the consumer will have to pay, pay, and pay to keep the defective set operating even though it was in a defective state at the time of delivery. After all, the manufacturer does not want the defective product he manufactured-the dealer does not want the defective product he sold-so, who's left with the defective product-ME-THE CONSUMER--and as evidenced by the enclosed correspondence no one seems to care or want to do anything. I can't believe this is the system we are trying to preserve. I guess I better join a militant organization and start a riot. That seems to be the only way to get results today." In behalf of Mrs. Schilling, Consumers Union wrote to F. M. Freimann, president of Magnavox. A couple of weeks, later, on October 24, 1967, we received a telephone call from Warren Fitch, manager of customer relations at Magnavox headquarters in Fort Wayne, Ind. He informed us that, before receiving our letter, the company had replaced the picture tube in Mrs. Schilling's set. In a follow-up letter to us, he said, in part: "Because of our interest in the proper operation of this instrument, we have gone to considerable length to investigate and provide assistance to the dealer through our field engineering staff. "Our concern is that the customer receives full benefit of the original specific warranty given with the instrument and in addition, a review of any unusual circumstances which may occur either in or out of warranty. In this particular situation, we cannot concur with the customer's feelings that a replacement instrument should be provided by the factory." (emphasis added.) Mr. Fitch also contended his records showed that Mrs. Schilling's set had been in operating condition from March until September of 1967. We sent Mrs. Schilling a copy of his letter, and she noted that her own letters to the company had explained that the set had not been in operating order throughout that period. But at least the set was now operating, she said. "Like the ancient Chinese," she wrote, "I hesitate to say the 'set is operating well' for fear of proking "The Gods.' That was December 29, 1967, more than one year after purchase of the set. We did not hear from Mrs. Schilling again until the following March, when she sent us a copy of a letter she had written to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. In it she said that her set had failed to function again on March 9, 1968. After an independent repairman couldn't fix it, she appealed once again to Magnavox. This time her letter went to Mr. G. C. MacDonald of the Magnavox New York office. "Since the warranty period expired, Mr. MacDonald (conveniently forgetting previous calls and correspondence) quickly referred me to the Tru-Val Television Service, an authorized Magnavox Service Shop, she said. "This authorized Magnavox television repairman told me that the picture tube was a 'reprocessed Sylvania picture tube.'' Mrs. Schilling went on to say that her set was once again taken to the repair shop. The next day she was informed that the repair, including replacement of three tubes, the high voltage transformer and the focus control unit, would cost $74. She authorized the repair. The set was delivered one week later. According to Mrs. Schilling, it still did not operate. Back it went to the shopfor the fourth time. Once again, rather sadly, Mrs. Schilling asked, "why wasn't this television set replaced after evidence of continuous trouble was apparent?" That's the last we've heard from Mrs. Schilling, so perhaps, just perhaps, 15 or 16 months after she had bought her color TV and some months after she had completed payments on it, her troubles may have ended. Mrs. Schilling is not alone. Consumers Union receives a steady run of letters complaining of defective color television sets and may other products. Several such letters were excerpted and commented upon in the May issue of Consumer Reports. A copy of the articles is attached. The trouble with color TV #3 - page 7 The service people told us that our set could not be repaired. The president of the company told us to contact the local representative, who said he cannot make the president's decisions! Last year I bought one of the color-TV sets you had. check rated. Thanks for nothing. I've never been able to`get the `color to hold, and the manufacturer won't even acknowl edge my letters. Tell me, how do you arrive at your recommendations? Do you really check the products? S. asks Mrs. R.C.. one of a growing number of disenchanted color-TV owners. The answer to her last question is Yes we really check the products. But we can't check quality control in a large sampling of each model, and there's no way to tell whether gremlins will creep into a set during shipment or after, it reaches the buyer. All we can tell you is how the set performed for us-when in proper operaling condition. If a set we buy is defective, we repair it— or get it repaired--before we start testing. As the evidence comes in, there seems little doubt, as we' warned readers in our January report on color TV, that a color set can be a very chancy thing indeed. Too many of our own test sets have come with defects. And we've been get ting steady playback from our readers in the form of such letters as the ones quoted on these pages. The volume is great enough for us to state that the color-TV buyer should be especially on guard. Of all types of products, only autos generate more complaints. Defects that show up a day, a week or a month after the set is delivered and adjusted are bad enough. But most of the letters go on to say that, too often, it's downright impossible to get the defects corrected. Over and over we read about put-offs, evasions and buck-passing among manufac turer, service agency, dealer and repairman-and, it would appear. just plain incompetence. If the owner is fortunate enough to get any attention at all, his set may well be shopbound for weeks while he misses his favorite shows or makes do with his black-and-white set. It seems a bit much that a TV set costing $500, $600 or $800 should be out of whack five times, eight times-in one case 13 times -in a fairly short period, and at the end of all that "author. ized" service, still be out of whack. Not to mention the expense. Color TV costs more to repair than black-and-white. And if the picture tube needs to, he replaced, costs really soar. Until recently, every manufac-" turer guaranteed the picture tube for one year from the day the set was bought. But if a 23-inch-diagonal color tube fails after a year and one week, say, there goes another $150 to $175 for a new one. Judging by our mail. picture-tube failures shortly after the year is up are not rare. CU can think of only one defensive strategy: Before you buy, buttonhole your friends, seek out neighbors and office colleagues who own color sets, and find out what their experience has been with various brands and service organi zations. Arrangements for servicing differ so widely-by brand and by area-that it's hard to generalize. But if you know someone, or preferably two or three people. who did reasonably well with Brand A bought from Dealer B and perhaps serviced by Repair Company C, we'd advise you to go and do likewise. There's no doubt that the color-TV people have their troubles, too. Manufacturing and servicing is more complex with color than it is with black-and-white. Simple tube replacement, for example, which most servicemen accomplish easily in black-and-white, often involves, in color, additional adjustments. Color sets gushed onto the market in such a flood in the last three years that the repair industry was swamped; not nearly enough technicians could learn the new repair and adjustment procedures fast enough. But those are problems the industry should solve and not, we think, at the consumer's expense. We hope to offer some guidance in a report based on responses to our 1968 Annual Questionnaire and scheduled for publication early in 1969. The Questionnaire will inIclude questions on readers' experience with color sets, brand by brand. The resulting data would not, of course, *predict how a new model might behave, but it should give a brand-performance index along the lines of our earlier Questionnaire studies on the repair histories of black-andwhite TV, refrigerators, automobiles and dishwashers, and this month's report on air-conditioner frequency-of-repair (see page 253). As we went to press, Admiral announced that it was extending its warranty on color picture tubes to three years.. That's a step in the right direction; we hope other manufac turers follow the lead. But longer warranties will not by themselves solve the repair problem. Until there's a more reliable product and a more knowledgeable repair industry, the trouble with color TV should give pause to any potential buyer of this expensive product. During the first three months we enjoyed only about three weeks of entertainment because the picture tube had to be replaced twice. Four months after the warranty had expired, the real blow landed. The transformer burned out and will cost about $100 to repair. We are once again watching our black : white TV. The color set has become a financial disaster, and we doubt whether it is even worth repairing. The company said it was an "unfortunate situation" but there wasn't anything they could do about it. Although we have On the second day the picture started stretching and contracting. After many calls to a technician who came after two weeks, the defect could not be corrected so the chassis was taken to the shop or 10 days. When it was de1ivered the defect showed up again. A B&W set on the same antenna and line works fine so it cannot be a local disturbance. The dealer will not exchange the set. Senator Moss. We will now adjourn. Our set has large color blotches of yellow, red and blue. The service man had done all he could. But there was not any is provement. My dealer is now very reluctant to replace the set even though he had agreed to do that if those color blotches could not be satisfactorily removed. He said he will suffer losses because he will not be able to sell the set to anyone else and the company will not reimburse him for the bad set. I purchased my color television one year and nine months ago. I have spent $295 on repairs and a new picture tube. The company sent me a polite letter saying that this is my problem not theirs. I disagree. (Thereupon, at 12 noon the hearing was adjourned subject to the call of the Chair.) ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS, LETTERS, AND ARTICLES ACOUSTIC RESEARCH, INC., Cambridge, Mass., March 25, 1970. Hon. FRANK E. Moss, Chairman, Senate Consumer Subcommittee, DEAR SENATOR Moss: In connection with your hearings on product guarantees I wish to submit a statement for your consideration. We have been seeing reports on TV and in the press of the hearings of your subcommittee which seem to indict a large part of American business for their practices in connection with consumer product guarantees. From my personal experience I agree that much of the criticism is justified. However, there are many American manufacturers of consumer products who offer and fulfill meaningful guarantees. I think ours is such a company. Acoustic Research, Inc. has been in business since 1954. We manufacture and sell a line of high fidelity speaker systems, turntables, amplifiers and FM receivers designed primarily for reproduction of music in the home. We will sell directly to retail stores who offer our products for sale to consumers. The list prices of our products range from $57 to $420 per unit. The following is a verbatim statement of the AR product guarantee as set forth on the inside of the back cover of our product catalog (copy enclosed). "AR Product Guarantee: the workmanship and performance in normal use of AR products are guaranteed from the date of purchase; 5 years for speakers, 3 years for turntables, and 2 years for electronics. These guarantees cover parts, repair labor, and freight costs to and from the factory or nearest authorized service station. New packaging if needed is also free. "This means no cost for parts, no cost for labor, no cost for 'service charges,' and no cost for freight, whether to and from the nearest authorized service station or the factory. New cartons, if needed, are free. The only cost is inconvenience, which we greatly regret, and try to minimize. "On occasion, consumers have reason to complain about a product they have bought. If you buy an AR product and are dissatisfied for some reason we want to know about it. You may write to one of the following: G. Landau, Vice-President, Marketing R. F. Allison, Vice-President, Production & Quality Control, Acoustic Research, Inc., 24 Thorndike Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141." Acoustic Research, Inc. also spends part of its advertising budget to urge upon its consumers a greater understanding of its product guarantee. In this connection I enclose copies of five advertisements, two of them in current publication. Please note that the AR product guarantee relates not only to factory workmanship, but also to performance in accordance with published specifications based on objective measurements. In this connection I am pleased to enclose technical specifications which we furnish to consumers on: (a) All AR speaker systems. (b) The AR turntable. (c) The AR amplifier. (d) The AR receiver. We believe that our guarantee is unique in our industry. Besides being fair, such a guarantee policy is also very good business practice. We have become, over the years, one of the most successful companies in our industry. We also measure the effectiveness of our policy by the unsolicited acclaim which it receives from consumers. We have built up several thick files of letters of commendation. A recent one which crossed my desk came from a Mr. James M. Langston, Jr. of Bladensburg, Maryland. This was a carbon copy of a letter he sent to Consumers Union with a further copy to the President's Commission on Consumer Research. I enclose a copy of this letter. Our guarantee policy has also received recommendation from other parties, among them Consumer Reports, the publication of Consumers Union, a non-commercial organization. I enclose a copy of page 332 of the June 1967 issue of Consumer Reports which comments on our guarantee policy. It is my feeling that the manufacturer of a consumer product should be obliged in some reasonable manner to apprise prospective consumers of all material elements of the products offered including the guarantee. I believe particularly that omission of a clear statement of the product guarantee and lack of a reasonable attempt to place it before the eyes of the consumer may sometimes properly be regarded as constructive misrepresentation. I very much appreciate the opportunity to present this statement. We are prepared to submit further details upon request or to appear before your subcommittee should you wish us to do so. Sincerely yours, CONSUMERS UNION, A. J. HOFFMAN, President. GENTLEMEN: In early 1969 I purchased an Acoustic Research amplifier. After receiving the amplifier, I asked several important questions about special installation problems. These questions were answered promptly and courteously by AR's field service engineer. In September the right channel of the amplifier developed a hissing and bubbling sound. The amplifier was subsequently returned for repair. It was repaired and returned; followed by a check for the transportation charges. In January 1970 I again had trouble with the right channel of this amplifier. I wrote AR and I quote from their answer. "Please use the enclosed label for returning your amplifier to us. If we confirm the defect, we will replace the unit with another. * * AR replaced the amplifier with a new one and once again reimbursed my shipping charges. Acoustic Research had a 2-year guarantee on their amplifiers plus reimbursement for shipping charges incurred. They evidently intend to live up to their warranty. In this day and time when you get so many run-arounds about warranties and shoddily made equipment, it is indeed a pleasure to find a company whose aim is to please its customers. Sincerely yours, JAMES M. LANGSTON, Jr. PRODUCTS AND GUARANTEES-AR'S VIEWPOINT The goal of high-fidelity reproduction is the truthful, accurate reproduction of the broadcast or recording chosen by the listener. Writers and reviewers may speculate about their preferences in equipment appearance, cabinet size or eccentricity of design, but accuracy is a measurable, objective quantity. It is the quality for which the consumer pays when he buys high-fidelity equipment. Degrdation of this quality is as offensive in the cartridge as in the tuner, as unacceptable in a speaker system as in an amplifier, for the end result as heard by the music listener is the same. Acoustic Research publishes comprehensive performance data for every one of its products. The data given is measured in accordance with standards established by recognized government and technical organizations. The specifications for the AR receiver, for example, include 29 curves, carefully plotted on graphs which allow the interested reader to compare the performance we state to that actually measured on typical receivers. Claims are the language of advertising; data is the substance of science. The accuracy and validity of the data published by AR and its reliability, even after the products have been used, is assured by a guarantee which to our knowledge is without precedent or counterpart in the audio field. The workmanship and performance in normal use of AR products are guaranteed from the date of purchase: 5 years for speaker systems, 3 years for turntables, 2 years for electronics. These guarantees cover parts, repair labor, and |