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View Full Version : Costco comes shining through!!!



Mitchell Andrus
12-30-2007, 9:19 PM
In March 2006 (21 months ago) I bought a 42" Philips HD Plasma set from Costco in Bound Brook, NJ. Price, $1,899.00. I was catching up on some TV yesterday (Sat.) and the set made a clicking noise, the screen went blank and a red indicator light started flashing a service code. Not good.

A call to Philips confirmed what I found on various on-line forums... that the power supply went bad and very likely took the main board with it. This model (42PF7220A/37 not made any more) has a known problem. Philips said the 12 month warrantee was up but I should call Costco to see if they would help me out.

I called Costco and the manager said to bring it back and I did so today. I fully expected to be told I'd get 50% store credit or similar. The manager looked up my account (I couldn't find the receipt) asked for my Am Ex card and pasted 100% of the purchase price plus the sales tax back onto my card. One phone call, 10 minutes in the store. They didn't even ask to see if it worked at all, nor did they call Philips. Just me with my face explaining about my dead friend lying on the cart.

I picked out a 52" Sharp Aquos HD LCD ($2,499.00) that looks even better than the plasma did. Bigger too!!!!

Costco sold me another set within the hour and is #1 in my book. It's all about customer service, folks.

Ken Fitzgerald
12-30-2007, 9:33 PM
Yup! It is all about customer service. That's one of the reasons I shop Costco!

Gary Keedwell
12-30-2007, 9:57 PM
Me too...been a steady customer for over 16 years. Bought a Sony 46" 7 or 8 months ago...over a month later they dropped the price $200..I asked about it ...they credited my CC the 200. Can tell you many good things about Costco. They treat their help real good too. Know alot of people the whole 16 years.:)
Gary

Jim Becker
12-30-2007, 9:57 PM
That's a nice deal, Mitchell. Great example of customer service. If I may ask, what specific model is the Aquos? Costco isn't listing anything above 37" on their web site and if they actually are carrying the model I want, I'd consider buying from them. (We have a shared membership card)

Bruce Page
12-30-2007, 10:22 PM
That's awesome.
Costco get's a lot of our money too.

Mitchell Andrus
12-30-2007, 11:42 PM
Jim, model #LC-52D62U On the shelf, carried it home.
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=1


It's been on for about 7 hours and it's throwing off about 1/3 the heat that the Plasma did. That's a good thing. Even in winter, the plasma heated the room all by itself.

It took about 10 minutes to play with the menus to get the 2 HDMI inputs, the S-Video and the composite inputs all recognized and running, WITHOUT the manual. We don't need no stinking manual. It's just intuitive enough to avoid the manual for now. Fine tuning can come later.

I read a few early reveiws on the Aquos line and banding was a concern. Not any more on the newer models and certainly not with this one. Banding is the 'paint-by-numbers' look in areas of gradation, such as in a scene with a lot of sky. The large flat areas (and verything else) are perfect whether it's a DVD, Blue Ray, regular or HD Fios. The picture is so bright, I'm going to have to turn on the auto brightness control to tone it down a bit.

Greg Just
12-30-2007, 11:58 PM
Costco has a very liberal return policy and that makes it a great place to shop.

Thomas Knighton
12-31-2007, 6:38 AM
Now I'm jealous we don't have a Cosco here :(

Tom

Keith Starosta
12-31-2007, 8:08 AM
We LOVE Costco!! They have shown me excellent customer service a number of times over the last few years.

We call Costco "The $300 Store".....mostly because we don't ever seem to get out of there without spending less than $300. :rolleyes: :D

- Keith

Matt Meiser
12-31-2007, 8:20 AM
Ours opened about 6 months ago and we joined about 2 months ago. I wasn't sure at first it it would be worth it, but we've tried several of the Kirkland brand things and have been happy with all of them (the dog is REALLY happy with his food.)

I've been eyeing the 42" LCDs every time we visit. Hopefully in the spring one will be following us home. Of course then I have to build a whole new entertainment center and we'll have to get an HD box from DirecTV so its going to get involved. They have a lot more in the store than what they show on the web in the way of TVs.

Jim Becker
12-31-2007, 8:27 AM
Thanks Mitchell. The 62 was my original choice...it's nice TV and a great value. You'll also appreciate the "super stretch" mode for viewing 4:3 material in wide screen without noticeable distortion. Best in the business on that one...

Randy Cohen
12-31-2007, 8:54 AM
Now I'm jealous we don't have a Cosco here :(

Tom
:(me too for here

Mitchell Andrus
12-31-2007, 9:04 AM
Yea, the stretch effect is different by manufacturer. If it's done well, the center of the screen is more or less 'normal' and the majority of the stretch is done towards the sides. Of course, this distorts any image that pans side to side - like looking through a fish bowl. It's a compromise and the Aquos does a fair job so far. At 52" though (~26"x45") a 4:3 ratio picture is HUGE - about like a regular screen that's 42" diag. I really don't need to see John McGloughlin stretched, so I usually toggle over to full width screen for letterboxed and HD stuff.

Randal Stevenson
12-31-2007, 10:24 AM
Costco has a very liberal return policy and that makes it a great place to shop.


Costco modified its return policcy last year (2006) though, on electronics (tv's, pc's, etc). Before that, you could take it back (as long as they were in business) 20 years later. As it gets out, people will abuse it more, so they had to modify their return policy.