Puncture in Samsung 40" LCD TV could it be done in production?

My son purchased a Samsung 40" LCD TV from Sears and purchased the extended warranty before he received his TV. The TV was not in the stock and had to be shipped to him. About 4 weeks after receiving the tv he turned it on one day and noticed a small puncture in the screen (about the size of a pin head) and the screen was cracked from behind (looks like a spider) from that small puncture and it also had horizontal banding throughout the entire TV and no picture. Neither he nor his wife damaged the screen, nor did it fall, and they don't have pets. Two service repairmen looked at the screen and said it was "customer neglect" and that voids the extended warranty from Sears and Samsung will not help either. My question is, could the puncture have been made in the factory during production as well as possibly in shipping and it just took a little time for the stressed point to crack after some use of the TV as well as the horizontal banding throughout the television? I have read where banding is caused in the production process and not a result of customer neglect.

Tiramisu
April 2008