Originally Posted by oilman:
“A key question is whether a software issue counts as a fault. It is quite possible that there are exclusions for these in the sales contract..”
oilman raises a valid point about whether software counts as a fault. The crux of that debate is that if it is a software problem, then just replacing the set with an identical model is unlikely to fix the issue. If one Toshiba 24D343 has this iPlayer problem then it's likely that all will until the software is fixed.
What's required is for the manufacturer to make good on their promise that the set includes a working iPlayer feature. It's either that or to state categorically that it doesn't so that buyers can make a decision to avoid this model of TV if iPlayer is something they really want. At the moment the sales info on the JLP site and on the Toshiba site for the D3 TVs says that they include iPlayer.
What this all boils down to then is whether the set "is as described". That comes under the Trade Descriptions Act which is legislation first passed in 1968 to prevent manufacturers from making false claims for products. In short, if the manufacturer decides to add a feature that requires periodic updates to keep working then it's up to them to ensure that this happens within the warranty period. If they don't then there's a strong case to say that the TV breaks the Trade Descriptions Act. There's your grounds for action.
It's worth pointing out though that these kinds of issues are likely to become more common in the future. That's something that I believe TV manufacturers, retailers and 3rd party warranty companies have overlooked.
Smart TVs are not the same as tablets, smart-phones, laptops and computers. They can't download new versions of iPlayer software direct off the web. Smart TVs rely on software and applications written specifically for the TV platform rather than commonly released versions. It takes time for the technical departments in the TV manufacturers to rewrite the code in response to some or other change in the way iPlayer works. That means there's always a lag between iPlayer updates and the TV update required to maintain compatibility. Depending on the changes made by the BBC (or any other online player company) then the TV player software might not work at all. There's a web site devoted to this kind of information
here.