Faulty Samsung LE40M86BD/3 years old - my rights?

Plascebo

I bought the Samsung LE40M86BD in Powercity nearly 3 years ago at a cost of €2000.

Last week it lost sound and when I connected anything via hdmi it just turned itself on and off continuously.

I rang Samsung who said to bring it back to powercity and they would collect it.
Powercity charges 40 euro to get it sent to the engineers, who then ring with a quote to fix it (minus €40).

Still haven't heard anything back from Samsung and after reading that it was a common problem the wife went up to Powercity looking for a replacement, citing sale of goods and supply of services act 1980/small claims court etc.

She said the manager was very nice but informed her that the chances of getting a refund/replacement were next to non-existent, and that it was a common problem with that model tv (he told her he had the same tv which had the same problem). Although he did give her a number which he said was the only man in Powercity who had the power to offer a replacement/refund)

Just waiting to hear back from Sammy now to see what the damage is (it is now 11 days with Samsung, manager said it was usually around the 140 euro mark).

Just wondering do I have any rights regarding the above act, or to bite the bullet and pay for a repair?

Cheers

Elessar

I would think you have a good case. 3 years for a €2000 TV does not sound reasonable. You may have to fight it in court though because I doubt Powercity will repair or replace or refund after 3 years.

Also, you should absolutely not have to pay anyone to look at your TV. All you have to do, legally, is bring it back to where you bought it and demonstrate how it is now faulty.

If you are willing to fight this, do not pay any money. It is the responsibility of the retailer to remedy a fault and you do not have to pay any engineer just to look at it.

The approach I would advise you to take is the same for anyone: Send them a registered letter outlining whats wrong, mention the act (that you believe it is reasonable for a €2k TV to last longer than three years, not of merchantable quality etc.). Give them a week or two to get back to you and then file a case with the SCC if you don't get a good response.

In the end, the whole process should cost you no more than the €15 SCC fee and a few weeks of your time. But it's ultimately up to a judge to decide if it was reasonable for your TV to become faulty 3 years after you bought it.

Kitty28

I had a similar problem with our Samsung, 3 years old too. When I turned it on it started to take ages to come on, kept clickin on and off but pitcure never appearing. one day it didn't come on at all, just kept clicking on and off, red power light flashing on and off.
I phoned Samsung directly (0818 717100) and they organised a local repair place to collect TV and it was repaired free of charge as this is a known fault with them. It did take about 10 days to get it back tho.
Hope this helps!

sunnysoutheast

Plascebo wrote: »

I bought the Samsung LE40M86BD in Powercity nearly 3 years ago at a cost of €2000.

Last week it lost sound and when I connected anything via hdmi it just turned itself on and off continuously.

I rang Samsung who said to bring it back to powercity and they would collect it.
Powercity charges 40 euro to get it sent to the engineers, who then ring with a quote to fix it (minus €40).

Still haven't heard anything back from Samsung and after reading that it was a common problem the wife went up to Powercity looking for a replacement, citing sale of goods and supply of services act 1980/small claims court etc.

She said the manager was very nice but informed her that the chances of getting a refund/replacement were next to non-existent, and that it was a common problem with that model tv (he told her he had the same tv which had the same problem). Although he did give her a number which he said was the only man in Powercity who had the power to offer a replacement/refund)

Just waiting to hear back from Sammy now to see what the damage is (it is now 11 days with Samsung, manager said it was usually around the 140 euro mark).

Just wondering do I have any rights regarding the above act, or to bite the bullet and pay for a repair?

Cheers

I suspect that what will happen here (if it really is a known problem and the examination reveals no damage) is that the TV will be repaired FoC and you will also get your €40 back. I think we can assume that PowerCity are well aware of their obligations under the SoGA (which are repair, replace, refund at their discretion), they must hear that particular line or a variation on it hundreds of times a day. For a three-year old TV I think their response is fair, personally, for all they know you could have dropped it down the stairs!

You could try the SCC if you want, but I think you'd only really have a case if they didn't fix a known or common problem free-of-charge.

Let us know how you get on, I think I've got the 37" version of that telly

SSE

slave1

I had a similar problem with our Samsung, 3 years old too. When I turned it on it started to take ages to come on, kept clickin on and off but pitcure never appearing. one day it didn't come on at all, just kept clicking on and off, red power light flashing on and off.
I phoned Samsung directly (0818 717100) and they organised a local repair place to collect TV and it was repaired free of charge as this is a known fault with them. It did take about 10 days to get it back tho.
Hope this helps!

I did this for a 3 year old PC monitor and Samsung just gave me a repacement, not exactly the same but my experience with Samsung was positive

Plascebo

Update:
Good news (so far). After 2 weeks and hearing nothing we went back to powercity, who rang the engineer and we were informed that the part alone cost over 200 euro (labour to be added).
So I rang Samsung (guy called Dave) who told me it was a known problem and they would happily cover the cost of repair:D
Have just rang back the engineer who confirmed this and said the tv should be back with us early next week... happy days.
Thanks for the advice guys....

BjornJ

Kitty28 wrote: »

I had a similar problem with our Samsung, 3 years old too. When I turned it on it started to take ages to come on, kept clickin on and off but pitcure never appearing. one day it didn't come on at all, just kept clicking on and off, red power light flashing on and off.
I phoned Samsung directly (0818 717100) and they organised a local repair place to collect TV and it was repaired free of charge as this is a known fault with them. It did take about 10 days to get it back tho.
Hope this helps!

Hi there, I had the exact same problem. Did you get any information on what the problem was? Is this something I clóuld fix myself (since the TV is 3 yrs old, the guarantee is gone anyway).

Thank you!

>>> Bjorn

foggy_lad

Plascebo wrote: »

Update:
Good news (so far). After 2 weeks and hearing nothing we went back to powercity, who rang the engineer and we were informed that the part alone cost over 200 euro (labour to be added).
So I rang Samsung (guy called Dave) who told me it was a known problem and they would happily cover the cost of repair:D
Have just rang back the engineer who confirmed this and said the tv should be back with us early next week... happy days.
Thanks for the advice guys....

you should also get your €40 back from power city!

BjornJ wrote: »

Hi there, I had the exact same problem. Did you get any information on what the problem was? Is this something I clóuld fix myself (since the TV is 3 yrs old, the guarantee is gone anyway).

Thank you!

>>> Bjorn

if you are in ireland the sale of goods act superceeds any warrenty and gives consumers protection for up to 6years! go back to the retailer and see what they say.

vincent coffey

guys
im not trying to resurrect the thread but I would like to add to this.
My telly began exhibiting these symptoms yesterday.
Thanks to this thread I called Samsung directly (0818 717100) this morning.
They sent an engineer who called at 2pm, replaced 4 capacitors and my television is working.
He said that this is extremely common on this model of television and that at one point he was carrying out 5 of these types of repair a day.
Anyway to anyone who suffers this issue call Samsung directly and they will repair free of charge outside of warranty.
Thanks to all on the thread for the information.

dudara

Closing thread - glad to hear that it all worked out OK

dudara