Can i get a replacment or will they attempt a repair first?

admin_exported · Jul 12, 2010

Hi all

I am having issues with my sony 40w5810 which have been there from the start but are getting worse. (i will not bore you with the details but i am sure you can guess one of the issues) I had 4 40w5500s from richer sounds previously which were all worse so i finally got a refund this set however is from sony centre and was much better than the others when i bought it 6 months ago but that is not the case today!

any helpful input will be great

Andrew Everard · Jul 12, 2010

If it's only six months old you should be able to reject it if you think it's not fit for purpose and get a replacement.

Oldboy · Jul 12, 2010

Hello Snakey,

Time to get rid of the 5810 then mate...don't blame you! As Andrew has already said previously yes you can get a refund on the tv as it's not fit for purpose as far as you are concerned, but what will you be replacing it with?

Also, apart from the obvious issue what else has gone wrong?

Anonymous · Jul 12, 2010

hey oldboy.

We have spoken before you know the main concern only too well the other issue we spoke on too which is the smearing which i cannot resolve i was watching Spartacus blood and sand the other day recorded on sky from bravo terrible show i know but so bad it is actually good

anyway the smearing there as it has low light was very bad when someone with dark hair there is a trail that follows them this is the worst i have seen it and now that has sealed the deal for me mate! As for what i will do that i am not sure of now! i am sure sony centre will say that i have to get it looked at first but after yours and andrews comment i will be pushing for a replacement from the off as for what i am not sure. The ex503 i was hoping would resolve things but you had terrible bad luck with that set too unless i gp up to the 46ex503 as i am sure the 46 inch sonys have a good record as the backlight goes but as that is not my only concern i really am not sure. I am also tempted to do what you have done mate and push for a refund and get a panny plasma but that will involve me testing some sets in stores as i have never considered plasma before! How is your panny working out mate? any issues?

cheers to you both i am glad i am within my rights to seek a refund or replacement

Oldboy · Jul 13, 2010

Hello snakey,

Oh yeah i forgot about our chat regarding smearing, doh! As you know i had the issue with all the sony lcd's i had but never as bad as you describe when watching spartacus (don't worry i've not seen it so can't comment) and it all sounds strangely familiar to me....i think i'm getting de ja vu here as it sounds like all the faults that were present on my 3 40W5500's lol.

As for replacement, it's very difficult for me to recommend a 503 of any screen size due to my bitter experience but i will try. As i said to you previously the WHF review is very accurate and i found nothing to disagree with in there, but it dosen't change the fact that i recieved 3 faulty sets in a row and that all of them had different faults. I beleive it is more a question of QC at Sony that is at fault here as all the reviews have been very favourable and the tv is excellent when working correctly but the key word there is 'when'. I know how negative that sounds but remember this is just my experience and it's been tainted by being constantly let down with the quality of Sony tv's. I can confirm though that i can't remember any problems being flagged up with any of the 46" models but then i've never looked tbh.

As for the plasma option i have only 2 words of warning and all those can be solved by seeing it in action. Due to the tech some people report extreme flickering (think low refresh rate old crtv) and some are more prone to seeing it than others but i couldn't tell you the reason why, i have no problems with it though. The other thing i would say is that they can suffer IR (image retention) but again my panny plasma has showed no sign of this atall but as you can see all these issues can be seen for yourself with a quick look around.

I'm so happy i bought the G20 mate and i have had absolutely nothing to complain about since i switched it on for the first time, it's a clear step up from the 503 imo and i love it more with every day that passes! No LCD i have had previously can get near the black levels on offer and films like Dark Knight are a revelation when you realise just how much black detail and depth you have been missing, and colours are just fabulous. The big one for you though is that there is absolutely no smearing, not even in low light conditions and whilst watching Dave which for me was always the worst offender for smearing. In all other respects the G20 is at least equal with the 503 and i would recommend one to you wholeheartedly, i suppose the only negative is that it's not as stylish as the 503 when in situ but then the upside is that it feels much better built.

All i would say to you is do what i did this time before i bought the G20 and make the effort to audition the tv's you are thinking of buying, it really is worth the effort and i have been well rewarded for the effort just try to avoid currys and comet etc as i found the feed the screens were getting was poor, infact most were scart connected and only the premium sets showed any content via hdmi which meant making a decision was impossible. You might as well go in there and buy one blind folded lol!

Hope that helps a little mate

PS You all settled in after the move now?

Anonymous · Jul 13, 2010

hey oldboy

hehehehe we are still having a good few boxes around takes ages plus i am a chiller engineer so with this weather i am working like a dog long days

I never considered a 46inch before as i was too close to the set but now i am further away i can get away with it i do remember that the 46inch 52 inch sonys well all of em except the 40 inch sets had few issues so i will push to get it replaced with a 46 i think first! I just need to impress upon them how dissatisfied i am with this set and the 4 that came before (even though they were not from sony centre but still they were sony tvs) I just know they will push for a repair first i just have to stand strong!!

Regarding getting a plasma at the moment i am not thinking about that as sony do not make em and i will be extremely lucky if i get a refund i think! If i do get a plasma though it will be a panny for sure! I will be ok with the flicker i think well had crts for all those years. Image retention and phospher trails are what concerns me. One silly thing a friend of mine had a plasma years back one thing that bugged me is it had dust behind the glass ooooooooh that would drive me mad!!!!!

Have you been brave and played games on it yet i bet the input lag is low eh? must be better than the sony!!

what to do oh what to do??

Anonymous · Jul 14, 2010

should have walked out of the sony centre back in January when I bought the set when the sales rep said the following things!

1/ There are no problems with the 40w5810, 40w5500 or 40w8710 regarding the backlight!!!! He had sold hundreds of each set with zero complaints yeah right!!!

2/ The 40w5500 that went for review to what hifi was a pre production model!!! I said what about the 5710? he said the same!

3/ Regarding dead or stuck pixels he reckoned that you cannot get single one!! If you do get one it will be a line of them across the whole screen???

4/ he then said you have to have 14 dead or stuck pixels in one small area of the screen to qualify for a replacement or repair!!!

Even sony tech over phone denied there was an issue with backlight uniformity!!

WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH

Oldboy · Jul 14, 2010

Hi snakey,

Your job is not a good one to have in this weather i bet! Just hope the pay packet makes up for it lol.

Hmmm....i am of the opinion, and you are within your rights as a consumer don't forget, that you should demand a refund. If it was me i would want my money back but i completely understand your concerns and i am sure that the Sony Centre will indeed try to palm you off with a repair (it's cheaper for them at the end of the day!) but as you say, stand strong, be firm but polite and no your rights. Take that advice and trust me you will get your refund, it worked for me with the 40503, i got a full refund. They offered to first repair the 503, i refused, then they wanted to replace it with another 503 to which i again refused then told them the only tv i would buy now was a plasma and that Sony don't make them. That along with the point when i started telling them my rights as a consumer swayed the argument in my favour but i had to fight my corner really hard and even resorted to raising my voice in the middle of a crowded store when telling them my rights! Surely it shouldn't be that difficult to get your money back?

I've had a little look around the forums to look at the 46" models and as always there are some horror stories but not much sign of the backlight problems at that size, it would seem Sony use a slightly different panel in the 46" versions according to the reviews?? If you have the extra room why not go even larger, i would be really tempted with 50" or above, infact i nearly bought a 50" LG Plasma instead of the G20. If you are going to stick with a Sony lcd then my advice would be get one as big as you can and stay away from the 40inch versions, or perhaps look at going up the model range to a 703 or 803 if finances permit?

I may have had a tainted experience myself but remember plenty of people are happy with the 503 so don't count it out completely just be more cautious this time before you buy.

As for my plasma i can confirm that initially when i switched it on for the first time that some phosphor trailing was evident with fast motion BUT that is steadily decreasing the more i use it and i have been informed by Panasonic UK that it will take at least 200hrs use for the tv to reach it's optimum performance and that trailing will significantly decrease the closer i get to 200hrs use and that seems to be the case. The trailing is almost non existant now but then it was never really bad to start with, and you know how fussy i am with that sort of thing. I can confirm though that i have not had one single example of IR on the G20 and i've been pushing it hard lately with bluray, tv and gaming so if it was going to happen i'm sure i would've seen it by now.

Oh yeah gaming, the lack of stupid ammounts of lag is a complete joy!! I've gone back to Rock Band and MW2 as a result as previously the twitch nature of those games left me feeling removed from the action but no more! Infact the G20 is so responsive that it's highlighted some problems with my broadband speed!! MW2 is great from my end but there has been alot of occasions when i could swear i shot someone before they shot me yet the broadband dosen't recognise the shot even though i just saw and heard it myself and that is with a 10mb virgin connection. I have started to have gaming sessions on it now but for the first week or 2 i strictly limited gaming. All games are great on the G20 but it's the lack of lag that's the real revelation.

At least have a look at a few plasmas before you go back to the Sony Centre for the inevitable stand off, you may just get the motivation to fight for your refund like i did.

Keep me posted mate

Oldboy · Jul 14, 2010

Snakey:

should have walked out of the sony centre back in January when I bought the set when the sales rep said the following things!

1/ There are no problems with the 40w5810, 40w5500 or 40w8710 regarding the backlight!!!! He had sold hundreds of each set with zero complaints yeah right!!!

2/ The 40w5500 that went for review to what hifi was a pre production model!!! I said what about the 5710? he said the same!

3/ Regarding dead or stuck pixels he reckoned that you cannot get single one!! If you do get one it will be a line of them across the whole screen???

4/ he then said you have to have 14 dead or stuck pixels in one small area of the screen to qualify for a replacement or repair!!!

Even sony tech over phone denied there was an issue with backlight uniformity!!

WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH

Now that's what i call quality customer service eh LOL!! I've heard some rubbish spouted in Sony stores in my time but that takes the award for the best by some way!

I contacted Sony myself about the 40W5500 i bought and Sony tech told me exactly the same and according to every part of the Sony business there is no problem with backlighting/clouding, this is despite review samples suffering the problem and thousands of customers reporting the issue along with the long list of forums on the subject. I beleive a sudden epidemic level of blindness swept through Sony at the time and that they have yet to recover lol. Poor decision by Sony that, they should have accepted the fault and done something about it as they came out of it looking really stupid and lost sales as a result plus thousands of customers like myself lost confidence in the Sony brand.

That comment about WHF getting a pre-production 40w5500 AND 5710 is utter lunacy! Does that mean i received a pre-production unit then as my w5500 had the problem? What a load of you know what! And that goes for the pixel comment too...if you can't get a single one then why did i have a total of 4 pixels stuck on white? 14 pixels being the point where it's a fault? Come on....even 1 is a FAULT and reason to return the tv! How i wish you could swear on this forum, actually probably best you can't as it would be difficult to stop once i got started with Sony lol.

Sorry to say it but my experience with Sony over the last year from their products to their customer service has pesuaded me to be very careful about ever buying a Sony product again and when i see other manufacturers getting things so right i doubt very much if i would buy another Sony product again.

Anonymous · Jul 14, 2010

hey oldboy

hmmmm now you have me thinking about plasmas even more hehehehe i just wish i had the time to go look hehehe the lag free gaming for me is a great thing i hate the lag on the sonys now the 400 and 4500 had around 10ms the 503 has around 90ms same as mine lame lame lame. I did get a chance to check your set instore some weeks ago only for 5 mins build quality does look great!!! Should really look at one in action!!! I do not like the look of the higher end sonys as they have got a glass panel over screen which will have large amount of reflections (which kind of put me off plasmas to be honest) i do like the fact that they have motionflow 200 pro though but way out of my price range i will be pushing it with the 46ex503 to be honest (just saw a new bad thread regarding that tv too damn).

I thought you bought from amazon or did you get money back off them and buy the sony again? if so where did ya buy it from?

The main reason i do like the sonys is that the motion flow system is great with very few artifacts unlike other systems i do not like the phillips and LGs systems.

Hmmmmm decisions decisions

Oldboy · Jul 15, 2010

Snakey,

Yep that lack of lag means i very much doubt i would buy lcd again! I looked at the 703 and 803 in the sony centre and i found the glass panel off putting too even though they looked the part up close. That was another concern for me when i bought my plasma as the screens are covered with glass but the panny does a brilliant job of minimising the reflections, it has a dual panel design that decreases reflection significantly and makes off axis viewing much easier with no dual image present.

My first 2 503's came from Amazon mate, i was convinced at the time that the courier firm they used (City Link) were to blame for the faulty tv's i received so i got my money back and bought the final one from my local Sony Centre with my reasoning being that i should get a perfect tv, i didn't and lost patience with Sony, the Sony Centre and anyone associated with Sony LOL. It was a stupidly tough fight to get my cash back but i was determined and i knew my rights, in the end they knew i was right and that no matter what they offered me a full refund was the only way i would be happy. To make matters worse though after all the fighting i was expecting the refund process to be a long drawn out affair but it took minutes....all that arguing and they could have satisfied my complaint in a matter of minutes, how frustrating?!

As for motionflow i completely understand where you are coming from as it's by far the best lcd motion tech i have seen, so much more natural than the rest and as you say free from artifacts. What i can report is that the G20 has a neo pdp 600hz panel which makes turning on the motion tech (called intelligant frame creation on the G20) pretty pointless as motion is super smooth without it on. I prefer it off with the plasma infact which was never the case with lcd, i only turned it off for HD material when i had that but the panny does introduce some slight artifacting when you turn the motion tech on but it makes the picture too smooth if you know what i mean? It gives some programmes an artificial feel is the best way to describe it but it's just not needed anyway.

Hope that helps in some way mate

P.S Just looked at the 46"503 thread...is that worrying in terms of QC or was the OP just unlucky?

Anonymous · Jul 15, 2010

hey oldboy

as usual mate you are helpful again cuz that double image is one think i do not like about plasma! i assume you mean that if you happen to view from an acute angle on say text you will see it twice cuz of the glass well if the panny you have does not suffer from that well i am liking that mate!!! I do not know much about the 600htz mate i think it is something to do with the base colours or something or i may be wrong!! I also noticed that panny are doing lcd over 37inch now which is new but i do not thing the blacks are too good on their panels am i right? I did have a phillips for a week last year after all those failed sonys well to me the blacks looked just grey i get that from lg too!

I forgot to say last time i do struggle with my job this time of year a lot of heavy work and driving as i live in southampton but work inside the m25 usually or london (untill this year i used to work in the west end every day did that for 7yrs wow that was tough)

did you get your panny set up the way you wanted?

Oldboy · Jul 16, 2010

Hi Snakey,

Yep that's exactly what i mean mate as from what i had seen and read before hand plasmas can suffer with a dual image when watching off axis, the G20 has NO dual image off axis! It uses some sort of trick with the glass front to stop it from happening and it works a treat as i've never seen text twice for example

I thought that when manufacurers refer to their screens being 200hz or 600hz in my case they are refering to the refresh rate of the panel ie: a higher number in hz should mean a smoother picture, at least that is my understanding of it. Panny doing large screen lcd's, that is surprising given they just hired almost all of the Kuro engineers, you would have thought that plasma would be the priority with that sort of talent now in-house! You are right about the blacks on their lcd's though, as much as i hate saying it the new Sony's walk all over the Panny lcd's when it comes to black levels and i've not seen a high scoring Panny lcd in some time now although i'm sure they are no donkeys you can get much better for your money right now.

That is surprising that the Phillips tv you had wasn't too clever with blacks also, they get high praise from WHF all the time and are considered more of a 'premium' tv now so i would have expected much better from them! I have a good friend who has a LG lcd and whenever i go round there i am shocked at how grey the blacks are...not good atall. I think it's over a year old so not a latest model and from what i have seen some of the newer LG's are quite good.

Sounds like you do alot of travelling each week then! Blimey that must have been tough, 7years of working in the west when you are based in Southampton....not much fun i would say! I used to be a self employed painter and decorator working on new homes throughout the country, i am based in Essex (no jokes pls hehe) and was regulary travelling to Sussex and beyond for work. I hated every minute of it and i done that for 5years so i can certainly understand your pain mate.

I have just done a THX disc calibration with my G20 for now untill i can justify the £200-£300 fee for an isf engineer to come out and do it properly, or i could try and learn how to do it myself but it seems a little complicated and i'm not sure i have enough brain cells left to cope with that

TKratz · Jul 16, 2010

Dear Snakey and Oldboy

I hope you don't mind if I elaborate a little on a few of your discussion points.

The G20 plasma has been redesigned compared to earlier Panasonic plasmas. The front glass panel has been removed and the design is now very similar to the late generation Kuros from Pioneer. This has remarkebly improved the daytime viewing (in combination with the new brighter phosphor cells) because reflections are reduced and the double image problem you are referring to when viewing from off axis has been eliminated.
But as mentioned earlier LCD sets generally suffers more when viewed from off axis. This is simply down to how they are designed.

200 Hz vs. 600 Hz: This is not to be mixed up! Even though Panasonic is deliberately trying to do just that. The 600 Hz subfield drive has nothing to do with the screen refresh rate (which is 100 Hz on all plasmas). It is the frequency by which the colours are mixed.

Black levels: Traditionally LCD sets have performed poorly in this field. With the introduction of LED backlit this has changed however. You now see black levels on these screens similar to the plasma sets. Shadow details - which in my opinion is even more important than the black level - tend to suffer though.

THX profile: One of the really big advantages of many plasmas (from LG and Panasonic) is the THX profile. This ensures a nearly perfect (or correct at least) picture right out of the box. In my opinion this is an important point many people forget to consider when buying a new TV. Instead they struggle afterwards to get a decent picture out of the Philips (which traditionally have awful settings out of the box).

Anonymous · Jul 17, 2010

hey TKrats

Yeah i thought the 600htz is not to do with the refresh rate or motion control!!!! Most people will think that though. I have noticed that you can turn off the 1oohtz on the pannys i think they all it inteligant frame creation am i right? Are you sure all plasmas are 100htz i am sure i have seen 50htz plasmas!! well the pannys are if it is turned off right?

cheers mate

Anonymous · Jul 18, 2010

all panasonic plasmas have a 100hz setting , or "intelligent frame creation" as its been called for a few years now ..

some recent low spec lg and samsung plasmas did not have the 100hz option , so yes they would have been 50hz sets ..

but afaik , virtually all of this years plasmas from all manufacturers have a 100hz option ..

if the 100hz is turned off then a plasma is 50hz afaik , but this doesnt impact negatively on motion on a plasma , many reviews of recent plasmas have stated that motion processing is normally best left off , as turning it on brings little , if any benefit....

i think tkratz makes a good point re. shadow detail , which is better on decent plasmas than on any lcd to date , so in dark scenes , you get to see more of the detail , on a similar scene on an lcd , what you often get is black crush , darkness/blackness if you like with little actual detail , and less graduation of any shades of black ..

and where there is both light and dark in the same scene , a good plasma (like the g20) will usually produce a more dynamic image , although rear led lit lcds are now getting closer to plasmas in this regard , edge lit led,s are little better than standard lcds with contrast in dark/light scenes....

edit..btw , anyone considering a 50g20 , or similarly priced/sized tv , lcd or plasma , that would like to have 3d but cannot afford a vt20 or any of the more expensive larger lcd 3d tvs , should check out the samsung 50c7000 plasma , reviews are very good , very little 3d crosstalk , like the vt20 , and black levels/shadow detail to rival panas g series (but not the v series) and very good all round picture quality , much cheaper than the vt20 too , in fact its cheaper than many standard 2d sets of similar size , i think its around £1600...

Anonymous · Jul 18, 2010

Hey oldboy.

Right i went down to sony centre today stated my case looks like the best i will get at this stage is an engineers visit to my home that i have to organise gotta call them on monday and arrange it!!! I cannot believe how useless those guys are down there the first guy i spoke too cant have been older then 16 he had no clue atall so called another moron over who actually said to me have you tried turning down the backlight Hmmmmmm or turning on the light sensor Hmmmmmm at which point i said look this is my 5th sony from the same line(this one only difference being it has freesat) do you really think in those 12 months i have not thought of doing those 2 VERY simple things!!! Well 3rd fool then comes over and stated the very same thing they said before "actually we have sold hundreds of these sets and you are the first person with a backlight issue" at which point i said so what of the 4 40w5500s i had from richer sounds had any returns of those with backlight issues? "same response" I said so all the reports and reviews online or mags are lying then eh? He said well that was all started by whathifis review when sony issued them, at which point i cut him off and said don't tell me they issued them a pre production model 40w5500 right? He said yes. I said so all the other mags that panned it in print or online were got a pre production model too eh? NO ANSWER!!!Then came the line I actually have, I cut him off again "oh you have one at home i said right?" yes he says hmmmmmmmm funny that mate i said the guy i bought it from did too i said if i worked here and got your discounts i would have been aiming higher than that range.....

This banter went on for ages and as i said the best i am gonna get is an engineers visit then they will attempt a repair! I asked if they need to fit a new panel or more because of the smearing you will pay for that right? Yes he says!! i says even though it will probably cost more than the 800 pounds i paid? he said it will not cost no way near that!!! mate i said if you think that is the case then i am speaking to the wrong person get me the manager

oh he is not here till tuesday so i guess i will be calling him then on tuesday and i really hope he is more helpful and knows more how to deal with customers than you infact he had better know more about tvs too!!!

I left the shop feeling very unhappy i even offered to pay extra for a bigger set as i will refuse a replacement for this same set!!! he said that cannot be done!!!! These guys really have no clue they should not be working there!!! If i performed at my job like they do i would at least be fired or maybe dead due to an accident. They are obviously all told what to say when this issue comes up!

I think i really need to read up on what my rights are if you can advise me oldboy it will be greatly appreciated or anyone else for that matter???

So i will be calling the repair place monday(dont work bloody saturdays) to arrange for a guy to come and look at my 2 issues he had better not have a sony centre shirt on or i will set the rabbits on him

TKratz · Jul 18, 2010

maxflinn:

all panasonic plasmas have a 100hz setting , or "intelligent frame creation" as its been called for a few years now ..

Cheers Max

Although I agree that Intelligent Frame Creation is better left off, I do not think this has anything to do with the 100 Hz, which is just the refresh rate of the screen.
I am not 100% sure though. I need to investigate!

Oldboy · Jul 18, 2010

TKratz,

Thanks for the info, i think i finally understand the hz settings on tv's now after a little research lol. That is a very confusing number to throw at the consumer though as i'm sure many people would think the same and presume it refers to the refresh rate, which is obviously the reason it's included in the spec and advertising!

Oldboy · Jul 18, 2010

Hi Snakey,

I feared this would happen! As i said to you before, getting my money back was extremely difficult from the Sony Centre. I got fobbed off the first time much like yourself but rather than stand there arguing i went home and made sure i knew my rights, the best advice i got (and from a real person lol) was from Consumer Direct so here's the link mate: http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Go to the contact us part of the site and the phone number is there, give them a ring and they will help you. I got the exact part of legislation i needed to fight my corner, it's part of the Sale of Goods act that states if the product is not fit for purpose....i can't remember now the exact wording but it's what i used as my argument and i stood there saying it as loudly as i dared so that the entire shop heard!! I also told them that i was in contact with Consumer Direct and that Trading Standards would be looking at my case if i wasn't refunded. When you contact consumer direct they may pass your details to trading standards because they work in partnership and all retailers want to avoid trading standards at all costs he he!

Unfortunatley it seems your local sony centre is just as bad as mine, i know exactly what you mean mate you are treated like a moron who knows nothing about modern tv's yet when you speak to one of the so called 'staff' you know more about it than they do and yes most of them are utterly useless at best. It seems across the entire sony business that when you say the word backlight clouding the instant response is: well i have one and i've never seen it OR we have sold thousands of these tv's and never had one come back, it's rubbish and just an attempt by sony to not admit there is a problem....there is a problem for sure and you have to look at it every time you switch the tv on!!

I would not be happy with the staff in the shop saying about pre-production models and would be putting that to the manager when you see him, the staff should get their facts right before they spurt out that load of absolute tripe! This is all an attempt by the shop to distance itself from the clouding issue, please don't give up! You have the right to demand a refund with the sale of goods act and if they refuse they are breaking the law and it would be at this point that trading standards would get involved and take the store to court and potentially shut them down (it won't go that far but knowing that it can is a powerful tool for you, yes?).

Also, have you accepted the offer of an engineer visit? I would not have entertained that option personally but i can understand that under the circumstances it seemed like the best you would get. I would speak to the manager with all your info in hand before you went down the route of an engineer calling round, can you cancel the engineer? I just don't think it's necessary until you have put your case to the manager first as you may well get a different outcome as i did, i'm really sorry they are messing you about mate and the best advice i could give you is keep going and don't give up as the law is on your side.

Another thing to consider is your method of payment, did you pay by card? If you paid by credit card or some debit cards then your issuer may be able to help, some banks cover this sort of thing when you pay by card and you can claim back the cost of the item i beleive but i never got that far...might be worth a bit of research but i can't say for sure if it's entirely true as i never looked at that option.

Instead of phoning the repair place on monday i would be phoning the store to arrange a face to face with the manager but i know that's difficult for you to arrange due to work, however it is much better than having that conversation by phone so could you arrange that for next weekend perhaps or an evening?? When i met the manager face to face and put my case to him it took the length of our conversation for him to accept that the tv was faulty and to issue a full refund BUT it took all that hassle with consumer direct and points in law for them to start changing their tune which is quite frankly ridiculous!!

For comparison here is how Amazon.co.uk dealt with the 2 faulty tv's i received from them. It took just 1 phone call to sort it out in each case and those calls were free, they apologised for the faulty tv i received and put me through to tech support who just ask you to do a factory reset to see if it cures the problem. In my cases it didn't so a replacement was ordered whilst i was on the phone and it arrived the next day with an email arriving from amazon that day with all the returns info and free returns label for DHL. When it came to my refund they apologised yet again and just asked for me to return the tv via the same process as before and once they received the tv back at the returns centre then the refund would be issued, i had the refund in my a/c within 5days and with absolutely no hassle what so ever!! That is how customer service should be done Sony so take some notes....!!!

Hope i've been of some help mate, as ever if you have any other worries post on here and will do my very best to help, beleive me i know your pain oh too well

bigboss · Jul 18, 2010

If goods which are expected to last six months don't, it'll be presumed that the goods didn't conform to the contract at the time they were bought, unless the seller can prove to the contrary.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html

bigboss · Jul 18, 2010

Oldboy:

Hi Snakey,

I feared this would happen! As i said to you before, getting my money back was extremely difficult from the Sony Centre. I got fobbed off the first time much like yourself but rather than stand there arguing i went home and made sure i knew my rights, the best advice i got (and from a real person lol) was from Consumer Direct so here's the link mate: http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Go to the contact us part of the site and the phone number is there, give them a ring and they will help you. I got the exact part of legislation i needed to fight my corner, it's part of the Sale of Goods act that states if the product is not fit for purpose....i can't remember now the exact wording but it's what i used as my argument and i stood there saying it as loudly as i dared so that the entire shop heard!! I also told them that i was in contact with Consumer Direct and that Trading Standards would be looking at my case if i wasn't refunded. When you contact consumer direct they may pass your details to trading standards because they work in partnership and all retailers want to avoid trading standards at all costs he he!

Unfortunatley it seems your local sony centre is just as bad as mine, i know exactly what you mean mate you are treated like a moron who knows nothing about modern tv's yet when you speak to one of the so called 'staff' you know more about it than they do and yes most of them are utterly useless at best. It seems across the entire sony business that when you say the word backlight clouding the instant response is: well i have one and i've never seen it OR we have sold thousands of these tv's and never had one come back, it's rubbish and just an attempt by sony to not admit there is a problem....there is a problem for sure and you have to look at it every time you switch the tv on!!

I would not be happy with the staff in the shop saying about pre-production models and would be putting that to the manager when you see him, the staff should get their facts right before they spurt out that load of absolute tripe! This is all an attempt by the shop to distance itself from the clouding issue, please don't give up! You have the right to demand a refund with the sale of goods act and if they refuse they are breaking the law and it would be at this point that trading standards would get involved and take the store to court and potentially shut them down (it won't go that far but knowing that it can is a powerful tool for you, yes?).

Also, have you accepted the offer of an engineer visit? I would not have entertained that option personally but i can understand that under the circumstances it seemed like the best you would get. I would speak to the manager with all your info in hand before you went down the route of an engineer calling round, can you cancel the engineer? I just don't think it's necessary until you have put your case to the manager first as you may well get a different outcome as i did, i'm really sorry they are messing you about mate and the best advice i could give you is keep going and don't give up as the law is on your side.

Another thing to consider is your method of payment, did you pay by card? If you paid by credit card or some debit cards then your issuer may be able to help, some banks cover this sort of thing when you pay by card and you can claim back the cost of the item i beleive but i never got that far...might be worth a bit of research but i can't say for sure if it's entirely true as i never looked at that option.

Instead of phoning the repair place on monday i would be phoning the store to arrange a face to face with the manager but i know that's difficult for you to arrange due to work, however it is much better than having that conversation by phone so could you arrange that for next weekend perhaps or an evening?? When i met the manager face to face and put my case to him it took the length of our conversation for him to accept that the tv was faulty and to issue a full refund BUT it took all that hassle with consumer direct and points in law for them to start changing their tune which is quite frankly ridiculous!!

For comparison here is how Amazon.co.uk dealt with the 2 faulty tv's i received from them. It took just 1 phone call to sort it out in each case and those calls were free, they apologised for the faulty tv i received and put me through to tech support who just ask you to do a factory reset to see if it cures the problem. In my cases it didn't so a replacement was ordered whilst i was on the phone and it arrived the next day with an email arriving from amazon that day with all the returns info and free returns label for DHL. When it came to my refund they apologised yet again and just asked for me to return the tv via the same process as before and once they received the tv back at the returns centre then the refund would be issued, i had the refund in my a/c within 5days and with absolutely no hassle what so ever!! That is how customer service should be done Sony so take some notes....!!!

Hope i've been of some help mate, as ever if you have any other worries post on here and will do my very best to help, beleive me i know your pain oh too well

Can i get a replacment or will they attempt a repair first?

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