Sony KDL-46X3500 - faulty screen after 17 months
Discussion
Hi
I purchased a Sony TV over the internet, via my credit card, 17 months ago. The screen has gone blurry so I contacted Sony. They informed me that the TV was out of warranty and logged a call with their authorized repairers.
The repairers have picked up the TV and the quote comes to £1115.50 when the original TV cost £2200. It needs a replacement LCD panel.
I contacted Sony stating that this wasn't good enough from a premium brand and to their credit they have offered to pay 50%, up to a maximum of £600, towards the repair. I don't however believe this is good enough as the cost of parts alone is £895. I had originally requested either a replacement or full repair at no cost to my self which I felt was reasonable. At the very least I expected the parts to be supplied FOC.
Does anyone know if I have any rights and what they might be? Should I be quoting the Sales of goods act as the TV has failed within an unreasonable time and could be considered not fit for purpose? Should I pursue the retailer rather than Sony? I have been reluctant to do this so far as they are a small shop, and I wasn't sure they would give this much attention, and I thought Sony might be the better option.
Should I just suck it up and by another TV? I am reluctant to pay another £600 towards this TV when the LCD panel could fail again, I am not sure if this is a common fault but my confidence in the product is now at a low.
Any advice would be welcome
Thanks in advance
I purchased a Sony TV over the internet, via my credit card, 17 months ago. The screen has gone blurry so I contacted Sony. They informed me that the TV was out of warranty and logged a call with their authorized repairers.
The repairers have picked up the TV and the quote comes to £1115.50 when the original TV cost £2200. It needs a replacement LCD panel.
I contacted Sony stating that this wasn't good enough from a premium brand and to their credit they have offered to pay 50%, up to a maximum of £600, towards the repair. I don't however believe this is good enough as the cost of parts alone is £895. I had originally requested either a replacement or full repair at no cost to my self which I felt was reasonable. At the very least I expected the parts to be supplied FOC.
Does anyone know if I have any rights and what they might be? Should I be quoting the Sales of goods act as the TV has failed within an unreasonable time and could be considered not fit for purpose? Should I pursue the retailer rather than Sony? I have been reluctant to do this so far as they are a small shop, and I wasn't sure they would give this much attention, and I thought Sony might be the better option.
Should I just suck it up and by another TV? I am reluctant to pay another £600 towards this TV when the LCD panel could fail again, I am not sure if this is a common fault but my confidence in the product is now at a low.
Any advice would be welcome
Thanks in advance
I'm no expert but probably worth looking at this which i came across a few weeks ago....
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome...
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs...
I think you'd need to pursue with retailer, not manufacturer.
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome...
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs...
I think you'd need to pursue with retailer, not manufacturer.
Wow, that's bad luck on a premium TV too. I have seen referance to claims that items should last a 'reasonable' amount of time before failure; the fact you bought a premium model would imply that you should expect it to last longer than 17 months. However I don't know all the details of these claims (have a search over on AVForums: http://www.avforums.com/forums/index.ph for more information).
If you are unsuccessful in getting it repaired at little or no cost to yourself, I'd recommend trying to get John Lewis to pricematch your next TV as they include a free 5 year warrantee with every TV they sell. I think they may have tightened up on their price match criteria though, so that's also worth a read up if it comes to it. Also Richer Sounds do a deal where you can get the cost of the 5 year warrantee back if you haven't claimed on it (assuming they're still around in 5 years of course).
If you are unsuccessful in getting it repaired at little or no cost to yourself, I'd recommend trying to get John Lewis to pricematch your next TV as they include a free 5 year warrantee with every TV they sell. I think they may have tightened up on their price match criteria though, so that's also worth a read up if it comes to it. Also Richer Sounds do a deal where you can get the cost of the 5 year warrantee back if you haven't claimed on it (assuming they're still around in 5 years of course).
Thanks Guys
I have posted on AV Forums and am waiting for a reply. I think that the best thing to do would be to contact the retailer directly and give them the opportunity to respond. I did do some reading on the EU directive stating a 2 year minimum guarantee but I read conflicting information as to whether this is valid. I think the Sales of goods act is the one to quote as for LCD TV's there is an amount of hours that the TV should reasonably last for, its certainly higher than 17 months!
I am now aware of the John Lewis price match and I think I will certainly go down this route in the future. I guess I didn't expect this TV to break so soon. I understand the criteria has tightened, for example, they don't appear to price match any internet only quotes, if the retailer has a shop that you can visit then it becomes valid.
Any more advice gratefully received
I have posted on AV Forums and am waiting for a reply. I think that the best thing to do would be to contact the retailer directly and give them the opportunity to respond. I did do some reading on the EU directive stating a 2 year minimum guarantee but I read conflicting information as to whether this is valid. I think the Sales of goods act is the one to quote as for LCD TV's there is an amount of hours that the TV should reasonably last for, its certainly higher than 17 months!
I am now aware of the John Lewis price match and I think I will certainly go down this route in the future. I guess I didn't expect this TV to break so soon. I understand the criteria has tightened, for example, they don't appear to price match any internet only quotes, if the retailer has a shop that you can visit then it becomes valid.
Any more advice gratefully received
Edited by harryp on Tuesday 30th June 16:01
A few things.
Claims under the SOGA are not automatic, you will have to go down the Small Claims route with it and the 2 year EU warranty doesnt apply in the UK as the SOGA is seen to have more power. 5 years is 'reasonable' so your fight will be the value of 5 years minus 17 months.
If the telly cost £2200 you've got 43 months of the 'reasonable' time frame left therefore the absolute maximum that this could return you would be a bit under £1600. This is if the case is found in your favour following the litigation and paperwork that will ensue should the retailer want to take you on.
Sony's offer is relatively reasonable, it shouldnt cost over £1000 to replace an LCD film, take it to another repairer.
On the 5 year warranty point, JL offer their own warranty with their own terms. If you buy a set from a big manufacturer from an independent dealer you'll get a 5 year MANUFACTURER warranty and probably at near enough the same price as JL.
Oh and for reference, your Sony set has Samsung film, next time there would be less heartache for all involved if you avoided Samsung products
Claims under the SOGA are not automatic, you will have to go down the Small Claims route with it and the 2 year EU warranty doesnt apply in the UK as the SOGA is seen to have more power. 5 years is 'reasonable' so your fight will be the value of 5 years minus 17 months.
If the telly cost £2200 you've got 43 months of the 'reasonable' time frame left therefore the absolute maximum that this could return you would be a bit under £1600. This is if the case is found in your favour following the litigation and paperwork that will ensue should the retailer want to take you on.
Sony's offer is relatively reasonable, it shouldnt cost over £1000 to replace an LCD film, take it to another repairer.
On the 5 year warranty point, JL offer their own warranty with their own terms. If you buy a set from a big manufacturer from an independent dealer you'll get a 5 year MANUFACTURER warranty and probably at near enough the same price as JL.
Oh and for reference, your Sony set has Samsung film, next time there would be less heartache for all involved if you avoided Samsung products
Thanks Plotloss
I had read conflicting things about the 2 year EU warranty, some of which did say it wasn't applicable in the UK. I am hoping that it won't need to go as far as the small claims court but I guess I will be relying on some goodwill from the retailer for that.
I am only really after the TV to be repaired/replaced and not refunded, I have been without a decent TV for around 1 month now. If I have to go down the small claims court route I think I will buy another TV in the interim. Sony now offer a 3 year warranty on all new TV's according to their website, which makes it even less palatable, this is still less the 5 years though. I would expect to win in a small claims court, there is no way on earth 17 months is a reasonable timeframe for the TV to last.
Sony's offer doesn't seem reasonable to me though, the repairer was appointed via Sony as their local authorized repairer, I phoned the Sony warranty hotline. I even had to pay a £95 deposit to the repairer to get the TV picked up and quoted for repair. According to the quote the screen alone costs £895, I was expecting at the very least this would be FOC.
I had read about you love of Samsung units, any recommendations for a 46" - 52" set?
I have now written to the retailer and I will wait for their response
I had read conflicting things about the 2 year EU warranty, some of which did say it wasn't applicable in the UK. I am hoping that it won't need to go as far as the small claims court but I guess I will be relying on some goodwill from the retailer for that.
I am only really after the TV to be repaired/replaced and not refunded, I have been without a decent TV for around 1 month now. If I have to go down the small claims court route I think I will buy another TV in the interim. Sony now offer a 3 year warranty on all new TV's according to their website, which makes it even less palatable, this is still less the 5 years though. I would expect to win in a small claims court, there is no way on earth 17 months is a reasonable timeframe for the TV to last.
Sony's offer doesn't seem reasonable to me though, the repairer was appointed via Sony as their local authorized repairer, I phoned the Sony warranty hotline. I even had to pay a £95 deposit to the repairer to get the TV picked up and quoted for repair. According to the quote the screen alone costs £895, I was expecting at the very least this would be FOC.
I had read about you love of Samsung units, any recommendations for a 46" - 52" set?
I have now written to the retailer and I will wait for their response
Under the SOGA your contract is with the retailler.
That should have been your first port of call. Whatever warranty the manufacturers give is irrelevant.
The only stipulation is that the item should be durable, and this test of reasonableness is based upon the status of the goods. For example, a £100 Currys 'own brand' item is not expected to be in the same league of quality that a £2200 Sony is.
IMHO you are right in your assertions. The only way forward is to speak to the retailer direct. I am guessing to start with they will deny all responsibility or at best offer to pay for part of the repair in the first instance.
That would mean following this up, and possibly even to filing a court summons. I doubt the case would be defended however, as it is pretty straightforward.
That should have been your first port of call. Whatever warranty the manufacturers give is irrelevant.
The only stipulation is that the item should be durable, and this test of reasonableness is based upon the status of the goods. For example, a £100 Currys 'own brand' item is not expected to be in the same league of quality that a £2200 Sony is.
IMHO you are right in your assertions. The only way forward is to speak to the retailer direct. I am guessing to start with they will deny all responsibility or at best offer to pay for part of the repair in the first instance.
That would mean following this up, and possibly even to filing a court summons. I doubt the case would be defended however, as it is pretty straightforward.
sounds like typical sony, they did similar thing to my uncle nr xmas 2008, n his tv was just over a month old. they first sed it was the aerial but the tv was running thru sky, then they sed it was a faulty sky box but that worked with every other tv we tried, then they had the cheek to say my uncle had broken it on purpose. that was the final straw and i snapped, ripped a strip off the guy in the sony centre tht was being a cock. this guy didnt realise tht i work with tv's and had the number for the sony rep so rang him up and he got my uncle a refund so we went and got him an LG and he never had a prob wi it since.
in the process of tearing a strip off the guy in the sony centre and making him feel stupid i may have let a small secret out and made the store empty, consequently i am now banned from the sony centre lol. the only reason id go in there is if i wanted to get ripped off and buy inferior quality products that are stupidly over-priced
in the process of tearing a strip off the guy in the sony centre and making him feel stupid i may have let a small secret out and made the store empty, consequently i am now banned from the sony centre lol. the only reason id go in there is if i wanted to get ripped off and buy inferior quality products that are stupidly over-priced
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