Viera broken 3 days out of warranty

[alan8817]

My 37" Panasonic Viera developed a solid blue horizontal line on the display three days after the warranty expired. Beleive it or not Dixons are adamant that they will not honour the warranty. I have spoken with the Tech Guys who said it's a common fault and will require a new panel which will cost more to fix the TV is worth (approx £900!!!). I have written to customer service and i'm awaiting a response. Has anybody got any help / advice in the meantime?

[ForestChav]

Yes, if they are refusing to fix it under warranty you still have rights under the sale of goods act for up to six years from the date of purchase, provided the fault was inherent. If TTG are saying it's a common problem it is likely to be a manufacturing fault in which case you are entitled to have the fault repaired free of charge or a replacement.

Pointless ringing because you have no proof of the conversation unless you record it, which they won't let you. I'd send a letter to head office stating the problem and that you feel the fault is inherent when you got the item. Chances are they will ask for an independent expert's report on the fault - that's perfectly legal. The burden of proof is on you to state the fault was there when you got the item.

[davisc02]

Alan,

I am going throught the same thing with my TV. I phoned Comsumer Direct and they are very very good, they will log a call and give you a reference number which they way give you advice at each stage of the process. You can download a template letter from their website which they tell you to send to the Manager of the shop where you bought it and copy in Head Office. I copied in John Browett, Mike Hedgecox and Brian Keenan at Maylands Avenue Head Office

[jgr160405]

hey Alan

ive just been through what you are about to!

Course of Action

1. letter to currys statin sale of good act (give them 10-14 days), also send letter to sheffield, customer services are based there. Include photocopys of receipts and delivery.

2. they ask you to get independent engineers report, if it comes back at more then £500 they give vouchers if under they 'll will repair it. my report cost £50, give them 5 days.

3. wait for offer , think my plasma broke end of july and i got phone call today saying they'll give me vouchers so be patient. Good luck if ya need a template for a letter just ask.

Thanks

[alan8817]

Hi - thanks for your help. I received my quotation for repair - £825!!!! That's more then I paid for the television!! Can you send me the letter template? Hopefully they will pay up.

Thanks again.

[jgr160405]

Hi Alan,

Include photocopys (not originals) of repair quote, receipts, delivery report etc.

Sent letter via 1st class recorded, wait a week or so and then ring them to chase them up if youve not hear anything (when I did this I received phonecalls the next day on all 3 occasions )

Also include photocopy of receipt for engineers report, because they'll pay for that as well

I thought i was getting vouchers but a cheque has turned up in the post today!! when i spoke to them they said if purchased instore you'll get vouchers and if purchased from internet you get a cheque!

here is a copy of the letter I sent, obiously change the finer details: :

Customer Services
Currys
Customer Contact Centre
PO BOX 1687
Sheffield
S2 5YA

Dear Sir/Madam,


Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)

I purchased a Samsung 42” Plasma television from your website on 10th Oct 2006 at a cost of £1098.00. The television has now ceased to work. I’ve contacted an independent TV repair specialist, who has quoted a cost of £650 for the repairs. Having owned the TV for only 21 months, I can not say I am impressed.

Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) I have a contract with yourselves, and not the manufacturer Samsung

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) states in section 14 paragraph 2B:
For the purposes of this Act, the quality of goods includes their state and condition and the following (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a) fitness for all the purposes for which goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied,
(b) appearance and finish,
(c) freedom from minor defects,
(d) safety, and
(e) durability.

I am claiming with respect to (e) Durability.

The item as sold to me has not proved durable. I have two other televisions in my house, one is almost 13 years old and the other is about 8 years old. Both of these TVs are fully functioning and in daily use, I would expect a TV of this value to last at least a similar amount of time.

The action I would like you to take is simply to repair the TV to its former working self at no charge to myself.

I am quite happy for your engineers to take the TV away to be repaired.
In the event that the TV can not be repaired, I would expect a suitable replacement, taking into account the price and features of the TV.

I await your reply within the next 10 working days

Please find enclosed copies of the delivery report and original receipt

Kind Regards



Let me know how you get on

Cheers

Jonathan

[alan8817]

Hi Jonathan,

Just had an e-mail from Dixons to say they are giving me a cheque of £450 + the cost of the enginners report £180.00!! So i'm very happy with that .

Thanks for your help and letter template.

Alan

PS how long did it take to receive the cheque?

[ForestChav]

Did they say why they chose £450, and is this effectively a rescission of contract? If it costs £825 to repair which is more than the TV surely that's a touch on the low side (considering getting the report should not leave you out of pocket). If this is a year (just over) old then you wouldn't expect them to deduct half of the cost from the refund for a year's use (unless equivalent specifications were the same price now, in which case they are probably giving you vouchers or a cheque to enable you to replace the TV with one of equivalent specification). How much did it originally cost - they *are* allowed to deduct pro-rata for the use you have had of the item, I just think the valuation is a bit low compared to the cost of repair.

[alan8817]

The TV cost £690. I thought £450 was therefore reasonable.

[ForestChav]

So... 690-450 is a loss of £240 for the year's use. By the time you'd expect the TV to be worth nil, assuming that it loses £240 per year, is after about 3 years.

I really think they've not given you enough here... I'd expect a £700 TV to still be worth something after 3 years, at least, if not twice that, considering you can pick up a dirt cheap portable and have it go on for ages.

The question you'd have to ask is how much it would cost you to replace the TV with one off the shelf right now, and not lose specification. I can't think the market's fallen that much, unlike with a PC where last year's hardware has been well and truly superseded (Moore's Law says that the speed should double every 18 months, or something).

Doubt there is much you can do, they made you an offer out of court and you accepted it.

[davisc02]

Forest, I think I would have to disagree with you a bit regarding the price. My tv was £500 20 months ago but I reckon you could get a similar spec for probably £350 now. So not only have you got prices coming down but also a years wear and tear. You can get a brand new 37" Panasonic Viera for £499 now.

[ForestChav]

Yes, I was talking hypothetically, because it depends on how far that money would go...