TV looks smashed/cracked, but no external damage?

Associate
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photo-2021-10-18-10-28-32-jpg.1587980

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Hi everyone,

We have a Samsung QE43Q60R mounted on our wall. We had the TV on this morning, I walked out of the room and came back 5 minutes later and our TV looked like it was smashed or as if someone threw something at it, as you can see from the photo. However, that couldn't have happened because no one was in the room when the damage happened. As you can see from the other photo, there is also no sign of exterior damage to the panel when the TV is off.

So my question is, is this sort of damage something that can 'just happen' to a TV?

It does have a warranty on it, but I'm a bit wary of the warranty company turning the claim down, because it does look like accidental damage.
 
Caporegime
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I don't know much about that model specifically but as I understand it some QLED's have a thin film "glare filter" over the screen which might explain why the outer surface looks impeccable. If that's the case (you'll have to research) it might work in your favour when arguing the screen wasn't physically hit.
 
Soldato
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Looks like one of the internal LEDs has popped and caused the internal crack. The spider effect is the liquid coming out. Probably find if you tried running it for a few hours the entire screen will go, although I don't recommend for safety reasons.
 
Soldato
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Same as mine a few months ago, visually looked perfect brand new in the box. Got it home and turned it on and wollah, smashed to smithereens!

NfKEBwQ.jpg

Luckily bought from costco so was a breeze to return and get a replacement.
 
Soldato
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I'm just repeating Haze here but it looks like a physical break in the screen which I have only ever seen caused by impact damage, and i have seen plenty of broken screens that don't show any signs of damaged to the layer that is covering the broken part. (ie the glass on a mobile phone) so it is quite possible to physically break a screen with no signs of exterior damage.

and you can imagine that people try and pull fast ones all the time with companies to try and avoid replacing an item that they have damaged.
 
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I'm just repeating Haze here but it looks like a physical break in the screen which I have only ever seen caused by impact damage, and i have seen plenty of broken screens that don't show any signs of damaged to the layer that is covering the broken part. (ie the glass on a mobile phone) so it is quite possible to physically break a screen with no signs of exterior damage.

and you can imagine that people try and pull fast ones all the time with companies to try and avoid replacing an item that they have damaged.

Completely agree that it does look like impact damage, but I was the only one home at the time, and it wasn't me!
 
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So the warranty company have turned down the claim based on the report stating likely 'impact damage'. However, as I say, I know for a fact that it wasn't impact damage. I was the only one home when it happened. Is there anything I can do to get the warranty honoured?

I've already called the repair company and sent them photo evidence that the exterior of the panel was in perfect condition the day the fault developed and they've said they will update their report to acknowledge that. But when I spoke to the warranty company—as expected—they tried to fob me off by saying you wouldn't see any damage to the exterior panel anyway, which makes no sense to me. How can what's underneath the panel basically be smashed and yet the glare filter is in perfect condition?

Anyone have any experience with small claims court over something like this, or some other avenue?
 
Soldato
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So the warranty company have turned down the claim based on the report stating likely 'impact damage'. However, as I say, I know for a fact that it wasn't impact damage. I was the only one home when it happened. Is there anything I can do to get the warranty honoured?

I've already called the repair company and sent them photo evidence that the exterior of the panel was in perfect condition the day the fault developed and they've said they will update their report to acknowledge that. But when I spoke to the warranty company—as expected—they tried to fob me off by saying you wouldn't see any damage to the exterior panel anyway, which makes no sense to me. How can what's underneath the panel basically be smashed and yet the glare filter is in perfect condition?

Anyone have any experience with small claims court over something like this, or some other avenue?
in short no.

despite what you are saying (and lets say for the sake of this argument that I 100% believe you) the "fault" looks exactly like physical damage, exactly like physical damage that the insurance/warranty companies have seen time and time again, and that people have tried to claim is a defect when in actual fact they are lying and they have broken it.

what you are actually asking is, is there any way to convince someone that I am not lying and trying to pull a fast one with a TV which has quite obvious physical damage, the answer is no.
The small claims will get you nowhere, unless you have video proof of you not breaking the TV.

and to answer your other question, yes it is entirely possible to break a TV like this with no external damage
 
Soldato
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I know it doesn't help the situation, but it's the reason why I go with JL now on TV's with the extra cover that covers accidental damage (even though one of the Led's has popped and leaked).

Should have gone OLED (sorry couldn't resist with the current threads) :p
 
Associate
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It's possible that this has been caused by impact damage, but that the impact didn't happen at the time it broke.

There could have been an impact which didn't cause the failure immediately but significantly weakened it, then after a heat cycle or few, the weak area let go and caused what you see.
 
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