Thanks to some lucky bitcoin investments, I decided it was time to finally upgrade to a 4k TV within the last few weeks. And since I try to do all my shopping online, I opted to take the risk, and try a online order for a wide screen TV – understanding the risks associated with shipping, but naively expecting those to be a non-issue these days.
Unfortunately, the process was not nearly as painless as hoped.
Although the deal was decent, it ended up being thru Best Buy, a shopping location I have avoided now for several years. However, the TV model met all of our needs, and came in at the right price, so we gave it a try. The first sign of problems however came on Sunday, when we received a “shipping confirmation”, indicating that the item had gone to UPS for shipping, with an ETA of Tuesday (a week early). However, UPS showed no sign of any package in their system, including up to the promised delivery day. In fact, they did not show any record until Thursday, when they registered it as “out for delivery”. So scratch one Tuesday, patiently waiting for a delivery that never came.
Today, the package finally arrived, and with great excitement I worked to unpackage and set up the new screen. And then the second issue – once I turned it on, it revealed that the screen was broken, with a crack near the bottom and discolored pixels going up the length. The rest of the screen was great, except for a 4″ scar up the middle. So a lengthy call back to Best Buy, located a replacement at the “nearby” store only 45 minutes away.
Of course, being locked into other commitments, now my wife has to drive with my son to another state to exchange a large screen TV from Best Buy, instead of having a working product as intended. Fingers crossed that the replacement is functional without issue.
