Broken TV - Fit for Purpose

itsrachelhere

Hi there,

We bought a TV just over a year ago, and its now started to play up, just outside of warrenty (typical!).
Spoken to a TV repairman who thinks that its either the screen or the inverter (?) that's playing up (basically the screen keeps on going completely black but the sound is still playing, and this is happening using various types of devices, and different inputs).
The guy we have taken it to says that even though it's out of warrenty, you should expect the tv to last more than a year (would hope so, it cost enough) and therefore it was never fit for purpose. He's going to do an assessment for us and state that the fault is beyond normal wear and tear and therefore was never indeed fit for purpose (assuming that is the case, but we haven't done anything to it, other than watch it!). He says that we should then be able to take this to the store we got it from and say to them that the TV was never fit for purpose and they need to get it repaired for us, free of charge.

Makes sense to me, but I know that they will just try and run rings round us, so just wondering if anyone has had experience of anything like this in the past? What exactly are our rights, and what should we be quoting at them.

Thanks in advance,
:j

itsrachelhere

Oh and another thing. He says we are entitled to get an independent engineer to look at it. Do the store legally have to accept his report, or would we have to then let their engineers look at it?

clever_username

There are people here far more clued-up on consumer rights issues than I but I doubt the whole 'TV was never fit for purpose' argument will get you far when the thing worked perfectly well for a year after you bought it.

shaun_from_Africa

Your engineer is just about correct.

Ignore the 1 year guarantee stuff as the sale and supply of goods act basically states (paraphrased) that anything purchased should be durable, fit for purpose and last a reasonable time (taking into account it's price).

If an item fails within 6 months of purchase, it can be assumed that it was faulty from new (unless the retailer can prove otherwise), and after this 6 month period, it is up to the purchaser to prove that the item had an inherent fault from new. (which is why you need an independant report stating what the fault was).

YOu can now try to claim for faulty items up to 6 years after purchase. This isn't to say that this 6 year period is for all goods, as again it depends on the type of item, its expected life, original cost etc. (you wouldn't expect a new CRT television that only cost £50 to last this long, but a plasma TV costing £500+ should).

Have a look at the government fact sheet. It will give far more details than I have.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html

itsrachelhere

Thanks for the fact sheet link, that's just what I was hoping for!

CoolHotCold

Where was it purchased from?

itsrachelhere

We got it from Comet. They have offered for one of their engineers to see it for free, but have said we would need to pay at least a proportion of the cost for any replacement components. Hence why getting an independent person to look at it first, so if he says there must have been a fault beforehand, then we have that evidence.

This has all happened at the wrong time - it's the Australian Open tennis next week, and I had planned to watch a considerable amount of it. Missing that is for me is the equivalent of a guy missing out on the World Cup! I am panicking!

shaun_from_Africa

They have offered for one of their engineers to see it for free, but have said we would need to pay at least a proportion of the cost for any replacement

Comet are correct in saying this.
They can expect you to pay a proportion of the cost of a new item if your old TV can't be repaired, or if it is too expensive to do so.
This was mentioned on the fact sheet I gave the link to.

• If repair and replacement are not possible or too costly, then the consumer can seek a partial refund, if they have had some benefit from the good, or a full refund if the fault/s have meant they have enjoyed no benefit

paddedjohn

What make is the tv? I have got a similar problem with a samsung, out of waranty by 3 weeks and pc world dont want to know, i called samsung and have been offered a free out of waranty repair. Might be worth calling the manufacturer.

itsrachelhere

Shaun - true, fair point, and I guess that's fair enough as we have had a years use out of it with no trouble at all.

Paddedjohn - it's a Toshiba.

beccak_2

I have exactly the same problem, my TV is a toshiba Regza also brought from comet. I am now wondering if there was maybe a faulty batch and if many more people have been affected. I am out of guarantee. I contacted Comet and arranged for a fixed priced repair to be carry out. This is £125. After a lot of messing around, the tv repair man agreed that it could be either the inverter or screen. He agreed to try the cheapest option first, the inverter, and needed to order the part. He returned yesterday to fit it, but then said it was the wrong one and they could not get the one needed for my television! I found this quite unbelieveable seeing as the TV is fairly new. I have now found out about this consumer act and am going to give that route a try. I would welcome any help to carry this out, do i contact comet where i brought the tv from or Toshiba direct?