Warranties/CGA

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#2117713 1-Nov-2018 09:56

sidefx:

@quickymart Has aerial expert actually fixed it or just charged you $300 to determine it's a faulty freeview tuner?

I have to agree with others that 8 years sounds a bit long to expect the CGA to cover it. It sounds from your OP that you're more annoyed with having to spend $300 to find out it's a faulty tuner?

I'm really suprized that after 8 years you can still get it fixed or the tuner replaced. I've seen TVs only a couple of years old replaced because something like the panel died and no spares available.

Regards,

Old3eyes

Bung

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#2117725 1-Nov-2018 10:21

quickymart: No no extended warranty, so no hope there. A pity, it's a nice TV, just a pain to have yet another remote to control it now. Never mind, I guess it's working.

From "another remote" it sounds like as suggested the cure involved using an external tuner. How much of the $300 went into diagnosis and how much into tuner? Or was the tuner an additional cost?

quickymart

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#2117988 1-Nov-2018 17:18

The $300 included him coming out, testing the aerial, removing the VHF one and providing a new Freeview tuner box.
First time I've had a built in tuner die on me, so I had no idea what to expect.

pctek

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#2118039 1-Nov-2018 18:45

Lias:. I'm pretty sure Consumer says a TV should last 5-10 years, and $1000 isn't really at the higher end of things.

Sigh...it's not price, its quality.

You can buy an expensive 52" Junk brand TV or say a cheaper 32"entry level quality brand. Which is the longer lasting?

There is no list of expected life expectancies for fridges, freezers, dishwashers, washing machines, jugs, microwaves, stoves, vacuums and ovens, though Consumer, the shoppers' advocate, has provided an invaluable guide based on a survey of manufacturers' and a poll of consumers.

Judging whether a household appliance had failed unreasonably soon, a court or tribunal considers multiple factors, including the price and useage.

Appliance makers and retailers both still claim limited manufacturers' warranties of one and two years, and retailers try to sell extended warranties that shoppers are told start at the point the manufacturers' warranties end.

The problem is that CGA cases for fridges don't get heard in the expensive higher courts, says Miller. "There's not a lot of case law."

Jeff Windress from Windress Home Appliance Services, which fixes broken appliances, says invoking the act is the most powerful weapon the public has.

"As soon as somebody mentions the Consumer Guarantees Act, the item gets replaced," he says.

And a particularly irritated buyer might even up the ante because, Miller says, it is a breach of the Fair Trading Act to tell someone they do not have a claim under the CGA when really they do.

With prices for consumer appliances now very low compared to those which previous generations paid, many suspect the reasonable expected lifespan of the likes of whiteware has plummeted.

"My mother's generation generally would expect appliances to last 20 years," Miller says. "The proportion of income that a washing machine would cost made them very expensive."

Windress says: "The consumer is driving the price down so you can't make something that's going to last. If you are going to buy a washing machine for $395, you can't afford to put a $400 motor in it."

While the younger generations seem to accept that, older folk don't.

But Windress believes we may be nearing a low point in the lifespan of appliances, and that people will one day realise it will work out cheaper over their lifetimes to spend more on each appliance, and get longer use out of it.

DVD players and recorders, CD players

Economic life: 2-5+ years. (Some manufacturers intend to keep parts for 10 years.) Life expectancy: 15+ years (high-quality brands), 3 years (cheap brands). High-definition DVD recorders are about to make the current crop look out of date. Repair: Dirty heads, especially if a clean-up will do it. CD/DVD loading and drive mechanisms on more expensive machines. (If the hard drive fails early on, use your CGA rights for repair or replacement. If it fails on an older machine, consider buying a replacement.) Tip: Keep those CDs and DVDs clean. If you have a hard-drive recorder model, archive those precious tracks to disc so that you have a permanent copy.

Home-theatre systems, stereo components, stereo systems

Economic life: 2-15 years. Life expectancy: 15+ years (systems with high-quality hi-fi components), 10 years (the better-quality all-in-one systems), 3 years (cheaper models). Repair: Get quotes. For expensive systems, most problems should be worth fixing. For cheaper all-in-one systems cleaning dirty CD/DVD player heads or CD/DVD loading mechanisms may be all that's worth doing.

TVs: Tube (CRT) models

Economic life: 4-15 years. Manufacturers say CRTs will be obsolete within a few years because of technology changes such as HDTV (high-definition TV). But we think standard-definition TV will be around for a while yet. Life expectancy: 12+ years. Repair: Worth considering up to 10 years old. But get a quote first. Tip: If it'll fit in the car, take it to the repair workshop yourself - and save the service-call fee.

TVs: Plasma and LCD models

Economic life: 5-15 years. Life expectancy: 12+ years. Repair: Most are still likely to be covered by the factory warranty or the CGA. If it fails, take it back to the store. See also "Price matters". Tip: Plasma-screen owners should take care to avoid "burn in" - it's not covered by warranty. Avoid showing the same picture (such as a vivid TV-station logo or a normal (4:3 format) television image for hours on end on the plasma's wider (16:9) screen. Urban legend? Pixel failure (where several of the small picture-units fail in a noticeable group) was expected to be a problem in newer models. But so far we've found little evidence of this.

Tech products

Computers

Economic life: 3-7 years. Life expectancy: 5 years (but if you keep up with software releases, your computer may be obsolete much sooner). Repair: Power supply. Consider an upgrade if motherboard, hard drive or monitor fail.

Printers, scanners (including multifunction models)

Economic life: 3-6 years. Life expectancy: 5 years. Repair: Only if it was an expensive model. New printers can cost as little as $80. Multifunction models are also very affordable now.

Mobile phones

Economic life: Often determined by battery failure. Battery can cost 60% of the phone. Length of life is also a fashion issue! Life expectancy: 5+ years. Repair: Possible for most phones, but they're potentially expensive (it's usually easier to replace most of the internal workings). Consider upgrading if it's 2 years old, even if only the battery has failed. Shop around on the net if your phone battery fails. Note: Telecom's new 3G XT network may mean a phone bought prior to June 2009 is obsolete in 2012. Tip: Look after it - phones are particularly sensitive to water.

Cordless phones

Economic life: 2-5 years. Life expectancy: 5+ years. Repair: Higher-value phones may be worth repairing. Replace cheap phones with the newer digital models.

Digital cameras, camcorders

Economic life: 2-8 years. Life expectancy: 5-10 years, depending on purchase price. Repair: Only for newer high-value models. Not worth considering for older models - upgrade to a newer one. Advances in technology and lower production costs are making even the more-recent models obsolete.

MP3 players

Economic life: 5-7 years. Life expectancy: 5-10 years, depending on purchase price. Repair: Manufacturers tend to replace rather than repair during warranty (repair is limited to high-value models). Warranties are quite short, so use the CGA if it fails early on. Otherwise, consider buying a replacement instead of getting it repaired (unless it was a very expensive model).

minimoke

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#2119332 4-Nov-2018 07:15

You say you were moving house. Presumably the TV worked before the move. And it didn't work after the move. Fair to conclude it got damaged in the transition and thats not covered by the CGA.

$1500 for a TV 8 years ago. So it wasnt an expensive TV - so despite brand reputation, expectation of a superior long lasting piece of electronic equipment should diminish.

You got 8 years. In my mind not an unreasonable period and not covered by the CGA.

(in their screaming against off shore internet purchases its a great shame NZ retailers dont scream equally loudly about the advantage a NZ purchase has with its automatic CGA warranty)

Bung

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#2119336 4-Nov-2018 07:45

Unless the back came off for testing I've still got a suspicion that maybe removing the aerial lead damaged the socket connection to the board.

quickymart

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#2119337 4-Nov-2018 07:46

minimoke:

You say you were moving house. Presumably the TV worked before the move. And it didn't work after the move. Fair to conclude it got damaged in the transition and thats not covered by the CGA.

$1500 for a TV 8 years ago. So it wasnt an expensive TV - so despite brand reputation, expectation of a superior long lasting piece of electronic equipment should diminish.

You got 8 years. In my mind not an unreasonable period and not covered by the CGA.

(in their screaming against off shore internet purchases its a great shame NZ retailers dont scream equally loudly about the advantage a NZ purchase has with its automatic CGA warranty)

Thanks, I think I already got the answer I needed.

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Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

quickymart

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#2945889 24-Jul-2022 13:53

A bump on this thread - still warranties, but different.

I purchased a Samsung washing machine from Noel Leeming in September 2018. I moved house in January last year (hopefully this time it's the last for a while), and noticed the machine was scraping the rubber seal that was meant to stop water leakage, causing it to almost disappear. This didn't cause water leakage however.

Spoke to Samsung and was astonished to find the machine only had a 2 year warranty (their warranty) so it was already out of warranty. I disputed this, and in due course they sent out two guys who took the machine away and it came back; issue was the drum was faulty. It was replaced at no charge to me and has gone fine ever since.

Just today while doing another load, the machine started leaking water. Not litres and litres, but enough. Wife had a look and she suspects there's an issue with the drum again, this was after cleaning up all the water under the machine (it wasn't the hoses, they haven't been touched). All was working fine when the machine was used last week.

I spoke to Samsung again, and they're trying the whole "your machine is out of warranty so there will be charges". I explained this should be covered under the CGA - the machine isn't even 4 years old and has an issue. She noted I had disputed this last time and she said she would escalate this issue for me to "upper management".

However, if it comes to it, am I still covered by the CGA, or should I just accept that things like washing machines can just die after 3.5 years and that's the way of the world? I know of washing machines that are a lot older that have lasted way longer than 3 years.

TinkerOn

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#2946053 24-Jul-2022 20:38

3.5 years for a washing machine is in no way acceptable to me. Stick to it and demand Samsung fix it under the CGA. The warranty period is irrelevant under the CGA, as is how often Samsung already replaced it. It only tells Samsung that you won't just go away. If it keeps failing with the same fault it means there's a design problem, which makes your case stronger, even if they try the "you've already got it replaced" line. There's this saying, as long as people put up with junk, it's financially profitable to dispense it.

What model machine is it?

nztim

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#2946061 24-Jul-2022 20:48

I think the life expectancy of a flat screen TV is 5ish years, they sure don’t make stuff like they used to considering a 45 year old Phillips k9 at my parents is still working

Same with phones, have a 20 year old Alcatel fan one touch easy that still works

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

quickymart

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#2946063 24-Jul-2022 20:56

TinkerOn: 3.5 years for a washing machine is in no way acceptable to me. Stick to it and demand Samsung fix it under the CGA. The warranty period is irrelevant under the CGA, as is how often Samsung already replaced it. It only tells Samsung that you won't just go away. If it keeps failing with the same fault it means there's a design problem, which makes your case stronger, even if they try the "you've already got it replaced" line. There's this saying, as long as people put up with junk, it's financially profitable to dispense it. What model machine is it?

It's a Samsung Bubblewash 7.5kg. One of these: https://www.appliancesonline.com.au/product/samsung-ww75j54e0iw-7-5kg-bubblewash-front-load-washing-machine

I did toy with the idea if they don't think it's viable to repair, there's a newer model they have available, for not much more than I paid for this one in 2018. I was wondering if I paid the difference if they would let me upgrade to the newer model but I don't think it's too likely. Note that the machine itself has never been replaced, just the drum inside.

mattwnz

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#2946089 25-Jul-2022 00:18

quickymart: No no extended warranty, so no hope there. A pity, it's a nice TV, just a pain to have yet another remote to control it now. Never mind, I guess it's working.

In some ways it is similar to my Sony TV which had all these smart features like youtube. But around 3-5 years they stopped working due to the built in obsolesce and the old software no longer being supported. But using an external plugin box of some type makes it usable again. It is becoming and a more and more common problem, so IMO when you buy a TV, ignore the smart features because they will likely not last the life of the actual TV (that includes a built in tuner). You can also buy a google TV and run freeview channels through that.

mattwnz

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#2946090 25-Jul-2022 00:22

nztim: I think the life expectancy of a flat screen TV is 5ish years, they sure don’t make stuff like they used to considering a 45 year old Phillips k9 at my parents is still working

Same with phones, have a 20 year old Alcatel fan one touch easy that still works

Not sure where you are getting 5 years from, but I have never had an LCD TV fail, and have 2 Sonys over 10 years old. Some of the second and third tier brands may only last 5 years, but good brands I would expect to get 10 years at least. Maybe the TVs being sold today aren't as well made as they used to be, I don't know?

Handle9

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#2946093 25-Jul-2022 04:28

nztim: I think the life expectancy of a flat screen TV is 5ish years, they sure don’t make stuff like they used to considering a 45 year old Phillips k9 at my parents is still working

Same with phones, have a 20 year old Alcatel fan one touch easy that still works

They don’t make them like they used to. They make them far better.

Can you imagine having a service agreement on your TV? It used to be common.

quickymart

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#2946099 25-Jul-2022 07:23

Ironically, in this last move (the one I mentioned above), I connected the same TV as per this thread and everything now works perfectly, with no additional decoder box required. So, no idea what happened at the last place.

Waiting to hear back from Samsung re the washing machine - I don't think it's fair I should be charged for any repairs, this thing isn't even 4 years old!

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