Panasonic TV warranty fail

Skybird

Hi guys, I bought a panasonic telly from argos last December. It's broken and they don't want anything to do with it, and haven't even explained why.

It hangs on the wall in an alcove and is rarely used.

My son was watching some sport a couple of weeks ago and I noticed a bar of light along the top edge of the screen, right in the middle top of screen. The frame along the top of the TV was slightly bowed upwards showing these lights from behind the screen. As it's rarely on this was never spotted before.

Anyway, we took a photo of the bent frame and white light bar showing at top of the screen and took it to Argos. They didn't look at photo, just gave me a Panasonic phone number.

Next morning as I'm about to phone them I turned on the TV (so I could describe exactly what I was seeing) and I ran my hand along the bent frame, with a tiny bit of pressure, thinking 'does something just need clicked down?' and then the screen shattered.

I phoned Panasonic and they gave me a number for a repair firm, saying if they can't find a fault I'll have to pay to fix it an it will probably be quite expensive. The repair firm told me the same thing and refused to come out till someone from panasonic contacted them in writing.

Back on the phone to panasonic, I offered them photos, the one taken the day before (that I took to show Argos), this shows an intact screen, the top frame bowing upwards and a white line of light showing from under the bent frame, and then two more photos I took next day after the screen shattered. These were supposedly passed on to 'head office'.

I waited a fortnight and contacted panasonic again and they replied -we received a response from our Head Office and they said that this issue will not be covered by the warranty.

Slightly fuming here. It's a 9-10 month old TV, rarely used, cost £300 in Argos. It's frame is bent along the top like a banana and now it has a cracked screen. Is there anything I can do? Replies much appreciated.

neilmcl

OK, so to start with as it's older than 6 months, legally the onus is on you to prove that a fault exists and is inherent to manufacture, rather than user damage or excess wear & tear etc. I'm going to say it would be very difficult to prove that a bent upper part of the TV frame wasn't caused by or during incorrect installation when hanging it on the wall. Also the fact that by your own admission you caused the screen to shatter by attempting to "repair" it yourself doesn't exactly help matters for you.

Regardless you statutory rights are with the retailer so you will need to take this up with Argos as Panasonic have no obligation to you other than within the terms of their warranty.

Any chance you can post the pics here? You'll have to post the links without the https in front as you're a new poster.

Skybird

Cheers for your reply. I have photos here on PC but not sure how to insert them. Will I need to put them on a photo site then link?

neilmcl

Skybird wrote: »

Cheers for your reply. I have photos here on PC but not sure how to insert them. Will I need to put them on a photo site then link?

Yes, try imgur.com or similar.

Skybird

Hi, here are the pics.

Aylesbury_Duck

As above, you need to deal with Argos but I can see a problem in that your attempted repair (pushing the frame back into shape) has caused the screen to shatter. It may have eventually shattered anyway but their angle might be that you caused the problem.

You may have to get an inspection done which will hopefully suggest that the problem was an inherent one and not caused by the way the TV was mounted, or the conditions it was kept in (humidity, temperature, etc). Before you go down that route, make absolutely sure you have adhered to all aspects of the installation and use instructions.

DCFC79

Skybird wrote: »

Hi, here are the pics.

Link

https://s193.photobucket.com/user/wigit_photo/library/panasonic?page=1

JJ_Egan

Looks same as my Panasonic .Looks to be in three basic parts

Screen with a chrome effect edging bezel all around with a solid black plastic rear and bracket slots for wall fixing .

Skybird

Hi JJ, mine doesn't have a chrome effect edging bezel. That white shiny bit you see in the photo is the lights showing from behind the screen because the frame's bent upwards. It was hung properly with a bracket from amazon, one that has hundreds if not a couple of thousand reviews.
The TV is the Panasonic 43 Inch TX-43E302B from Argos at £299.

I actually should have taken it back the first week we had it because the screen was always too dark and the sound terrible. But it was just before Christmas, we rarely watch anyway and it filled the gap in our bookcase.
The Argos reviews are great but don't believe them. I think it's actually sagging under it's own weight and pulling down from the frame itself. This wont be the only one it's happened to. I now believe it's a cheap made piece of chit and I'll take it to the dump and NEVER buy panasonic again. I've checked the reviews for panasonic warranties on trustpilot. They're awful. I'm lucky it was this TV and not a 4 grand camera I bought.

Cheers for replies.

savemoney

I have heard some major companies that do budget tv's dont actually make them. Panasonic is one of them, they get Vestel to make some of there models

Skybird

I just read about Vestel a few minutes ago. Some manufacturing giant in Turkey or something.