Please HELP! SONY TV Warranty refused

ArturR2

Hey guys, I need your help please. I have a Sony TV which is coming up to 5 years of age and it has developed a fault where it restarts itself intermittently. See photo for clarification. Sony are claiming that its a software issue and therefore refusing to repair it under warranty. They haven’t investigated the issue other than a few standard troubleshooting scripts. I feel cheated by the company and would love to get some help from you and see what recourse I might have as a consumer. Have you had a similar issue with the manufacturer refusing a repair ? How did it pan out ? Many thanks

Aylesbury_Duck

Is it still in warranty?  What are the terms of the warranty?  You are bound by them if you're dealing with Sony. If what they are saying is in accordance with the warranty terms, then that's that.

Your other option is consumer rights with the retailer, but after 5 years I suggest that's going to be tricky.  How much was the TV new?

JJ_Egan

Many don't give 5 year warranty's , even those that do have restrictions .

As its software have you Factory Reset .

As above Warranty is not a Consumer Rights ,its a free add on .

Your Consumer Rights are the law against the seller .

ArturR2

The retailer and the manufacturer are the same as the TV was purchased from a Sony store. No one knows if what they’re saying is true because the TV has not been assessed by an engineer, there’s no professional report, they’re simply saying it’s software because that’s a clause in the warranty that gets them out of fixing the unit. The TV was sub £5k when purchased. 

MattMattMattUK

ArturR2 said:

The retailer and the manufacturer are the same as the TV was purchased from a Sony store. No one knows if what they’re saying is true because the TV has not been assessed by an engineer, there’s no professional report, they’re simply saying it’s software because that’s a clause in the warranty that gets them out of fixing the unit. The TV was sub £5k when purchased. 

They will likely have experience of faults and causes, so it is very likely it is a software issue, have you tried a factory reset as JJ said, reinstalling the OS from a flash drive (guessing Android or the basic Sony Bravia OS?).

When you say "sub £5k", do you mean it was £4,999, or just under £5k in general, in which case that statement is not much help, an approximate price, to the nearest £100 would be far more useful.

TELLIT01

One alternative is to take it to an independent repairer and get a report from them.  If it is firmware, they may a solution and if it isn't, you will have grounds to claim the cost of the report back from Sony.

y3sitsm3

ArturR2 said:

The retailer and the manufacturer are the same as the TV was purchased from a Sony store. No one knows if what they’re saying is true because the TV has not been assessed by an engineer, there’s no professional report, they’re simply saying it’s software because that’s a clause in the warranty that gets them out of fixing the unit. The TV was sub £5k when purchased. 

The Sony Centre website states

THIS WEBSITE IS OWNED AND OPERATED BY INDEPENDENT RETAILERS WHO TRADE AS SONY CENTRES UNDER LICENCE FROM SONY EUROPE B.V. ALL SALES ARE WITH THE SONY CENTRES DIRECTLY AND NOT WITH SONY EUROPE B.V.

so they're not one and the same, your consumer rights are with the retailer, not Sony.

JJ_Egan

Under Consumer Rights its up to you to prove via an independent report .Thats claiming under the law not warranty .

Claim successful then vendor has the right to choose repair replace or refund less usage .

ArturR2

JJ_egan The claim that it’s a software issue is a made by Sony without carrying out an inspection. All the troubleshooting as far as resets have been done in accordance to their instructions. It simply feels no different to here, do this and if it doesn’t work it’s software issue without any possibility of it being a hardware fault. You can’t possibly separate the two with remote troubleshooting. 

Matt the price was £4499 if I remember correctly. Why is it likely it be a software issue ? There’s literally zero indication if it’s software or hardware. It can be either but without an engineers assessment it’s he said she said. 

Tellit01 You’re right, I think this is the only route I have left as I’m being stonewalled by Sony. 

ArturR2

Okay putting the law and consumer rights aside what happens when a manufacturer claims the warranty is not applicable without any basis for it ? How do you fight for your rights under the warranty?

Aylesbury_Duck

ArturR2 said:

Okay putting the law and consumer rights aside what happens when a manufacturer claims the warranty is not applicable without any basis for it ? How do you fight for your rights under the warranty?

Ultimately, you take them to small claims court and hope the court feels the same way as you do about the warranty terms and whether they're being adhered to by Sony.