Sale of goods act 1979

Dalkirst

Hi hope someone can help.I bought a 50 inch plasma from Best Buy Lakeside on the day it opened 30th April 2010.The set now has developed a fault where it has a thin black line running down the screen dead centre.I have googled this and it seems it might be the panel has gone?

Anyway i emailed Best Buy and they have replied 2 or 3 times saying because it's out of the 12 month warrenty i would need to contact LG for a repair.I have tried telling them i wouldn't expect it to go wrong so soon especially something costing as much as it did but they continue with the same line.Do i have the right to expect them to repair it under the sale of goods act 1979 and if they continue to refuse what do i do next?

Thanks

shaun_from_Africa

Like you, I would expect a Plasma TV to last longer than 15 months but to get a repair out of best Buy you now have to prove that the fault was due to a manufacturing defect. This is a requirement of the SOGA for faults that occur after 6 months, although a lot of retailers don't insist on this.

You will have to get an independent report stating what the fault is and that in the opinion of the person who carried it out, the fault was due to an inherent problem and then submit this to bestbuy.
should refund the cost of this if the report is in your favour.

Instead of this, you could could contact LG and explain that as it has failed in such a short period, would they consider repairing it free of charge. (they may well offer a manufacturers warranty in excess of 1 year anyway)

bris

You would need to get an independant report that states the fault in inherent, once this is established you could give then a LBA and try to force their hand. If the engineer agrees the fault is inherent then the retailer will have to offer a repair, replacement or refund. In the case of a refund they are allowed to deduct a fair percentage for the use you have had. They must also refund the cost of the report.
You may as well contact LG and see what they say, they may be more helpfull and offer to repair it free. Manufacturers are more helpfull than retailers, if you have no luck with them then you might need to fight best buy for a resolution, they don't have the best CS.

Dalkirst

ok thanks for the replies they are very helpful as to what i do next:)

Dalkirst

I've called LG who have told me i have to get in contact with Best Buy who again are just spouting their repair number to me and how sorry they are that it's out of the 12 month warrenty.I would have taken up extra if they'd sent me a letter to say it was running out i'd forgotten about it but they didn't:/

Now what?:(

molerat

Now what?:(

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Like you, I would expect a Plasma TV to last longer than 15 months but to get a repair out of best Buy you now have to prove that the fault was due to a manufacturing defect. This is a requirement of the SOGA for faults that occur after 6 months, although a lot of retailers don't insist on this.

You will have to get an independent report stating what the fault is and that in the opinion of the person who carried it out, the fault was due to an inherent problem and then submit this to bestbuy.
should refund the cost of this if the report is in your favour.

Instead of this, you could could contact LG and explain that as it has failed in such a short period, would they consider repairing it free of charge. (they may well offer a manufacturers warranty in excess of 1 year anyway)

As quoted by sfA

Dalkirst

Ok so i shouldn't go with either LG's or BB's repair team?:)

molerat

As neither of them are willing to repair for free you need to go down the SOGA route if you want a free repair. Did you tell LG that BB would not repair it ?

shaun_from_Africa

If you do decide to get a report done, there are a couple of other things that you could do first.

Do a "google" search for the model of TV that you have to see if you can find any other people who have had the same problem, and also see if there is any sort of LG owners forum where this sort of thing may have been discussed.

If you find out that this is a known and reasonably common fault then you might be able to use this as evidence that the TV has an inherent fault in its design rather than have to pay for a report.

bod1467

Didn't someone else recently get panned for suggesting that internet research regarding inherent faults in a Panasonic TV was not inherently (;)) valid?

neilmcl

Dalkirst wrote: »

Ok so i shouldn't go with either LG's or BB's repair team?:)

There's no reason why you couldn't get an LG engineer out to diagnose the fault only. Then take the result back to Best Buy. It'll cost you initially but you will be entitled to have this cost refunded should it go in your favour.