kdl-40v3000 bravia dark lines/shadows.

[nishmalek]

i have exactly the same problem as the other people who have written about this tv model on the forum and there seems to be manty many more out thereon forums reporting the same problem that sony will not acknowledge.

there are dark lines running down my screen and a dark shadow line about an inch think on the right hand side of my screen, this was more noticable when watching football. my tv is not under warrranty anymore but is only 2 and a 1/2 years old. it seems that sony have created their screens to only last this long as lots of people have the same complaint.

i have just rang sony and i have been told that "there is no known problems with this model" that is rubbish as clearly there are a few of us just on this forum with the same pronblem. So we are paying about £1000 for a tv that will only last 2.5 years. i am disgusted with the lack of help and support from the sony call centre staff who basically said i need to get it fixed myself and i need to book it in with a service engineer. I suspect this is a problem with the panel or with the screen where a replace ment would cost you more than getting a new set. it would cost me £45 just for someone to come out and tell me that without even having it repaired. as a dedicated sony buyer over the years i cannot believe that my most expensive buy has only lasted 2.5 years.

WHY IS SONY NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM??

[mstaniak]

Thank you for your recent e-mail received on 13/02/2011 01.22 PM.

I am sorry to learn of the problem you are encountering with your KDL-40V3000.

We have no information about this being a known issue and as such it will need to be investigated further by an Authorised Service Centre.

To locate your nearest Authorised Service Centre, please go to www.sony.co.uk.

Click on Support
Select Repair Service
Enter the model number in the drop down box
You will be in the General tab area
Select the Repair/Information request tab
Scroll down to the Service Centres search link

This will take you to the Service Centre Locator where you can search via postcode or town and the type of product.

If you are unhappy to get the product repaired and believe it to be not fit for purpose I would recommend you contact the supplying retailer as and request for refund of a product would need to be made to them.

I hope this information is of some assistance, but should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

James Butt
Customer Information Centre
SONY UNITED KINGDOM

Did above letter resembles something?

Recently they acknowledged X and W series fault, let's see if our campaign can change their approach to V...

[andrewbeaumont1]

My situation so far.............

I paid for the repair estimate to be done at the Authorised dealer as detailed by Catmambo orStartthecar in an earlier post, the result is the TV definitely requires a new LCD screen at a cost of £420.00. My repairer tells me there is now no replacement available!

I sent the repair estimate, photo's & covering letter to Sony using recorded delivery & actually received a very prompt reply saying:

"Sony UK are NOT prepared to offer any goodwill gesture on the repair of this TV "

so I am now left with with a damaged screen & no replacement available, so basically this TV is now scrap! I cannot believe that a product such as this does not have a replacement available, or have Sony now discovered the problem is much larger than they thought & have stopped supplying the replacement for fear that it will happen again. Can Sony tell me how come this is the case, or is my repairer wrong? I intend to ring them and ask this question.

So much for Startthecar and Catmambo detailing the complaint process when Sony had no intention of offering any help whatsoever, what an absolute waste of time & money, it has been a case of good money after bad!

I, like many others, have been a loyal Sony customer for many years but if I don't get a positive response to my call, this is the last Sony product I will ever buy. How can any sane person be willing to risk such a large amount of money on such a risky product.

I will thoroughly urge everyone out there, NEVER buy a Sony TV ever again!

[manningr83]

My quote of £508 for a KDL-40V3000 panel replacement is in limbo due  to the  availability of the part. Domestic and General have  told the Sony repair  guys to wait another month before they try again!!!

I immediately contacted Sony who are chasing D&G for what I hope to be a replacement not a repair.

2 Months (in   total) will be an unacceptable time without the TV considering I have a 5  Year warranty.

Many more people are also reporting the issue returns after the panel replacement.

[kingnezzer]

So they have run out of replacement panels for the 40" model and i understand that there is not many left of the 46", but Sony are still saying there are no problems with the v3000 model, mmmm strange that.

[manningr83]

I just phoned Domestic and General and for them to write of the screen they need to first attempt to get the part and if that fails the TV is replaced.

1 Month elapsed so far and another month to wait until a decision. Great!

[catwoman36]

Hi all

I Just wanted to add to this forum with my problems that I had with the same model.   I have a KDL40V3000 which is 3 years old and still under a 5 year warranty.  Originally bought from Sony Centre and cost £1200!The problems I had were blocks of coloured bars running vertically down the screen.  It started as an intermittent fault but in the end if was happening daily when you turned on the TV.

I contacted Sony Centre and was told that a company called Visual FX in Brentwood would be dealing with the repair.  They took the TV nearly 5 weeks ago and after numerous calls and chasing (on my part!) I was finally told they could no longer get the part and I have been offered a replacement the KDL40EX503 which seems to the be the one they offer most people.  I accepted but am still waiting to receive this new TV, although after reading some of the problems that people are having with this model I'm wondering if I should have asked for the cash instead and bought a completely different make altogether!!!

[terrac]

Hi Guys

I have the same problem here with my TV.    I have 3 dark bands running vertically down my screen.

I have tried contacting the retailer under the sale of goods act.  They've fobbed me off (no surprise there).  I could get a report from a repair agent but i'm unwilling to throw more money at a nackered TV.   I may as well put the £70 towards a new one.     I've had a few Sony TV's over the past 20 yrs, playstations and Sony Ericsson mobiles but I dont think I will be buying a Sony product again after this disgrace.

TV is 3yrs old  KDL-40V3000

[catwoman36]

Quick update.

First rang Visual FX yesterday to try and get a definite date of delivery of the exchange unit (KDL40EX503) but fobbed off again - told me they are waiting to hear back from Sony, which is all they ever seem to say.  Decided to ring Sony Customer Care as I felt I needed to have a rant to someone but they are not interested at all and said I should take up any complaints with Sony Centre and Visual FX!!

Finally rang Sony Centre in Bluewater which is where I purchased the KDL40V3000 and they were quite helpful and rang Visual FX and Sony on my behalf.  Sony Centre called me back but the bad news is that the exchange unit is out of stock and won't be back in Sony's Warehouse until 2nd June at the earliest!  Great!  So that will be 7 weeks without a TV!!  Don't understand why Sony have offered me an exchange unit that they haven't even got in stock!

I was also told that the new TV (if I ever get it) will not be covered under the remainder of the warranty (2 years left of 5 year warranty) and will only come with a standard 1 year warranty.  Definitely will NOT be buying anything made by Sony in the future - far too much hassle.

[mstaniak]

"...Don't understand why Sony have offered me an exchange unit that they haven't even got in stock!"

Not sure if you really do want to know the answer... KDL40EX503 is the cheapest TV set they could get. In fact it is already discontinued model and you cannot find it in the Sony on-line store anymore. However it is still available from other retailers with the price tag of below £500 delivered. Next in line (and not a surpise IN STOCK) KDL-40EX523 is available for £799.99 (Sony store) or for around £600-£650 from other sources.

BTW: all sizes EX503 models were heavily discounted during 2010 December sales - it was an attempt to get rid of ageing and discontinued stock... my friend bought KDL46EX503 on Play.com in December for below £400...

It is of course personal decision to accept KDL40EX503 as an KDL-40V300 replacement or not but I doubt I would ever consider this. I paid £1.4k for KDL-40V3000 (with BDP-S300) and it was the 3rd from the top model (better / more expensive models were X and W only) where EX503 is an old, discontinued product.

Anyway, I wish you luck with your actions

[adyadyady]

I tried to go through my retailer before I took my problem to Sony but was told that the company I bought the TV from went into administration and were bought out two years ago and because of this they have no legal responsibilities for any transactions before they took over, is this true?