10 Week old XR-65A90J fails!! Disgraceful!!

[Lac7126]

So after lots of research and merely wishing to have a more up to date TV than my perfectly working but 14 year old Pioneer Plasma TV, my wife and I treated ourselves and spent £3,499 plus additional insurance with John Lewis on a Sony Bravia XR-65A90J, on 18th November 2021. 
Apparently the state of the art TV announced in April 2021. 
It arrived on 24th November. 
It’s had light use (not in the day and not every evening) and on 5th February 2022 my wife turned it on to watch some Winter Olympics. A few minutes later, 2 clicks heard, screen goes blank. An hour of following the power off, try a different socket etc. procedure all to no avail. Red LED flashes 5 times, pause, 5 flashes and so on. 
Spoke to John Lewis (tried Sony Customer Service but it was a Saturday so they’re closed of course…! Obviously we don’t use their products at weekends…) 
The not so local approved repair centre came out to collect it on Monday 7th PM. Asked how many times the red LED flashes and plugged it back in to confirm. Yes, 5 flashes. Looked at each other ‘that’s the screen’….

To cap it all, Sony have already announced the A95K replacement in January 2022 and consequently devalued our A90J which has been £500 less to purchase since January, not because it’s in any sale…,
Still no news, and Sony keep asking me who collected it even when I have replied and they reply to the email containing that information. 
Our 14 year old Pioneer Plasma never missed a beat and I sold it working, albeit for peanuts.  Before that I had a B&O TV which lasted for about 15 years. Had a tube replaced… after 12 years!

Do we ever want to see our - repaired but less than 3 month old TV back - absolutely not. 
Options I’ve give Sony are (and yes, I’ve been in retail for over 30 years, I know about consumer rights!):

1. FULL refund and they can do what they like with it. 
2. NEW replacement (or an “UPLIFT” replacement) and £500 refund. 

I’m absolutely disgusted that a £3,499 TV from Sony, allegedly state or the art technologically, fails (and evidently not the only one of these to fail - or to have the screen fail in early life) after such a short time, is already devalued by Sony, and currently Sony can’t even read an email properly, let alone respond appropriately to my call and as they requested, my follow up email with receipt attached. 
Currently listening to music (as we have no TV…) through my utterly reliable 1979 Quad amplifier and pre-amplifier…

[Lac7126]

What has happened could be put another way...let's put it into car terms for example...

You buy a brand new car... after 10 weeks it breaks down....

It goes back to the dealer, and the manufacturer says the engine has blown, so you'll get a replacement car...

However, over 2 weeks after an obviously used car is delivered, a bit older than the car you purchased, that someone else has had, sat in, driven. That car has evidently broken down before, but you don't know why, and now that's been repaired and given to you. It's not even your own car repaired. Oh, and there are some scratches and damage to the body work....

I ask anyone...even if there weren't scratches and damage to the bodywork....is that acceptable?

[rooobb]

I'm not Sony's lawyer and if that happened to me I would be angry too.

But the car example doesn't apply: a car wears out with the use, while an electronic device mostly not, and not any dealer will exchange your car with another for whichever reason, while to change a panel (that's 90% of a TV) a manufacturer may decide that is more convenient to do so (and by experience Sony never change the panel, LG sometimes does it).

At the end, I would have expected too a better care for a top of the line TV consumer, but if at the end you will get a working tv back (new or refurbished but new-alike) they are compliant with the warranty, what you may get on top of it it's up to your ability in negotiation

[SkyNet404]

Yea that sound bad, just keep us updated and hopefully this gets sorted soon.

But yea from Sony's end the T&C says that they can repalce the TV with a factory certified TV, but you can always return to John Lewis ''your retailer'' in that case if you don't accept that.

Hopefully they don't lead you in circles.

[Lac7126]

Hi Again @rooobb 

My original TV didn't wear out through use at 10 weeks old, and sometimes cars breakdown due to a faulty part or poor workmanship. Same as my original TV.

Yes, i will see what John Lewis / Sony come up with next. Obviously neither are in a hurry, adding to the impression of their level of Customer Care as I have had no update today....

[HannahEd01]

Hey there @ Lac7126, I didn't work with JL, but I have quite an experience with TVs and the market in general, many years actually.

So, I will tell you straight forward what can and cannot be done:

-Sony won't give you a full refund, T&C.

-Sony might change the unit if you pushed enough, not guaranteed, but most probably you'll get another refurbished TV, again T&C.

-JL can give you a refund. But they won't tell you.