Television develops the same screen fault over and over again

I bought a Samsung 32in LCD TV from Comet at the end of December last year. Six weeks later it had to be repaired because the screen was faulty.

But now six months after this repair the replacement panel has developed the same fault, although not as bad.

Comet arranged for a technician to examine the TV and I have been told that I should get it repaired again.
Darren Reid

Mr Reid is trapped, like many people, in an ongoing cycle of failed repairs. Although he was unhappy about having to have a six-week old TV repaired rather than replaced, the Sale of Goods (SoG) Act gives retailers the right to offer this option after the customer has had goods in their possession for 'a reasonable time'.

The definition of ‘reasonable time’ is flexible and depends on the goods in question, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission have put it at 30 days. So Comet was within its legal rights to make a repair initially. However, the SoG states that a repair should be 'fit for purpose' and not cause unreasonable inconvenience to the consumer.

The Commission also reviewed the problem of being locked into a cycle of failed repairs. In November 2009 it presented a review of consumer remedies for faulty goods to the Government. In this it asked “after how many repair attempts can a consumer say they have been significantly inconvenienced?”

It said that repeated repairs can cause financial losses to consumers, for example the cost of phone calls and time off work. It concluded that “after one failed repair or replacement the consumer is entitled to proceed to a second-tier remedy”. By this it means a refund or the retailer offering a price reduction for the goods.

The repairs made to Mr Reid’s TV are definitely 'not fit for purpose' and he is being significantly inconvenienced by having to deal with a defective product. He is within his rights to reject the goods and get a pro-rata refund.

We have contacted Comet about this and have also advised Mr Reid to tell the retailer that he is no longer prepared to accept repeated repair attempts. We will update you in a further issue when we get Comet’s response.