Plaintiff Donald Ersler filed a complaint on behalf of himself and all Wisconsin purchasers of Toshiba DLP projection television sets.  He alleged that the lamp light source for the televisions did not last nearly as many hours as Toshiba has represented.  When television owners find their bulbs have burned out much earlier than advertised, they find that they must pay for a costly repair, one that Toshiba has refused to honor under the warranty that covers the television.

Mr. Ersler filed claims for breach of the Wisconsin Deceptive Practices Act and for negligent misrepresentation, seeking damages for the class, for the money they paid to replace their television bulbs.

On February 24, 2009, the court approved a settlement of this case.

The Settlement Class includes:

All persons who purchased a 2004 or 2005 model Toshiba DLP television in the United States, any time between January 1, 2004, and September 18, 2008. Such persons are Settlement Class Members, and will receive a six-month warranty extension for replacement bulbs. They are also eligible to submit a claim for a cash refund for certain purchases of replacement bulbs.

Pursuant to the Final Approval Order entered by the Court on February 24, 2009, TACP will be extending the warranty on replacement bulbs for all of its 2004 and 2005 model DLP TVs. The warranty had originally been 180 days from the date of purchase of the replacement bulb. On April 27, 2009, a new replacement bulb warranty will go into effect for these models. The new warranty, for those bulbs purchased after April 27, 2009, will be 12 months from the date of purchase of the replacement bulb. Bulbs purchased before April 27, 2009 will still be subject to the original 180-day warranty from date of purchase of the replacement bulb.

For more information, please visit the settlement website for this case, at http://www.dlplampsettlement.com/.