September 3, 2009

  • New TV

    I bought a new 19-inch digital flat-screen TVon Sunday for Liza's room.  It's officially our second guest room, but it's where Liza takes a nap on Saturday afternoons and where she sleeps when she spends the night with us.  She likes to watch about a half hour or so of some princess DVD when she goes down for a nap or for the night, and I don't have a problem obliging her doing that.  She usually covers up her head when I go in to turn it off, presumably hoping I won't see her or will think she's asleep already.

    The TV in that room was a really old one, and the picture was awful.  There was color, but it was really very dark.  I wouldn't have watched that TV.  Sunday Target advertized a TV set for $149.00.  The original price was $249.00, so I thought I had me a deal.  I bought one for Liza.

    I had to screw the stand on, and that took forever.  I had to put these tiny little screws into these tiny little holes with virtually no finger room.  I was forced by circumstances to say some words that I ordinarily don't say and will eventually have to confess saying, but, damn, it was hard doing that.

    Then I tried to hook it up.  The RCA cord has a white nib, a yellow nib, and a red nib at both ends.  You simply plug those nibs in to the corresponding color holes on both the DVD player and the TV, and you're good to go.  NOT!

    The DVD player was working with the old TV, albeit not so good, so I didn't mess with those.  I plugged the cords into the new TV, and nothing.  I must have done it 30 times or more, again saying some of those confessional words.  I could not get the damn thing to work to save my life.  I even tried a different RCA cord, but nothing.  I called Target and talked on the phone with the salesman for a good 30 minutes, and we tried everything he could think of.  He asked me to bring in the TV and the DVD player today, so I did.  He worked on it, and I could tell he was getting frustrated.  Finally, he plugged the yellow cord into a second white hole, and it worked.

    Well, of course, he and I felt like complete idiots.  He apoligized and said he had never seen anything like that before.  I thanked him profusely for his time and effort, and he apologized again.

    Now here's the irony.  Those TV sets went on sale when the store opened Sunday morning.  He had 20 to sell when they opened, and he only had six left when I got there at noon.  Today they were sold out, as a sign announced.  Of the 20 sets that were sold, did nobody but me and the salesman have trouble hooking up a DVD player to those things?  In all fairness, John, the salesman, was off on Monday and Tuesday, but still.  Or did I just get a strange TV set?

    Either way, mine works now, and I'm satisfied.  But should a consumer have to go to this much trouble, even for a really good deal?

    ED