LG TV Software Fault

Crazycat89

Good Morning,

I wondered if someone could best advise how to proceed in relation to an issue we’ve had with our LG TV for the last few months.

We have an LG 55 OLED B2 TV which we purchased from John Lewis in May 2023. We mainly bought the TV for use with a 4K Blu-ray player and it is setup with a sound bar system as well. 

Everything was working perfectly until around April this year when a new software update arrived and instantaneously the Dolby 5.1 stopped functioning with the sound bar system. We looked into the matter and noted that this was directly related to the software updated and annoyingly from further reports online had been noted as an issue in the earlier beta testing for B2 TV’s of the Web os 23 update but LG released it anyway.

The issue seems to specifically affect the B2 model and there are various users online with this issue which LG are aware of.

I contacted LG in April to ask about the problem which they acknowledged they were aware of and a fix was coming…

Well we’re now in nearly November and nothing has materialised.

The issue is that John Lewis’s warranty specifically states it doesn’t cover software issues and to be fair I feel the responsibility does lie with LG as they have clearly released the update knowing the issue existed.

I have contacted LG customer services numerous times and they just fob me off with ‘an update is coming’ however am now concerned that the issue isn’t going to get resolved and we’re sat with a very expensive (18 month old) TV that doesn’t do what we bought it for.

Get that the panel works but the TV doesn’t work as intended as the functionality with external devices is now defunct. We even looked at whether the third party sound bar was an issue, as to purchase an LG soundbar to help but even those with an LG soundbar still have the problem.

I was going to look at raising an issue with Resolver with LG but mindful they weren’t who we bought the TV from so any advice would be appreciated. 

powerful_Rogue

Crazycat89 said:

Good Morning,

I wondered if someone could best advise how to proceed in relation to an issue we’ve had with our LG TV for the last few months.

We have an LG 55 OLED B2 TV which we purchased from John Lewis in May 2023. We mainly bought the TV for use with a 4K Blu-ray player and it is setup with a sound bar system as well. 

Everything was working perfectly until around April this year when a new software update arrived and instantaneously the Dolby 5.1 stopped functioning with the sound bar system. We looked into the matter and noted that this was directly related to the software updated and annoyingly from further reports online had been noted as an issue in the earlier beta testing for B2 TV’s of the Web os 23 update but LG released it anyway.

The issue seems to specifically affect the B2 model and there are various users online with this issue which LG are aware of.

I contacted LG in April to ask about the problem which they acknowledged they were aware of and a fix was coming…

Well we’re now in nearly November and nothing has materialised.

The issue is that John Lewis’s warranty specifically states it doesn’t cover software issues and to be fair I feel the responsibility does lie with LG as they have clearly released the update knowing the issue existed.

I have contacted LG customer services numerous times and they just fob me off with ‘an update is coming’ however am now concerned that the issue isn’t going to get resolved and we’re sat with a very expensive (18 month old) TV that doesn’t do what we bought it for.

Get that the panel works but the TV doesn’t work as intended as the functionality with external devices is now defunct. We even looked at whether the third party sound bar was an issue, as to purchase an LG soundbar to help but even those with an LG soundbar still have the problem.

I was going to look at raising an issue with Resolver with LG but mindful they weren’t who we bought the TV from so any advice would be appreciated. 

Your claim would be with the retailer under your consumer rights, not their warranty.

Ignore resolver, it's just a system that generates emails - nothing you can't do yourself. No-one actually gets involved or handles the case.

Belenus

Is there any way you can reverse the software update?

A factory reset perhaps?

Google for suggestions.

400ixl

This problem has been going on for at least 6 years and is very random, affects some but not others. Various different fixes out there, but again work for some but not others.

You could try a downgrade to the version that worked for you but no guarantee it will.

Have you tried the various fixes documented for this problem?

Crazycat89

Hi 👋🏻 Thanks for all the comments. Unfortunately LG doesn’t allow for reversal on the updates. Where other individuals have been able to get a ‘repair’ (mainly in the US) an engineer has had to come out to replace the motherboard which holds the previous OS and then you have to just be careful you don’t install it again!

I might drop JL a line see if they’re interested in helping but… 

Okell

Crazycat89 said:

... I might drop JL a line see if they’re interested in helping but… 

I bet they won't want to help, but that's your best course of action

Complain to them that the TV is clearly not of satisfactory quality and/or not fit for its implied purpose (to be a working TV) under sections 9 and 10 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015

Because it's more than 6 months after purchase the burden of proof - on the balance of probabilities - lies on you to establish that the TV did not conform to contract when you bought it.  

I would argue that it did not conform to contract because the proper functioning of the TV was designed to be dependent on a series of software updates issued by the manufacturer, but that these updates have proved over time to be unreliable and to cause TVs to malfunction, a fault which is widely known and which has been acknowledged by the manufacturer.  For example:

Crazycat89 said:

... Everything was working perfectly until around April this year when a new software update arrived and instantaneously the Dolby 5.1 stopped functioning with the sound bar system. We looked into the matter and noted that this was directly related to the software updated and annoyingly from further reports online had been noted as an issue in the earlier beta testing for B2 TV’s of the Web os 23 update but LG released it anyway.

The issue seems to specifically affect the B2 model and there are various users online with this issue which LG are aware of.

I contacted LG in April to ask about the problem which they acknowledged they were aware of and a fix was coming…

JL are likely to tell you that you must get a written report from a VAT registered TV engineer confirming that the fault was present at purchase.*

But I'd point out to them that the manufacturer has already confirmed that it's the software updates that are causing the problem, and as periodic software updates are an integral part of the design of this model TV, then the design itself is faulty if the updates are not reliable and cause the TV to malfunction.

See what they say.

If they accept your complaint they are entitled to one single attempt either to repair or to replace it.  If it fails again you can demand a refund, but JL can deduct from that refund an amount to reflect the untroubled use you have had of it. 

If they refuse your complaint you have two options.

1.  If you paid by credit card, a s75 claim, or

2.  Consider issuing a court claim against them.

In either case you would have to persuade your card issuer or the court that the built in dependence of the TV on an unreliable system of software updates was a design fault entitling you to win your claim.

I think it's quite a good argument, but there's no guarantee a court would agree with me...


*Of course if you can get such a report, great.  But if you can't, you seem to be saying that LG have already acknowledged there is a problem, which would be the best confirmation possible.