LG OLED TV Repair Cost

Ryan_Holden

Hi all

I've had very helpful advice elsewhere on here so I thought I'd ask.

I have an LG OLED TV, 65", quite posh for its day, bought in 2020.

Yesterday, long story short, it stopped working. I've tested and changed the fuse in the plug, tested it on other sockets, power cycled it, drained the capacitors etc, it's a brick.

My local TV repair company won't touch it and advised I go to LG suspecting it's a power board failure. No, it doesn't qualify for any free repair.

LG will repair it for me for £509 inc. VAT. That includes courier fees, labour and parts. And they will collect it from me.

It's a lot of money, by any stretch. But the TV was almost £2,000 so in relative terms, it's 25%.

But, is it good value? Would like some opinions.

Thanks in advance

Ryan

400ixl

Where did you buy it from? Did it come with an extended warranty from them?

It could also be under your consumer rights you may be entitled to a repair or partial refund. This would be through the retailer and not the manufacturer.

Ryan_Holden

Thanks for that. I appreciate the guidance. The TV is 3 years and 10 months old, so outside of the normal warranty (2 years) and the extended warranty (+1). 

Why would the retailer be responsible for any of that? 

DullGreyGuy

Ryan_Holden said:

Thanks for that. I appreciate the guidance. The TV is 3 years and 10 months old, so outside of the normal warranty (2 years) and the extended warranty (+1). 

Why would the retailer be responsible for any of that? 

Firstly, some retailers like JL and Richer Sounds tend to give 5 year warranties on TVs

Secondly, the Consumer Rights Act states that goods must be of reasonable durability etc and its the retailers problem if the sell something that breaks too soon (assuming no improper use etc). However they get the choice of repair, replace or refund and a refund can be reduced to reflect the use someone got from the item before it broke (as long as it's over 6 months old). 

You may think nearly 4 years is a good innings for a TV so accept it as is, others will say it should last longer and so take it up with the retailer. For the likes of JL without their extended warranty they'd be talking about giving you approximately 1/3 of the price back assuming they agree it died of natural causes and too soon. 


Personally, wouldn't compare the cost of repair to the price you bought it for but against the price of a replacement... the 65B 2024 model is currently £1,529 brand new or the 2023 model is still available in a few retailers for £1,200

ButterCheese

Just my opinion - I would not pay £500 for a repair on an item that could be bought for ~£1500 brand new.  It's good money after bad; we all know that even the big brand TVs are no longer built to last.  You could get it repaired and then something else go wrong.  If I were paying that much for a TV, I would also take out an extended warranty (5-7 years if they offer it). 

Also, repairing an "old" TV means that you are paying to maintain an older piece of equipment.  Technology moves on so fast that you might even find a lower end cheaper TV meets your needs now

Ryan_Holden

DullGreyGuy said:

Firstly, some retailers like JL and Richer Sounds tend to give 5 year warranties on TVs

Secondly, the Consumer Rights Act states that goods must be of reasonable durability etc and its the retailers problem if the sell something that breaks too soon (assuming no improper use etc). However they get the choice of repair, replace or refund and a refund can be reduced to reflect the use someone got from the item before it broke (as long as it's over 6 months old). 

You may think nearly 4 years is a good innings for a TV so accept it as is, others will say it should last longer and so take it up with the retailer. For the likes of JL without their extended warranty they'd be talking about giving you approximately 1/3 of the price back assuming they agree it died of natural causes and too soon. 


Personally, wouldn't compare the cost of repair to the price you bought it for but against the price of a replacement... the 65B 2024 model is currently £1,529 brand new or the 2023 model is still available in a few retailers for £1,200

The TV was purchased through a friends preferred partner scheme via Digital River, who are just a re-seller. So I can't imagine they'll be interested. But more importantly, I don't want to labour my friend with that piece of work.

I don't think 4 years is OK for a TV either.

Even comparing to 'new' it's still 30% of the cost of a TV. I'm not in a position where I want to spend another £1500 on a TV.

Ryan_Holden

ButterCheese said:

Just my opinion - I would not pay £500 for a repair on an item that could be bought for ~£1500 brand new.  It's good money after bad; we all know that even the big brand TVs are no longer built to last.  You could get it repaired and then something else go wrong.  If I were paying that much for a TV, I would also take out an extended warranty (5-7 years if they offer it). 

Also, repairing an "old" TV means that you are paying to maintain an older piece of equipment.  Technology moves on so fast that you might even find a lower end cheaper TV meets your needs now

I don't really have much interest in tech moving on, the product is lovely when it works. Again thought, I'm not in a position where I want to spend £1500 on another product. I am just trying to gauge if the repair price is typical for the product or too high.

Ryan_Holden

I’ve found a company in the next town along that will do the same repair with a refurbished board for £340 and they’ll collect and deliver the TV. Just waiting to hear if there is a guarantee on the repair and the part. 

Undervalued

400ixl said:

Where did you buy it from? Did it come with an extended warranty from them?

It could also be under your consumer rights you may be entitled to a repair or partial refund. This would be through the retailer and not the manufacturer.

Possibly yes, although the OP would need an expert opinion that this was an inherent fault and not caused by misuse etc.

Even then the general yardstick is that the expected life of modern TVs (even posh ones) is c. 6 years and the OP has had this one for at least 4 years (possibly 4 3/4 years) so a pro rata refund would only be around the £500 mark.

Unfortunately most consumer electronics "repairs" these days is simply board changing and replacement boards that are still in demand are stupidly expensive. Frustratingly the faulty boards are frequently sold off to companies who then fix them at component level, often only needing a few pounds worth of components, if that!

It is all a bit of a racket and not great for the environment! 

Ryan_Holden

And to be honest, that is very much what it feels like. I'm a mechanical engineer, not an electrical engineer, but even I think that this should be a much more simple fix.

danrv

Ryan_Holden said:

I've tested and changed the fuse in the plug

There's one on the power supply board too. I have my LG TV apart at the moment and the three boards look quite straight forward to swap out.
Quite possible that the later models have a similar layout.

Agree that diagnosing and fixing at component level requires skill, patience and a multimeter. Looking at around £100 for a new power supply board. Cheaper if a used one can be found and £340 isn't too bad if the fault is found and rectified.