BillH2121 Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 I'm considering purchasing a Samsung DLP 61 inch TV (1080p), probably 68 series - maybe 78 series. It appears that I could save plenty of $ by buying from an online dealer and having the set delivered. Anyone have experience purchasing this way - what about service after the sale or if problems exist with TV? Thanks for any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Bill, I started too do that, but thought, what happens if it needs service? Would you have to get it mailed (at what cost? )to get repaired. Whereas if you deal locally, your helping your towns economy plus if it needs service I am sure the store would help you get it repaired in an easy fashion........... Last thing- shipping- do you want to take the chance with having it shipped to you? Local Pickup or having the local store deliver it makes more sense to me.........JMHO. Just read the fine print on any deal you attempt to get............. "Shop Globally, purchase locally" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 I believe in supporting your neighborhood shop. How many here on the Forum have NO hifi shop locally, perhaps due to online shopping. Keep a local store, shop there today. But don't be afraid to challenge them with price comparisons, remembering that they do offer service, live demo models and other niceties that cost them money, so don't expect them to match emall pricing. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efzauner Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Getting after sales service should not be a problem. Find out who does local service for Samsung. You can find this from the Samsung website, yellow pages, or even call a local dealer that is the authorized dealer for Samsung. If the internet dealer is an authorized dealer then Samsung or the authorized service center will honour the warranty.The only down side is that if the local authorized service center is also the local dealer. He may not give you good service, especially if you shopped there and purchased online. I know of a local specialty audio/video store that has been the only authorized repair center for Sony for 30 years in a 100mile radius. A big box store then opened not 5 minutes away and signed with Sony. Guess what? The specialty dealer was so pissed that he told Sony that he was going to refuse any warranty repair of products sold at the big box store! Luckily he had enough clout and the big box store was mainly in the furniture business and was not big on audio/video yet. As for shipping to and from the repair center, most 27inch and up TVs are covered by an at home warranty. They dont want stuff damaged in transit by you. For a nominal fee they will pick stuff up from your home. Why carry a $3000 TV to the shop on your own for repair? After the warranty is out, who cares? Samsung Authorized service doesnt care where you purchased it from if you pay for the repair. Interesting note: Costco often imports greymarket goods and the manufacturer does not honor the warranty, however Costco has their own warranty and will cover the cost for repair by the authorized repair center. The only issue is if it is grey market and there are parts that are not imported by the manufacturerer, you are outa luck. Even things like service manuals may not be available for grey market goods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efzauner Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Having said what I did about service, I do agree to support my local shop if they are at least competitive. They do not have to be the cheapest. This fine for HIFI specialty gear, but let's be honest, I do not think that Samsung or Sony, or Toshiba really supports the small shops very well. They all know that Big Box is the future. They also have very little loyalty for the little store so why should you be loyal to them? Why is it OK for Samsung to make a business decision and sell thru big box because it is more profitable, at the detriment of the little guy, but when you decide that it is better business for you to shop internet, then you are a bad guy? Same thing goes for the buy American (or buy Canadian for me). All the big US manufacurers outsource to China to make more profit, but if you buy something made overseas you are being unamerican... The Sonys, Toshibas, Samsungs etc dont care who sells it, as long as they are making profit. They are all trying to reduce the number of distributors they sell thru to cut costs and overhead. That is the only way they are going to survive against China! Getting a bit off topic, but you get the idea. lets stick to debating good sound instead of world economics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 I'd personally be a little nervous about buying something as large and fragile over the net as a TV. However my brother bought his big screen JVC off the net and everything went smoothly and he did save a bundle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wstrickland1 Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 I'm considering purchasing a Samsung DLP 61 inch TV (1080p), probably 68 series - maybe 78 series. It appears that I could save plenty of $ by buying from an online dealer and having the set delivered. Anyone have experience purchasing this way - what about service after the sale or if problems exist with TV? Thanks for any advice. I bought my Samsung 61"DLP from Tweeter.com. $2200 delivered, NO TAX. It's a $3500 TV. It arrived intact, and if it had been beat up the least little bit I would have refused delivery. It has been working flawlessly for a year now. As for the local economy, I'll spend the money I saved here in town. I'd say that's a fair deal. Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcott Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 With Internet feedback services, it is far easier to determine the worthiness of an internet vendor and their status as a certified dealer. Having said that, I too like to support the local guy if he is reasonable and competent but that too is becoming more and more difficult to find. I am afraid that the overhead of a retail establishment has killed the mom and pop business and the only retail vendors left have staff that are rarely as qualified and considerate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillH2121 Posted November 11, 2005 Author Share Posted November 11, 2005 Thanks everyone for the feedback. I agree that one should support his local shop when feasible. However, the "local shop" in Oklahoma City is Best Buy, Circuit City, and Ultimate Electronics. And they seem to carry only certain models at anywhere from $500 - $1000 more than available on the net. I have to admit that I'm pretty nervous about dealing on something like a TV over the net but I'm also not crazy about handing over an extra $1000. I'm not in any hurry at this point to buy so I'll just relax and shop around a little more. BTW, there are some specialty, high-end HT stores in the area, but at even higher prices than the big stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 I bought my Samsung 56" DLP online. No troubles with shipping, nor should there be. These things don't go UPS, they go freight. Besides, how do you think the stores get them? From what I've heard there aren't any problems with repair. The repair techs usually just come out to your home. I understand what many have mentioned about supporting your local store, and to a point I agree. If there isn't too much of a price difference, I would gladly buy it from a local store. But when the online store is an authorized dealer, and the item is $1,000 - $1,500 cheaper, it's a pretty simple decision. I'm just not in a position to pay 1k more than I need to just to support my local store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I bought my 50" Panasonic HD plasma from an on-line dealer in the northwest and it was shipped to Boston via Forward Air. It arrived in 3 days and was in perfect condition. It was $1800 less than the "box store" price. The packaging on these Pannies is really unbelievable. As huge as the box-in-a-box assembly was, I saved it and when we moved to Hilton Head this summer from Boston, the plasma just went back in the boxes and onto the moving van. No problem whatsoever. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Chris, Thanks for the response! I went to your web site-WOW what a beautiful setup you have! Looks like you have all the toys setup for optimum use, but giving your spouse the WAF...... Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I'm kinda half & half with this online thing. I mean, I will try my best to buy locally and will resort to the online purchase if I can't get a price that's close. For the very reasons mentioned here, I will buy large expense items locally if I can get a price that's within $200 of the internet because if there's any problem whatsoever, it's just a quick trip back to the store. A question I think we should ask ourselves is what is our hourly rate for our "free" time. I don't know about you, but my free time is worth major bucks! [] OTOH, there are some things that buying online is a no brainer like connectors or cables or remote controls and such. From my experience, my local Pop (mom was never involved [] ) store has always been able to meet the Best Buys and Circuit City type places prices and come damn close to internet prices. That's because they are part of a large nationwide buying group. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARPRINCE Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I bought my Samsung 50" DLP locally. I did my research on the internet, printed a checkout page for the item, went to my local store and they priced matched it including the shipping less 5% of the difference. Also, I beleive that the best week to buy is around Thanksgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Some of the online shippers have installed deals in your home but the shipping may take 30 days. Freight truckers do not ship like UPS or FEDEX, whereas the customer is important. They act like railroads. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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