TV Broke down 6 months outside of warranty, do I have a claim?

D@rkle

Hi MSE'rs.

I'm hoping some of the rights savvy users here might be able to help.

I have a 40" TV that I bought from Tesco for £299 on the 6th July 2011. It states on the receipt that it comes with a standard 1 year warranty. There was also a leaflet inside that said I could get a 6 month extension to the warranty simply by registering the device with UMC.

So a few days ago, the TV just started powering on and off by itself, the panel would just barely come on, and then turn off again, the only way to stop it was to turn the power off at the wall.

A day or so later I tried turning it back on, it automatically switched on and stayed on. I found when I tried to power it off with the remote it would turn itself back on. I left it on for a while and eventually it started powering off again as well.

This isn't any kind of fault with the remote, as I even took that right out of the room just in case it was something silly like that.

As it stands the TV is just 2 years old and unusable. It's on a surge protected socket, and has had less than average use. By that I mean it's lucky if it's seen 3 hours a week usage. I actually use it more for my PC than TV.

I know I read somewhere under law you can claim for a warranty repair even if you're out of warranty because you reasonably expected something to work for longer than the warranty period. I think anyone would agree that a TV should last 5+ years.

I also read up on Martin's Section 75 article, telling you that you can get your credit card company to cover this as well, though it might be a bit of a fight. (I bought it with a Lloyds TSB Mastercard).

I was wondering if anyone had any advice about how I should approach this first. I know fine well that Tesco will tell me it's out of the 1 year warranty. UMC themselves guaranteed it until February 2013, but they also gave you the option to buy one of those £39.99 """Lifetime Warranties""", so I'm pretty sure I'm going to get told if I didn't buy that then I can't claim.

They have an out of warranty repair service which conveniently lists my problem, and that it can be fixed for the bargain price of £144, nearly half the cost of the whole TV 2 years ago.

I'm pretty sure I have a case here under consumer law, to reasonably expect my TV to last for more than 2 years. But would like to hear your thoughts and any advice on who I should approach. Should I just cut straight to the Credit Card company?

I'm not adverse to a fight, but it does put my blood pressure up, so I'd like the path of least resistance

Thanks for your time.

Edit

In the end based on advice I contacted Tesco Technical support. They informed me that I had a claim against them for the faulty TV. They're sending me £90. It's better than nothing. It was definitely worth calling.

benwarwick123

Under the sales of goods act you have a claim, I had a beko fridge breakdown 8 months out of warranty with currys. I sent an email stating the sales of goods act and products lasting a reasonable amount of time etc and that I can take action through the small claims court, and currys cave in straight away by giving me £100 towards a new one. The fridge only cost £135 new so this was a result.

D@rkle

Out of interest, how long was the warranty, and how old was your fridge when that happened?

benwarwick123

D@rkle wrote: »

Out of interest, how long was the warranty, and how old was your fridge when that happened?

The Fridge was 20 months old, so it was 8 months out of warranty. Here's a link that might help you but you do have a claim and expect some money back.

http://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/faulty-appliances-sale-of-goods-act/

If you would like I can send you a template of the letter I sent to currys and you can edit it accordingly ?

D@rkle

Hi Benwarwick,

Sure it couldn't hurt. I'm not the type to quickly jump to small claims court threats, but I guess it can't hurt to see what kind of measure got the likes of currys to pay out.

Thanks again

benwarwick123

Address



Phone number



Date





Dear Sir,

Im emailing you on a purchase i made from your Orpington Curry's Store on the 3rd January 2011. I purchased a Beko Under Counter freezer for £134.99 which has now ceased to work,after only using the appliance for 20 months i feel this is of unsatisfactory build quality and hasn't lasted a reasonable time. Under the sales of goods act appliances should last a reasonable time and 20 months isn't, i wish for my freezer to be repaired or replaced or i will seek court action. I also sent an email to beko as a potential customer wishing to purchase there products and they informed me that there products are built to last and six years is a good estimate, so 20 months falls very short.

I hope this matter can be resolved between us so there is noneed for me to take further action.



Thanking You



Your name


Also remember to copy your receipt

D@rkle

Thank you. Heading out right now, but will send them an e-mail when I get back.

I appreciate it

jacques_chirac

All this fuss yet you don't say if you have contacted Tesco? They are very good with out of warranty faults, and will no doubt offer you a partial refund.

Stop all this talk of going legal and pick up the phone!

D@rkle

jacques_chirac wrote: »

All this fuss yet you don't say if you have contacted Tesco? They are very good with out of warranty faults, and will no doubt offer you a partial refund.

Stop all this talk of going legal and pick up the phone!

This line here "But would like to hear your thoughts and any advice on who I should approach." in my original post implies that I haven't contacted anyone yet and I'm looking for advice.

I also said "I'm not the type to quickly jump to small claims court threats" in reply to Benwarwick.

I've been out for the past couple of hours, I'll be contacting them this afternoon.

Regarding Tesco's attitude "They are very good with out of warranty faults, and will no doubt offer you a partial refund", do you have any basis for that? Based on my own personal experience dealing with them it's the exact opposite.

macman

Is it a Technika? If so it's surprising it's lasted as long as 18m. Tesco are very used to them coming back within warranty or just out of it.
You'll never know what their approach on this will be unless you ask them-what have you got to lose?
A successful claim under SOGA after 18m will require you to prove a pre-existing fault-only possible via an engineer's report. For a TV worth now no more than £150, I doubt that it's worth that risk.

Gratis

macman wrote: »

You'll never know what their approach on this will be unless you ask them - what have you got to lose.

His patience, I suspect.