TV Broke after 2 years - Out of Warranty

Ruby_Woo

Hi guys,

Bit of a long winded query here; I'll try to make it as short as possibly.

Basically, we purchased a TV 5 years ago which at the time cost €2,300. It came with a 2 year Warranty, and of course, as luck would have it, it broke just a few months outside of the 2 year Warranty.

At the time we tried to see if we could get any good out of the store we bought it from - of course, once the warranty was up, they wanted nothing to do with and suggested we try the manufacturers directly to see if they would repair it.

After contacting the manufacturing company, again, they wanted to wash their hands of it as it was just out of warranty, despite it breaking after just 2 years use (very light use at that!!). At the time we were extremely annoyed that such an expensive TV should break after such a short period of time, however despite pointing this out to the manufacturers there was no give with them.

In the end we had to get a third party service repair man out from the original store we purchased it from, and the repairs came to €650. The repair man told us that there was a fault with the TV from new, however when we pressed him to put this in writing so we could arm ourselves with this and bring it to the shop/manufacturers as we were clearly sold a defective product, he wouldn't do it.

So, we paid the money and were left with a rather sour taste in our mouths regarding this purchase.

The TV broke down again a few months ago with the same fault - it looked like it would be another €650 or thereabouts again to rectify the fault, so we decided to suck it up and purchase another TV as there was no guarantee that after fixing the same problem for a second time that it wouldn't break again, and there would be yet more money down the drain.

Now, at the time when we were told that as the TV was just outside the 2 year Warranty, nothing could be done, so to be honest, we figured there was no more we could do, we were outside our consumer rights, however of late I've seen various posts on here with people with somewhat similar products to ours, where goods broke outside the warranty, however some Boards members stated that the warranties were in addition to consumer rights and that especially when it comes to larger purchases, such as a TV, they would well be expected to last more than 2 years, and as such the manufacturer should still be responsible for them.

So, what I'd like to know, do any of you think we have any comeback in this instance? Did we mess up by paying for the repairs ourself the first time and not pursuing the issue further with the manufacturer, despite it being apparent there was an issue with the TV from the beginning?

The TV is just 5 years old now and is completely defunct. The original problem flared up just after it was 2 years old - surely this is not good enough for a TV that cost €2,300?

Would it be worthwhile to pursue this or is it a lost cause at this stage?


TLDR; TV broke after 2 years, just outside warranty, TV is now 5 years old, same issue occurred, needs to be repaired yet again (costly repair) should the manufacturer be responsible for it? It seems very unreasonable for such an expensive TV to last just over 2 years with very light use...

jor el

Even if you didn't have it repaired, 5 years is probably too long for anything to be done about it. The time to be insistent was when the first problem occurred. Getting it repaired by a 3rd party has likely invalidated any rights you might have had.

gerrycollins

at this stage lost cause sorry.

Nonoperational

Ditto. Too late in my opinion.

delllat

a judge might view it differntly,this is a very expensive tv and the "goods lasting a reasonable amount of time " can be claimed up to 6 years i think

in general i think most people would expect a near two and a half grand tv to last 5+ years

UrbanSea

Where did you buy the tv

monkeypants

Google the make and model and see what's out there in terms of people having problems with it. Could all be ammo if it goes to court.

seamus

Lost cause I would say because you've already engaged a 3rd party to repair it, effectively agreeing that the retailer's liability had ended. However, you do have 6 years from the date of purchase in which to make a claim that the TV was faulty. Assuming that you haven't had anyone else out to fix the TV, then you could make a claim that the TV became faulty after two years and you have the documentation to back it up (the repair docket/receipt).
You are not obliged to bring the complaint up immediately, but obviously bringing it up 3 years after the fault occured, looks really bad - you can't prove that the fault didn't occur in the last 3 years due to negligence or something else.

You're not going to get €2,300 out of this, or a brand new TV. At best if the court finds in your favour you might get back the €650 you spent on repairs, or you may get a cash equivalent of what the TV is worth now (€300?). Your claim is against the retailer who sold you the TV, not the manufacturer.

axer

Ruby_Woo wrote: »

So, what I'd like to know, do any of you think we have any comeback in this instance?Did we mess up by paying for the repairs ourself the first time and not pursuing the issue further with the manufacturer, despite it being apparent there was an issue with the TV from the beginning?

You actually didn't mess up by getting a third party to fix the original problem since the seller refused to deal with the issue but you should have gone after the seller for the cost of the repairs then. The problem now is you could be asked why you didn't set up against the seller for the cost of the repairs. I doubt you have a good answer to that question and ignorance of the law is not an excuse. It looks like you accepted that the seller was not liable.

Ruby_Woo wrote: »

The TV is just 5 years old now and is completely defunct. The original problem flared up just after it was 2 years old - surely this is not good enough for a TV that cost €2,300?

If the same problem has happened again then the seller can claim this was due to faulty work by the person who repaired it the last time.

Kimia

As others have said, it's too late to do anything about it now and by getting a 3rd party to look at the TV it means that the shop can say he/she damaged it while fixing it.

On a side note, I don't know why people get so worried when their warrenty is up. It doesn't matter - if you're out of warrenty that doesn't mean that your statutory rights disappear! I bought an expensive computer nearly 2 years ago and it broke just outside the 1 year warrenty period. The company tried to tell me about warrenty etc but in the end I got it repaired by the company for free, and I had an agreement that if it broke again for the same reason I was getting a new computer.

Never buy warrenty!!

axer

Kimia wrote: »

Never buy warrenty!!

Unless you want to be covered for accidental damage.

dogeyknees

Im not sure if its a complete lost cause, consumer rights specify that products should be of 'merchantable quality' which basically means that the goods should have a reasonable lifespan. As far as i know the lifespan is at the discretion of the judge in the small claims court and price etc is taken into account.

The fact that you had a third party fix it doesn't void the warranty, that only occurs in situations where the manufacturer has a warranty still in use. If you had originally gone to the small claims when the product broke down you would be in much better standing.

My advice would be to contact the retailer, explain the situation and inform them that you are going to go to the small claims about it as it clearly seems to be a manufacturing fault. Too be honest you have nothing to lose so bring it to the small claims, if you win, happy days, if you lose, you're no worse off (bar the bill for the small claims which is paltry).

axer

dogeyknees wrote: »

If you had originally gone to the small claims when the product broke down you would be in much better standing.

Exactly, to me it looks like the OP inadvertently accepted liability the first time around. Not sure how that can be explained.

rubadub

What brand is the TV out of interest? In college an electronic engineering lecturer warned us against all philips products, saying they used cheap compontents. Since hearing that ~15years ago I have noticed an unusual amount of philips stuff has broken with mates & FOAFs -some still standby philips and continue to buy them still considering them quality and that the broken item must be a one off. Some companies will brag about having philips, like in powercity they might say the beko tv has a philips tube -which would put me off!

Several electonics engineers have recommended panasonic to me, my 6 year old TV is panasonic and not a bother on it.

dogeyknees

axer wrote: »

Exactly, to me it looks like the OP inadvertently accepted liability the first time around. Not sure how that can be explained.

Its a grey area when it comes to fixing something when its out of warranty. I don't think that fixing something can be deemed accepting liability, If the manufacturer and retailer both refuse then you are left with no option in a lot of cases, you can then get the cost of the repair or money off the repair back. Basically it boils down to the view of the SMC and whether the product lasted a reasonable lifespan.

In regards to the Philips post, i think that is a load of codswallop. I work in the industry (and have absolutely no affiliation to Philips) and have never encountered any model of Philips TV's failing anymore than other TV manufacturers. Panasonic TV's IMO are better built and they generally have a 5 year warranty BUT the also cost a lot more...

delllat

dogeyknees wrote: »

Its a grey area when it comes to fixing something when its out of warranty. I don't think that fixing something can be deemed accepting liability, If the manufacturer and retailer both refuse then you are left with no option in a lot of cases, you can then get the cost of the repair or money off the repair back. Basically it boils down to the view of the SMC and whether the product lasted a reasonable lifespan.

In regards to the Philips post, i think that is a load of codswallop. I work in the industry (and have absolutely no affiliation to Philips) and have never encountered any model of Philips TV's failing anymore than other TV manufacturers. Panasonic TV's IMO are better built and they generally have a 5 year warranty BUT the also cost a lot more...

i have a fantastic 42" lg plasma and everyoine says how great it looks for abt 4 yrs now

not sure how long it will last but i would hope for 10 years

(probably unrealsitic )