Best Buy will not replace our faulty television bought one week ago!

I wonder what kind of surface the TV was placed on. When I was
putting up my TV, I was tempted to lay it on the couch since it was a
flat, soft surface and seemed convenient being right there. However,
I had second thoughts when I realized the weight of the tv would cause
the cushion to push into and put pressure on the the delicate screen.
I opted to use the dining room table instead.

I have to agree with you. I own a flat panel as well, although not a
Toshiba, and my owner's manual said to lay it screen down on a soft
surface while installing the base plate. Although it sounds crazy to
do given the delicate nature of these kind of tvs, if the owner's
manual told you to do so, you should be fully covered.

Contact Toshiba directly, do not rely on what Best Buy FEELS Toshiba
will or will not due.

If you used a cred card and Toshiba won't help you, dispute the charge
since you followed the directions.

Another approach is contact the consumer affairs reporter at your
local TV station.

I found a manual for a 40" Toshiba LCD TV at Crutchfield.

I was in the process of agreeing with everybody else and looking for
the warning that told you not to do what you did when, while searching
for the phrase "face down", I found this:

"CAUTION: Before beginning pedestal assembly, carefully lay the front
of the LCD panel face down on a flat, cushioned surface such as a
quilt or a blanket. Leave the bottom of the unit protruding over the
edge of the surface and assemble pedestal as indicated below."

And now I agree with you.

I don't agree with you that there not being one external mark proves
that you didn't cause the damage, that the TV you got was defective,
or that the service agreement isn't good for anything because it
doesn't cover what appears to the people at the store to be accidental
damage. But I agree that you should have been able tolay the front of
the LCD panel face down on some blankets and if simply doing that led
to the TV breaking then it should be repaired or replaced. No matter
how reasonable it sounds to me that putting it face down is going to
result in some very heavy stuff pressing down dangerously on the
screen, if the manual tells you to do it then it ought to be safe.

I'm not sure how you're going to prove that you didn't do anything you
shouldn't have done, but I hope Toshiba fixes or replaces the TV for
you. I hope you'll let us know.

I tried to find an owner's manual for a 40" Toshiba, but failed in 10
minutes of searching.

What I was wondering, is if in the owner's manual, which you say you
followed, if there is any instruction regarding laying the tv down on
its front.

To me, if done *extremely* carefully, this is probably possible with
most sets. However, I can also see where a small amount of pressure
on the panel itself could lead to disaster. With a narrow bezel
cabinet border, this could be hard to accomplish.

I would still be interested to know what the manual says.

But the fact that all coffee cups now explicitly state that the coffee
is hot and other packaging pointing out the obvious is a a way to
cover themselves against frivolous lawsuits such as the case of the
McDonald's suit. I realize that an elderly customer spilled the coffee
in her lap and thought it was too hot. Conventional coffee brewing
standards specify that the temperature of the coffee served at
McDonald's is necessary to ensure taste up to their standards. By
printing this on the cup, it offers them some level of protection.

I know the details and when I've posted them on this site, it swayed
people's opinions, who previously thought the lawsuit was frivolous.

The gist was: McDs knowingly burned multiple customers each year,
because the cost of the lawsuits was cheaper than the amount of money
they were saving by brewing the coffee at a *ridiculously* hot
temperature (hotter water = less coffee beans required for a pot of
coffee).

McD's own internal documents proved that McDs was knowingly putting
people at risk, in order to save money, and when these documents were
discovered, it became a much different matter.

And disclaimers really don't offer much protection from lawsuits.
They just dissuade some.

the associates seemed so unsympathetic - they probably hear situations
like this every day.

No, you didn't drop or mishandle it, but laying the TV down on it's
fragile glass screen allowed all the weight of the electronic
mechanisms inside the TV to balance on that glass that was not
designed to hold that amount of weight. There is a reason that there
are warnings all over the carton it comes in cautioning anyone
handling it not to lay the unit down flat.

While it is frustrating and disappointing to hear them tell you they
can't do anything for you, damaging the screen while setting it up is
not something that is routinely covered under service plans.
Unfortunately, that actually was your misstep and not a defect.

I would echo Bill's suggestion that you see if your homeowners policy
might cover it. It's better than nothing at all.

I remember when my friend and I brought home her huge Sony Plasma TV a
couple years back. We were told by AAFES to NOT lay it down period!
We stapped it on the back of the truck, standing up. We carried it
up 2 flights of stairs, right side up and one of us held on to it at
all times until we got it on the stand.

I think it cracked cause you laid it down. Therefore, its your loss,
perhaps you can find someone who can fix it.

I'm on Best Buy's side here. The fact that you heard a crack while
handing the TV is proof enough that the damage occurred while the TV
was in your position. You have to remember, this is something Best Buy
deals with on a daily basis. Also, back in April we bought a Sony LCD
flatscreen TV, took it home, set it up, didn't like the picture and
noticed among other things, that there was a delay when switching from
regular to HD channels. Exactly 30 days later, we took the TV back to
Best Buy, explained all the problems and were told that the TV had a
bad tuner. We exchanged it, with zero hassle, for a much better
Samsung LCD. Also, I noticed that the boxes for both TVs warned
against placing the TVs face down, so I can only assume that Toshiba
would have the same warning on their boxes. Why on earth did you lay
the TV on its screen? Flat screen or not, I cannot imagine ever
placing a TV on its screen. That would be like placing a brick on a
carton of eggs!

Nicole S.,

Sorry to hear about the problem.

Laying it on the screen even on blankets put all the weight of the TV
on the most delicate part of the TV..the screen.

You might check with your homeowner's insurance and see if they might
cover this.

BillR.

Huh. This is an expensive issue. If you told them the LCD was
cracked without telling them that you heard it crack, I wonder if
their response would have been different.

The fact there is no external crack does not necessarily show that you
did not mishandle the TV. It may have been impacted in some manner
that would not show visible scratches.

I am guessing that if the manufacturer argues that the screens do not
crack by themselves, you may be out of luck. A cracked screen is
probably something not covered under warranty, which is why that is
not an option.

The irony is, if you had just said it was cracked when you turned it
on, this may have turned out differently. This sounds like a tough
one. Good luck.

a factory defect. It broke (and you heard it) when it was laying on
that screen. The manufacturer ships them upright and with foam
packaging around the edges - *not* on the screen - to protect them.
It's unfortunate, but I don't think this is Toshiba's fault.