LG TV has lasted 4 years - do I have any rights?

StevieP · 14 May 2015 at 15:53

I bought a TV from Currys back on the 29th April 2011 and last night the HDMI sockets decided to stop working!

I've tried various HDMI cables and from 2 different sources and so I'm pretty certain it's just the HDMI ports that are borked! (I can view Sky through the SCART lead though!?!)

Do I have any rights since I'm undoubtedly outside any standard warranty that LG offer? Surely a TV should reasonably be expected to work for more than 4 years???

I'm trying to contact LG but they aren't the easiest to get hold of and even when I do, I'm sure they will just try and fob me off!

Thanks for any advice...

StevieP · 14 May 2015 at 16:04

So it's Currys rather than LG themselves that would be responsible?

StevieP · 14 May 2015 at 16:10

I'm just on the webchat with LG and they are saying contact the retailer - basically saying "get lost!"

StevieP · 14 May 2015 at 16:17

LG have been less than useless so I'll e-mail Currys to see what they say!

Not expecting anything but you never know - as long as it's not costing me anything but time I quite like a bit of an argument with big corporations!

StevieP · 14 May 2015 at 16:26

I wouldn't usually have to be honest - this was a bit of an impulse buy for the bedroom and I don't think it was hugely expensive, which is why I'm not a hell of a lot angrier!

StevieP · 14 May 2015 at 16:30

LG 32LE4900

StevieP · 15 May 2015 at 10:51

What with LG being a huge pile of **** I proceeded to e-mail Currys to see what my options were.

To their credit I received a phone call this morning but they are wanting £95.00 for someone to come and collect the TV and only if it is deemed to be a "manufacturers fault" (ie. nothing that could be considered "wear and tear") will I get the £95.00 refunded and the TV repaired for free!

Now I'm fairly confident in saying that it's a genuine manufacturers fault as it suddenly stopped working while no-one was touching it (and the TV is in mint condition as it's never moved from it's spot in 4 years) but the fact that its the firm that will ultimately have to pay the costs that are the one's that are going make the decision, I'm sceptical to say the least! :confused:

I might just write it off as a bad job and get a new TV!

StevieP · 15 May 2015 at 13:15

Phate said:
Look at it this way. Can you afford to lose the £95?

If you can, then why not get them to collect it?

It's not that I can't afford to stump up the £95 - it's that this could potentially be 40% or so towards a brand new, probably better, set with a whole new warranty!

chillidog said:
and not everyone can afford to shop at john lewis considering their prices are ott anyway.

I usually do buy from John Lewis as I've found their warranty coverage to be superb - and in all fairness, they will price match most deals out there anyway so there isn't usually much difference in terms of cost!

StevieP · 25 May 2015 at 10:01

Happy_Camper said:
I suppose it all comes down to LG and their customer support. I can only give my two pence worth with a similar experience I had with my Samsung TV. The capacitors blew and it wouldn't turn on it. The TV was was about 7 years old and after some research I found it was a common problem with the Rose red Samsung's of that age. I emailed Samsung basically saying that I was very disappointed that one of their TVs that wasn't cheap, should suffer such a fault and that I expected better from them and would not be buying another one of their TVs.

They emailed me back and within two days had a local engineer come out, pick up the TV and drop it off the next day, all at Samsungs expense.

I would try the same with LG. They don't want to lose custom.

Good luck!

This experience with LG has been pretty poor to be honest - they have basically said that it's not their problem and that I need to speak to the retailer - and then I got a follow-up e-mail from them telling me that my opinion was important to them and did I want to leave a review for the product in question! (although I doubt they will publish it!

)

I'm sure most of the big manufacturers are the same but I won't be buying LG again that's for sure!

StevieP · 25 May 2015 at 10:56

MeatLoaf said:
The £95, is that the cost to fix it if they say its not a manufacturing fault? Or is that on top of the £95?

It is £95 for them to fetch and check the set and then if they determine that it is a "manufacturers fault" then they refund the £95 and repair set for free - if it falls outside their definition for "manufacturers fault" then I would need to choose whether or not to pay extra for them to do the repair (but I don't get the £95 back either way)

StevieP · 27 May 2015 at 21:28

TALON1973 said:
Had to chuckle at this thread A few people know legal rights , but some of you are clueless . Unless you Cause damage yourself all this pap that pc world / dixons / currys try to sell you is worthless . Basic breakdown is covered under the sales of goods act END OF . And that lasts 5 years ( 6 in Scotland )

If you follow the process legally you win everytime

To be fair to Currys they have offered to repair it for free if it is a manufacturing fault - trouble is I'm not prepared to a) pay £95 for the people who stand to have pay out to be the one's that decide if it is covered and b) go through whatever lengthy legal process is involved to force the retailer to pay up for a relatively low price TV!

I'm more bothered by LG's complete disregard for customer satisfaction to be honest, which is why I won't buy LG again!

For some strange reason my review of the TV "didn't meet the guidelines" for publishing on the LG website - trouble is the link to the guidelines took me to a blank web page! :confused:

I can't imagine what the issue was with my 1-star review!?!?!?

StevieP · 28 May 2015 at 11:10

Psycho Sonny said:
have you read the thread at all?

the manufacturer after 1 year has nothing to do with the tv. so why are you having a go at LG?

The retailer on the other hand is who is responsible for any claims after the 1 year warranty period.

You also don't seem to have grasped LG and Currys have done everything by the book you on the other hand haven't. If you want to claim under SOGA you need a technicians report stating it was a manufacturing defect which caused the issue and not wear and tear.

I've said it many times before buy TV's from John Lewis it's as simple as that. LG are actually a good manufacturer it would be stupid to avoid them in future because you were in the wrong.

If you want your tv fixed either pay for the fix or get a technician to look at it. Learn from your mistake and next time make sure you buy from somewhere that gives away free 5 year warranties as standard.

Wow.

Have you read the thread at all??

The reason for my OP was to ask peoples opinions on what options I had - since then I've very much understood that LG only retain responsibility for 12 months and that after then it falls to the retailer - my issue with LG is the attitude that they have displayed in having concern for zero customer care.

In my opinion a TV should last longer than 4 years and if would have been nice if they had shown even the slightest bit of customer care - but they didn't!

A failure of this nature after this sort of period, to me, points towards poor components and/or manufacturing - that is the reason I won't buy LG in the future!

As for buying from John Lewis, I have also previously stated in this thread that I would usually buy from them as I know their service is superb - I just didn't happen to in this case! (but thanks for the tip anyway!

)

StevieP · 28 May 2015 at 11:27

booyaka said:
it's not LG's issue - it's the retailers. That's why they won't entertain anything.

I know legally it's not LG's problem as it's outside the 12 month guarantee period but as a consumer, for a product to fail in such a manner concerns me greatly and leads me to question the quality of their products.