Panasonic TV faulty, been offered replacement/refund but not enough

Avocados

Hi,

I purchased a Panasonic TV in 2013 with an extended 5 year warranty directly from them.

The TV was a Plasma model (important to remember that fact)
The TV cost circa £1000
It failed over a month ago,
Panasonics authorised repair centre(ARC) picked it up under warranty, repaired it and re-delivered it.
Using it that same night it was apparent the issue was still present
Panasonics ARC again picked it up and took it away.
30 days passed and I had heard absolutely nothing.
I complained to Panasonic, escalated the complaint and have been offered a replacement LCD (NOT PLASMA) or refund of original purchase price as TV not going to be repaired.

The issue I have is

A: Panasonic stopped making Plasma's at the start of 2014 so no new ones are available
B: The replacement screen they have offered(LCD) is not comparable in image quality, yes it has other features but all reviews I have read and HDTV website review owners I have spoken with have advised I will not get Plasma level picture quality out of any LCD tv under £3000
C: A refund will do no good as I cannot buy a new Plasma TV anywhere.

On questioning the specific equality to my current TV with customer services escalation point they have advised "some discrepencies in spec will be inevitable on offered replacements"

I get that, but ultimately it will not match the image quality of my currently faulty Plasma.

To me this is similar to saying, your cars broke, beyond repair so we've offered you a replacement, it has 4 wheels so is the same in that respect but the quality inside is not the same, also it's a petrol not a diesel as we no longer make deisels but that's inevitable as some discrepancy will occur so accept it.

What are my rights here? I'm sure a court will not view favorably on a company strong arming a person(me) into accepting a no win avenue where it's impossible for me to end up with a comparable product (in terms of image quality) to what I purchased through no fault of my own.

Please help.

Quiet_Spark

Panasonic have gone above & beyond your rights in offering you a refund of the full purchase price, especially considering you've had over a years use of it and a court will tell you the same.
Take the refund and buy something else.

teddysmum

Panasonic cannot provide what they no longer make and I doubt any court would uphold your claim, as you have been offered a full refund, yet have had over a year's use from the product.

robin58

Personally I think you did good enough to get them to offer a replacement or your cash in full back.

What does it say on your extended warranty about repair or replacement?

If you are that worried about the type of TV, take the money they are offering and find a secondhand one to buy.

Avocados

Quiet_Spark wrote: »

Panasonic have gone above & beyond your rights in offering you a refund of the full purchase price, especially considering you've had over a years use of it and a court will tell you the same.
Take the refund and buy something else.

But I cannot buy something of comparable quality with said refund.

Sparx

Avocados wrote: »

But I cannot buy something of comparable quality with said refund.

Tough. You will not get any more than a full refund, especially after a full year's use as well count yourself lucky! Have a look at LED TVs, much better quality than crappy Plasmas that burn out.

Avocados

Sparx wrote: »

Tough. You will not get any more than a full refund, especially after a full year's use as well count yourself lucky! Have a look at LED TVs, much better quality than crappy Plasmas that burn out.

This is the kind of ignorance that surrounds Plasma TV's from Naive people like yourself. If you truely believe Plasma's "Burn out" (despite all Plasma manufacturers stating their products have a half life of 100,000 hours,) and are "crappy quality" compared to LCD then I implore you to do some research to back up your claims before you look even more stupid.

A quick search in regards to Panasonics top of the line 2014 LCD yields "but the Panasonics LCD model TX50AX802B was as close as we’ve seen any LED LCD approached plasma’s supremely cinematic image quality."
-ww.hdtvtest.co.uk

But thanks for your time there mate. Good effort.

AJXX

So what do you want them to do exactly if they no longer make the TV and have already offered a full refund?

You've been offered the maximum and best resolution possible (a full refund on something that's been used for a full year) I'd bite their hand off!

You say you can't get something of comparable quality but that's not the point when you get a refund - you haven't lost out.

Don't understand what you want them to do and I think you are being unreasonable.

Sparx

Avocados wrote: »

This is the kind of ignorance that surrounds Plasma TV's from Naive people like yourself. If you truely believe Plasma's "Burn out" (despite all Plasma manufacturers stating their products have a half life of 100,000 hours,) and are "crappy quality" compared to LCD then I implore you to do some research to back up your claims before you look even more stupid.

A quick search in regards to Panasonics top of the line 2014 LCD yields "but the Panasonics LCD model TX50AX802B was as close as we’ve seen any LED LCD approached plasma’s supremely cinematic image quality."
-ww.hdtvtest.co.uk

But thanks for your time there mate. Good effort.

You keep moaning but you are not going to achieve anything else. A full refund has been offered, I would take it.

P.S. My dad has bought several Plasmas over the years (Pannys and Toshibas)... The blacks may look a little nicer, but the 2 LEDs I have owned in the time he's had the Plasmas the viewing angles and colour depth on my LED looks fantastic.

[Deleted User]

Avocados wrote: »

This is the kind of ignorance that surrounds Plasma TV's from Naive people like yourself. If you truely believe Plasma's "Burn out" (despite all Plasma manufacturers stating their products have a half life of 100,000 hours,) and are "crappy quality" compared to LCD then I implore you to do some research to back up your claims before you look even more stupid.

If they are so good, why have you got a faulty one? Indeed, if they are so good then why are all manufacturers ceasing production of them?

I also fail to see how the other poster said anything "stupid".


I think it is you who will end up eating your words. You really won't get any more than a full refund.

Quiet_Spark

Avocados wrote: »

But I cannot buy something of comparable quality with said refund.

That isn't Panasonic's problem, and the law won't help you either.

Richer Sounds have plenty of Plasma sets starting at £399 for a 50" model.