$225 for a new 55" Sony Bravia 1080P HDTV KDL-55EX500

I was watching TV on my three year old 50" Sony SXRD 1080i HDTV (KDS-R50XBR1) one night and I wondered why everyone looked like Martians. The people had greenish skin and the sky looked greenish when it should be blue. My wife said she did not see anything different. With years of experience in the graphic design field where I had to deal with color issues all the time I know what the correct colors of familair things should be. I tried all the TV adjustments with no luck.

Googling for answers, I discovered there were a number of lawsuits on several Sony SXRD TVs. Sony settled the lawsuits but the deadline to file a claim for compensation from Sony was June 30, 2009. WHAT? How come I only found out now? It turns out that the problem will only show up after the TV is turned on for a certain number of hours. Since I don't watch TV very often, it took three years for the problem to show up. But the deadline had passed! I was really mad because I spent almost $4,000 on the 50" HDTV.

After a sleepless night, I calmly called Sony the next morning and explained the greenish tint problem and they immediately recognised the problem and offered me a $925 coupon to be used on the sonystyle.com web site. While not a fantastic deal considering the amount of money I paid for my bad TV, it is nevertheless some compensation on Sony's part for acknowledging the problem. They could have said "tough luck"; the warranty and claim dealine were over. 

At the time the offer was made, it looked like a decent deal as Sony was heavily slashing prices on their 2009 HDTV models so they can be replaced with the new 2010 models. I took the offer and mailed to SONY my TV serial sticker. As I waited for my coupon to be processed and emailed to me I watched in disbelieve as the discounted models dwindled to "out-of-stock" status. The only options left were models I was not interested in and the 2010 models which made the coupon not attractive. To make matters worst, I found out other people with similar problems were offered either a free Sony KDL-46EX500 or the Sony Bravia 1080P HDTV KDL-55EX500 for $225 + tax and free shipping. I called Sony again and told them about my lousy offer. Long story short, I was able to get the new offer. Wow. What a deal. A brand new 55EX500 costs $1,900 so it's a no brainer to pay the $225 for a new TV. And I looked like a champ with my wife. I should get my new TV in about a week's time.

55" BRAVIA EX500

WAIT! That's not the end of the story. This morning I receivded an email with a $925 coupon to be used on the the sonystyle.com web site. Looks like they forgot to cancel my $925 coupon. Hmmm. What should I buy now? A Sony Playstation 3 or another big screen TV for my toilet? I can shit and watch TV at the same time.