SOURCE: Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company

December 07, 2007 08:00 ET

Panasonic Brings Back Open Access to Its Exclusive Plasma Concierge Service During the Holiday Season

Program Will Help Consumers Cut Through the Clutter to Make Educated Choices When Buying a Flat Panel HDTV

SECAUCUS, NJ--(Marketwire - December 7, 2007) - Panasonic, a market and technology leader in flat panel HDTVs, announced today that it will again offer consumers access to its Plasma Concierge™ toll-free information service this holiday season. The Panasonic Plasma Concierge program, normally open exclusively to Panasonic Plasma HDTV owners, will be accessible to any consumer who would like to learn more about flat panel televisions from a live expert beginning today through February 3, 2008.

Panasonic first offered open access to their Plasma Concierge HDTV experts last year during the 2006 holiday season and again leading up to Father's Day 2007.

"The quality and volume of calls our Plasma Concierge experts received from consumers during our open access periods last year told us that we were providing a valuable resource to people looking to buy a flat panel television for the holidays," said Donald Szczepaniak, Panasonic's Vice President of Extreme Customer Satisfaction. "As more and more consumers make the transition to High Definition television, we feel offering access to our otherwise exclusive group of HDTV experts will continue to be a valuable resource to assist consumers in making educated decisions when purchasing a flat panel HDTV."

Panasonic's award-winning Plasma Concierge Program, which began in June 2006, offers its Panasonic Plasma owner members an exclusive range of free services including live access to specialized Plasma TV consultants, a loaner program if a unit needs to be removed for repair, on-line chat capabilities and call staff that are empowered to resolve issues swiftly.

In addition to answering basic and technical questions, Panasonic Plasma Concierge experts will work with consumers to help them determine the type of flat panel television that best suits their needs by asking key questions about their TV-watching environment, viewing habits, room design/dimensions and other conditions.

Panasonic's Customer Call Center in Chesapeake, VA, which administers the Panasonic Plasma Concierge hotline, has been recognized as a Certified "Center of Excellence" by the Center for Customer-Driven Quality™ at Purdue University. This highly respected certification ranked Panasonic's Call Center in the top 10 percent of the 20,000 call centers studied throughout North America.

"As a maker of both Plasma and LCD flat panels, we know that, especially this time of year, many consumers are confused and often bombarded with information on the pluses and minuses of the various flat panel product offerings, some of which may be outdated or inaccurate," said Dennis Eppel, Vice President, Panasonic Display Company. "Our goal in providing access to our Plasma Concierge experts is to empower and inform consumers so they can ultimately select the HDTV that best suits their needs."

Open access to the Panasonic Plasma Concierge service ends February 3, 2008. Consumers can access the service by calling 1-888-777-1170 Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET where they will be connected to a Panasonic Plasma Concierge expert. Consumers also can find tips, facts about flat panel televisions including a guide which highlights the ins and outs of shopping for a flat panel at www.panasonic.com/plasmacentral.

About Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company

Based in Secaucus, N.J., Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company (PCEC), a market and technology leader in High Definition television, is a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (NYSE: MC) and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Information about Panasonic products is available at www.panasonic.com. Additional company information for journalists is available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.