statement.

So we are still without a TV, and back to wondering what to buy. The same model 32PT200ZE (32") does not seem to be available with any offline dealers. They only have the HD Ready model with the sound bar (PU200, IIRC). And the price quoted for this HD Ready model is almost same as the prive i paid to Snapdeal for the Full HD model.

Anybody knows why the Full HD 32PT200ZE is not stocked by dealers despite having such a good price vs spec. ratio? Any advice would be much appreciated.