Independant Engineer's Report

paulthom8

Hello all.
I purchased a Samsung LE40M87BD 40in LCD TV online 3 years ago and began having the problem with vertical lines on both sides of the screen toward the end of last year. The tv has been wall mounted since purchase and has been treated well and is cosmetically perfect. Average amount of hours used per day. Nothing unusual.

I contacted Samsung and got the bog standard reply of getting it to one of their "approved" service centres at my own expense. I did this, and have just been told that the tv needs a new screen. The cost of this would be 800 euro.
The tv was purchased online for 1,300.

Having done the maths, and being very very annoyed, i am now taking this further. I have the physical irish address of the company that i purchased online from.

Basically i am looking to have an unbiased independant engineers report completed on the state of affairs on the tv, before i take the next step.

Would anyone have any recommendations or contact details for such an individual? I am Dublin based.

Cheers.

dolandy

What was the warranty period given on purchase?

Generally, its as well off to buy a new tv than go about replacing a screen. Ive done it for an LCD but only because I could get the screen cheap. You may be surprised. If you can get someone to take a look inside it and find the Manufacturer/model/serial details of the screen (not the TV) you might have some luck at cutting your loss.

Hard to see what you can do after 3 yrs if its not under warranty.

Ian

Fuzzy Clam

Check your consumer rights first.
Even if the TV is out of warranty, you would rightly expect more than 3 years life from expensive equipment.
If you had bought a cheapo non brand 200 E box off ebay and it developed a fault the day after warranty expired then it would be tough luck what do you expect for the money, but in this case you've bought a reputable brand and you have rights.

I don't think an independent report will be any advantage as they will also just state it needs a new screen.

paulthom8

Dolandy, a one year warranty was provided. I did not take out extended cover, and yes, you're right, i am not paying in excess of 800 euro for a replacement screen when i can buy new. As stated i have had it looked at by a Samsung approved repair centre and have the paperwork with the screen type and model number etc.

Fuzzy, I am going to check my consumer rights on this. An LCD TV that only lasts for 3 years is not really fit for purpose is it? I purchased a respected brand TV ata time and a price that reflected that. Any reasonable person would expect it to work properly for longer than 3 years. The average lifetime of a screen of it's class is roughly 50,000 hours or so. That's way longer than 3 years given an average daily usage.

I'll proceed forward and report back on it here. Cheers.

eddiem74

Take a look at this thread. Hopefully of some use.

paulthom8

Thanks Eddie.