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??

[kipwad61]

I really do hope that Sony read this forum.  It would appear that this manufacturing problem and Sony,s attitude is becoming known outside these hallowed walls.  I have the shadow problem although still watchable at the moment.  I was checking out what it will cost to replace this V3000 when the time comes at the local shop, when an elderly guy at the side of me told his wife who was also looking at flat screens " Not Sony, apparantly they have major problems with their flat screens" .  Penny wise,Pound foolish comes to mind.

[kckaos]

I also have this problem with the 40v3000! the shadows have been there for a good year or two now, located on the middle and right of the tv! ive had the tv since december 2007 and was bought from currys for around £1000

so is there any more news on this? has anybody had any success with sony lately?? any more info would be much appreciated!

[Bravia55HX]

I would like to add LG Electronics to this, they are excellent at dealing with faults, i had a 55" LX9900 last oct and unfortunately for me you could see the backlight array through the screen, LG arranged for one of their own engineers to come out and view the problem, free of charge i might add! and he reported back to LG with these findings, there was no messing about from them at all, they quickly dispatched an uplift authorisation to return to retailer for a full refund as there was none left for a replacement, here the kick in the teeth!, i switched to Sony as i did not want to risk another problem like that!, ( now the owner of the KDL55HX923) plagued with a different issue!.

Sony need to change they way they deal with their customers with a no nonsense approach to dealing with problematic sets.

should be as simple as ABC.

A- ring Sony customer support, i have a problem with my set please help!, (Sony) no problem sir we'll send out an engineer frre of charge to take a look.

B- Engineer to Sony- tv beyond economical repair/ can be repaired.

C- Sony to authorise uplift for replacement or refund/ or arrange repair.

Simple logic. (or is it?)

[davarob]

Im still waiting for a phonecall from my my repair centre,they know and sony know that there is no panels available,ive been told by sony cic that i will get a new ex523 or ex524 tv since my tv cant be repaired,i will have to pay some of the cost of the tv but the problem is that every thing takes so long when dealing with sony,i contacted my repair centre yesterday and they had not heard anything back from the sony parts department

Ive been keeping a close eye on this thread plus the same thread on av forums,ive noticed that alot of people that originally posted with problems arent posting anymore,so does that mean there issues are resolved

or are they still waiting aswell?

Message was edited by: davarob

Message was edited by: davarob

[tigwalker]

Hi i have just joined this site after a quick google to see where i stand as i have a KDL 40 V300that for a while now has had black shadows all over the screen which has really been bugging  usbut now we have horizontal black lines going accross the top of the screen. Had the telly just short of 3 years. What is our first port of call to do? Also my partners 40gb phat ps3 keeps dieing on him YLODwhich is also nearly 3 years old AND our surround sound has started crackling. ALL sony goods ALL showing problems!!!All our friends laughed when she shelled out for our telly and surround sound when they bought samsungs and lgsnow there laughing as we have faults and they dont!!!

[RSB553]

Although my problem seems slightly different to everyone here (my KDL40V3000 went dark all over, with shadowing everywhere and huge movement blur) I tried 2 Sony centres and a call to Sony themselves. I got nothing....

I hope Sony UK read the following as it is something of a lesson in customer service and how to keep a customer coming back....

I went back to Costco where I purchased the TV in 2007. They referred me to their 'Congierge' service (freephone) who agreed that there was no point inspecting the TV or trying to troubleshoot as it sounded like a panel failure. They offered to put me in touch some local repairers but I declined.

I returned to the store and spoke with the manager and said the words 'Sale of Goods Act', 'Merchantable quality' and '3.5 year old tv broken'. Regardless of the warranty having expired 7 months ago the manager agreed and credited me the full original purchase price for the TV in money (paid straight onto my Visa Debit card) not a credit note, not a goodwill gesture. A proper refund of real money. So guess what I did? Went straight back in the same store and bought a new TV with the refund money. The new one has a 5 year warranty. It also has a Samsung badge on the front.

That is customer service. It means I will keep spending my hard-earned at that store and I will tell everyone who cares to ask that it is a safe place to shop.

And I wont touch another Sony. The experiences of people on this forum (on top of my own) have put me off.

I wish everyone else luck. Try your retailers and see what they say. If all else fails you probably have more than enough complaints to go to BBC Watchdog or something.

As for Sony UK. I first found this forum via a Google search. You should probably hope that prospective customers researching their next TV dont do the same.

[hughied]

[Latest update on my shadow/lines reported to Sony]

I have had a quote for repairing my KDL-40V3000 for which I had to pay £60 to my local approved Sony repair centre and they have said that it needs a new LCD Panel which is going to cost £429.79 including VAT and fitting. This takes the total cost of the repair including the repair estimate to just under £490!!

I have posted the estimate for the repair along with proof of purchase and a letter stating that I'm unhappy with the fact the my set has developed a fault after such a short period of ownership. I also asked the service engineer at the reapir center, what the possible cause of this problem could be. He could not give me a definitive answer but he did tell me that my LCD panel has only run for 9,364 hours at time of testing. I have since discovered (doing a little research of my own) that LCD panels should last between 30,000 to 60,000 hours with some manufactures quoting 80,000 hours.

I am now waiting for Sony to respond with a so called "Good Will Gesture" when in reality they should be saying to me "I understand that there is a problem with your Sony product and we will sort it for you at no cost to you" I have to agree with the other contributor to this thread who mentioned buying his set from the superb Costco Wholesaler. He took his set back to them after 3 years I think and they credited him the full purchase price "No Questions Asked" I have also had similar excellent service from Costco with regards to returning goods, what ever the product. Sony could learn a lot from this company!!

I anxiously await Sony's response

Message was edited by: hughied

Message was edited by: hughied

[tigwalker]

That is really good news bout the refund!

My telly was brought from Currys. Should i go into my local branch or contact head office?

I dont know how to go about complaining, if everybody is being told its panel failure does that mean i still need an engineers report?

Thank You

[hughied]

yes I agree that it's great news about the refund (Costco are the best!) and in future I will be all my electricals from Costco including any future televisons.

I'm not sure about Curry's but I would start by looking into the Sales of Good act - A chap on AV forums has writen a detailed thread regarding how to go about it.

I just hope that Sony Customer Services do the right thing regarding my faulty televison.

[Catmambo]

Just to re-iterate the escalation route process as listed in previous messages as it might have been missed by some people...

Hope this helps.

Thanks

Sorry to hear you are having problems with your TV. I think Lee (startthecar) posted the escalation process in the other thread, so I've re-posted it below outlining the steps to get your case looked at in more detail if you are unhappy with the service you have received so far.

Hi

It  is always disappointing to read of any product failure, and with so  many of you sharing similar experiences this is clearly something we  need to address.  However, while I fully understand your concerns at  both the failure of your products and the consequent repair costs, I am  not convinced by some of the comments and advice offered.

In  an effort to clear up any confusion and in order to help each of you  get your specific issues addressed, here are my observations:

Firstly, and this should really go without saying, do not try to repair any product yourself under any circumstances!

If  the product is still under guarantee, your first port of call should be  your supplying retailer.  After the Sony European guarantee period, and  assuming you do not have an extended guarantee, I would always  recommend contacting our Customer Information Centre (0844 8466 555).

Though  I appreciate that some of you have done this already, but were not  overly impressed with the reply, it remains the single most effective  point of contact within Sony. Having said this, there are inevitable  limitations, for example it is simply not realistic to expect my  colleagues there to be able to effectively diagnose complex faults over  the phone or to instantly recall every product and issue we have ever  had.  However, they have access to all of our service support  departments as well as a very effective escalation process (should it be  needed).

If  you want to ensure your issue is dealt with a little quicker, I would  recommend that you get a written estimate from a Sony authorised repair  agent.  This is usually the first thing we will ask for when looking to  provide any level of assistance outside of the guarantee.  Along with a  copy of the receipt, an estimate allows us to make an informed decision.

It  would be remiss of me to offer any guarantees on how my colleagues will  address each of your issues.  While they all appear very similar, on  closer inspection they could differ greatly.  I can however assure you  that each case will be judged on its own merits.

In  addition, I will speak to the Customer Service Manager and ask that his  team keep an eye out for any escalations relating to these model  numbers.

Any specific questions please feel free to PM me and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.

Best regards
Lee