Faulty TV only 2 years old.

royston_2

Don't know if I'm doing this right as this is my first non-lurking visit!

I bought a widescreen TV from Comet just over two years ago and it has recently developed a fault where I can't see the outside edges of the picture and the virtical lies bow.

Although it's outside the one year guarantee and the fault is new I believe I have rights under the sale of Goods act in that the TV should reasonably last about 8-10 years. (Got this info from Which?)

Has anyone experienced tackling this sort of dilemma? Should I approach a branch or head office direct? I hate confrontation but don't have the money for a new TV/ pay for repairs and I don't think two years is a reasonable length of time for a TV to stop working!

Please help!!

bridiej

Welcome to the boards!!

I didnt know about the Sale of Goods Act, we had digital cordless phones for 2 years and they've just recently broken - just stopped working and beeped everytime you pressed a button or tried to dial out.

Most annoying as at the time they cost over £40, and now have just had to fork out another £40 to buy new ones - although just got normal cordless this time...

Will have a look at the act and see if it can help us..!

Poppy9

You should just write to the company. If they refuse you get a quote for the cost of the repair and sue them in the small claims court. The Sale of Goods Act uses the words reasonable time. What is reasonable will often depend on the item bought and the price paid. If you pay £40 for a portable telly and it dies after 18 months - well it was cheap and cheerful. If you paid £150 for a portable telly you would reasonably expect it to be of better quality and longer lasting (they might try to fob you off with extra feature).

Before you call our a repair have you checked your tv settings? I have a widescreen and I know I can alter the picture setting i.e. auto, panorama, cinema, full etc. I can also adjust the vertical and horizontal alignment. Might be worth checking in case it's been accidently unset.

Altarf

If you don't get a sensible response from Comet (and trust me you won't), if you paid by credit card take it up with the card company. They are jointly and severally liable due to Consumer Credit Act (you will need to get past the junior staff at the call centre before you get anybody who has even heard of this). The credit card company won't want the hassle of dealing with it, so you stand a good chance of geting a refund from them (and presumably them charging it back to the retailer). This technique has worked for me more than once.

However, next time you buy a TV, if you are buying from a bricks and mortar retailer ONLY buy it from John Lewis. You get a FREE 5 year warranty on all TVs and you will only be able to get it cheaper by going to one of the internet retailers.

royalsteve

royston wrote:

Don't know if I'm doing this right as this is my first non-lurking visit!

I bought a widescreen TV from Comet just over two years ago and it has recently developed a fault where I can't see the outside edges of the picture and the virtical lies bow.

Although it's outside the one year guarantee and the fault is new I believe I have rights under the sale of Goods act in that the TV should reasonably last about 8-10 years. (Got this info from Which?)

Has anyone experienced tackling this sort of dilemma? Should I approach a branch or head office direct? I hate confrontation but don't have the money for a new TV/ pay for repairs and I don't think two years is a reasonable length of time for a TV to stop working!

Please help!!

not sure if you can do anything...though there is a 6 year ruling for goods but dont know enough about it...

have a check here as this gives you licks to all the oft and dti sites too....

http://www.howtocomplain.com/info/

royston_2

Lovely to get responses. Quite exciting in a geeky way. I think I have a good case. I've got loads of info and am preparing to tackle Comet this weekend brandishing leaflets and throwing about terms like "merchantable quality", "fit for purpose", "sale of goods Act" etc!!

If this fails I'll approach head trading standards and then the head office. Comet better watch out...I mean business!

Also, there was a similar case with Curry's where a lady successfully sued in the small claims court for the cost of repairs so, fingers crossed!

I'll let people know the outcome....unless I bottle it!!

royston_2

Sorry took so long- don't know if anyones interested now but I complained to Comet and got the TV fixed for free!!

The thing that was annoying was that the first guy I spoke to tried to tell me I would have to pay at least £50 for the initial call out charge and then whatever it would cost to repair.

It was only when I mentioned tha sale of goods act that the manager got involved and agreed I had a case.

If I hadn;t have known about the SofG act then Comet would have made a nice sum of money from me that they weren't entitled to!!

gremlin

Thanks for this thread royston ( and welcome btw:D )

I didnt know about this part of the sale of goods act so this is going to help me in a similar situation.
Regards

Poppy9

Well done Royston. Glad you got a good result.

unspec

I have a TV with a fault on the picture, however I left it longer that 6 months before putting in an official complaint.

They sent a repair guy out to look at this:



The moire and banding is just a side effect of the digital camera. Those two arcs are not. Here is a close up of the blue arc on the left (ignore the scan lines of the gun, they're not visible to the naked eye).



Nothing near the TV, it's been degaussed etc however they claim that the result of the repair report state that it is operating within the manufacturers specifications and not only are not going to repair it but they are charging me for the callout!

They are even refusing my rejection when I sent a letter saying that this TV was not fit for purpose! :mad:

I can only recommend that no-one on the forum gets a TV from Sound & Vision.........ever.

To say that I'm angry at this is a bit of an understatement.

royston_2

I'd take this further! Find out if the retailer is a member of Radio Electrical and Television Retailers Association and if so complain to them https://www.retra.co.uk. Also you should contact your local trading standards, you can find the address by putting in your postcode at http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/. Above all make sure the retailer knows what you're doing!!

Good luck