Stuck pixel on my brand new LCD

[Gorstrom]

Hey all, this thread isn't what you think.

Basically what's happened is, my dad got me a 19inch widescreen LCD (Acer AL1916W) for christmas. I plugged it in, and noticed a single bright red pixel just off the centre of the screen (and it's SO annoying). I have so far tried EVERY method I can find to remove it (pixel massage, those java applications, tapping it) and NOTHING will work.

Dad contacted Acer about it and they refused to do anything about it. They said it needs to have at least 4 stuck/dead pixels to be covered by warranty.

Now I think this is simply not good enough on the part of Acer, because they have supplied me with a defective product and their warranty policy does not cover it.

It was bought from Techbuy (do a google search for them I can't post URLs yet) in the first place, so my question is, is there ANYTHING I can do to recuperate the lost costs? I want either a refund or a replacement, is there ANY at all way around Acer's draconian warranty policy, because essentially it is a defective product?

[s_kinton]

Most manufacturers have a dead.stuck pixel policy and its a major thing to look into when buying one. Some companies have a zero policy, most do not.

I cant see that theres much you can do about it, its just one of the risks in buying an LCD.

[jimbouk]

There are ISO standards for these things. The monitor like most will be ISO 13406-2 (Class II), Scan has a nice summary of it here.

Sucks I know, I have a stuck on green pixel but luckily it's down to 1 side. It would probably tripple the cost of screens to have them all with no dead pixels.

[Blitzen]

Hey all, this thread isn't what you think.

Basically what's happened is, my dad got me a 19inch widescreen LCD (Acer AL1916W) for christmas. I plugged it in, and noticed a single bright red pixel just off the centre of the screen (and it's SO annoying). I have so far tried EVERY method I can find to remove it (pixel massage, those java applications, tapping it) and NOTHING will work.

Dad contacted Acer about it and they refused to do anything about it. They said it needs to have at least 4 stuck/dead pixels to be covered by warranty.

Now I think this is simply not good enough on the part of Acer, because they have supplied me with a defective product and their warranty policy does not cover it.

It was bought from Techbuy (do a google search for them I can't post URLs yet) in the first place, so my question is, is there ANYTHING I can do to recuperate the lost costs? I want either a refund or a replacement, is there ANY at all way around Acer's draconian warranty policy, because essentially it is a defective product?

Although its annoying for you, there is nothing you can do.
Its deemed acceptable by ISO standars to have a certain number of dead/defective pixels and thats what the industry goes by.
If you want a defect free monitor then you must pay a premium for one.

ANY supplier in their right mind, unless feeling VERY generous wiil not refund/replace this unit.

Pays ya money...takes ya chance unfortunately for you.

[pollaxe]

I have an HP 30 LCD - it's got a red stuck pixel just off-centre. It's annoying but to be honest I hardly ever notice it now. It was my second monitor, the first one developed multiple stuck pixels and had weird banding issues after about two weeks - I had to jump through so many hoops to get a replacement that the stuck pixel really wasn't an issue.

I did try some of the various methods/softwares around which is supposed to unstick pixels on the first monitor and not one worked. I tried one out of interest on the second one and it didn't work either so I've not bothered since.

[Yosh]

I had some stuck pixels on a Sharp a few years ago, they replaced the monitor for me, but gave me a very used/ unclean monitor for my 1 month old unit, in the end i put it in writing and they swapped it out for a new unit.

Most of them have the pixel policies quoting how many dead pixels is unacceptable, but as someone already said, the pixel policy is something you really need to look into pre-purchasing. I even think the odd company offer a service to check for dead pixels before delivery, but ofc it costs you a little more.

[staffsMike]

As has already been said it's the risk you take.

Best thing to do in future is make sure you can open the product within 7 days of delivery to check it, that way if it's not acceptable you should be able to get away with sending it back under distance selling laws.

Alternatively, stick a fork through it..that will kill a few more pixels

[chrestomanci]

I would say you might have recourse via the new distance selling regulations. (DSR) (assuming you got it mail order), but you have to act fast.

Under those new regs, you can return any product for any reason and get a full refund (less shipping costs). You have to give a reason, but the vendor does not have to agree with your reason, so just tell them that it is because of the stuck pixel. They will try and quote those ISO standards, and the manfufacturer's policy at you, but you need to stick to your guns and tell them that your contract is with them the vendor, not the manufactuer, and that your rights under DSR trump any policy of the manufacter.

The main thing to worry about is the time limit for returning stuff. I am not sure how long you have, but it is mesured in weeks so act fast.

The right to return stuff under DSR, does not apply for perishable items, or anything built to order. That won't apply to a monitor, but it might for system unit if you brought it at the same time.

[Max Tractor]

This pixel turkey shoot pisses me right off, why should it be acceptable for 4 lazy/stuck pixels in a new monitor. Send it back, or try 1 of the various programs out there for an attempt at fixing the problem, another user suggested the flick trick, a flick with the finger at the offending pixel, worked on 1 of mine

[Saracen]

I would say you might have recourse via the new distance selling regulations. (DSR) (assuming you got it mail order), but you have to act fast.

Under those new regs, you can return any product for any reason and get a full refund (less shipping costs). You have to give a reason, but the vendor does not have to agree with your reason, so just tell them that it is because of the stuck pixel. They will try and quote those ISO standards, and the manfufacturer's policy at you, but you need to stick to your guns and tell them that your contract is with them the vendor, not the manufactuer, and that your rights under DSR trump any policy of the manufacter.

The main thing to worry about is the time limit for returning stuff. I am not sure how long you have, but it is mesured in weeks so act fast.

The right to return stuff under DSR, does not apply for perishable items, or anything built to order. That won't apply to a monitor, but it might for system unit if you brought it at the same time.

Generally, it's measured in days not weeks - 7 working (*) days, to be precise, starting the day after you take delivery.

The provisions over the time period are a bit more complicated than that, but if the supplier has done everything they should, you get 7 working days. At maximum, you get three months plus 7 working days. Essentially, there is a set of information the supplier is required to provide you with, such as cancellation rights. If they haven't, then the cancellation period (7 working days) starts either when they do or after three months, whichever comes sooner. However, it requires it a pretty stupid or careless retailer not to have covered themselves on this point, so while it might be worth checking out the precise requirement and whether they've been met or not, just to be sure, I wouldn't expect to get any joy on that, and in that case, it's 7 working days which will almost certainly have expired if this was a Christmas present (unless it was a belated one).






(*) Working days exclude weekends and bank holidays.

[Saracen]

......

The right to return stuff under DSR, does not apply for perishable items, or anything built to order. That won't apply to a monitor, but it might for system unit if you brought it at the same time.

I doubt if it would apply to system units. The idea is that it's for "custom" goods, like made to measure curtains, or an engraved identity bracelet, and that kind of thing. According to the DTI, it doesn't apply to items that are "customised" simply in the sense of being assembled from standard parts. But, of course, while the DTI's opinion might be persuasive, it isn't legally binding. Only the courts can actually decide.

[Saracen]

..... so my question is, is there ANYTHING I can do to recuperate the lost costs? I want either a refund or a replacement, is there ANY at all way around Acer's draconian warranty policy, because essentially it is a defective product?

I doubt it.

You probably can't do it anyway, since it was your father than bought it and therefore he has the contract. But assuming that he and you are synonymous, when you buy goods, you have the ability to return or complain in one of two ways :-

- warranty
- statutory rights

By and large, you have no rights at all against the manufacturer, because the goods were bought from the retailer (unless you buy direct, of course). Manufacturers don't have to offer warranties but, again by and large, when they do and providing you knew about that warranty, you can rely on it and the manufacturer is legally bound to honour it.

But, though there's certain things that can't be excluded, you only get the coverage that the warranty offers, and often, only if you meet the conditions it imposes. If the manufacturer has a policy of replacing monitors with 5 dead pixels, then it needs five dead pixels to be covered. I suspect you'll get nowhere with Acer, unless it's via a goodwill gesture.

The retailer is a different situation, though. You get a variety of legal protections granted (mainly) by the Sale of Goods Act (and the various bits of amending legislation), and the Distance Selling Regs. For reasons already given, you most likely too late to use the DSR. So essentially, it comes down to your Sale of Goods Act rights, which are based on whether the goods complied with the contract at the time of purchase.

The Sale of Goods Act means that the goods must be :-

- of satisfactory quality
- fit for purpose
- as described
- the seller must have the legal right to sell.

"Satisfactory quality" does NOT mean whether you regard them as satisfactory, but whether the court feels a mythical "reasonable man" would regard them as satisfactory. You refer to it as a "defective product", but the court will have to decide if a single pixel defect actually makes the product defective, or whether a certain amount of defective pixels is simply inherent in the manufacturing process and the technology in general. The fact that the product is not absolutely perfect in every last minor regard isn't sufficient to call it "faulty".

Much the same logic applies to "fit for purpose". Anything you buy must be fit for the purpose that that type of product is bought for, and for any specific purpose that you'd informed the seller the product was for.


The question, therefore, is whether you can convince the court that a pixel defect makes it either not "satisfactory", or not fit for purpose. And while ONLY a court can actually answer that, to be honest, I don't envy your chances of convincing a court that a single pixel is enough, given the standards that are widely known, industry standard and almost universally applied.

In other words, if the manufacturer is refusing to replace it, and the retailer is similarly claiming it isn't defective, then about the only thing you can do to force the issue is to go to the small claims court and, personally, I think you'd lose. But I'm not a lawyer, and it's just a personal opinion, so feel free to try .... or ask a lawyer what your chances are.

[Gorstrom]

Ok thanks everyone. It really annoys me that Acer, a multi-multi-million dollar company would be stingy enough to not replace one monitor, but there you go.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I might try contacting Techbuy for a replacement/refund, but I don't like my luck.

[Clockwork_Killa]

Can someone give me some links to some of the dead pixel removal tools mentioned above? I know they probably wont work, but its worth a try at least.
Thanks
Good luck with your monitor Gorstrom, hope you get it sorted.

[pollaxe]

Here are three places to have a look:
How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor - wikiHow
JScreenFix - Fix stuck pixels and screen burn-in
Stuck Pixel Fixer :: PSP-Vault :: PSP downloads, community, news

I'm very skeptical about the efficacy of any of them to be honest, though. Good luck anyway.

[arthurleung]

Ok thanks everyone. It really annoys me that Acer, a multi-multi-million dollar company would be stingy enough to not replace one monitor, but there you go.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I might try contacting Techbuy for a replacement/refund, but I don't like my luck.

If 50% of their monitor have at least 1 bad pixel, and they replace it for everyone, you wouldn't be able to purchase monitor at that price.

Every LCD monitor I have purchased in the last 14 years have at least 1 bad pixel. Make yourself forget about it, and you wouldn't notice it anymore.

If you can't return the monitor, sell it on ebay or something, then buy a new one.
Surely most people out there wouldn't care about a dead pixel or two.