Many Sony iDTV Sets cannot be retuned

AnnoyedAtSony

My six year-old £600 integrated (i.e. with built-in DTT decoder) Sony TV cannot be retuned. Sony say, "tough - time you bought another one!"

I bought my KD-28DX40U in 2003 for £600. It would have been considerably cheaper at the time to buy an equivalent non-integrated TV along with a decent set-top box, but that would have meant two remotes, and the boss said, "No!". I did wonder at the wisdom of an integrated DTT decoder, but was reassured partly by the Over Air Updates that the TV supported, but mainly by the fact that it was a Sony, and along with the enormous price tag, you could expect an excellent and well-supported product.

Today I tried to retune my set - it reached 2% and failed to pick up any services (new or old) after 30 minutes. I rang the (swamped) Sony helpline, and eventually got through to an advisor who informed me that Sony used an outside company to provide the digital decoders for these 'older' sets, and the company had gone out of business.

Apparently, I have three options:
1. Use a set-top box. Arrggghhhh!
2. Pay for an upgrade (£60+) - will also cease to work at Analogue Switch Off
3. Bu a new equivalent-sized Sony TV (and get a £50 discount)

Now, if Sony had told me in 2003 that there was no guarantee of DTT compatibility five years down the line, would I have bought the set? Of course not!

Option 1 will really annoy the boss.

Option 2 is farcical - £60 to £100 for an upgrade that also ceases to work in a couple of years.

Option 3 is an insult. This is NOT a special offer being exclusively for owners of affected Sony sets - the offer is open to anyone with an old TV. Obviously you could get better deals on Amazon, etc.

From what I can make out, Sony are the only major manufacturer to treat their customers like this.

I'm off to buy a Panasonic!

Inactive

I would not let Sony get away with this, the TV that you purchased would have had the " digital tick " on it, which confirmed that it complied with the Freeview standards, clearly it did not.

They cannot pass the buck to another outside manufacturer that has gone bust.

Disgraceful behaviour by Sony.

I would chase them to the end of the earth to get justice.

The_One_2

Yeah, if it had the Freeview tick logo on and other logos - id chase them up and then go to the Office of Fair Trading (or something along those lines) thats crazy !!!

But then, mind you.....if your interested in the launch of Freeview HD, that it might be something to take into consideration.

ukmike

Got the same TV,(32" not 28"),also made in 2003,have just re-tuned it no problem.It doesn't have the Freeview tick logo on it anywhere though.

davemurgatroyd

Inactive wrote: »

I would not let Sony get away with this, the TV that you purchased would have had the " digital tick " on it, which confirmed that it complied with the Freeview standards, clearly it did not.

They cannot pass the buck to another outside manufacturer that has gone bust.

Disgraceful behaviour by Sony.

I would chase them to the end of the earth to get justice.

It may well have been fully compliant with the Freview specification back in 2003 and fully deseved the "digital tick". The fact is that Freeview's specification has changed considerably in that period and Sony are not the only ones to fall foul of those changes (mainly down to the governments wish to sell off parts of the broadcasting spectrum). Some manufacturers have offered solutions by offering replacement set top boxes at subsidised prices. I'm afraid even the Sale of Goods Act may offer little help here as the TV is not faulty as to the original 2003 specification of Freeview and Sony cannot realistically be held responsible for a change in broadcast specifications which was not even thought about when the TV was purchased. I feel however Sony should at least be offering free/highly subsidised set top boxes as recompense.

Inactive

davemurgatroyd wrote: »

It may well have been fully compliant with the Freview specification back in 2003 and fully deseved the "digital tick". The fact is that Freeview's specification has changed considerably in that period and Sony are not the only ones to fall foul of those changes (mainly down to the governments wish to sell off parts of the broadcasting spectrum). Some manufacturers have offered solutions by offering replacement set top boxes at subsidised prices. I'm afraid even the Sale of Goods Act may offer little help here as the TV is not faulty as to the original 2003 specification of Freeview and Sony cannot realistically be held responsible for a change in broadcast specifications which was not even thought about when the TV was purchased. I feel however Sony should at least be offering free/highly subsidised set top boxes as recompense.

I hear what you say Dave, however it appears that Sony are I believe the only TV sets affected, so other makers didn't fall foul of these changes and obviously anticipated them better.

Sony is a premium brand and charges accordingly, I would have hoped a company like Sony that have admitted to using an outsourced tuner in their TV's, would have been more customer focused and would have had a remedy that satisfied their customers.

In light of this post/thread, I certainly will not consider Sony as a future purchase.

almillar

There's definately a case to be answered here compared to a £20 STB out of Asda. The TV would be expected to last longer. I don't understand why the upgrade would stop working though. Maybe they just meant that it'll be Freeview SD and not Freeview HD. Anything you buy now will be SD anyway, and certainly won't stop working when Freeview HD arrives.

Inactive

Take a look here, go to 3rd from bottom item on list, click on link, almost all IDTV's that have stopped working are Sony.

http://www.tvretune.co.uk/troubleshooting/

ukmike

almost all IDTV's that have stopped working are Sony.

But it could just be that people are doing it wrong.If you use the menu button on my remote it just retunes the analogue channels.To retune the free view digital is a different set up explained in the manual.

Inactive

ukmike wrote: »

But it could just be that people are doing it wrong.If you use the menu button on my remote it just retunes the analogue channels.To retune the free view digital is a different set up explained in the manual.

Did you read the OP and the link above? .. Sony have admitted there is a problem, but they do not seem to want to help their customers.

ukmike

Did you read the OP and the link above? .. Sony have admitted there is a problem, but they do not seem to want to help their customers.

Yes & yes.I have the same model as the OP, just a 4 " bigger screen & i retuned to freeview fine which means that there is not a problem with them all .I'll say it again,you can't retune this models digital channels by pressing the menu button,that only retunes the analogue channels.Perhaps all the people complaiming are simply doing it wrong? Where do Sony admit there is a problem with this model?Link please,an official Sony one.