Ron Barrunti of San Ramon got fed up and bought a new TV when his original one quit working.
"I tried to take the bulb out and it wouldn't come out," he said. "I pulled on it and then realized after really looking inside, because it's like a tunnel, that everything had melted around the bulb."
Mitsubishi, which makes the TV, no longer made the part to fix, so they offered Barrunti a deal -- pay $500 and they would send him a brand new TV. He refused. They offered $375 and he refused again and contacted 7 On Your Side.
"I was not going to pay any money to get this TV. I was going to end up going to small claims court. I didn't want to do that, but that's what I was going to do," he said. "But when Channel 7 got them to say we will just give you a TV with no money, I figured I'll just go with that and forget it."
He originally paid $4,200 for the TV and had it for three years. He already had his replacement set bought, so he gave the TV to a rather lucky out of the area relative.
Mitsubishi declined to comment for this story.
