TruTech TV review: TV has broke in 6 months! 206

I purchased a 32'' Trutech LCD two months ago and it is now broke. The standby light turns on but the television never actually turns on. Since I live in an apartment I was unable to keep the 32'' box, which is required to return the 32'' massive piece of junk. I think that target sells crap and I refuse to give them any more of my business. Additionally, I have started a petition among friends and around one hundred people have committed to not shopping at Target. Trutech is a worthless brand that's cheap pricing will entice frugal consumer, but ultimately is heap of junk. The Trutech television is a terd. Beware of the polished terd that Target is passing off as quality at a reasonable price.

I too purchased a small (19") Trutech flat screen TV and paid $279 for it. After using for one year it went out and in not repairable. I went back to Target and was told that there was nothing they could do as it was over 90 days since I purchased the TV and furthermore, in fine print, there was a 90 limited warranty. I was told to contact the manufacturer! Good Luck... I can't find the manufacturer! I am out $279.00 as well. I WILL NO LONGER BUY ANYTHING FROM TARGET! TARGET CHEATS THEIR CUSTOMERS!

I also bought a TruTech about a year ago and very rarely used it because it was in my bar. When I went to turn it on nothing happened except a couple of flashes. What a piece of #@$%. I will not shop at target anymore. They shouldn't sell crap like this.

Same thing here bought the 19 inch flat screen trutech, broke after 6 months. Went to target... they said cant do anything since it has been longer then 3 months.

Piece of garbage, good thing i got it black Friday. Only paid 180 bucks. Still lost that money.

I to own a TruTech 15" LCD TV. Had it about a year, then it took a dump. Standby light is on and flashing but nothing works. Bought it at Target. The label says they are made in China by a Canadian firm, Alco Electronics. What a waste of money.

I to have apparently bought a piece of Target junk. I bought a 15" flat screen LCD TRUETECH TV for my grandson Christmas of 2006 and as of May of 2007 it no longer works. I have been told by Target that because I did not buy the extended warranty there is nothing that they can do. Also at the same time I was told that they have not had any problems with this TV. I found out differently when I was trying to find a web site for Truetech and found this site instead. Thanks for the real truth.

This was a gift in September of 2006, 11 months later I am experiencing the same problem with the standby light flashing and nothing works. This is definitely a piece of junk, and Target should protect its consumers.

I also bought this piece of junk from Target on Black Friday 11/24/2006, the 19” LCD TV Model #PLV16190 and 8 months later the TV is broke. I can hear sound but no picture. I called my local Target store for assistance and was told since I purchased it over 90 days ago, I had to contact the manufacturer. The store gave me this number to call [protected]. After going through all the voice prompts, I finally got to the section where I could type in the manufactures name & get the phone number, surprisingly TRUTECH was not listed. I’m done with Target; they don’t offer any support for TRUTECH TV’s which is inexcusable since TRUTECH is a trademark of Target Brands, Inc. TRUTECH is owned by Alco Electronics, 8392 Six Forks Rd., Suite 104, Raleigh, NC 27615, [protected]. I called Alco’s 800 # and was able to get this website (www.18002526123.com) to file a customer service complaint; perhaps I might get a response from them in the next few days! Hopefully anyone else posting comments on this board will find this info useful. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR TV REPLACEMENTS!

I also (unfortunately) bought a Tru Tech flat screen TV (using a bonus I worked very hard for at work). It was put in the kitchen and used only THREE TIMES before it quit working... I was not able to return it though because the "return window" passed.

I too have quit shopping at Target!

When it became apparent that they were selling junk to good hard working people they should have done a recall or at least let us exchange our barely used merchandise for something that works.

We also bought a 19in Trutech during the day after Thanksgiving sale. It now is one subpar radio. The picture went out. I have learned a lesson to never buy durables from no-name companies. I only hope others will not have to pay $179.00 in stupid tax like the rest of us.

I was about to purchase a TRUETECH and I am greatful that I found this site.

Bottomline...let's not blame let's focus on the solution.

Problem: TRUETECH is selling crap and TARGET is promoting it.

Solution: TARGET assume responsibility remove the brand from the shelf do NOT buy or sell crap,
it tarnishes your reputation

TrueTech sell your product to your Chinese brothern ; keep it off our shelves.

Erem Wilson
SgtMaj USMC (Ret)

I have a 15" and it crapped out also. just started buzzing for no reason one day, and has not worked since. Target should pull this crap.

My wife bought the Trutech T600-D dvd player for our daughter's birthday last Dec. By the time we hooked it up and she reported the problem the 90 day window expired and dah, dah, daahh, you guessed it. Target wouldn't take it back. I think my daughter tried to use it a half dozen times and just gave up. I took it apart because I like to tinker with electronics and found that the power stayed on until the motor, that spins the disc, engages. The electronics, in these things, are crap. The thing felt like it was about to melt after a minute of run time. I too am done with Trutech and any one who doesn't stand by a brand they choose to sell.

I have a 20". Bought it at the end of May 2007. It is now Sept. 2007 and the DVD player on my TV won't work. It reads no valid disc.

I also have a target polished nerd that does not work if anyone finds a way for redemption please contact me until then no target for my AMEX...

I also have a bootleg tv that doesn't work... my tv plays for a little while then it turns off... at first i thought it was possessed but i noticed that if you unplug it from the wall and press power it works again so i have been doing that for 2 days and i am tired... who wants to have to keep unplugging and plugging a tv in order to watch it... so i guess i join the rest of you in saying Trutech sucks...

i wish i found out about this site... bought mine last year a 32 in.. was put in my beauty salon... when i moved it which was like six months later... it stopped working after that... i put it in a repair shop in may of 2007... the technician couldn't find no info on true tech i finally picked it up yesterday... i was gonna try to do a switch with target but it seems like they don't sell that size no more...so i am sassed out like the rest of you guys... what can be the remedy for our situations... please somebody let me know

I have a TruTech PLV1615T that will not turn on. It first started humming, you could hear the TV sound but screen was blue, then remote stopped working, then when you unplugged it and plugged it back in it hummed again but never turned back on. Apparently I am not the only one. These are cheap TV's that Target will only exchange for 90 days. Now that I see several people have the same problem I will not try to have it repaired. I guess it will put the TV where it belongs, in the trash! Thank you for the information.

Our 26 in. Tru Tech just died, the screen went totally black with not warning. We haven't even owned this a full 7 months. After reading everyone else's posts I won't even bother hauling this pice of junk back to Target. Thankfully I still have the original book with the company info in it. Does anyone else know if they actually take steps to replace this?

I have just bought a truetech lcd tv out of the box no imputs work everytime i connect somthing cable s video it displays no signal if there is not a easy fix for this i will return it tomorrow hell it won't even let me set the clock If anyone can help let me know

As with all the comments I have read I too bought a 15 inch flat screen Trutech tv for my daught for christmas and 7 months later broke got nothing but flickering. I havent even thought about contacting Target and I wont now after reading all the comments. So add our TV to the junk pile also.

I bought a Trutech at Target in March 2207. Just 2 weeks ago it totally stopped working. I guess they are made to break at the six month mark. I know that Target does not stand behind their products, but I am hoping to find a local repair center to fix it. I do not have the original box or receipts which is a hindrance in my quest to find a repair service. Thank you above for the phone numbers and names. It was not cheap and I did not buy it for the price but for the comination TV/DVD. I will never buy another electronic at Target. I was not told about an extended warranty when I purchased it and stupidly, did not inquire of one.

Glad I found this site. Not glad I bought this TV. Bought this TV for our son for his room. It is the PLV1615T. Same as the ones mentioned in other complaints. For the most part my son's TV acted as described in various complaints. Screen flashing, no sound, ready light on, blank screen. What I did not notice in all of the complaints and what happen in our case is that the TV started to smoke and smelled very bad. I have to say, anyone that has this TV should be very careful and should never leave this TV plugged in unattended. This TV could and just may kill someone. I am so glad we did not let our son take this TV to school. Target should as mentioned in other complaint no longer offer this product. As a suggestion, we all should report Target to the Better Business Bureau as well Underwriters Labs. This is a very dangerous product and both of these agencies designed to serve and protect the consumer should know about how dangerous this product is.

Boy Oh BOy... and I thought I was the only one with a piece of TRU Junk! I wish I had not been so stupid!I worked a summer job just to be able to buy this 42 inch flat screen. ..wanting something as a good job, pat on the back for my self.
It is hard when you don't have enough money to buy the essentials and have to work extra hard to afford one luxury...to laer be swindled out of that. I guess it wasn't such a pat on the back for a job wel done after all! I feel violated and taken advantage of.
But what can one do. They don't return your call and Target's customer service laughs at you!

Please dont buy tru tech...it is true JUNK!

I also bought a Tru Tech about 32 in. tv about 1 year ago, it also sucks! I have to turn it on and leave it on for approx. 10 minutes to get it to work. It will work after that, but from all the comments, how long?! I work at Target, so my complaint is totally ignored! Employees aren't valued and from the sounds of it neither are customers! (Which I am not considered because I work there!) I agree with all, do not shop at Target and if necessary, never buy a Target brand product!

Target provides a 3 year extended warranty for all of its electronic products. Almost everyone in here has had problems within the first year but after 90 days. If you would invest the extra $19 (for those t.v.'s under $200), you would easily get a replacement. All products have problems. In stores, Trutech is a reliable brand. It is in a dust-free and clean environment and is not subjected to any harm, such as getting bumped around in your car on the way home, or even getting bumped at home. True, it is a cheaper brand so obviously it is going to be made cheaper too. That's common sense. You will get what you pay for. The price of electronics is dropping fast; look at the price of camera's these days. I'm not saying you haven't had problems, because of course, again, Trutech is a cheap brand. But also, you get what you pay for. Even if you don't return to Target, buy a warranty on ALL electronic items. It's just the smartest thing to do.

I guess it pays to do your research. Our 6 month old TrueTech 20" tv crapped out after an interesting light show with loud buzzing and crackling sounds. Not only is this piece of crap a waste of good money, but from what I saw it could also be a potential fire hazard as well. I hope Target gets the hint with all of these complaints and learns not to sell junk with a life of no more than 6 months. I guess quality means nothing anymore.

Joe Mourton,
Lcpl USMC.

I am now in this same mess! I purchased a Trutech PLV1615T from Target, however mine lasted about 1 1/2 years. For about 2 weeks I had a hard time turning it on and yesterday it completely went to the flashing light and that's it. I called all the TV repairmen in area and they recommended buying a new one because none of them had any luck repairing Trutech. That really sucks, I know you get what you pay for, but come one...I suppose I should consider myself lucky that it lasted that long! At the same time I also purchased a VCR/DVD player also made by Trutech, that did not fair as well, it died about 2 months ago, the dvd worked, but not the vcr. When I purchased these lovely items, I was not offered an extended warranty, and yes I wish I would have researched it, but I really don't think Target employees care enough to ask about it. I am not real fond of Target right now and I will never purchase anything major there again. I suppose that does not matter to them, but these are my feelings!

Bought the 1615t about a year and a half ago... and just like the others, the picture is going out on me. I don't have the money to go and buy another tv, so this is a complete loss. Even though it looks like I won't get anywhere with Target, maybe I'll still call or go in there and give them a hard time... maybe it will make me feel better. And just for the heck of it, I'll try the phone number mentioned earlier.

I will state the obvious if you find this site while researching Trutech products... DO NOT BUY Trutech! And I'm not too happy with Target... so, if you can help it, buy your items at another place.

I bought a TruTech t.v. Last January. Last night I went into my room (where the t.v. is) and it was on FIRE! I have NO idea how it started being as the t.v. wasn't even on. The whole entire t.v. is melted and ruined. After we put the fire out, it kept catching back on fire so ultimately we had to throw it out of the window onto the ground where it was raining. DO NOT BUY T.V.'S FROM THESE PEOPLE! THEY ARE CRAP AND DANGEROUS!

Hasn't anyone heard of participial phrases? It isn’t, “it is now broke”, it's “it is now broken”! Many of these posts have the same grammatical errors, as if one person had written more than one review under assumed names. Complaining aside, I can believe TruTech is a faulty brand but I’ve had great luck with mine. I bought mine at Target on Black Friday, 2005. I would have never had purchased it if I hadn't been working the night shift there at the time. The night before Black Friday, they let us shop on our breaks at four A.M. and I saw it and thought, why the hell not? I had never heard of TruTech before, but it was cheap and with my employee discount I got and extra 10% off. I've managed to get a lot of use out it in the last two years and it still works. One time my ex-girlfriend knocked it off of the table, and when it hit the ground I thought that it had broken for sure, but to my surprise it still worked afterwards.

I got screwed, on a TruTech all in one tv/dvd and a dvd player for my little girls bed room and they both equally dont work... you try to put a disc in and nothing. It worked fine at first... (cant even program my cable remote to control the volume) I got them at target... its a really cr*p. Will never buy anything from that brand.

For every 1 person that stops shopping at Target, there is 50 that start shopping there. Good news, Electronics sales are up!

My mom bought me my 19'' TruTech T.V for my birthday back in November, I hooked it up in December and by January it turned useless... Sometimes my whole picture would turn green, malti colors, or no picture or sound... I tried calling TruTech because I had a warranty, there was no number anywhere to complain and then someone at Target said that stopped selling them and my warranty is no longer valid! This T.V is a piece of Crap, no wonder they stopped selling them!

I received a 32" LCD for a gift. After a few months, the TV would no longer turn on, only the red-illuminated standby light (and only until you pressed power and which point it would turn off). I tried looking online for customer service and realized the company did not have a tel phone number. Based on someone's suggestion on this board, I called Target. I tried informing him that this should be an issue for Target, especially if they are selling shoddy products. I asked him to log this product, so hopefully others would not have to go through this experience. He gave me Alco Electronics phone number in Buffalo [protected]) and said they would be responsible for this. Fine, I call them and explain the situation. Without really listening to me, he tells me that I need to ship the TV and that they would only charge me $80 to repair. I rebutted that Alco should be responsible for shoddy work and that how did he know this was a $80 job and who was to pay for shipping. He gave me a simpleton answer that they are only the service company with no relation to Alco of HongKong (but they share the same name). He explained that I should speak to his boss David Hanna, which I left a message for. I'm upset at this because I know the gift was given in good faith and now I have to deal with this situation and cost to me. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how this goes through. But I agree with others before that a campaign of some sorts should be brought to Target, who is ultimately responsible for selling shoddy products.

I too have gone in to complain to Target several times about this Tru-Tech brand TV. I can not believe they still have it on their shelves. I use to love Target but this has really soured me, not only that the brand is bad but that Target takes the high road and wants nothing to do with the customer dissatisfaction. No return, no repair, and no help. I was only given an email address for Tru Tech, it took them several months to reply back to me. Said they have technical difficulty, no kidding, their technical skills are lacking in making tvs so why expect an email reply?! I use to spend thousands at Target, I will shop elsewhere, I don't even get excited about their weekly ads and I use to grab theirs first. There are many other places to shop and Target is now last on my list. As for Tru-Tech they should be bankrupt soon.

Trutech TV's are junk. My parents bought 2 of them last Christmas (one for my brother/ one for me) and both of ours just quit working after about 6 months.

For those of you that have had luck... congrats to you. However... the numbers (from glancing above) are NOT in your favor. You are one of the lucky few.

And getting in touch with the company is just not a possibility.
I've spread the word in our hometown and will continue to do so. STAY AWAY FROM THE BRAND!

I just bought a 13" TruTech TV for my dorm room. I made all the necessary connections, hit the power button... and nothing. THE TV DOESN'T EVEN TURN ON. What a piece of junk.

My TV HAS BEEN WORKING ALL DAY EVERYDay. For the past year... in fact i am on it right now i use it as a computer monitor and tv... Its GREAT... THANKS TARGET... 19" Flatplanel TRUTECH TV.

I bought both a 19 inch and a 32 inch flat panel TRUTECH tv. The 19 inch that I don't use that often is still working, but the 32in just turned off! The standby light won't even turn on. I have a friend that works at target, but after reading many of these complaints, I don't think that will matter. It's a wonder why they don't carry this brand much anymore. In the future I will buy name brands, not from target. Just for the record for the comment that your tv has been working for a year... don't worry, your time will come, my tv was a year and 3 months old!