Customer Service? What's that?

I recently purchased a new television for my son's room. Then, I needed to find a stand or armoire to place the new TV in. My wife prefers the armoire style, and therefore, before purchasing a stand, I needed to find the exact dimensions of our new TV, an RCA 27F650T. (I got a great deal at Best Buy on the set because it came in a damaged box -- and let me say, the help I got at Best Buy was really fantastic especially when compared to what came next.)

Off to find the dimensions, I first looked at the owner's manual. To my surprise, there were no specifications. No weight, no height, no depth, no width. So, I get out my tape measurer and measure it myself -- no problem, right. Well, except that TV furniture also has weight requirements, and I don't have a scale big enough to weigh the thing. So, fine, I'll check RCA's website.

The website has the following information:
31.5" H x 27.8" W x 30.4" D
Weight: 111.90 Lbs.

I thought great, until I realized that the dimensions don't agree with the ones I just measured. The depth I got was about 22" and the width about 31". Do I trust the weight given? I don't know -- so I contacted RCA through their website (which angered me by limited my message to 500 characters, guess they don't really want to hear from customers that much). Here's what I wrote:

Why do you not include the actual weight and dimensions of your products IN THE ACTUAL OWNERS MANUAL? I just purchased a 27F650T from Best Buy, and no dimensions to be found -- the ones on your website are just flat wrong.

I ended up picking out an armoire, driving to Burbank to IKEA to buy it, driving back to Thousand Oaks, putting it together, and moving the TV upstairs into it. I never really expected to get a response from RCA; I figured they would ignore my question since I'm sure there isn't a good reason not to have the specifications in the owner's manual. The armoire I purchased had a weight limit over 200 pounds, and I was certain the TV did not weigh anywhere close to that much. But to my surprise, I did receive a response from RCA this morning. Here's what they wrote:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for visiting RCA.com.
The approximate dimensions and weight of the 27F650T
are as follows:

Height:27.0
Width: 27.5
Depth:N|A
Weight:115.0

All dimensions are approximate. If you need exact dimensions, we recommend that you visit a local dealer in your area to measure the unit.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

First off, what's with "Dear Customer"? I filled out their web form, including my name. Their email actually included these variables, but Stephanie couldn't be bothered to actually use my name. Which begs the question -- why ask for a customer's name if you make no use of it?

As to the information provided, they didn't even include a depth. I suppose that's ok, since the height and width are way off. I just measured again thinking that maybe I was remembering my measurements incorrectly. But no, the true width is almost exactly 31" and the height is not quite 24". I still have no idea what the true weight of the unit is.

But more importantly, Stephanie ignored my real question. Why isn't this information in the owner's manual? I used to work at one of these retail home electronic's stores, and we always referred to the owner's manual for exact measurements. We carried tape measurers for getting approximates.

I checked other owner's manuals in my files. My Samsung TV manual has dimensions and weight. My Brother fax machine manual has an entire specification section. Even my Xbox manual has the dimensions and weight.

Putting aside my complaint about not including specifications, RCA's response included one line that was particularly infuriating.

If you need exact dimensions, we recommend that you visit a local dealer in your area to measure the unit.

My message clearly stated:

I just purchased a 27F650T from Best Buy.

Why would I go back to a "local dealer" to get exact measurements? The dealer can't refer to the owner's manual -- it has no exact specifications. What could a dealer do? Pull out a tape measure and measure it?!?! But if that's the only solution, why didn't she just tell me to measure it myself? I guess telling the customer to get his own damn measurements would be bad form.

I have a perfectly fine RCA TV now, but I despise RCA. Why bother having a customer service department when you cannot provide even the most basic information? How is it that the manufacturer of a product is not able to provide exact (or at very least, correct approximate) measurements for its own product?
Why would I ever want to do business with a company like that?

I have an answer, but only to the final question. I wouldn't, and I won't.

Thomson/RCA/GE have lost this customer, not because their products are bad, but because they don't know anything about their products.