Buying an OLED online. BUYER BEWARE!! (1 Viewer)

[Timothy E]

I’ve restrained from posting here. I had a feeling I knew who the retailer was. I did have a fair experience with this retailer too, though it wasn’t perfect. I won’t say more here about that. But it was an experience I was curious to try because of all the positive experiences people had there. While my experience was not perfect, it turned out OK so far. I have decided to not do this again. I’ll go locally.

I’m also sorry to hear about your experience Tim. What I’m curious about is what does the damage look like? Any photos? I hope you will get this resolved one way or another.

I have received a number of requests for photographs of the damage to the TV. Below is a photograph of the side of the TV. On the left side is the back of the OLED screen and the right side is the box housing the electronic components over the sound bar, which is visible in the lower righthand side of the photograph.

The area in which the tape measure is inserted is the point where the box is supposed to be joined flush with the back of the screen. The back of the TV screen is on the left of the tape measure and the component box is on the right of the tape measure. This area between the box and the screen was already separated when I removed the TV from the shipping container. I had hoped that this opening would become closer together after the TV was mounted on the wall, but the weight of the screen has not closed this gap, unfortunately.

The photograph below shows the big dent visible in the front of the sound bar. This is the lowest portion of the TV, and the sound bar was enclosed in firm styrofoam during shipping. The hard piece of stryrofoam that rested against this portion of the TV during shipping was intact, and there was no damage visible to the outer box area of the shipping container, so I am at a loss to figure out how this damage occurred during shipping.

Below is a photograph from the bottom of the TV looking straight up. I believe that the metal piece visible in this photo should be relatively straight, but you can see that this piece appears to be somewhat bent from being torn away from the screen. Above the metal piece is the screen, and the open area between the metal piece and the screen is most noticeable in this photo where the edge of the sound bar is to the right of the photo, and the white area showing the gap is visible against the ceiling.

In the photograph above, the dent in the sound bar is also visible on the left side of the picture.

Below is another photograph from the bottom with better lighting. The gap noticeable at the right side of the picture is the same gap depicted from the side with the tape measure in the first photo.

The seller advertised this TV "in perfect condition" when I bought it. (See post #22.)

The seller promised also that: "we insure the delivery for the full value." (Also post #22.)

After I received this "perfect condition" TV in damaged condition, I was told by the shipping company that: "FedEx Freight does not offer insurance. Unfortunately, since the TV was used and not new, carrier liability is limited to $.50 per pound. Your shipper may have been unaware of this when you spoke with them." (Post #37)

After I confronted the seller, he told me: " I do not feel responsible to pay any more on this transaction." (Post #38,)

The seller's last words on this subject seem to be: 'The morel of this story is that "No good deed goes unpunished".' (Post #54.)

For me, the moral of the story is "Buyer Beware." You all may be able to learn from my mistakes. As a few of you have commented, the biggest mistake that I made was agreeing to pay by check after I offered initially to pay by credit card.

I also would never buy a used TV again, even if I believed the seller to be reputable and trustworthy. Buying used is a risk in any circumstance. If the item breaks down after you buy it, there is probably no warranty. I would not blame the seller if the item stopped working the day after I received it, assuming that what I received is the same thing as what I was promised. As it is, the TV functions mostly as it should, being in less than perfect condition, with the exception of wireless streaming, as noted in earlier posts.

I have considered Bryan's suggestion in post #57 to see if there are any repair shops that may be able to stabilize the damage to the frame so that the gap does not widen too far between the screen and the sound bar. I may follow through with this suggestion, but I have been reluctant to do so since there is also a risk that attempting to fix the damage to the frame may make the set inoperative.

Thank you to each and every one of you readers for your supportive comments and suggestions.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for posting the photos Timothy. I’m not familiar with the display so it’s hard to tell what I’m looking at. Maybe a pic of the overall set will help with the geography of the damage and context. But from what I’m seeing it does look like some serious damage and I wouldn’t have accepted that.