Lewt's Panasonic brought from dixons saga

[Lewt]

I posted this on MSE a few days ago but got no reply. so i thought i would come here and i am now at stage 2 and have researched and sent a letter to Dixons head office which is in post 2, i will update this thread as the saga pans out for anyone else in the same position

 

Hi,

 

I brought a 50" Panasonic plasma from Dixons in sept 09 it got through the 28 days return/refund period-by a week! we came home one night to turn on the TV to find a blue line down it, I switched it off in an atempt to fix it and when i tried to switch it back on it wouldn't.

 

This was the first time i have ever had to deal with the 'Tech Guy's' i was told they would be sending someone out as soon as conveniant (to them) to look at it and if they could not fix it at my home they would, as a last resort, take it away to fix it. On the phone i was told that it would take up to two weeks and not to worry as i would get text updates along the way to let me know what was happening.

 

What happened was a little bit different..

 

The men that came were not 'Tech Guy's' but Dixons/Currys/Pc world delivery men who came and pressed the on/off switch and then loaded it on to the van.

 

We got one text message a week later to say the TV was with the depot and waiting to be looked at. over the next three week i made several calls to the tech guys and dixon to find out what was happening, it was in the third week without my TV that we were told that if they had not been able to fix it within 28 days i would be given a new TV.

 

that is what happen as acording to both the tech guys and the aftersales department my TV had not even been looked at byt the tech guys due to a backlog. so a whole 34 days after my TV was taken away i was given a new TV (same model)

 

The new one came on the 5th of December.

 

The Tv has now developed a similar fault to the first one, where by everything on the TV goes a shade of blue and it needs to be switched off at the plug and left for about 5 mins before it turns back on in a normal state.

 

I have spoken to the tech guys and they have told me they do still have a back log, and dixons will not lend me a TV so it looks like i will have to wait another 28 days to get another TV (same model)

 

Really i have had enough of this model TV as it does not seem to be able to work for more than 7 weeks without developing screen problems. And to be completely honest i am fed up dealing with dixons/currys/tech guys. they are, i think, the worst people i have ever had to deal with in regards to something that has broken.

 

Is there anything i can do/say/write to get them to refund me or at very lease give me a credit note to choose a different model?

 

My other TV that is in the house is screwed to the wall in the bedroom so i cannot bring it down. So am without a TV for what, going on previous experiences will be 28 days then the time it takes to delivery a new one.

 

If anyone has anything that i could put in a letter to them to get either a full refund or a credit note for a different model that would be great.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Lewt.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Lewt

[Lewt]

Today the tech guys came out they have told me "off the record" that as it is an intermitant fault if the guys at the depot dont see it the tv will just be sent back.

 

I have reseached and have now sent a letter via SD to head office which says...

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I bought Panasonic 50” plasma TX50X10B on 26th Septemeber 2009 it started failing within 5 weeks of purchase. We came home one night to turn on the TV to find a blue line down it, I switched it off in an attempt to fix it and when I tried to switch it back on it wouldn't.

 

This was the first time I have ever had to deal with the 'Tech Guy's' I was told they would be sending someone out as soon as convenient (to them) to look at it and if they could not fix it at my home they would, as a last resort, take it away to fix it. On the phone I was told that it would take up to two weeks and not to worry as I would get text updates along the way to let me know what was happening.

 

What happened was a little bit different...

 

The men that came were not 'Tech Guy's' but Dixons/Currys/Pc world delivery men who came and pressed the on/off switch and then loaded it on to the van.

 

We got one text message a week later to say the TV was with the depot and waiting to be looked at. over the next three week I made several calls to the tech guys and Dixon to find out what was happening, it was in the third week without my TV that we were told that if they had not been able to fix it within 28 days I would be given a new TV.

 

That is what happened as according to both the tech guys and the after sales department my TV had not even been looked at by the tech guys due to a backlog. So a whole 34 days after my TV was taken away I was given a new TV (same model)

 

the new one came on the 5th of December.

 

The TV has now developed a similar fault to the first one, however this is intermittent and happens once or twice a day most days what happens is- everything on the TV goes a shade of blue and it needs to be switched off at the plug and left for about 5 mins before it turns back on in a normal state.

 

I again spoke to the tech guys and they have told me they do still have a back log, Dixons after sales told me they do not loan TV’s so it looks like I will have to wait another 28 days to get another TV (same model)

 

Really I have had enough of this model TV as it does not seem to be able to work for more than 7 weeks without developing screen problems.

 

I spoke to your after sales service on 08.02.10 and explained the issue to an assistant, and asked for a refund or exchange of the faulty goods, as per my statutory rights under SOGA 1979 (as amended), which state that goods must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose, which this item clearly isn't. The assistant refused, quoting "company policy" and wouldn't budge. I'm sure I don't need to explain to you the possible consequences for your company to have one of your staff denying a customer his statutory rights. I was also told that no loan TV was offered as Dixons assumes Everyone has more than one TV

 

Under the circumstances, I had no choice but to go with the suggestion of letting the tech guys come and take the TV away again, yet again I am without a TV, the guys that came have said that intermittent faults, if not shown when switched on at the depot will just be sent back. I am not happy with this.

 

I am writing to you as a last attempt to settle the matter amicably.

1 - I want a refund for the faulty TV of £599.99 in order to purchase a new television set.

2 - An assurance that your staff on your phone lines will be reminded of what statutory rights mean and that store policy doesn't supersede those, in the hope that another future customer will not get the same appalling treatment.

 

If you refuse to deal with this in a satisfactory manner, within 14 day I will have no other recourse but to file a claim at County Court, which will make you liable for additional court costs + interest at 8%. I sincerely hope it doesn't have to come to that. I remind you that as the goods are less than 6 months, they are deemed inherently faulty and the onus would be on you to prove that they weren't.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

we will see what comes back

[Renzokuken]

As far as the engineer goes, usualy if the deem the fault to need a workshop repair over the phone, they won't bother sending an engineer out. Simply because it's a waste of everyone's time when he gets there, opens a TV up all over your living room floor and says he can't repair it here, then you have to wait for drivers to turn up and collect it the following day.

 

Unfortunately they're well within the law offering you a repair, provided they take no more than "a reasonable amount of time" to effect the repair. Reasonable being the amount of time an average person has to wait for a repair, usualy this is unofficaly considered to be about 28 days, unless the product is required for day to day life, aka a fridge or washing machine. If you don't complain and ask them to replace/issue vouchers for the TV once it's gone over that time scale, then they'll assume you don't care, so this time should it get to that stage again, wait until the morning of the 29th day, and then let them know your not happy.

 

As for a refund, they don't have to, and probably never will offer you a cash refund. They may offer you vouchers to buy a new TV should they be unable to repair the old one in a reasonable amount of time, or at all. But your going to be extremely hard pressed to find a more reliable TV then a panasonic, they're frequently rated highly in reviews and I rarely see them back in our store, it's common for them to outlast their life expectancy. You must have walked under a fair few ladders and broken some mirrors too to have two of them break on you within as many months.

 

Also, the spelling on that letter is pretty bad, please tell me you haven't already sent it, copy it into word/openoffice and spell check it. Not trying to get at you with this, I know my spelling is far from perfect, it's just a letter has a much more forceful impact when the effort is taken to assure everything is correct.

 

Anyway let me know if you need anymore info.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Renzokuken

[Lewt]

their response...

 

Thank you for your email dated 6th and 9th February 2010, I apologise for the delayed response.

 

I am concerned to learn of the matters you have raised with, regard to your second faulty Panasonic television. At this stage of the order we are however, only able to offer the free repair service via the TechGuys. The repair should be carried out within 28. If this does not happen you will then be offered a replacement. At this stage you would also be able to select an alternative television.

 

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience you have experienced in this matter.

[Lewt]

As far as the engineer goes, usualy if the deem the fault to need a workshop repair over the phone, they won't bother sending an engineer out. Simply because it's a waste of everyone's time when he gets there, opens a TV up all over your living room floor and says he can't repair it here, then you have to wait for drivers to turn up and collect it the following day.

Then they should not say they are going to, they should be honest and say "we're coming to take your TV and if we get time within 28 days we'll look at it"

 

they're well within the law offering you a repair, provided they take no more than "a reasonable amount of time" to effect the repair. Reasonable being the amount of time an average person has to wait for a repair, usualy this is unofficaly considered to be about 28 days, unless the product is required for day to day life, aka a fridge or washing machine. If you don't complain and ask them to replace/issue vouchers for the TV once it's gone over that time scale, then they'll assume you don't care, so this time should it get to that stage again, wait until the morning of the 29th day, and then let them know your not happy.

I do not consider 2 bouts of 28 days to be "a reasonable amount of time" my other TV is on the wall in the bedroom and for a week or so is Ok (ish) to lay in bed in the evening but not for a month.

 

I am already asking for a refund i dont mind if it is vouchers but after dealing with their CS i would rather have cash so i can spend my money elsewhere. I thought last time that maybe ringing every few days would speed things up but they didn't even look at the TV and it hit 28days so they replaced it.

 

for a refund, they don't have to, and probably never will offer you a cash refund. They may offer you vouchers to buy a new TV should they be unable to repair the old one in a reasonable amount of time, or at all. But your going to be extremely hard pressed to find a more reliable TV then a panasonic, they're frequently rated highly in reviews and I rarely see them back in our store, it's common for them to outlast their life expectancy. You must have walked under a fair few ladders and broken some mirrors too to have two of them break on you within as many months.

Well you say that but the TV on the wall is Samsung and has never had a problem and the panasonic has gone twice, i wont be buying another.

 

, the spelling on that letter is pretty bad, please tell me you haven't already sent it, copy it into word/openoffice and spell check it. Not trying to get at you with this, I know my spelling is far from perfect, it's just a letter has a much more forceful impact when the effort is taken to assure everything is correct.

 

Anyway let me know if you need anymore info.

No more info thanks. i can get all you have said from the "help" line thanks.

[Lewt]

Well, i have an update although i am unsure which CS to listen too.... no reply from my paper letter to head office but i go this email from Dixon CS

 

 

 

Thank you for your email dated 11th February 2010.

 

Please be advised that I have contacted The TechGuys and they have advised me that no fault has been found and that the television is to be returned.

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Chris Maycock

Dixons Customer Support Team

 

So as the guys that came and picked it up told me with intermitant faults they don't really fix them they just see they turn on and thats it.

 

I phoned the tech guys this evening and was then told that it had been looked at and it had had a firmware reset. I was also told i will get an engineer's report when my TV comes back.

 

I doubt it has been looked at and i have read that the blue screen problem is to do with the screen and the plasma rather than the firmware so no doubt i will have to go through this Charade again in a week or two...

 

What will the situation be if this intermitant fault carrys on and they continue to not find it, where will i stand? i cant keep going without a TV for weeks on end. this will be the third time i am getting a supposedly working TV brought through my door by Dixon's

[Renzokuken]

What will the situation be if this intermitant fault carrys on and they continue to not find it, where will i stand? i cant keep going without a TV for weeks on end. this will be the third time i am getting a supposedly working TV brought through my door by Dixon's

No more info thanks. i can get all you have said from the "help" line thanks.

 

I could have answered that, but I suggest you go start dialing.

[Lewt]

I could have answered that, but I suggest you go start dialing.

 

I dunno reading through your other "advice" posts i see you have the understanding of the SOGA that Dixon's want you to have rather than the actual SOGA..

 

You dont seem over helpful to be honest, hence my last commment in this reply and the one before.