To think I'm not being entitled with TV guarantee?

[Lurapuppypants]

Three years ago DH and I splashed out on (for us) a very expensive TV at £1800 (including fitting). It was one which has the "art mode" so when it's on standby, it looks like a picture in a frame. We decorated our living room to incorporate the "art".

We bought it from John Lewis, mostly because it came with a 5 year guarantee.

We have had the TV now for 3 years, and it has developed a fault. John Lewis sent engineers round, but the part to fix it is no longer available. They accept completely that the TV's fault is nothing to do with us and shouldn't have happened.

John Lewis have offered us £1200 to spend on a new TV. The equivalent model to the one we currently have (same size, same brand, just a 2021 version as the 2019 we bought is no longer available) is now £1400 - so a lot less than we originally paid, but they won't cover this.

Their guarantee is supposed to cover an "equivalent" - I'm not demanding the £1800 we originally paid, of course - we've had the TV for 3 years - but I would expect them to replace like with like. Their reasoning is that with a new TV we would get another 5 year guarantee - but as this doesn't actually seem to cover what we need it to, it's hardly a selling point!

We literally just want the same TV we already have - we have offered to have a refurbed TV (they don't do them), to wait for a repair (not possible), or to have the same model that they currently sell (this is where they won't offer enough money towards it).

AIBU to expect the guarantee to actually cover like-for-like?

We had exactly almost the same with JL - different TV, and not that much to start with, but the repair company could not get the part, and we were offered an amount of money to buy a TV they deemed 'equivalent' - it was a different brand, so we did not consider it so, but it was all we could get from them, so we took it in the end.

Have you tried looking elsewhere for a refurbished one?

I think you're in the right.

Since it can't be repaired, they should give you the modern equivalent, but reduce the warranty on that to two years, not another 5 (I'm stating the obvious there).

Mind you with their offer, an additional 3 year warranty on a £1400 item for in effect £200 is not an outrageously bad deal (could be seen as ~5% a year to insure), given the track record of the previous one.

If it's an OLED - which it must be, it's probably worth having due to the potential burn in issues.

Depends on the wording of the guarantee. An equivalent could be a working three year old tv, obviously worth a lot less than you would have originally paid. If they don't a refurb available, they're giving you what it's worth (and £1200 seems generous in that situation). It's annoying, but I'm not certain they a re wrong.

Actually - I've changed my mind. I think what they are offering you should bite their hand off - it's an LG Oled, yeah? Gotta be 😂

I've just remembered that the 2021 models are a huge upgrade in terms of connectivity. They have HDMI 2.1 with 4k/120 support and the feature set also has an improved algo for dealing with burn in.

Honestly - £200 to swap your 2019 for that is a steal. You can rightly grumble but it's a good deal.

I would be tempted to agree with you - if it were not for the fact that the guarantee has proved itself not that useful.

It's like if you really liked Nike trainers and (OK, I appreciate this is stretching a simile to breaking point) had bought a guarantee for them, and when you claimed on it, they offered you some from M&S instead. Yes, they'll do the job, but it's not what you wanted.

@SwanBuster No, it's a Samsung, The Frame. And screen burn isn't one of the things that's covered. (That's not the issue with ours - it's a faulty backlight.)

And I would absolutely love to swap the 2019 for the 2021 (or 2022) versions - but they won't offer us that. They will only offer us an amount that won't cover any of The Frame range.

I think they have been quite generous with their offer. You have had three years use of your old TV. I would accept their offer, put your 200 in and get a new TV with another 5 year guarantee, unless I have misunderstood what you have written.

Depends on your perspective.

I agree - it's not the ideal outcome if all you care about is the exact same feature set as previously. You are in the right.

But these are extraordinary times in the hardware industry and there's not a lot you can do.

Push for the modern equivalent then, but say you want the warranty reduced to two years. That seems fair.

But if I'm right about the model you have, although it seems 'wrong', it's actually a wonderful deal they have offered you even if it doesn't seem so. The 2021 models are a bug upgrade in many ways. That's the pragmatic way I'd see it.

Ah - cross posted. Ok, that changes things significantly - I guessed wrong.

Push for them reducing the warranty to 2 years on the replacement..

I do see what you're saying - that £200 for an upgrade plus warranty is a decent deal. BUT we would also have to pay for fitting (£125) and disposal of the old TV (£20), so we would essentially be £300 out of pocket to replace like-for-like. We haven't budgeted for that, and it's a worry with all the other expenses going up so much at the moment.

It's nothing to do with being grabby - you've paid for a 5 year guarantee so they need to stick to the terms as do you. So, if there is not one which is the same you need to ask how the cheaper one is equivalent if it's worse. If equivalent is more expensive (which it invariably will be after a period of time) that's not your fault.

This comes with the caveat that the policy wording might not quite say this.

does the new tv they are proposing cover all the functionality of the old model?

if it does, then as frustrating as it feels, this is actually a really fair offer. Your tv has 3 years of depreciation and that gets factored in with a warranty. In its place you are getting a newer tv, get to start the warranty fresh, and it’s costing a pittance.

if the suggested tv is in some way inferior, I get the complaint, but otherwise I would just go with this.

Yeah, that's not on.

The replacement should be fitted and the old one disposed of gratis. You should be back in the position you were in prior to the fault.

An equivalent or better TV on the wall with a 2 year warranty remaining.

This doesn't help OP, but for anyone else thinking about where to buy TV's: about 4.5 years into ownership of Oled from Curry, I noticed some screen burn where news channels put their headlines. About two months before the 5 year mark, I reported it to their helpline. They repaired, replacing the screen. The new screen may be better than the original, I know it's not identical as it's get a 1mm silver frame, which the original didn't have.

I had no paperwork to indicate that I had a 5-year warranty, I just recalled that the TV had been advertised with it, as I knew I had considered John Lewis, and only switched to Curry's when I realised they had the same warranty. It was a non-issue when I reported the fault to their helpline, they simply got me to try and few things, and when that didn't sort out the problem, arranged a pick-up of the TV. A week later, the repaired TV was delivered back to my TV, and delivery guys helped me put it back on the stand.

I assume Curry's support had my details on my database from when I ordered the TV. The existence of the 5 year warranty wasn't mentioned by me or them during the conversation, they simply fixed the problem I reported.

That's what they're claiming - the functionality is the same, but I bought it for the Art Mode (it displays works of art when in standby mode so fits into decor more than just a blank screen on the wall). They're suggesting something that I believe has fundamentally different functionality, or else asking me to pay £300+ to get the same (albeit 2 years later) product.

I have told them we'd be perfectly happy with a repair or replacement of the old model, which they no longer stock.

Their guarantee says:

"If we can't repair your TV, we'll replace it with a TV of equivalent specification. If no equivalent product is available, we'll either offer you the nearest equivalent specification or its selling price value, and we'll always do our best to make sure you're satisfied with the outcome."

So, go back to them, stating what the guarantee says, and ask for an indication of what tv they believe is equivalent (and unavailable), nearest equivalent (and unavailable and usual selling price when available). State why you believe the £1400 model fits as equivalent/nearest equivalent and ask that they reconsider this as at the moment, you are not satisfied with their original proposed outcome.

So if you think of the TV as having a guaranteed life of five years, and decide to depreciate its value to zero over that time, a guaranteed-life-year is currently worth £1400/5 = £280. For an outlay of £300, you are gaining 3 x £280 = £840 of years. So you are £540 in profit. I think that is quite a good deal.

But what if we don't have an extra £300 to spend on a new TV right now?

I genuinely don't want to profit on the situation - just want the same brand (and model) of TV that we currently have. I'm not looking to get a bigger one, or a higher-spec. I just don't want to pay additional cash to get something replaced that has failed whilst under guarantee.

@butterflymum This is pretty much what I've done.

JL are doing themselves no favours with this attitude. It’s one reason to choose them over another supplier.

As Butterflymum says the starting point is a TV of an equivalent specification. This has to be one of the Frame TVs. The frame feature being the USP and reason for purchase. If there is no identical model then they need to look at the nearest specs of the Frame TVs available and offer that Tv or the value.

It’s not complicated, they are just trying to save money and cheat the customer. It’s really poor.

So you paid for a guarantee with John Lewis for a repair or replacement and they are trying to barter with you?! That’s not what you paid for!

This is shocking, and a terrible advert for John Lewis. What is going on with them - seriously?! I keep hearing stuff about them lately.They used to have the best customer service around. They need to sort themselves out.

As for the posters saying you are in “profit” - err, no! You’re missing the point completely!

The tv broke and needs replacing. There should be no additional outlay required by the customer!

Yes exactly mrcow it’s not greedy to want the service you’ve paid for!!

JL and any warranty underwriters know that models and specs are likely to change, they win more on some, they win less some, it’s part of the business model. They shouldn’t be trying to cheat customers.

Keep on at them OP. I hope they come to their senses.