I have/had a LOGIK 32" LCD TV that blew up yesterday.

I phoned the supplier (you know who) to complain that a 14 month old TV should not fail. I do not have the extended warranty. They offered a repair service of £180 + parts.

Do I have any legal rights or just have to try and get it repaired myself.

Would consumer rights be on my side?.

Would it make any difference if I complain to the supplier?.

You have just been unlucky, thats the way it goes. Although the cynics amongst us may say that there is a chip inside of most electricals programed to self destruct a week after the warantee runs out. Best to shop around yourself to see if you can get it repaired. It would be worthwhile writing to the manufacturer an appropriate letter praising their products and saying how disapointed you are that this has happened with this purchase. You never know they might just give you a new one as a gesture of goodwill.

Your best bet is to speak to the Head Office Cust Service department for the retailer you bought it from and see what they offer. They *might* be prepared to contribute to the repair i.e. towards the parts or similar.

Doubt you'll get anything from the manufacturer as I think LOGIK is an own brand ?

Highly unlikely you'll get a new tv set unless it's uneconomic to repair it.

Doubtless some bright spark will tell you that the Sale of Goods Act covers you - it doesn't as such, it merely sets out the period of time over which you can make a claim against the supplier of an item. Beware - if you start legal proceedings, there is no guarantee you'll win, get a refund or a free repair, so you have to think very carefully about what you hope to achieve.

I would suggest speaking to Trading Standards and asking their advice, it might be worthwhile taking them to small claims court over it, it's low cost, and you can't really 'lose' - apart from the small claims court fee.

In these circumstances the small claims court would very probably find for you, and Currys would have to refund the fee you paid as well, and often find it cheaper and easier to just refund you without going to court.

I bought a new Grundig TV from Tescos yesterday and it has arrived today and has been set up OK.

I was just p***ed off at Currys response and wondered if anyone had a similar problem and what the outcome was.

Thanks for the response.

Yes you do

Yes they would

Check out the sale of goods act http://www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/fac...page38311.html

Thanks for that jblink. Will contact Customer Services and make a complaint first.

Not necessarily - suggest you read it a bit more thoroughly:

• Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).

This is met because the OP has had the set for more than 12 months without any fault, therefore any reasonable person would state it wasn't faulty at time of purchase.

• For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) purchasers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement).

The operative word here is DEMAND - there is no guarantee that a court will agree that the failure is unreasonable at this point in time - it will depend on the magnitude of the fault and the cost of repair.

• In general, the onus is on all purchasers to prove the goods did not conform to contract (e.g. was inherently faulty) and should have reasonably lasted until this point in time (i.e. perishable goods do not last for six years).

So on what basis should the goods have lasted longer without any failure then ? The SSGA does not stipulate a tv should be defect free for 2,3,4,5 or 6 years. It merely states that you can pursue a claim against the seller.

As I've stated many times before on other threads - if the law stated that a TV had to be guaranteed for 5 years, then the retailers would do that. It doesn't so they don't.

Put simply, a product is guaranteed for a period of time. That ensures that whatever happens, you won't pay for a repair.

After that, you have no guarantees of free repairs or replacements. If you take it to court, there's no guarantee you'll win. The only guaranteed way to avoid any potential repair cost is to take out some form of warranty on the item. It doesn't matter whether it's a TV, cooker or a car the same principles apply.

AlanO, I believe you are misinterpreting the SoGA.

A guarantee is just that: provided there is no wilful damage, a retailer will automatically repair an item (or possibly replace it) within the guarantee period.

Outwith the guarantee period for the retailer to be liable the onus is on the purchaser to prove that the item is inherently faulty. This may involve taking the TV to an independent expert for inspection. The purchaser should inform the retailer of this before proceeding. Should the expert agree that there is an inherent fault the retailer is then obliged to pay the costs of the inspection.

While the SoGA doesn't specify how long goods should last, few judges would rule that 14 months is a reasonable lifespan for a television. Inherent faults do not necessarily show up at the time of purchase or even after a few months.

But one of the considerations is the extent of the fault and the cost of repair. If there it is a small fault a judge may easily decide that such a failure is a 'reasonable' risk for such a product and therefore reject the claim. The OP hasn't had this assessed from what has been posted already.

Also I suspect most reasonable people would take the line that an 'inherent' fault would exhibit itself in less than a year, hence the consumer then has to prove that the fault was inherent.

Additionally - there is NO guarantee that with a claim under the SSOGA will be successful. It's civil law not criminal, so previous cases are NOT considered material. Each claim is considered independently and no two judges are obliged to come to the same conclusion.

Cost of the repair is £180 plus parts according to the OP. Not an insubstantial amount and worth a punt through claiming rights under SoG. The problem with this is that it requires effort on the part of the consumer, so whilst the law is in place to protect the consumer, most of us opt for the easy life and don't bother.

AlanO - I have read the SoG act thoroughly and if you had bothered to read and understand my post you would have realised is was accurate. Yes Duffystev does have legal rights and consumers rights would be on Duffystev's side.

And what I WROTE - if you bothered to read it was:

"Additionally - there is NO guarantee that with a claim under the SSOGA will be successful. It's civil law not criminal, so previous cases are NOT considered material. Each claim is considered independently and no two judges are obliged to come to the same conclusion."

So whilst he doubtless has rights under the act there is absolutely NO guarantee of making a successful claim. It will depend on the judge he gets on the day and the case he makes.

If the cost of repair is likely to be in excess of £200 and some time delay whilst being completed, if it were me I would just write it off to experience and go buy another TV. You can get a 32" LCD for around £350.00 nowadays, specially to the quality of a "Logik" which are usually unmarked chassis put into a plastic box with the Logik badge engineered onto it. If you want to buy 5000 of them, you can get them for about $150 US each. Gives you an idea of what is inside.

I never buy extended guarantees, although I have probably been lucky in that I have not often had kit fail in less than 3 years - the exception being a "rogue" washing machine that was sent to an early demise after 3 failures in year 2.

My philosophy is don't buy the warranty, and either fix it or replace it when it goes wrong.

It's your call, but £180 plus parts, and probably some return to workshop charges - write it off. And forget the SOG act - you are likely to be throwing good monet after bad.

I bought a new TV (Grundig) yesterday and the old one has been consigned to the shed.

I wanted the opinion of you guys to see if I had a reasonable claim against Currys.

I have written a letter of complaint and quoted the Sale of Goods Act. I await with baited breath.

Like I said above, contact Trading Standards, they will advice and help you. As it's a Logik brand Currys are effectively both the retailer and the manufacturer (because it's just a badge on cheap gear), which means that Currys are well aware how poor the sets are.

Thanks, will do that tomorrow.

Many a true word is spoken in jest - my printer said it was worn out - but I found a program that re sets the chip - and hey presto it's still working two years and 5000 pages later

I have also had experience of electronic products that fail far too soon - must admit I'm a bit suspicious of some brands - but not Panasonic, my 7 year old TV has never missed a beat and it's used a heck of a lot

I'll make this short.

I see hundreds of tv/video/freeview products every week. The most common failures by far are supermarket TV's and budget freeview boxes.

People think they are getting a good deal when the get a TV or product from a retailer and theyre not too fussed about the make as long as it's at a bargain basement price. Then when it packs up after 18 months it doesnt seem like such a good financial investment.

Ive seen Schneider LCD's, Onn freeview boxes, tesco freeview boxes, Pacific Tv's etc etc all pack up after a shockingly short time. Paying £10 extra for a branded freeview box makes a lot of difference.

My rule when recommending tv related products to customers is simple, you get what you pay for and unfortunately theres some real crap out there and good people are losing money on a bad purchase.

My advice, shop around, check what guarantee you get (John Lewis and Downtown do 5 years STANDARD on tv's), dont jump into an "impulse" buy if it seems too good to be true, pay the extra and get something branded.

A television should last at least six years. My last one lasted 10.

I would say it is not doing it's job and that it contravenes sale of goods act 1979.

YAWN....

READ THE SSGA - First up the SGA 1979 has been largely replaced by one of the later Sale & Supply of Goods Acts.

Second - nowhere does the SSGA (or any other statute for that matter) state how long a TV or any other item for that matter should last. It merely sets out a period of time that a consumer can make a claim if the item has a problem, though as myself and others have stated it DOES NOT GUARANTEE AN ITEM FOR SIX YEARS NOR IS THERE ANY GUARANTEE OF A SUCCESSFUL CLAIM..........

That your last TV lasted 10 years and you believe a TV should last "at least six years" is frankly meaningless.

Mine lasted ten and my mothers has lasted 20.

This obviously means that modern televisions are not up to the job.

Not everyone has 500 pounds to go and buy a new television every 14 months.

I would make damn sure that I got a refund if my television did that at 14 months. I would make a lot of noise,say how shoddy the shop was and say sale of goods act says it has to be fit for purpose.

I always get my own way in shops.

Agreed, can you imagine if every consumer compared the lifespan of previous products to what they have now and then based a guarantee or life expectancy on this.

Good luck with that one

Chances are they give you a refund to get rid of you and hopefully never see you again if the attitude you're showing here is anything to go by......

AlanO - Did you actually read my posts? If you had bothered to do so you would have noticed that I actually only stated that he has rights, as indeed you do. At no time did I suggest he would be guaranteed to be successful.

What do you expect if you buy cheap rubbish?, modern TV's are cheaper than older TV's (and FAR cheaper in real terms), how do you think this has happened? - it's by making them cheaper, thus less reliable.

Incidently, my TV is 13 years old or so.