Samsung TV extended warranty offered at time of sale but unobtainable

Tom720

I bought a new 55" QN88C TV on the Samsung UK website four weeks ago. It was offered for £999 with a 5 year warranty upon registration and a 10% discount promotion. When registered the warranty was given for 1 year. Samsung contends through a variety of web chats, emails, phone calls and a written response that the extended warranty was negated by my use of the 10% discount.

This discount was not a selectable option and was applied automatically during the checkout process. It would not have been possible to complete the sale otherwise.

The product page states no conditions for the extended warranty beyond the requirement to register. There's a 'Learn more' link within the 5 year warranty section which explains the benefits and on that second web page there's a further 'T&Cs apply' link which in turn leads to a five page .pdf file. At the bottom of the fifth page is this statement:

"This promotional offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other similar Samsung Electronics promotion(s)."

If the extended warranty and 10% discount are both considered in this context as promotions I fail to see the similarity between them. This seems like intentional deception as a typical buyer on the website of a major manufacturer wouldn't expect to have to click through two further links in search of a potential 'gotcha'.

It's not even that Samsung would have offered a 5 year warranty if I'd paid more for this model of TV. The Samsung shop on eBay now offers the same model for £1,099, the current retail price, but with no discount or cashback promotions. There's no specific period of warranty stated but in response to my enquiry I was informed that this was for 1 year.

born_again

There was another thread on this very subject a bit back.

DullGreyGuy

The problem is probably general term 6 which states this promotion cannot be used in conjunction of any other "similar" promotions... it'd be an argument if a discount promotion is similar to a warranty promotion or not. 

born_again said:

There was another thread on this very subject a bit back.

What was the outcome? Or are you talking about buying from Richer Sounds one?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

Such a practice is likely to breach the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and so entitle you to redress (either to unwind the contract or if you have not exercised that right instead a 25% discount), getting Samsung to agree is likely to prove very difficult.

On the subject of viewing terms and conditions the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) stipulates

A term which has the object or effect of irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which the consumer has had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract.

is subject to being tested for fairness. 

The CMA has the below to say:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f8b58ed915d74e33f716e/Unfair_Terms_Main_Guidance.pdf

It is a fundamental requirement of contractual fairness that consumers should always have a real opportunity to read and understand contracts before becoming bound by them (see part 2 of the guidance under the heading ‘The transparency test’). Terms whose purpose is to subject consumers to obligations of which they can have no knowledge at the time of contracting are open to serious objection. The underlying principle that consumers need full information about the agreements they are entering is mentioned frequently in this guidance and also reflected in, for instance, the CCRs (see part 1 ‘other legislation’ above). 

5.20.2 Any provision or notice which seeks to bind the consumer to accept or comply with terms which are ‘hidden’ – or, in legal jargon, ‘incorporated’ solely ‘by reference’ – is liable to challenge. This issue commonly arises in the context of online transactions – for example, where a condition of receiving digital content is the acceptance of terms and conditions through a tick box against a provision which has the purported effect of binding the consumer to ‘terms’ of the agreement in circumstances where the consumer has no reasonable prospect of reading and understanding them. The general ‘contract terms’ may, in any case, not be binding under the general law especially if they are onerous in character. Their use may also involve breach of the CPRs (see above part 1 ‘other legislation’ on the CPRs). 

5.20.3 The same objections apply to terms which require consumers to accept that they are bound by the terms of other linked contracts (for example, insurance contracts) or rules or regulations or agree to the terms of first or third party privacy policies unless they are given an appropriate chance to become acquainted with them. 

5.20.4 This is not to say that every detail of information about an agreement must always be included in a single contract document. Indeed, relying solely on lengthy terms and conditions to communicate with consumers may be positively unhelpful. Face-to-face explanation serves a valuable purpose, as do brochures, executive summaries, and other forms of written guidance - particularly as a means of drawing attention to the more important terms. The overriding requirement is that consumers are effectively alerted – before committing themselves – to all contractual provisions that could significantly affect their legitimate interests. 

So really advertising a mandatory 10% discount and a 5 year warranty but then saying the two can't be used together by making you go through the process you described to find such a term is likely to both be a breach of the CPRs and have the term voided via the CRA entitling you to the 5 year warranty. 

I think from a past thread (regulars will correct me if I'm wrong ) Samsung orders are fulfilled by a third party company so it might be a bit complicated. 

The questions are what does the extended warranty cover and would you use it? If it's a straight forward repair then it might be worth it, if it's only parts with a charge for labour, or a charge for inspection, a local repair company might be best for fixing any issues that (hopefully don't) arise in the future, what do they offer if they can't repair (a reduced refund matches the CRA where as a swap for a similar spec might be a better offer), and ultimately you'll still have consumer rights to fall back on, just after 6 months the burden of proof being on yourself is a bit of a headache.  

Not an ideal position to be in, you'd think a global brand like this could have their house in order.... 

DullGreyGuy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Hello OP

Such a practice is likely to breach the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and so entitle you to redress (either to unwind the contract or if you have not exercised that right instead a 25% discount), getting Samsung to agree is likely to prove very difficult.

On the subject of viewing terms and conditions the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) stipulates

A term which has the object or effect of irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which the consumer has had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract.

@the_lunatic_is_in_my_head but they could read the terms beforehand, there is a link to the Warranty Info page and from that a link to the terms of the warranty 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

DullGreyGuy said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Hello OP

Such a practice is likely to breach the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and so entitle you to redress (either to unwind the contract or if you have not exercised that right instead a 25% discount), getting Samsung to agree is likely to prove very difficult.

On the subject of viewing terms and conditions the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) stipulates

A term which has the object or effect of irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which the consumer has had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract.

@the_lunatic_is_in_my_head but they could read the terms beforehand, there is a link to the Warranty Info page and from that a link to the terms of the warranty 

I don't think a link to read warranty terms is a problem but I do think it's a problem to say on the product page both 10% offer + 5 year warranty and for the consumer to have to

Tom720 said:

 There's a 'Learn more' link within the 5 year warranty section which explains the benefits and on that second web page there's a further 'T&Cs apply' link which in turn leads to a five page .pdf file. At the bottom of the fifth page is this statement:

"This promotional offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other similar Samsung Electronics promotion(s)."

In order to find out the two are not compatible, it could be deemed those steps are too excessive for that specific aspect of the terms given it may have a significant impact on the consumer's choice. 

I think that would be important if the 10% offer was optional (say with a promo code).

As the basket forces the 10% automatically and it's not possible at all to get both offers I think, even if it said so right on the product page, it would be a breach of the CPRs.

If Samsung offer a 5 year warranty but run other mandatory offers which void the 5 year offer then they need to adjust their product pages for the length of the mandatory promo offer to remove any reference to the 5 year warranty.

Basically, if everything the OP has said is correct, Samsung are lazy.  

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6502867/samsung-extended-warranty-warning/p1

Tom720

Samsung have now dropped the former 10% discount and £150 cashback 'promotions'. The TV is currently still at £1,099 and offered with a 5 year warranty. All three deals have also included another promotion, the free use of Disney+ for six months. I have no use for this so haven't activated it but I wonder if someone buying this model TV today and doing so would be denied the 5 year warranty on the same grounds that Samsung denied me. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Tom720 said:

Samsung have now dropped the former 10% discount and £150 cashback 'promotions'. The TV is currently still at £1,099 and offered with a 5 year warranty. All three deals have also included another promotion, the free use of Disney+ for six months. I have no use for this so haven't activated it but I wonder if someone buying this model TV today and doing so would be denied the 5 year warranty on the same grounds that Samsung denied me. 

Do you mean you also paid £1099 and so didn't really get 10% off or did you pay £989? 

Tom720

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Tom720 said:

Samsung have now dropped the former 10% discount and £150 cashback 'promotions'. The TV is currently still at £1,099 and offered with a 5 year warranty. All three deals have also included another promotion, the free use of Disney+ for six months. I have no use for this so haven't activated it but I wonder if someone buying this model TV today and doing so would be denied the 5 year warranty on the same grounds that Samsung denied me. 

Do you mean you also paid £1099 and so didn't really get 10% off or did you pay £989? 

At the time of purchase on 31/01/2024 the price on the Samsung UK website was £999. The 10% discount and 5 year warranty were the deal makers for me. I also took advantage of Samsung's offer to collect my old TV for a further £100 discount. They deducted the £100 'Upscaling' allowance first and applied the 10% discount to the balance. I paid a total of £809.10. The 10% discount saved me £89.90.

Two days later they increased the basic price to £1,099 and offered a £150 cashback which had to be claimed in a separate process. Samsung would then respond to say whether the claim had succeded. In the last day or so the basic price is still £1,099 but the discount and cashback promotions have been dropped.

During each of my two phone calls to Samsung I spoke with representatives who were polite and helpful but responded quickly with the line that the discount promotion negated the extended warramty, as if it was from a training script. With perseverance each representative accepted my point that the discount was applied automatically and offered to upgrade my TV's warranty status manually. After each conversation I received an email stating that a claim for the extended warranty was in progress and each time the claim was rejected.

Tom720

Basically, if everything the OP has said is correct, Samsung are lazy.  

Using my newly bestowed privilege of link posting here's one to the item I bought:

2023 55 Inch Neo QLED 4K Smart TV QN88C | Samsung UK