So my 55’ kogan TV purchased exactly 4 years ago, died the other day, Monday night was working fine, Tuesday night there is no picture at all. Kogan said too old out of warranty, I said I thought that a budget TV should last at least 5 years. TV has been well looked after, nothing happened to it between the time we watched on Monday to Tuesday night.
What are people’s thoughts re how long a TV should last? Is this something I just have to let go and accept or should I fight to the death.
Purchase price of TV was about $500 but RRP at the time was about $800.
I merged your query into this existing one that includes links to Choice advice regarding longevity. It is a house branded (budget) TV and while 5 years might be the norm, it might be difficult to argue 4 is a ‘major fail’ assuming it is a Kogan branded product. Most of these TVs are not repairable and get replaced during warranty, so any claim might (or might not) require a replacement as a repair if that was ever agreed.
My expectation is the best you could get, and it might be a hard one to ‘win’, would be a discount on a newer Kogan product but with normal discounts you could probably do better elsewhere on a better product. YMMV.
Having spoken to fair trading in the past about electrical items, I recall what they told me. "An article that has a statutory 1 year warranty is often expected to have a longer service life free of defects. But that service life is always a function of what it cost. For instance say you buy a $59 vacuum cleaner from kmart and it breaks down after a year and a half. Don’t bet that fair trading or NCAT or the ACCC will speak up for you with the retailer or manufcaturer. But had you bought a $650 fancy vacuum cleaner which broke down after a year and a half ie past its warranty period, then a reasonable person would not have spent such big bikkies with an expectation of a short service life. Hence my claim for repairs or refund would be on far stronger ground.
Before you rush ahead to accept a credit voucher, look into its terms and conditions. Years ago I was offered a credit voucher by an airline only to note that its redemption had to be via the airline itself and not a travel agency or website AND that the CR was off published fares ie FULL freight and it could not be applied against sale prices offered by the airline itself or via an agent AND the voucher had only a 12 mth validity
I made life easier for the airline and helped myself by proactively telling the airline that I will accept the voucher AND the means of redeeming it ie via the airline only, IF they will allow me to redeem it against sale prices and I will accept a 6 mth validity (which helps them, in case I forget to redeem or I cannot travel in the next six mths). They agreed and soon after I redeemed it 5 mths in advance.
Yep, so far after my long spiel telling them I thought the statutory warranty should apply, I simply said to expedite and if it’s easier I would be happy to accept a store credit, their response was sorry the warranty expired I suggest you take it to a local repairer for a quote.
But Ill write back with a screenshot of what that chart, that says 5 years, we’ll see how it goes.
Note that the 5 years is an arbitrary time frame based on survey of consumers expectations. It isn’t a definitive time frame one can hang their hat on. You can say that a reasonable person may expect a very cheap TV^ to last about 5 years. You can’t say a very cheap TV 'should last 5 years.
Expect the the same response from Kogan, but as they say, it doesn’t hurt to ask the question.
^ $500 for a 55’ TV four years ago would have been a bargain - this is when we bought our TV and at the time known brands would have been around $1000 more.
Being a Kogan brand, it is likely to be not reparable as their won’t be spare parts, and if spare parts exist, the repair cost will be more than what the TV is worth (or cost to replace it with a new 55’ cheap TV). It is a shame as it will become eWaste.
The greater shame is that many different TV’s share the same internal sub-assemblies, and PC cards. It’s a problem all nations are responsible for. Technology churn - through failure or obsolescence remains a corner stone of profitable business, aka growing economies.
Are we our own worse advisors when it comes to sustainability?
We are a long way from the day Kogan or Hervey Norman advertising highlights the sustainability of a product they sell as precedent over any other marketing hype.
The opinions already posted should be taken into account.
If you are getting into a to and fro with Kogan you cannot just ‘write back with an image’ and expect them to suddenly accept your claim on that basis alone. If you are going to press Kogan you will need to send them a formal ‘Letter of Complaint’ and assure you receive some acknowledgement it was received. There are many links on numerous Community topics regarding same and what needs to be included in one. Anything not presented in that form is ‘idle chit chat’ rather than evidence if you decide to follow up with your consumer affairs office or take it to a tribunal. Some companies will push back on ACL related product claims, but when confronted with a Letter of Complaint they understand the customer is aware of his rights; sometimes but not always it ‘encourages’ them to do something to assist.
Thanks for all the advice, I had already sent my next reply before seeing your response re formal complaint. But here is how it went: The rep first came back with sorry nothing I can do, followed by an unprompted second reply a few hours later offering a $40 ‘goodwill’ store credit, valid for 12 months. Which after considering the effort, and the fact I may get nothing if I take it further I accepted. This decision was based on the thoughts in this group, a discussion with a rep from Consumer Affairs, that any ruling will consider the actual and not just age, (though I don’t think it’s been over used, but its certainly not the TV in the spare room for occasional guests) and given the Choice sheet says 5 years for a budget TV when it’s already been 4.
