BOSTON -- Liquidation sales promise great deals on big-ticket items, but as Team 5 Investigates discovered, customers may change their minds once they get home and open the box.

Team 5's Susan Wornick took a look inside Circuit City's close-out sale.

Customer Gina Reis paid $1,100 for a big screen Samsung TV at the liquidation sale, only to get it home and discover it was completely unusable.

"It's shattered from here all the way up, and then on the other side as well," said Reis.

When the couple took the set back to the store ... "They said, 'Sorry, your problem, not ours," Reis said.

Repairs would cost $2,000 and Circuit City said it would do nothing.

"I expected to get a TV that was working," Reis said.

There are plenty of signs in the store that say "Final Sales" but nowhere does it say the merchandise may be defective.

Team 5 Investigates discovered that while consumers are warned about final sales, they have no way of knowing if what they're buying is bad. In the Natick store, inspections are allowed only after a customer pays, and in Somerville, one sign says "Check your purchase," but another sign says, "Don't Open The Merchandise."

"This should never have been sold," Reis said.

In a regular retail transaction, the state law would require a refund, repair or replacement, but in a liquidation, federal bankruptcy court overrides state law, meaning there is no recourse and there is no disclosure.

"You never see a sign that says, 'Buy this in this liquidation sale but purchase at your own risk,'" said consumer law expert Barbara Anthony.

A spokesman for the liquidation group, Great American Group said, "We have signs posted indicating all sales are final," and "Consumers are protected by the manufacturers warranty."

But Samsung wouldn't help Reis, saying her TV was damaged, not defective, and not their concern.

"No one's there to help us ... we're out $1,100," Reis said.

Reis charged the purchase to her credit card. After Team 5's calls, Citizens Bank agreed to give her a full refund.