Hi

I ordered a Hisense 50" 4K TV from Argos on Monday and it arrived yesterday.

After playing with it for a few hours,

setting it up to my standards and getting to grips with all the functions,

I discovered that the satellite EPG is all but missing.

All it shows is 'No programme' until I click onto a channel,

at which point it fills in the current programme and sometimes the following one too.

This is absolutely useless.

The whole point of an EPG is that you can easily see what's on without having to tune to each and every channel first.

It also makes the PVR function useless as you can't schedule a recording when it's not showing in the EPG.

I did some research (which I should have done before I bought it)

and it seems the lack of an EPG is a known issue and is down to Hisense refusing to pay for a license.

They also have no plans to do so in the future.

This means the satellite tuner is effectively useless.

The only reason I bought this TV was so that I could ditch my Sky box and use the tuner in the TV to pick up the free satellite channels and the PVR function to record shows.

Without an EPG I'm stuck using my old Sky box.

I suppose I could buy a proper Freesat box (or even get Freesat from Sky) but I was really hoping to reduce the number of remotes I have to deal with too. This TV was going to have everything in one nice little package; TV, PVR, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix. Bah humbug.

I contacted Argos and was told that I can't return it because it's used and technically isn't faulty.

Here's an extract of the transcript from my conversation with them:

Dylan (17:19:03 GMT) : I can see that this is a smart TV.

I'm afraid that with devices such as this, we cannot accept a return due to our security policies.

However, if the item is faulty then you could take it into our store to have it repaired.

Visitor (17:21:25 GMT) : It's not something that can be repaired. Hisense have admitted that the EPG is down to their reluctance to pay for it and they have no intention of ever doing so. It's not a mechanical fault that can be repaired, it's just not fit for purpose.

Dylan (17:23:01 GMT) : Then this is not something we can assist with as the item does need to be faulty. The lack of an EPG by manufacturer's choice would not be considered a fault.

I've had another look through the description of the TV on the Argos site and it actually doesn't mention the satellite tuner;

it's not something they boast about for obvious reasons,

so it's not really a selling point as such.

One thing it does mention though is 'Freeview Play digital tuner'.

I did a little digging and it seems Freeview Play is a blend of Freeview and Catchup services in one convenient EPG.

This is also missing (yes, it has the latest firmware).

Even if it was there, I can't use it as my signal isn't strong enough.

I have a communal aerial which only picks up about 12 channels and none of them in HD which is why I purposely got a TV with a satellite tuner.

Can anyone tell me what my options are?

Thanks in advance.

Toby

did you order this online?

dx

The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2014

Yes, which I also told the chap from Argos.

BTW, I did some more research and I needed to do a factory reset in order for the latest firmware to actually 'kick in' and show the new Freeview Play EPG. I get a few more channels now, but the main HD channels are still missing, so I can't use it.

as you ordered online

you have 14 days to trial it as you couldn't inspect it in store like a normal shop

they cannot refuse a full refund.

Thanks for the help. I'll email them tomorrow and mention the Consumer Contracts Regulations and my right to return it within 14 days. I don't mind paying the return delivery costs if I have to.

Thanks again for the help. They've arranged for it to be collected next week and a full refund will be given. Shame I had to resort to citing the Consumer Contracts Regulations to get them to do it though. No one should have to do that to get retailers to comply with the law.

Hey good result

Dx