Hi I have a nearly 4 year old Samsung 3d TV that has now gone faulty, I paid over £1000 for this, at the time top of the range TV.

The fault is that it has now developed vertical lines down the screen, which I have been told is a panel fault, and the panel will need replacing at a cost of around £1000!

Obviously I am far from happy with the quality of this TV as I paid a lot of money for it and expected it to last a lot longer!

What are my rights to repair or replacement via SOGA?

Thanks

Hi,

within the first 6 months of any purchase, any fault will be assumed to have been there from manufacture. After that time, it will be down to the consumer to prove the fault was there from the start.

Please don't say you bought it from Currys!

As you have had 4 years 'enjoyment' of the product, any refund will reflect that (and that's even if they offer any)

I would say that as you paid 1K for the TV, you should have had at least 6 years use so you will need to go back to the store.

The store may say that you have to get an independant report at your cost which if it proves that the panel was faulty, they should offer something (plus a refund of the inspection costs)

Whether the store agrees or not is unknown,

Agree with the above. You'll almost certainly need to get an independent report done after this length of time, then more than likely write to the head office rather than going via the store. As stated, if the report finds that the fault is down to a manufacturing defect then the cost of the report will be refunded to you.

Given the length of time, a replacement is almost certainly not going to happen, and a repair is unlikely as either the parts are probably no longer available or it simply wouldn't be economic (Especially if you've looked into it and a repair is going to cost £1,000). The most likely outcome is an offer of a partial refund, which, based on purchase price and age, should reasonably be in the region of £300-350 plus the cost of the inspection report.

Agree with the above. You'll almost certainly need to get an independent report done after this length of time, then more than likely write to the head office rather than going via the store. As stated, if the report finds that the fault is down to a manufacturing defect then the cost of the report will be refunded to you.

 

Given the length of time, a replacement is almost certainly not going to happen, and a repair is unlikely as either the parts are probably no longer available or it simply wouldn't be economic (Especially if you've looked into it and a repair is going to cost £1,000). The most likely outcome is an offer of a partial refund, which, based on purchase price and age, should reasonably be in the region of £300-350 plus the cost of the inspection report.

Same here... Most agree with the above 2 comments.

Technically it should last 6 years BUT... Even so, 4 years is not a bad going for something from Currys...

Get the inspection done and then lets see...

The name on the building said PC word and curry's it was a huge mega store..

I belive it's the bonding tabs that are starting to go on the panel itself.. Sometimes these can be fixed but it's not a 100% fix rate and it's a tricky repair.. Ie it could be made worse... Tiny soldered or bonded ribbon cables running along the edges of the screen have started to disconnect, many dry joints basically. Ive had cheap LCD tvs much older than the Samsung that have not exhibited this problem with there screens. It's a fault with the panel, manufacturing fault. But I suppose it depends on how long Samsung think they should last?

I was told to try SOGA as a £1350 TV/panel should last longer than 4 years? Is this correct?

This is a common fault on this type of screen and model range apparently..

As above, a reasonable expectation for a set like that would be 6 years under the SOGA.

Your first port of call should probably be to contact Head Office and see if they're willing to do anything without you needing to force their hand, but if they dig in and say it's not their problem then unfortunately you will need to get an independent inspection report of the TV at your own cost in order to force them to do anything.

If the cost of the set was £1,350 rather than a straight £1,000, then a partial refund should be in the region of £400 plus the inspection report cost. Personally I think this would be the most likely outcome rather than a repair/replacement.

What if head office don't reply? What can I do then?

The panel is definitely faulty in the way in the way I described, I've had it checked out.. I can get a fault report no problem, but the most I can recopue is £400? You say, and I'm still left with the faulty TV?

This problem still occurs in newer TV models... So in reality you can only expect your 1.5k TV to last 3 to 4 year's maybe longer if your lucky,, unless you have some huge warranty protection?

Around £400-450 is probably what you could expect or reasonably push for if they offered less, as the SOGA allows retailers to make a deduction in any refund for Enjoyment, based on expected lifespan and how long you've owned the set. In this situation I'm not sure you'd keep the faulty set however, I think the retailer would, at the very least, be entitled to take it away if they wanted to if they were giving a partial refund, but I'm not totally sure on that one.

If the head office don't reply you may be able to try e-mailing someone at the CEO office, which usually gets a reply in most large companies, and often gets a better response than going via the front line customer services. Someone else might be able to provide an e-mail address for that.

Ok thanks is this a pc world or curry's complaint? As the retailer had both names on there signage... One of there mega stores..

Currys/PC World are part of the DSG group (Dixons-remember them)

As far as I can tell this is the email of the chief exec.

[email protected]

I had a phone call form a nervous sounding knowhow chap I believe stating that someone will ring me soon and arrange pickup of my tv set? This was on Thursday its now Monday and still not heard anything..

This was in reply to my email sent to Currys customer services on the previous Monday..

Is there anything I should ask if they ever ring back or pick it up? i.e. what will actually happen to it when they take it away? should I get proof that they have taken it, and what they are going to do to remedy the fault? should I get this in writing?

They would normally give you some paperwork to say they've taken it way, but at that point they wont be able to advise what they're going to do with it. They wont know if they'll be going with a repair or partial refund until it gets to the repair centre and is actually examined.

Ok thanks i will just have to wait and see... My concern is that they do a sub standard repair or fit substandard parts.. Even though it's nearly 4 years old, my set is in A1 condition, not a scratch, dent, or mark on it, apart from the screen fault of course.. So is it reasonable to assume I should get it back in the same A1 condition with the fault repaired.

It should certainly come back in the same condition yes.

Whether they actually repair it or not depends on the cost though. If it's going to cost more than around £300-400 to repair then they'll almost certainly go down the partial refund route as it'll be cheaper.

What I would be doing is making a video of the TV, both switched on (to show the problem) and off so that you can get close ups of the case, both front and back.

I would never say a company may claim impact damage but better safe than sorry. Have some proof of the date the video was taken and don't edit it at all.

Thanks your right better to be safe than sorry... I would not accept £400 for £1300 TV unless I got my TV back too.. Im sure they must have panels in stock somewhere or at least know where to get it repaired?

They can be repaired but special equipment is required to do it properly, but I'm not sure of the cost, if may not be economical to repair I've been told also..

Still this problem persists in today's newer models, and with a lot more of these panels around, hopefully they can fix it, Or find another alternative panel that will fix my model of TV, I've been told there are 3 types/manufacturer of panel that would be compatible.

Have you Googled the TV model number? There are some companies out there that can repair/replace screens. Sometimes it can be as simple as a poor connection between the mainboard and the screen.

Post up the model number and I can also have a look.

Unfortunately I do believe they're entitled to keep the set if they make a, what would legally be considered, reasonable offer of a partial refund, in this case in the region of approximately £400-450. If you refuse on the grounds you want to keep the set as well, then they would likely be able to simply return the set unrepaired and leave it at that. If you took something back within the 1 year warranty for a full refund, you wouldn't expect to also keep the faulty product as well as the money.

As you say, if special equipment and/or expensive parts are needed to repair it, then it's likely that the repair would cost more than the partial refund. I also wouldn't be so sure about them definitely having panels for a 4 year old TV. Panel technology has changed very rapidly in the past few years, so keeping a 'just in case' stock of every type of panel for every type of TV they've ever sold simply wouldn't be practical.

I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, but just trying to be realistic and prepare you for the possible worst case outcomes

My TV model is a Samsung UE46D7000

I have had a quick Google and I'm not the only one it seems with panel problems...

As for the £400 refund could I get the same TV for that money today in working order?

Or do you both work for curry's/pc world and are talking me out of it?

Or do you both work for curry's/pc world and are talking me out of it?

I don't think so. They are just telling you the situation as it is. On a 4 year old TV set, you will only get an economical repair or an amount to reflect a fault occuring before the reasonable lifespan for the product. You might not get £300 to £400 and get vouchers of a lesser value towards a discounted similar spec model they have in stock.

If you want other independent advice, Citizens Advice have a consumer rights telephone helpline. Look up their number online.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it at all, nor do I work for Currys/PC World. As I said I'm just trying to be realistic and prepare you for the most likely outcome.

We wouldn't get very far giving out unrealistic advice just because it was what people wanted to hear.

you say that this is a common problem, that lets DSG off the hook and it is something you have to take up with the manufacturer as a latent fault. This is something you dont want to do as you will need an expert opinion on the fault, proof that Samsung knew about it and examples of others who have the same problem. Much better to be polite to currys and see what they can get you as a deal with the 1/3 off as a marker for the disappointment with your current set.

I would think that dry joints on any electronic item is a manufacturing or design fault and should be covered by SOGA.

Yes is a manufacturing fault. The bonding tabs are coming away... These are like tiny ribbon cables that are bonded/soldered along the screen, when they start to De-bond you start to loose that part of the picture, it's a well know fault and is still happening to this day.. The manufacturer no doubt will not acknowledge this as a problem and will try and keep it quiet. It is mostly faulty on the left hand side of the screen, where the psu is situated,I belive the heat from the psu can cause the bonding tags to start to come away also... Design fault?

Have a look at this video of one being repaired.