Hi

Having the same problems experienced by others with this set (bought the last six weeks or so) ?? My set from day 1 has a faint band about 10cm wide sweeping across the screen horizontally on all terrestrial channels (not too bad onvideo and dvd playbacks) This is continuous and most noticeable on static and dark background. It is not caused by aerial, reception or atmospheric condition as there is no such problem with another TV on the same aerial socket. Problem still there with all DVD and VHS players disconnected from Sony. Can't accept this as "normal" for £1400.

Service engineer has been to check it out and also awares that this is a common and known problem with this model - he has received numerous calls on this problem. He told me Sony Technical is also aware of this and has not offered him a solution to cure this. The store (very large reputable dept store) also said that they received complaints on this from a no. of their customers recently and not sure what to do. I have called Sony helpline but they are not admitting to it and of no help. The store has asked to hold on for a couple of weeks to see if Sony comes up with a solution. If not, they are willing to exchange for another made or refund.

Has anyone have this problem permanently cured by a Sony engineer ? Or do anyone know what is the cause of this problem ?
Surely can't be a bad batch!

Very disappointing with this problem, otherwise it is a great set.

[KarlRobinson]

I have rung Sony Technical in Heathrow where apparantly all sets go if a Service Centre cannot fix the problem. I spoke to a girl called Lesley who kindly talked to an engineer while I was on the phone. He said he has two known faults with the FQ75 both of which are nothing to do with a scrolling bar. He has invited me or anyone else with this problem to take a set down to them and they will set it up in a demo room and talk through this issue.

Now in my mind two things arise. 1) If Sony are telling a few white lies at Heathrow (and they seemed very helpful, a lot more so than customer service) why did they invite us down with our FQ75 problems, after all this is the only place TV's go after the regional service centres. 2) I'm wondering after speaking to a few regional centres weather these places even contact Heathrow about these type of problems, after all the claims they have to make from Sony to cover expenses, parts etc are a 'waste of time' according to some.

Anyway which one of us will make the trek or lives near Heathrow??

'THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE'

Hi Karl

Thanks for the info.

Does Sony Heathrow expect us to cart 77 kgs of bulk to them ?? It took three persons to get it out of the box !! Can't they send their Senior engineer or R&D people to Sony owners. I think they are having a good laugh.

I do not believe Sony is not aware of this problem. There are so many complaints about this problem on forums. The retailers like John Lewis are also at a loss as to how to deal with this issue. The service engineers are also relaying their concerns to Sony technical. I agree with you say - the regional guys are keeping quiet - maybe too embarrassed to say they can't sort this problem at their end!! in fact, I was told from a reliable source that SOny Technical has issued a confidential bulletin to certain engineers. Would love to get hold a copy !

What amazes me is that Sony is still unloading this set on the market. I have spoken to various retailers, Dixon, Comet, Curry etc and none was aware of this.

It seems that my set will be going back for refund if Sony continues to ignore the problem. What about you ? Still having this problem ??

[KarlRobinson]

My TV still has the same problem.

I'm in the process of talking to my local Sony Centre (as they have at least three sets that have my problem) to drop a set down to Heathrow.

The guys at Heathrow don't do home visits, so if my SC can't help I will drop my set to them and get to the bottom of the problem one way or another.

Hi all
When I first had this TV, I had this problem that you are talking about. I even posted a message here explaining exactly as you have experienced. And boy did I curse ! but now I have no problem at all.....
I found that when I switch the TV on and then my Sky I have the problem. By using the "Imput Select " button on the remote control and choosing "AV2", which my Sky Digital is pluged into the interference goes !!
Use the remote to ensure that you have the correct scart/port selected where you have sky plugged into...wait till you actually see the AV ports name appear on screen.
If I haven't explained correctly let me know and I'll have another go....still suffering the new year lag

Cheers

[micks_address]

Hi,

I like so many other people have this fault with my FQ. I'll try your solution but won't plugging sky into av2 loose my rgb output from the digibox?. There's quite a big difference between the quality of pal output and rgb so I'd be annoyed if this was the only solution. I had an engineer onto me yesterday who wants to take away my telly to Sony to look at. I want to get assurances from him first as to when I'll be getting it back - couldn't live without it for more that a couple of weeks. Apart from the scrolling lines, I think the tv is fantastic. The other people in the house don't notice the lines at all so their not that bad but still there all the same. Once noticed it's hard to ignore them!. Still I'll give your suggestion a go to see if it helps.

Cheers,
Mick

Is it mabey about time we made a concerted effort to contact someone like Watchdog who could get to the bottom of this!?
I too have the scrollings bands and I am waiting for a replacement, although I don't hold out much hope of the problem being solved. Sony seem to have severe communication problems if they don't know about this problem, all they need to do is take a quick peak at any forum which mentions this set and they will see the banding problem mentioned along with the focus problem on the left of the screen!
If they do know about the problem then why have they not tried to resolve the problem with revisions to the set? Mabey the set has a fundamental flaw in its design and Sony have decided to keep flogging it until a new set has come along!

I am due the replacement some time this month. If it still has these problems then I will be taking this further!

Hi All


Am I glad I not imagining the problem and this is common to this model across the country !!

Karl

When the service engineer came to check my set, he was pretty honest. The only thing he checked was the model no. and after he explained to me why he was didn't even bother to open the set up ! He told me there was nothing he could do as he and his team had done all the appropriate checks eg replacing bits, insulating sockets, and had sets back to their lab bench. I was quite happy with this, rather than he opening up the set and put on some "acting". He even assured me that the problem is not caused by (1) other hardware connected to it, (2) bad reception area (a very common but lame excuse for many engineers when they can't fix it !!!) (3) Inferior/detoriating aerial (4) interference from external magnetic field, BUT the problem is one of design fault. The solution lies with SONY Techinal people.

I hope you get some joy when drop your set in. Would love know the how they "fix" the problem. Pls find that out when he has "fixed" the set. Pls keep me posted of your outcome. Thanks

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Spud205

Thanks for the suggestion.

I am getting this problem even without Sky or any hardware connected to the set.

In anycase, we should not be doing this to temporarily get rid of the problem. We have paid a premium price this set and so we should expect it to work normally; if not, they should fix the problem !! My 17 year old Triniton set does't give me such problem!!

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ANy one know of any magazines ever highlighted this problem ? I haven't come across of any. If this is known and common problem, why no reviews even mentioned this other than giving it top mark! So how much can you trust reviews in mags ???!!!

I feel it's time for someone should bring to the attention of watchdog to shame Sony for not coming out clean on this issue.

I had a 32FQ and had it replaced within 6 months for a 36FS70.

I then had a the 36FS70 replaced after nine months. The new one seems to be ok but I've a Loewe 40" on order.

I emailed Sony with my concearns over the quailty of their recent models and never even had a reply, personally I don't think they give a dam about customers.

I'm sorry to say but I for one will never buy Sony again.

Sadly I have to agree Tony. Having now sent back 3 Sony's within a short space of time, I am now looking at the Philips sets. Unless of course I get talked into the Sony digital televisions ;-) I haven't heard anything bad about those yet!

Unless of course anyone out there knows differently? KV28DX40 anyone?

Carrie

[Berisford]

I'm impressed by the way the Sony Center staff and the 'engineers' toe the company 'silence / never seen the problem before' line.

Sony must put a great deal of pressure on these people / businesses to keep them from speaking out of turn.

BJ Mansfield

Hi BJ

I can't agree with your more !

I have been to various electrical stores like Curry, Comet, Dixon etc and none seems to be aware of the problem with the FQ sets. Reaction from some was silence when asked. These seems to know something but not admitting to it for whatever reason. Even John Lewis staff appear to know nothing when you can see from the post a number of members have returned this set because of this problem but I must say they very helpful if you report the problem to them after buying the set. Like everyone else, JL does not know whatelse to do except giving a refund, when SOny is still hiding this fault and continue to unload the sets on the market to take full advantage of the good write ups in magazines, esp in Consumer Assoc's magazine "Which".

I have emailed Sony yesterday to complain and to ask for a more specific email address for the Tech Dept. As someone said earlier, I don't think the HQ is aware of the scale of the problems.

Any other suggestion ?

Fwan

[KarlRobinson]

I'm off down to Sony on Wednesday with a TV to investigate further the scrolling bar issue.

So at last it would seem we may all get a definitive answer.

Hi Karl

Thanks for letting me know.

Will you pls let those guys know that they are many very annoyed SOny owners out there with the way they are dealing with the matter - many have and are returning Sony sets for other mades ?

Please us posted of the outcomes

Good luck.

Have just had John Lewis' customer service on the telephone to me to apologise for the recent problems over the Sony FQ's I sent back. They have confirmed known issues with this model of television and said they have had many sent back - as we all know! - and are in fact taking it up with Sony themselves.

Will be interesting to hear how Karl gets on at Sony, Heathrow.

Hi Carol

Which branch of J Lewis did you get yr Sony's from, if you don't mind me asking ? When I return mine to JL, I will also mention that yr branch is also fully aware of the problem.

I'm glad I got mine from JL - a big relief when dealing with such problem after sales. Their electrical service guy was also very apologetic and frank with the whole issue - he even admitted he was at a loss regarding what to do as Sony people was bumping him off that there is no such problem on all the FQ sets. He even told me to hang on to mine as long as I wish and unitl I decide on another made. Suppose I have to make the BIG decision so - getting which one to replace it ???

Let see what joy Karl will get from SOny Heathrow people on Wednesday. Hope no more denial from them !!

Most recent one was from John Lewis at Cheadle, nr Manchester.

Carol

Thanks, Carol.

Hi all

Last week I have emailed at Sony (this is a general complaint address I think) at

SUK.GeneralCIC@eu.sony.com

and after 3 reminders I got a response ("don't call us we will call" reply) which is just a waste of time. I have asked them to have a look at this forum to see how happy Sony owners are with their tellies. Have asked for names and more specific address but as usual they went silent on this.


Quote

Thank you for your recent email. I apologise for the delay in my reply.

This is to acknowledge your email. We are looking into this further and as soon as we have any feedback we will contact you via email.

Unquote



Will keep everyone posted if I do get any further

[KarlRobinson]

Just to keep everyone updated.

I went to the Sony Service Centre today with an FQ75 and talked to an engineer about the infamous scrolling band issue. I explained about the amount of people with both the 28" and 32" versions of the set that has this problem. I went on about the forums etc and my experience with the different FQ75's.
I also mentioned what seemed to me a 'sweep under the carpet job' from Sony as progress from Customer Service was a complete denial of anything.

Anyway to cut a long story short I now have a service card, job no. etc and will hopefully get a response to this problem very soon. The engineer was very helpful and said he'd also check with another team who looks after recalls.

One thing I will say, the amount of kit they had was very impressive but does this mean they will find the problem?

Watch this space !!

Hope all your efforts pay off Karl - can't have been easy getting something the size and weight of your Sony TV to Heathrow.

Carol

Hi Karl

Thanks for the update and hope you haven' t done your back in carrying the bulk !!

What a surprise Sony guys they are not aware of the problem !!! Those lot get full mark for acting, alright !!

Cheers

[NigelC]

Good luck Karl,

I suspect your job is in a queue and will be dealt with in turn. Did the engineer estimate how long a response would be? and, were you able to demonstrate the fault to the engineer?
As you have a job number, you should be able to get progress updates particularly if this is going to take a while or maybe Sony will just swap the chassis. Anyway lets wait and see.

[MarkB]

You can count me into the list of people who are not impressed by this fault. It has caused me a lot of hassle – I doubt very much that my next tv will be a Sony although I do think they make the best tv's on the market. Shame they can't seem to get it quite right.

Mark

[Gerry]

While I agree Sony are at fault for not being more forthcoming about the details of this problem it also angers me as to how Home Entertainment mags gave this set a glowing review with no mention of the fault mentioned. What Video + TV said "This is arguably the easiest review we've ever had to do. Why? Because the 32FQ75U is just so spectacularly good. It looks delightful, sounds bold and potent, has a huge features quotient and, most critically of all, it's got pictures good enough to make Vincent Van Gogh blush." Who would not buy a t.v. given a review like that. Now a lot of ppl use these mags for guidence as they would hope the people reviewing the sets know more about all this than the ordinary joe and they have professional equiptment to test all aspects of the picture and sound. I think its very important especially with ppl buying sets unseen online that these mags get it right every time.

Hi all

Has anyone written to any magazines either to highlight or to complain about this Sony problem ?? I have not seen any mags in the last four months mentioning this except giving the FQ a glowing write up as Gerry said.

I am going to write/email to one or two mags this weekend. Any one joing me ???

Gerry, you are right about the magazines. Before I bought my home cinema equipment I looked at a few magazines to decide on a TV and the 32FQ75 sounded like a beauty. However, I too have scrolling bars, focus, and a buzzing problem!

Fwan, if you let me know what mags you are going to write to I will write to them as well. About time this issue was brought to the public (and Sonys attention!)

Hi Dave

The mags I am writing (email) to are

1. Home Cinema Choice speakeasy@homecinemachoice.com

2. Home Entertainment entletters@futurenet.co.uk

3. What Video & TV videomail@whatvideotv.com (Require yr postal address on email)

Calling all Sony FQ & FS set owners : Please join us in emailing to the magazines to bring to their attention of the scrolling bar problem and to express our frustration and annoyance with the way Sony is dealing with the design flaws of these sets.


It's about time SONY get some free media coverage if they want to continue to play their silence and denial game.

Thank you.

fwan

Fwan,

I think one other magazine to add to the list is What HI-FI? as they were one of the magazines that rave about the picture quality of the Sonys. No mention of the problems though....

E-mail them at editor@whathifi.com

Hi Dave

Did think of that (what Hifi) but wasn't sure whether it was worth it - they are more interested in hifi. I will email them later.

BTW their bulletin/forum board on the web really sucks !!! You post something and three days later it still does not show up.

The more I think of the way SOny has been dealing with the problem, the more annoyed I get. TO give you an extreme example of first class after sales/customer service I have personally come across about 12/18 months ago, my commuting car, a Toyota Yaris, had a recall on the brake system - nothing hazardous just than under extreme braking, the back wheels locked before the front. Got a letter from Toyota GB and did nothing. Two weeks later, the dealers called me to see that they could help. Told them I couldn't find the time to take the car in. Without hesitation they offered to collect the car from my office to get the work done. It was returned after four hours - the car was not only valeted, they even put in £10 of petrol and to my great surprise, I was presented with a bottle of champagne (decent one too!) from Toyota GB for the inconvience !!! The car is NOT a £50k car, don't forget that!! Their overboard effort is worth more than any goodwill or publicity they would have got by any adverts.

How is Sony dealing the FQ problem ???? Shame on them !! They are taking customer loyalty for granted.