Faulty TV Out Of Warranty, Currys Offer Of Compensation, Help Please

UKFoolsGold

Hi All,

I'm new to these forums so please excuse me if I have placed this post in the incorrect place.

Ill post the letter I sent to Currys last week, this will give all the background information you all need.


26th March 2010
Re: Philips 47PFL5603 LCD Problem
Dear Sir/Madam,

On the 29th December 2008 I purchased a 47" Philips LCD television (model number 47PFL5603) at a cost of £849.98 from Currys **********. This was a major investment for me but I thought that by investing this amount of money I was guaranteed an extremely high quality and reliable television and for 14 months this was the case. However...

Last week on the 18th March 2010, my viewing was interrupted by the screen on my television going completely black, I could still hear sound but could not see a thing on the screen. Initially I wasn't too concerned about this as I thought that it was probably just a loose scart lead either in the Sky + box or in the TV itself. I knocked the TV off and checked all connections to the TV, switched it back on and voila! Problem solved, picture back on along with sound. This joy however was short lived as the next day the problem reappeared.

I knew by now that any connections to the TV were secure and that they couldn’t be the problem, however I still double checked them just to be on the safe side. Again I knocked off the TV and when I switched it back on the picture was back and I could continue viewing. This problem resurfaced only a couple of hours later, and became more and more frequent until on the Sunday morning I couldn’t view the TV for more than 5 minutes without the screen going black.

It was at this point when I phoned the Currys customer service number and reported my problem to you. I was told by the polite customer service representative to obtain an independent engineers report to discover the cause of this problem, and to ensure that fault was in fact a manufacturers fault and not my own, then once I obtained the report to send it off to Currys which I am now doing. This report cost me £25 to obtain, which I had to fork out for myself much to my disgust and expect to be reimbursed for. The engineer told me that the main circuit panel of the TV was faulty, it is a manufacturers fault, and it is a problem that had been identified in a number of Philips TV's. He also said that repair cost of this would not be economical against the value of the TV set.

I have done all you have asked and now the ball is well and truly in your court. I am fully aware that my television is out of warranty but I am also aware of my rights under the Sale Of Goods Act 1979 stating durability. As this £850 television has developed a fault after only 14 months through no fault of my own I would say to you that this television has not proved to be durable and I now expect that you either repair or replace this television as quickly as possible.

Enclosed with this letter are a copy of the original Currys receipt and a copy of the independent engineers report.

Thank You In Advance

Yours Sincerely




And this is the reply I recieved from Currys.



Thank you for your email dated 27th March 2010.

I have tried to contact you this afternoon but have been unable to get through.

Further to your correspondence, we have considered the independent engineer report. We are happy to offer a contribution towards the replacement product, in the form of a payment voucher to the value of £546.89, this amount includes the cost of the report. This is based on age and original value against the life expectancy of the product. However we will need the invoice of the charge of obtaining the report, If you wish to accept this offer please reply to this e-mail also please quote case reference ******* in any correspondence or contact with us regarding this matter.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Yours sincerely,

Currys Customer Support Team


Now, I was impressed that they had answered me efficiently, but I was not happy with the valuation. Taking off the charge of £25 for the engineer, Currys had decided that my TV was worth about £520. Which I read as they base the life expectancy of a fully functioning version of my TV to be less than 3 years old. I phoned Currys and explained that I wasn't happy with the offer and after being passed from pillar to post I got an improved offer of £600.

For £600 I cannot buy a TV of the same size, the cheapest 47" TV currys have on the website is £649.99. Which by the way is inferior in specification to my current TV. I told Currys that I wanted an offer £675. £650 for the TV and £25 for the cost of the engineer. Currys will not budge and insist this is their final offer.

So I would be grateful if you fine ladies and gentlemen could help me out, am I being unreasonable, should I accept the offer of £600 and what are my rights regarding this matter. Any advice would be massively appreciated. Sorry for babbling on for so long!

Thanks Again

UKFoolsGold

jdturk

It is a very fair offer you have had use of that TV for what nearly two years so depreciation levels will be taken into account. Also the tv you bought two years ago will now be cheaper to buy than two years ago

Noctu

Sorry to hear you've been having problems with Currys - from your post I would be inclined to say take the money and run, from past experience!

I know it doesn't seem fair that you can't purchase the same spec TV for the £600 but I suppose they are including in the amount the use of the TV for 14 months.

snapping_crocodile

It sounds like a fair offer to me. As others have said you have been using the TV for nearly 2 years, therefore the value will have deppreciated. Sounds like Currys have done a good job in dealing with your complaint. Take the money and run!

pendulum

Come on! Its been 1 year, 3 months and 6 days since he bought it so he's hardly had it "nearly two years"!

I agree about taking the money though, £600 isn't such a bad offer. If they let you keep the faulty TV you can sell it on eBay as faulty/spares or repair. I am always amazed at how much money broken TVs and laptops (and any broken stuff for that matter) seems to fetch on eBay.

McKneff

I'm with the others, if you shop around you could easily replace the tv for the money you;ve been offered.

Personally, i would take the money and smile.

jdturk

pendulum wrote: »

Come on! Its been 1 year, 3 months and 6 days since he bought it so he's hardly had it "nearly two years"!

I agree about taking the money though, £600 isn't such a bad offer. If they let you keep the faulty TV you can sell it on eBay as faulty/spares or repair. I am always amazed at how much money broken TVs and laptops (and any broken stuff for that matter) seems to fetch on eBay.

I skim read it but even so via depreciation the percentage is probably about right

neilmcl

Well according to their offer they are saying that its reasonable for the TV to last a little over 3 years. I wouldn't say this was reasonable at all, more like 5 years. I would have thought at least £700 would be a better offer.

OP, if you're willing to take it further then maybe the small claims is the way forward..

UK2010

neilmcl wrote: »

Well according to their offer they are saying that its reasonable for the TV to last a little over 3 years. I wouldn't say this was reasonable at all, more like 5 years. I would have thought at least £700 would be a better offer.

Thats assuming depreciation is linear but it's not. This example is from the average second hand rates on eBay for a computer. Ok this is a TV but the same logic applies. http://www.processor.com/articles//P2827/21p27/21p27chart1.pdf?guid=

neilmcl wrote: »

OP, if you're willing to take it further then maybe the small claims is the way forward..

I think he'd lose.

neilmcl

UK2010 wrote: »

Thats assuming depreciation is linear but it's not. This example is from the average second hand rates on eBay for a computer. Ok this is a TV but the same logic applies. http://www.processor.com/articles//P2827/21p27/21p27chart1.pdf?guid=



I think he'd lose.

Depreciation doesn't come into it. A judge will simply look at how long an item would reasonable last and how much usage the consumer has had out of it and divide the value based on that.

UK2010

neilmcl wrote: »

Depreciation doesn't come into it. A judge will simply look at how long an item would reasonable last and how much usage the consumer has had out of it and divide the value based on that.

Is that just what you think or is that official? ie can you provide a link to back you up?