"TVA's Web site indicated LCD TV set I wanted was in stock (25 units). E-mailed to make certain the set was actually in stock. Reply came within hours that it was in stock. Ordered set 11/10/06. Credit card charged 5 days later. No contact since then from TVA. No response to my e-mail. (I refuse to deal by phone with sellers, as there is no proof of what is said. It's my word against theirs. Any legal action would require a paper trail and proof of allegations.) Recent checks of their Web site show as few as 13 and as many as 25+ of the set I ordered are still "in stock."

Discovered this site and the previously cited problems with seller just recently. Checked Los Angeles County Better Business Bureau for complaints about TVA. 13 have been filed and handled well enough to earn TVA a "BBB" rating. (See this link: http://tinyurl.com/yfyjso. Cut & paste or type into your search window.) Checked Los Angeles County Dept. of Consumer Affairs re: CA consumer protection laws. (See this link: http://tinyurl.com/ykapyv.) Essentially, TVA has 30 days to send an order or notify buyer of alternate options. Complaints to both BBB and Dept. of Consumer Affairs can be filed online at links provided above.

Buyers should be aware that TVA's "Terms and Conditions" say buyers can be charged a 3% "cancellation fee" for "merchant processing and handling fees" TVA incurs, plus "shipping and handling charges incurred" should they cancel an order. Therefore, if TVA says it has shipped your order, demand a tracking number and name of shipper immediately be provided in writing (e-mail). If provided, immediately call the shipper for confirmation of the info. If not provided, consider your options carefully. (Personally, I will dispute the charge and plead my case with my credit card issuer.)

If you are not in a hurry and willing to go through the hassles involved in dealing with TVA, you can save considerable money buying there. If you are in a hurry and/or don't need the stress others' posts suggest you will probably have, buy elsewhere. Most of all, remember that squeaky wheels generally get oiled. Write down dates and names of every TVA person you speak to, but be aware that a verbal interchange is not proof of anything. Save a copy of every e-mail sent and received from TVA. If you decide to complain to authorities, a paper trail will help to prove your case.

I will post a follow-up on my case when it runs its course, one way or the other.

12-16-2006 Addendum: TV Authority (TVA) could not or would not provide a shipping date, name of shipper or tracking number for my order. After requesting the information 4 times and not getting it, I cancelled the order (31 days after my credit card was charged). I will dispute dispute the charge with my credit card issuer, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and file a complaint with the Los Angeles County Comnsumer Protection Office. I will never again do business with TVA.

01-02-2007 Final Adddendum: TV Authority failed to refund/rebate my credit card within the one week consumer protection laws allow. Complaints filed with the FTC, BBB and CA Attorney General's Consumer Affairs Office.

Final note: TVA rebated my credit card 1-16-07, 23 days after it received my cancellation. CA law allows a seller 7 days to file a rebate. Yet the CA Consumer Affairs Office refused to get involved. (BOO - HISS to that office!) However, the FTC took my complaint and keeps files on such businesses. If enough complaints against a store are filed, it can get involved.


"

"Stay away from this place! Everyone else on here who has been a dissatisfied customer is dead on. My experiences have been incredibly similar. The most disappointing customer service you'll ever see. My fiancee and I both ordered the same Samsung 6187 from them. Told TV was on backorder – both of us wait for 2 months for it to be available. Then we were both told the same day each of our tv's were shipping. I received mine 2 weeks later, hers almost 6 weeks later. She and I would both call numerous times asking where other tv was at. Told that it had been shipped, but no tracking number available. When TV doesn’t arrive within a week, call again, same excuse. Finally one full month later, the TV finally arrives. They claimed problem at warehouse. But why can’t they call and let us know before hand? But that was typical for their customer service. Next, they messed up my financing. I asked for the 5% off purchase with opening credit card through them. Get my first bill without 5% off. Have to make numerous phone calls to TVA for that to be fixed. Now 5 months after ordering, I am still making numerous calls because I have yet to receive my warranty package which I purchased through them (fiancee received hers before the tv). Again countless excuses. Told it was mailed on 10/11, but to allow 6-7 weeks for delivery (didn't know they still delivered pony express). My fiancée received hers via Priority Mail. Called Repair Master today out of curiosity - no record of my name, address, or phone number in their records. Wow, what a surprise! So I immediately called TVA - more excuses and promises that people are working on it. I'm over this whole situation - contacting the BBB. Stay far away from TVA - great prices, beyond disgusting customer service. They don't answer phones unless you call sales dept. I have been on hold when calling the customer service for well over 30 minutes. Finally get fed up, call back to their sales department. Call always taken with 2 minutes. How is it that they’re so anxious to sell you a tv, etc. but disappear when you need any sort of assistance? Then they proceed to give you the runaround. The worst company I have ever dealt with. I have honestly spent countless hours on the phone with this company (have already gone 2 hours over on my cell minutes this month alone, all attributable to them and their screw ups!) And still, nothing resolved. I could easily have them make more than $10,000 in sales off friends interested in similar tvs. I have steered them far away from TVA. Hopefully some potential customers will read this review (and the MANY other reviews on here, I’m definitely not the only one!) and see how TVA really is and decide to purchase through another company that is trustworthy, honest, and will actually provide some level of customer service. Trust me when I say, it’s not worth the extra money you will save by buying from TVA. The ungodly slow shipping, the horrible customer service, the hours of phone calls, and the aggravation with dealing with this company costs much more than those meager savings.

Update as of 12/11/06

After filing a complaint with the BBB, a week later TV Authority finally sent me the the information through the BBB for me to get my warranty package through Repair Master. Disappointed that I had to go to these lengths to get any resolution, but as I stated before, that's the norm when dealing with their customer service. Last time I spoke with them (on hold for over 30 minutes, called back to sales department and got through almost immediately) I spoke to a rep named Stephanie. She apologized up and down for my problems with them and promised that the information was in the mail, and she would call me on Dec. 7th or email me to check with me because she was SO concerned. Surprise, suprise, never received any attempt to contact me. And I'm sure I never would have received the info today if not for my complaint with the BBB. As a side note, I find it incredibly ironic that a group of people suddenly came to the defense of TVA on here earlier today... Maybe their customer service reps are too busy giving TVA positive reviews on here that they can't answer the phones? I'm not buying it for a second. I have kind of enjoyed coming on here every few days to watch their rating fall lower than their prices...."

"same as everyone else. order, money credited, not shipped, lies, not shipped, lies, refund promised, lies, 2 weeks later threat of legal action and refunded 24 hours later.

avoid them unless you're also convinced you can win at three card montey."

"I am another unsatisfied customer. My complaint reads like a book to most every other. Same complaint. Ordered Toshiba 26 LCD on 11/13. Called back a week later for tracking #. No info, called aweek later still no info. After 3 days past the last delievery date I called again. They keep saying it has been shipped but no tracking info untill today. So I go to track my # and the UPS site says there is no info on shipping. This leeds me to believe that they are liars or they just shipped today and the site has not been updated. PLEASE refrain from using this company. They must get better customer service. If I can not get satisfaction by 12/1/06 I will cancell and dispute charges thru the credit card company.

Fred"

"I wanted to purchase a small LCD TV for my Rv, and found that TVAUTHORITY had the best price. I ordered the TV on November 5, and received it on the date they promised. I was given comfirmations and tracking numbers by email, and very satisfied with their service."

"Ordered a 42" Plazma Panasonic Monitor. March 10. Order was confirmed with an email. Two weeks later I called and asked for a tracking number. They couldnt find it. They said it had been shipped and was on its way. One week later, now April 1 I called, they explained that even though they had billed me for $2400 + dollars the order has been lost.

They promised it would be shipped this week, waited another week, no tracking number, no call back. Two weeks later, it showed up, it was ok, but they do NOT HAVE a CLUE about customer service."

"I was very pleasently surprised with the service of TV Authority. I ordered the set, was given a delivery date and the item was delivered two weeks before that given date. The TV is exactly as described and works beautifully. I would highly reccomend this vendor for your next HDTV purchase. "

"What a disappointment - to say the very least. We purchased a TV and DVD and our total came to over $3,500. We were told it would take 10 business days to arrive - OK, no problem. However, after one month, I contacted Customer Service (it stinks!) and they kept telling me "it's on the way" without ever verifying it was - and there was no shipping or tracking information. And... no one would ever call me back. Horrible service! Finally, after becoming quite angry, I was told that the order had never even shipped. I demanded either cancellation of my order and refund of my full amount, or immediate delivery. I'm told that the trucking company, Mach1, has picked up the TV (where's the other items I ordered??) and will be delivering it in the next couple of weeks.
People...please listen... this is absolutely NOT the way a customer should be treated. They need a complete overhaul in their Customer Service, as it's non-existent.
Do yourself a favor - pay a little bit more but work with a company who treats you well and doesn't lie to you."

"I placed my order for a 23" Samsung TV that I needed for a meeting and it was very important
for it to arrive on time. It shipped and arrived on time in great shape.
I would order from them again
"

"I, too, wish I had found this site before ordering. Although all the people have been nice and seem to be interested in helping when I've contacted TV Authority, I now know they deliberately mislead and lie to either keep you from cancelling your order or if you finally give up and DO cancel, they will hold onto your funds as long as possible. Why would they do this? Well, 1000 orders at $2000 is $2,000,000 dollars that is sitting in their accounts drawing interest. Great way to make money with other people's funds. Heck, I think ****I'll**** open an online store for HDTV's and then watch the money roll in as I hold the funds, ship no product, and watch the profits come in from interest on other people's funds that I've captured.

Update as of 11/28/06

I cancelled my order with TVA (and customer service tried to tell me that I would get my shipping information within 48 hours if I didn't.....uh suuuuuuuure I would.) I then immediately placed an order with Buydig.com and paid only fifty dollars, total price, more for 2 day shipping than TVA charged for slow ground. That was last night. I recieved an e-mail from BuyDig.com with my Fedex tracking number just now (LCDTV shipped withhin 24 hours of my order) and it is scheduled to be here in 2 days.

Oh, and I find it interesting that as of 12/11/06 there were three satisfied customer ratings for this incompetent company ALL ON THE SAME DAY, whereas a majority of the previous posts had been negative. **NOTE: I was right, since those were removed after I notified ResellerRatings of the coincidence). Oh, and two weeks after requesting my refund, it has *NOT* been credited to my credit card yet. I've now contested the original charge from November **5th**!

Update on 12/30/06: Refund finally posted to my account on 12/17/06. Gee, only 20 days to get my refund. I'm sure I'd STILL be waiting for my TV if I hadn't cancelled my order.

"

"This is not my first time trying to buy a TV online. My first experience was with a different retailer; everything went wrong and after a month past my shipping window I canceled my order. I then went to TV Authority. Right off the bat I was happy with their prices and options. The sales rep was far more knowledgeable and friendly to boot. Most importantly I got my TV on time! "

"I could not be any happier with my TVauthority experience. I bought a Panasonic plasma and a Sharp LCD. I got all of the bells and whistles to go with them and I felt good about the prices considering the large purchase. When I got everything a day before the end of the shipping window I figured that I needed to share my positive experience. I will be turning to TVAuthority when I build my theater room."

"Ordered 10/29, arrived 11/16. Paid for 3-5 day shipping too. Item was "in stock" when ordered. No voluntary communication from TVA regarding my order status. Long hold times when I did call to check order status. Promised a refund of my upgraded shipping charge, and another refund on the purchase price since it went down since I placed my order. Had to call back several times on that too.....no refund as of 11/20. This store may have great prices, but the lack of service and communication do not make it worth your while. Will not buy from again.

Update.....As of 12/6, I still have not received my promised refunds of $30 for an express shipping refund, and $125 for a price match. They took so long to ship my order after placement, the price of my plasma dropped $125. At least they agreed to refund me the difference for my hassles. This retailer completely sucks at satisfying a customer. They promise the world, then deliver when you've harrassed them enough. I guess I'll have to call my credit card company now and dispute the charges. I'm done harrassing them. I'll let MasterCard do it for me. Just think, I've had my TV 3 weeks and I'm still dealing with this mess....."

"I am very pleased with my buying experience with TV Authority. Their sales rep Brain was very helpful as he helped me make my final decision. The TV I decided to buy was the Pioneer PDP-5070HD. At first I was not sure about spending the extra money, but now that I have the TV I know I made the right decision. There shipping indo to receive the TV was longer than I expected but I got it within the Shipping window on day 7. I received tracking on day 4. I must admit I was very nervous making such a large purchase online. TV Authority put me at ease with great communication and follow-through. I am actually planning on making some Christmas purchases through them as well. I liked TV Authority because they stayed in contact with me via phone and email right up until I received my TV; being able to put voices and names to my purchase gave TV Authority a face, Thanks."

"On 9/6/2006 I ordered a JVC HD61G887 big screen TV online from TVAuthority off their website www.tvauthority.com. They billed
my credit card $2,220 at the time of sale; the item was to arrive in 2 weeks. I called TV authority one month later when my
TV hadn't arrived and I talked to TV authority customer service. They told me that TV was out of stock and would be available
in 2 weeks. 2 weeks later I called and they said they would be able to ship the unit in 2 weeks. That date has past, still
no TV. Every time I have sucessfully communicated with customer service, I have gotten them through from the sales phone line. I learned after many calls it was pointless to call the actual customer service line, as you're are simply put on hold indefinitley, and if you fatigue of holding and leave a message, they will never return your call. If you email customer service after buying a TV, they will not return your email. This is simply a horrible online retailer that should be avoided at all costs. No matter how cheap they say they will sell you a TV, you should buy elsewhere. There's no excuse for their behaviour."