Reasonable lengh of time-Sale of goods act

Carlos~

Hi I've been hanging around the boards for a while, but this is my first post..

Basically I bought on Boxing day year before last (2006) a Samsung 42 inch plasma tv from Comet for £1000. I didn't take out the extended Warrenty, so that expired on boxing day last year (26-12-2007) (12 month warrenty). However the last few weeks (posibly months) the screen has developed a blue tinge in the top right and top left corner. This isn't picture retention, just purly the colour seems to be going. Now last night I turned tv on and I've got a stinking great Line running accross the middle of the screen. (about 12 inches wide). It's almost like a static line, but it affects the anologue tv, scart DVD player and HDMI input (PS3) so it's obvioulsy the set and not a reception issue. Now I've not approached Comet yet, but I've a feeling that the response is we'll send an enginer round at the cost of £45 call out fee and £30 an hour.

Now personally don't think that a £1000 tv braking down 19 months after purchase is a reasonable lengh of time and therefore under the sale of goods act can should be able to ask Comet to have a look at it and fix it for nothing- or replace it if needed. Now my question is would this be laughed off, or do I have a case?

Thanks

Carl

sco0ter

Under sale of goods act you have a case but only if it can be proven that the fault was there to begin with or is a common fault (manufacturing) with these TV's. That said Comet will just laugh at you and you will have to go down the small claims/legal road to get anything from them. I had a thing with a laptop where the lid hing snapped off (was a common fault and even manufacturers told me it was a manufacturing fault) yet I STILL had to go down the small claims road to get it fixed and that was 14 months after purchase.

Carlos~

Thanks for the help Sco0ter.

Does the Fault from manufactoring come into it though as basically I'm looking to go down the fit for purpose during a reasonable period of time. Effectivly saying that as the tv has failed within 19 months of ownership this is not a resonable life span of the product they sold me?

Cheers
Carl

cazscoob

may sound silly but so you have speakers or surround sound sub box on that side as when we put ours near tv we get the blue corner?

djt100

I've got a LG plasma with the Screen died after 27 months and i'm thinking along the same lines , the sale of goods states that the item must be durable, I've googled the model name of the TV and found that it seemd to be a common issue, question is do i do the small claims thing or repair or get a new set... I'll never buy a plasma again though

sco0ter

Basically what it boils down to is this... IS IT THE TV THATS BROKEN OR YOU THAT BROKE IT. If other TV's are out there the same as yours lasting for 6-8 years then you have to prove that there was a fault with the TV that has got nothing to do with you. You cant say "My TV wont work because I spilled water over it and now its not fit for purpose" and expect to get it replaced/repaired. You have to PROVE it was a fault that is common and the manufacturers will admit to other wise you need engineer reports and other evidence.

sm00chie

cazscoob wrote: »

may sound silly but so you have speakers or surround sound sub box on that side as when we put ours near tv we get the blue corner?

that's exactly what happened to our tv a few years ago. when we took it to get repaired we were asked if it'd been anywhere near speakers? funnily enough we have a pair of free standing avalon speakers (one on each side of room) and whilst we were moving the furniture around the room we lifted and moved the tv past the speakers and the powerful magnets in the speakers made the colour in tv turn green!

so.....keep your speakers away from your tv's-the powerful magnets in them can interfere with the electronics and picture tubes of tv's

tanto

you should contact consumer direct and let them know what is happening they should be able to advise you of what steps to take
they can be contacted on
08454 04 05 06

Carlos~

Cheers for all the comments guys..

I do have speakers about 1 foot away from each side so will look to move them away. To see if that make any difference to the blue bit. I've decided to get an engineer round to see what is wrong, work out how much and go from there.

Tanto, many thanks will give them a call!
I'll let you know how I get on!

Cheers
Carl

derrick

Carlos~ wrote: »

Cheers for all the comments guys..

I do have speakers about 1 foot away from each side so will look to move them away. To see if that make any difference to the blue bit. I've decided to get an engineer round to see what is wrong, work out how much and go from there.

Tanto, many thanks will give them a call!
I'll let you know how I get on!

Cheers
Carl

Don't use Consumer Directs rip off 08454 04 05 06 number, pick the nearest geo number for your locality; -

Consumer Direct is designed to operate from our 0845 number, so we cannot guarantee connectivity, but under many circumstances these landline numbers will work correctly.

East of England: 01438 737460
East Midlands: 01522 563000
London: 020 8799 9200
North-East: 01642 495600
North-West: 01229 842203 020 31035167
Scotland: 01851822401
South East: 01622 626520
South West: 01209 720333
Wales (English language): 02920 367800
Wales (Welsh language): 02920 367801
West Midlands: 02476 786610
Yorkshire and the Humber: 0113 201 3670

Consumers who call Consumer Direct from a mobile phone are handled personally. We will offer to text a landline number to consumers who call us from a mobile phone, and who live in an area that is served by Consumer Direct, because calls from mobile phones to 0845 numbers can be much more expensive.

Steve_xx

Televisions costing £1k should last much longer than 19 months. Take it back to Comet and tell them this and demand that they repair it. If they refuse, then get it repaired and raise a small claim for the cost of it. Tell Comer that you plan to do this.