Right,
So I recently bought a Samsung 59D6900 Plasma 3D Tv from a known retailer. It was working perfectly until last week when I turned it and it started doing the much feared buzzing sound*. Having read about this online I thought I was a lucky buyer as my TV didn't have it in the beginning.
So I call the retailer, talk to their tech support who try to convince me that that's how the TV sounds and that it's normal. I *maybe* would have swallowed that if it made the noise from the beginning and I hadn't read about the issue online. So, the tech guy says that for them it's normal and if I don't like it I should contact samsung directly since, unless Samsung authorises the replacement they won't do it themselves.
So I contact samsung, go over some diagnostics and the Sammy tech guy says that the TV is faulty and authorises a replacement. I contact the retailer who passes me on to their senior tech guy who tries to tell me that 3m is too close for this TV and that I should be sitting more than 5m away and then the sound would be no problem (!!!). I cut him short of his BS and tell him that Sammy has authorised the replacement and that's that - send me a new one. Oh no he says, you have to bring it instore (I bought it over the phone) and get the replacement. I explain to him that I cannot alone bring a 59'' TV to a store without a car but he is having none of it. So I contact back samsung who authorise a free collection/delivery as well!!
Back to the retailer, who says that that's fine, now Samsung needs to call them and give them the authorisation codes (wouldn't accept them from me) to proceed. I call samsung who tells me that, no, it's the retailer who contacts them, not the other way around. So I'm in the middle pulling my hair out. Back to the retailer and finally come across a good tech chap who offers to give a call to Sammy, he sorts it out and tells me to call their head office customer service to arrange the date for delivery/pick-up.
So I call the head office, who tells me that no, they have to send an engineer to confirm the fault, otherwise they won't do the replacement. In vain I try to explain to her that sammy has authorised everything etc. After a lot of back and forth she accepts it and gives me a date.
The date comes, they bring the new TV and take away the old one. I plug in the new TV and...the buzzing is even louder with this one..I cannot describe how I felt having gone through all this malarkey (more than 4 hours of phone calls).
I call the retailer who point blank refuses any replacement as 'it's the TVs normal sound' and offers me an exchange with an LED/LCD if I want, but no more Samsung plasma's. Given that at the price point that model is I can't get any other plasma of that size I have no real option but to keep this one (LCD/LED won't do it for me). My only alternative is to contact Samsung and see if they can do something about it, but I've kind of given up on hoping.
Gutted..
I've noticed that if you tilt the TV a upwards slightly the noise is less. Also if you put something on the top of it (behind the bezel so it doesn't show) it muffles the buzzing as well. I just need to find some material to cover it to allow it to breathe as well if Samsung won't come forward with a solution.
Oh, and yes I know 'first world problems'. It just sucks to go through all this and still get no solution.
* For those not familiar with this issue, a lot of Samsung plasma's are making a loud buzzing noise, that is much louder than any normal TV operation noise and you can hear it more than 3m away and over the sound of tv programmes.
So I recently bought a Samsung 59D6900 Plasma 3D Tv from a known retailer. It was working perfectly until last week when I turned it and it started doing the much feared buzzing sound*. Having read about this online I thought I was a lucky buyer as my TV didn't have it in the beginning.
So I call the retailer, talk to their tech support who try to convince me that that's how the TV sounds and that it's normal. I *maybe* would have swallowed that if it made the noise from the beginning and I hadn't read about the issue online. So, the tech guy says that for them it's normal and if I don't like it I should contact samsung directly since, unless Samsung authorises the replacement they won't do it themselves.
So I contact samsung, go over some diagnostics and the Sammy tech guy says that the TV is faulty and authorises a replacement. I contact the retailer who passes me on to their senior tech guy who tries to tell me that 3m is too close for this TV and that I should be sitting more than 5m away and then the sound would be no problem (!!!). I cut him short of his BS and tell him that Sammy has authorised the replacement and that's that - send me a new one. Oh no he says, you have to bring it instore (I bought it over the phone) and get the replacement. I explain to him that I cannot alone bring a 59'' TV to a store without a car but he is having none of it. So I contact back samsung who authorise a free collection/delivery as well!!
Back to the retailer, who says that that's fine, now Samsung needs to call them and give them the authorisation codes (wouldn't accept them from me) to proceed. I call samsung who tells me that, no, it's the retailer who contacts them, not the other way around. So I'm in the middle pulling my hair out. Back to the retailer and finally come across a good tech chap who offers to give a call to Sammy, he sorts it out and tells me to call their head office customer service to arrange the date for delivery/pick-up.
So I call the head office, who tells me that no, they have to send an engineer to confirm the fault, otherwise they won't do the replacement. In vain I try to explain to her that sammy has authorised everything etc. After a lot of back and forth she accepts it and gives me a date.
The date comes, they bring the new TV and take away the old one. I plug in the new TV and...the buzzing is even louder with this one..I cannot describe how I felt having gone through all this malarkey (more than 4 hours of phone calls).
I call the retailer who point blank refuses any replacement as 'it's the TVs normal sound' and offers me an exchange with an LED/LCD if I want, but no more Samsung plasma's. Given that at the price point that model is I can't get any other plasma of that size I have no real option but to keep this one (LCD/LED won't do it for me). My only alternative is to contact Samsung and see if they can do something about it, but I've kind of given up on hoping.
Gutted..
I've noticed that if you tilt the TV a upwards slightly the noise is less. Also if you put something on the top of it (behind the bezel so it doesn't show) it muffles the buzzing as well. I just need to find some material to cover it to allow it to breathe as well if Samsung won't come forward with a solution.
Oh, and yes I know 'first world problems'. It just sucks to go through all this and still get no solution.
* For those not familiar with this issue, a lot of Samsung plasma's are making a loud buzzing noise, that is much louder than any normal TV operation noise and you can hear it more than 3m away and over the sound of tv programmes.
