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Thread: Samsung LE40A656 LCD TV warranty

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    Samsung LE40A656 LCD TV warranty

    Just thought I would post this for advice or opinions. I have had this TV for 5 months from new and the LCD panel has gone basically. It has been collected under warranty by an approved repair centre. They have had it for 2 weeks now and have ordered a replacement panel with no current eta. I have no warranty terms and conditions and think it a little unfair that for a TV that cost £700 and only has a 12 month warranty and that it is likely to spend at least a month of it in repair. Any sensible suggestions if there is anything else I can do apart from just wait?

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    Re: Samsung LE40A656 LCD TV warranty

    Samsung are bad for returns, took 2 months for them to fix and return my mothers digital camera and my mates LCD 32" tv was away for 6 weeks. Just gonna have to wait it out.

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    Re: Samsung LE40A656 LCD TV warranty

    Quote Originally Posted by Grey M@a View Post
    Samsung are bad for returns, took 2 months for them to fix and return my mothers digital camera and my mates LCD 32" tv was away for 6 weeks. Just gonna have to wait it out.


    Just on the flip side of it, i spilt superglue(!) on my brand new Samsung 205BW (i think it was). I called them up, explained that 3 raised bumps had appeared on the panel () and within a week they sent me a new screen, picked up the old screen & asked no questions!

    I spose it all depends on which of their returns dept you deal with!

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    Re: Samsung LE40A656 LCD TV warranty

    Quote Originally Posted by atmadden View Post
    .... Any sensible suggestions if there is anything else I can do apart from just wait?

    Cheers
    Perhaps.

    It isn't only your "warranty" that you an rely on. You can also call on your statutory consumer rights, specifically, your Sale of Goods Act rights.

    My first question would be whether you took the set back (or complained to) the seller, or direct to manufacturer? Some people will go direct to a manufacturer for warranty support, and in some situations, that might be the best way to deal with it. But generally, the first port of call is the seller .... assuming you bought it from a business, and preferably, did so as a consumer and not as a business yourself.

    If so, then the next question will be in relation to why the panel has gone. If it's anything you did, or if it's an external factor (like a power surge) then you may well have no recourse against the seller. You might be able to claim on household insurance though.

    BUt from what you say, it seems likely that you're a consumer, that the seller was a business selling new sets, and that it's just packed up and nothing you did is responsible. If so, then it sounds like you're covered by the Sale of Goods Act.

    One thing to note is that your rights under the SoGA are a fair but stronger in the first 6 months than they are after 6 months, so if you haven't already notified the seller, now is a good time to do so, seeing as you say the set is 5 months old.

    A quick guide to the SoGA says that if goods don't "conform to contract", you can sue for breach of contract. Part of that contract is that goods must be of a satisfactory quality, and that includes an expectation of a reasonable duration. They should last a decent time, but that won't be your definition of reasonable time, but what a court decides a reasonable person would expect given all the circumstances. No way, IMHO, would 5 months be considered "reasonable2 for a TV. Five years would be more like it.

    So ..... if it's packed up after 5 months, why? If it was due to a fault that existed when you bought the set, then the SoGA covers you. That includes poor component quality, faulty manufacture like a dry joint, etc. It does NOT need to be something immediately obvious, but a fault that maybe took time to develop and show.

    And here's why that 6 month period is critical. FOr the first 6 months after purchase, and faults will be assumed to be "inherent", i.e. to have existed when you bought the set, unless the retailer can prove they weren't. So to avoid liability they'd have to prove, for example, that the failure was due to abusive use, to something you did, to incorrect installation (wrong voltage applied perhaps) etc.

    After 6 months, that burden reverses, and the default position (by statute) is that the fault is assumed to be not inherent, unless you, the buyer, can prove it is.


    Next, given that the fault is presumed inherent, several options are open to you. You can sue for damages, which is effectively a monetary amount equivalent to the repair costs if you get the set repaired, or the replacement costs if you can't get it repaired.

    Alternatively, you can opt for the seller to either repair or replace the set, and they are obliged to do what you ask for unless to do so is either not possible, or "disproportionately expensive". You can't insist on a replacement set if that costs them £500, when a repair would cost then £100.

    However, and here comes the bit all this has been leading up to, whichever they offer must be done "within a reasonable time, and without undue inconvenience" to you. If they can't do either within those criteria, they are back to being expected to provide a refund, though by this point, it might be a partial refund. They can make a deduction to reflect the fact that you've had some use out of the goods before they failed. For instance, if the "reasonable" life of the set was 5 years, and you've had 5 months use, they may argue that you've had one twelfth of the use you could have expected, so you get one twelfth of the cost deducted from the refund, i.e. are offered around £640 refund.

    Or, on the other hand, they may mitigate that "undue inconvenience" by lending you a replacement set in the meantime.

    You have to keep one eye on how a court will see it if it ever were to get that far. And what courts like is for it to not get to them at all, and if it does, for it to be that both sides have been reasonable and just can't agree on a fair settlement. If it gets top court and one side is being unreasonable, that it likely to count against them. So any dealings with the seller should be done with that in mind .... don't be walked over, but don't be unreasonable in demands either.

    If it's going to take some weeks to be repaired, ask for a loan set in the meantime. If they won't give you a fix date and won't loan a set in the meantime, remind them of that "reasonable time" and "undue inconvenience" provision in the Sale of Goods Act. If it gets to that point, get details of who you're dealing with, of wherever the head office is and start putting all this in writing. It doesn't need to be couched in legalese, but it does need to show that you're clear in what you want from them, and that what you want is reasonable, within your rights and that you're being denied your rights by the shop.


    One more thing. You've got a fairly expensive product that's packed up when just a few months old, and you're being told it'll take some unknown time to fix. I don't know where you are, but round here there's a BBC local radio consumer affairs program that likes shining the harsh glare of publicity on this sort of situation. If the shop won't replace the set, can't repair it promptly and won't lend you a set to tide you over, find out if you have a similar program. Because you pointing out what the Sale of Goods Act says might not cut much ice. If the BBC point it out, with the inherent threat of them naming who the shop is, publicly, if the situation isn't resolved, tends to concentrate most business minds wonderfully. They might try to browbeat or bullpoop you, but they're not so likely to try it with the BBC. You won't get Watchdog interested in this, but it's the kind of thing that comes up on my local radio station all the timer, and it's a two-hour daily programme!

    So is there anything you can do? Yes. Is there a magic bullet that'll mystically solve the problem? Probably not. It'll depend on how you tackle the shop, and how reasonable or otherwise they want to be.

    In that regard, remember that being pleasant usually works better than shouting the odds or quoting consumer laws, especially if you don't get the latter right. If the sweet approach doesn't work, you can always revert to sour, but having used sour, it's very hard to revert to sweet. So be calm, ask for reasonable things and be polite. It might work and if it does, problem solved. If it doesn't, then it's time to let a little steel show through. Just don't lose your temper. If it did get to an argument, the last thing you want is them testifying (or worse, showing a shop video) or you losing your rag and shouting or swearing at them. If you're going to get nasty, do it professionally.

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    Re: Samsung LE40A656 LCD TV warranty

    Cheers Saracen your reply has been extremely helpful.

    I bought the set new from Crampton and Moore online and have dealt direct with Samsung I haven't contacted the seller as yet. I have spoke to them since and squeezed out of them that they have 28 days to repair the set and then they will discuss other options with me but they won't discuss what they are until this time is up.

    As I haven't contacted the seller yet should I do so now or just leave it with samsung as after Feb 28 it becomes 6 months old and I am mindful of this fact and how it affects my rights as discussed above.
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    Re: Samsung LE40A656 LCD TV warranty

    Well, personally, I think I'd put the seller on notice that it's gone for repair under the warranty, but I'd also stress that if the same problem recurs, you reserve your right to rely on your statutory rights. I'd also point out that being without a TV for an unspecified but perhaps lengthy period isn't acceptable, and that unless the warranty company come up with some better than "no eta" you want the seller to sort it under those same rights, especially as the problem occurred within the first 6 months. But then, personally, to be honest I think I'd have relied on the seller in the first place.

    I'll also put the usual caveat on this - I'm not a lawyer. All this is opinion and my understanding of where you stand, but for legal advice, talk to a lawyer. You might have legal advice cover under your household contents policy, or maybe even a motoring policy though that may be restricted to motoring issues. Failing that, Citizen's Advice maybe?.

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