ELWIN TELEVISION & APPLIANCE

I have NOTHING good to say about this company. I was referred by Sony, USA. I have filed a complaint with Sony. After sending out a tech, who was very nice and professional, I was informed that I need a light ballast for my rear projection television. I knew I had to pay the $90.00 diagnostic fee, but was informed that I needed to pay for the part up front also. I did pay the $441 total which included the $90. I was told that it would probably take 5 business days. Two days later I received a call stating that the part was in and I was elated. I rescheduled a trip to NYC to expedite the process. The Tech arrived and dismantled the tv and then removed the defective part. When he retreived the new partI noticed thathe packaging didn't seem to be for that part and the part itself has a layer of dust on it. I found it strange that Sony would ship a circuit board in such a haphazard manner. When the tech attempted to install the part he discovered that the wire leads were approx 6 inches short. He got aggrivated and apologized and called the parts department. I monitored the phone call, unnoticed by the tech, and overheard the parts person say that it was a crossover part that they had hanging around the parts department, from a different brand of tv, and that they would order the necessary part from Sony. I was a little aggrivated, not with the tech but with the parts dweeb, who sounded like he was aggrivated at the inconvenience of not being able to get rid of the said part. The tech then cleaned up and once again apologized and told me that the scheduling department would be in touch when the part was in. I asked him about the possibility of expediting the part from sony as we had lost 3 days. He suggested that I call the parts department. My feeling was that Pinnacle should pay for the expedited shipping to compensate me for the extra down time. I waited 3 hours and then called the parts department and spoke with a women who told me that they didn't feel the need to pay for expediting the part because the part they origionally provided was defective. I corrected her and informed her that it was not defective, her parts depatment simply didn't pay attention to the specs. My suspicion at this point was that they tried to use a salvaged part from a different set, yet they were charging the full amount of a new part from Sony. She attempted to debate me on the defective part issue, but relented under factual information. I inquired as to the expedited shipping issue and she curtly told me she would get back to me by close of business. It has been 7 days and I have not heard back from her. I waited a full 24 hours and once again called Pinnacle and this time got a man, I was placed on hold while my inquiry was researched. He informed me that the part still had not been ordered from Sony and he would check on the expedited shipping issue. He promised to get back to me. Once again I have not heard back from him to date! I waited another full 24 hours and called again, I was given the same "Pinnacle two-step" and finally demamnded to speak to someone who was actually in charge of something, anything. I was put through to a women who gave me the whole two-step routine again. I then asked about a refund of my money, she informed me she would be glad to but it would take 10 - 14 business days and I would not be refunded the $90 for the house call. This aggrivated me further as they had no problem with processing a check over the phone instantaneously at the time of the parts order. She suggested that I might as well wait for the part to come in. I asked her about the time frame and expedited shipping. She stated that it was their policy to not pay for expedited shipping, even if the fault was theirs, which she would not admit to. She then went on a 15 minute explanation of how Sony was a mess and had relocated their parts distribution center so everything was running longer than expected. She stated that she would research the issue for me. I found this wholey improbable and when I pressed for further details I was told that indeed Sony had changed the way they distribute parts by changing to a new inventory system and as a result their own employees couldn't even find things. At this point I felt as if I was being given erroneous information and that I was being held hostage by my $441 being in their possession. She stated that she would get back to me with more information, I suggested that she not bother, I would call them 4 days later if I had not heard from them. Its 4 days and I have not heard from them. I am contacting Sony to complain and will file a BBB claim. I will NEVER utilize the services of this company again and NEVER recommend them to anyone. The only saving grace of this saga is the professionalism of the tech involved. After doing a bit of research I discovered that Pinnacle had acquired Elwin TV. Fired all the technicians and then rehired them as independent contractors. It would appear that Pinnacle is sqeezing its profits from both ends. They called me yesterday and today as the part had come in,(3/3/11) and were insistent about completing the repair. Due to all the misinformation and the lack of professionalism I requested a refund, of course they reminded me I would forfit the $89.00 service fee. I consider this a small price to pay to be done with them. I have filed a complaint with the BBB and am going to seek a refund of that also. While on the BBB site I checked Pinnacle's rating and discovered that there had been previous complaints and they had the worst rating possible. This really irked me as they were referred by SONY! I called Sony to ask if they bother to check out whpo they refer customers to. I got a royal runaround there! I spoke to somone in Malaysia, then India and finally Florida. No one could answer the question and they couldn't haver cared less. They suceeded in proving to me to avoid all SONY products in the future! I will never buy Sony again nor use Pinnacle. Its a pity as this TV has been excellent up till now. As a kicker, when the tech came for the first visit he tested something in the TV and all of a sudden it started working again. Its working ok now, but he did say it probably wouldn't last. When it goes again I'll call my other option. I want to state again for the record, the technician was excellent in every respect. Every other aspect of the contact with this formerly respectable company left me wondering what ever happened to customer service!

Not finished yet. First, they seemed surprised that the TV was on the wall, and they don't seem prepared to service that kind. Their appointment system is horrible! They give you a day, and then call the night before with a 4 hour window when they'll be there. So you must clear the entire day, just in case. So far, they've visited and not taken the TV down and diagnosed it, then returned with the wrong part. I've wasted enough days, I asked for a morning time frame. Each time they give me a day, then call the night before and say they'll be there in the afternoon. The manager will not get on the phone, and the caller blames the scheduler and vice versa. I found their website - it's a hoot reading about their "commitment to customer service." I've been waiting for a warranty-covered repair since December 23rd.

Very bad - not recommended - repairman did not know what he was doing and the price went up every time I talked with someone.

This was a bad experience. Not recommended at all. Stay away.

But the service was terrible! After prepaying, I was told the repairs would take 7-10 days. On Day 16 I called to get a status report. Call #1, A man answered and then immediately hung up. Call #2, A woman answered and said she would check on my TV and call back. She never called back. Call #3, I was told that they would start working on my set the next day (day 17). I finally recieved a call to say it was ready on Day 18. I told them I would pick it up shortly. Did they bother to mention that they close at 1:00PM on Saturday's? They did not and I drove to Warwick from East Providence for nothing at 1:30. To make matters worse, I believe the front glass of the TV was scratched while they had it. Since the TV was wrapped in plastic when they gave it back I did not see it in time to complain. Just a terrible experince from start to finish. But my TV does work (just with a nice 3 inch scratch on the screen).

WE BOUGHT THE DISHWASHER FROM THEM, SO THEY ARE VERY GOOD ABOUT COMING TO DO ANY REPAIRS. IT WAS A SMALL PART THAT HAD BROKEN DOWN, THEY HAD THE JOB DONE VERY QUICKLY.