LG Settlement Offer - 18 month old W8 77inch - Thoughts?

Bobbyt

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TLDR = 18 months into ownership of what was our much loved LG W8 77 inch OLED we got the dreaded screen burn. We have now been offered a settlement figure of £2100 from LG, for them to take away the faulty unit. They could not replace it as they do not make the panel anymore or something (bit of a tell in itself?). We paid £3499 for it again 18 months ago. Fair or not fair?

Longer version = I am not sure how we got screen burn to be honest, in such a short space of time. The TV is predominantly used for Netflix, Amazon etc - we don't have Sky or anything. I play Xbox on it too (FIFA invariably) although I am far from a hardcore gamer and it appears that has been the cause of the screen burn. Some of the FIFA player artefacts and logos (the bit at the bottom corners of the screen where it tells you which player you are controlling at that time etc) are burned on to the screen. The pixel refresher did not do anything to improve it.

The screen burn is not horrendous in that as mentioned the burned in logos are in the lower corners of the screen. There is also a line in the middle at the bottom of the screen too - I think this is from where the mini pitch thing is on FIFA although I could be wrong. The TV is therefore still watchable in other words - but given its such a top end 'premium' model, and again only 18 months old - I cannot bring myself to live with it. We all know the risks of OLEDs but given the timeframe we decided to pursue getting it sorted.

We bought it from a business on Amazon as a new item for £3499 - which in itself we deemed as a bargain at the time (although not so much now!). They (the individual business and Amazon themselves) have been useless in resolving - it being outside their warranty period. They have washed their hands of it.

I do understand legally it is for the retailer to resolve, and we could still pursue this. But this would be a long and potentially stressful process - we therefore decided to ask LG for help, hoping for a quicker/swifter resolution, particularly after reading on here and elsewhere they do help usually. We had hoped they would fix or replace it as a good will gesture.

After 6 weeks of correspondence with LG - their correspondence has been slow to say the least - they have determined that they cannot help re fixing it as they do not have the parts. Apparently the no longer manufacture the W series - which is a shame to us as the design really is a thing of beauty.

They have instead offered a settlement figure of £2100. I cannot tell whether I should be very grateful for this - as again it seems the retailer is the one who is responsible here - not the manufacturer. Or should I be pushing for more from them? We again paid £3499 just 18 months ago - it was new and sealed then of course.

The logic for wanting more (£), would be the cost to replace (the faulty unit) for an equivalent 77 inch wafer thin model - which today would be the 77 inch G1 that retails for £3799 ish. I appreciate its a higher spec model now than the W8 panel, but again its the wafer thin design we are chasing. Our whole living space is centred around this design. Arguably we are accepting an inferior model in this sense, if we went with the G1, as its thicker - and the W series was deemed more premium than the G series, when both were offered by LG. Its the closest like for like we can find anyway.

What would you guys do in our position?

Thank you
Bobby
 
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TLDR = 18 months into ownership of what was our much loved LG W8 77 inch OLED we got the dreaded screen burn. We have now been offered a settlement figure of £2100 from LG, for them to take away the faulty unit. They could not replace it as they do not make the panel anymore or something (bit of a tell in itself?). We paid £3499 for it again 18 months ago. Fair or not fair?

Longer version = I am not sure how we got screen burn to be honest, in such a short space of time. The TV is predominantly used for Netflix, Amazon etc - we don't have Sky or anything. I play Xbox on it too (FIFA invariably) although I am far from a hardcore gamer and it appears that has been the cause of the screen burn. Some of the FIFA player artefacts and logos (the bit at the bottom corners of the screen where it tells you which player you are controlling at that time etc) are burned on to the screen. The pixel refresher did not do anything to improve it.

The screen burn is not horrendous in that as mentioned the burned in logos are in the lower corners of the screen. There is also a line in the middle at the bottom of the screen too - I think this is from where the mini pitch thing is on FIFA although I could be wrong. The TV is therefore still watchable in other words - but given its such a top end 'premium' model, and again only 18 months old - I cannot bring myself to live with it. We all know the risks of OLEDs but given the timeframe we decided to pursue getting it sorted.

We bought it from a business on Amazon as a new item for £3499 - which in itself we deemed as a bargain at the time (although not so much now!). They (the individual business and Amazon themselves) have been useless in resolving - it being outside their warranty period. They have washed their hands of it.

I do understand legally it is for the retailer to resolve, and we could still pursue this. But this would be a long and potentially stressful process - we therefore decided to ask LG for help, hoping for a quicker/swifter resolution, particularly after reading on here and elsewhere they do help usually. We had hoped they would fix or replace it as a good will gesture.

After 6 weeks of correspondence with LG - their correspondence has been slow to say the least - they have determined that they cannot help re fixing it as they do not have the parts. Apparently the no longer manufacture the W series - which is a shame to us as the design really is a thing of beauty.

They have instead offered a settlement figure of £2100. I cannot tell whether I should be very grateful for this - as again it seems the retailer is the one who is responsible here - not the manufacturer. Or should I be pushing for more from them? We again paid £3499 just 18 months ago - it was new and sealed then of course.

The logic for wanting more (£), would be the cost to replace (the faulty unit) for an equivalent 77 inch wafer thin model - which today would be the 77 inch G1 that retails for £3799 ish. I appreciate its a higher spec model now than the W8 panel, but again its the wafer thin design we are chasing. Our whole living space is centred around this design. Arguably we are accepting an inferior model in this sense, if we went with the G1, as its thicker - and the W series was deemed more premium than the G series, when both were offered by LG. Its the closest like for like we can find anyway.

What would you guys do in our position?

Thank you
Bobby


I'd ask LG if they could offer a replacement or trade in for the G series.

LG have kindly for some reason taking responsibility very early on and offered you a fairly reasonable compromise for a TV you've had 18 months worth of use out of of but the bottom line for me is at £2100, you cannot get a TV remotely close to the size and quality of your W series without dropping down to the C range (and even then, you'll be short cash).

The better option is to pursue the retailer side of things as thats who your contract is with. I'd just press forwards with them ASAP. I would not mention that you've gone to LG just yet, and see what they offer.

18 months and getting screen-burn is not a good look at all, especially on one of their premium range TVs.

£2k is better than I thought as an initial offer but I'd personally just prefer a swap. It'll end up costing them about the same as I'm sure they will be able to give you a G1 from their stock/inventory and avoid the transport and retailer mark-up and you'll obviously save a tonne of cash as you don't need to factor in the retailer's profits if you were to buy new.
 
FYI for point of comparison, I bought a 77 inch OLED from John Lewis with poor uniformity. I told them within 28 days, but I ended up holding onto the TV (due to stock shortages) for 6+ months. They replaced it, the replacement was faulty so they gave me a full refund.

You have a genuine fault (some would argue screen uniformity is a murky territory) so I'd expect a decent deal. Its not like you've lived with the TV for 3-5 years. 18 months is really not a long time.
 
Thank you for the replies - suggesting a straight swap for the G series had not crossed my mind but you're right for them (LG) the cost may be the same or less than a cash payout of £2100 to me. I am apparently due a manager call back today or tomorrow to discuss the settlement figure further. I do not want to seem ungrateful to them.

I will keep pressing with the retailer also but as mentioned they have so far not been forthcoming and the speed at which LG could perhaps get me something is certainly an appeal.
 
Thank you for the replies - suggesting a straight swap for the G series had not crossed my mind but you're right for them (LG) the cost may be the same or less than a cash payout of £2100 to me. I am apparently due a manager call back today or tomorrow to discuss the settlement figure further. I do not want to seem ungrateful to them.

I will keep pressing with the retailer also but as mentioned they have so far not been forthcoming and the speed at which LG could perhaps get me something is certainly an appeal.


Yeah, try to get a deal for a 77'' G series and just put it all to bed. Life it too short to argue over a TV and its unnecessarily stressful. I'm sure they'll negotiate some deal or swap which will benefit both parties if they're calling.
 
FYI for point of comparison, I bought a 77 inch OLED from John Lewis with poor uniformity. I told them within 28 days, but I ended up holding onto the TV (due to stock shortages) for 6+ months. They replaced it, the replacement was faulty so they gave me a full refund.

You have a genuine fault (some would argue screen uniformity is a murky territory) so I'd expect a decent deal. Its not like you've lived with the TV for 3-5 years. 18 months is really not a long time.

When you say "they" replaced it - do you mean LG or John Lewis sorry?

I think my experience with LG would have been better had the panel been less than 12 months old. Still like you say 18 months is not a long time either. I would be more accepting of this had it been 4 or 5 years obviously :(
 
When you say "they" replaced it - do you mean LG or John Lewis sorry?

I think my experience with LG would have been better had the panel been less than 12 months old. Still like you say 18 months is not a long time either. I would be more accepting of this had it been 4 or 5 years obviously :(

JL.

You're covered under UK law for far longer than 18 months. I don't think a top of the line OLED TV can be deemed as a disposable tech purchase after 18 months or even 36 months so I'd make sure you negotiate a good deal where you're not out of pocket.
 
Sorry to hear of your predicament. Sad to see the way you've been treated by both Amazon and its seller. Why I believe it's so important to go with a reputable seller with 5+ years warranty unless people feel it's worth the risk and possible headache should things go wrong.

I agree with what's been said above, you're very lucky LG are willing to take some liability for this even if it isn't to your total satisfaction. I'd say accept the £2100 or ask if LG could swap it out for the 77" G1 and consider the experience a lesson learned. This is a good time of the year to buy a TV as they normally go on sale (previous year models) so if you can keep an eye out on prices over the next couple months you might bag a decent deal for an equivalent model. Not a total loss imo.
 
They have instead offered a settlement figure of £2100. I cannot tell whether I should be very grateful for this - as again it seems the retailer is the one who is responsible here - not the manufacturer. Or should I be pushing for more from them? We again paid £3499 just 18 months ago - it was new and sealed then of course.

Its a tricky spot you are in, retailers and manufacturers are problematic to say the least almost using their own defined differing rule set, but the law overrides them generally.

I would not accept the £2100 and would have said its not good enough, it does not even cover the price of an equivalent 77" sized TV which the cheapest cost 3K, and even then it would not
match the TV specification for specification.

See if they can give more amount, if they don't, ask them if they can contact Amazon and let them know they have been unsuccessful in the TV repair and to request a full refund from their side.
If it comes from the manufacturer its much better or if they can put that in writing at least. This way you have something in black and white that you can request from the retailer Amazon.

Manufacturers always have direct contacts to top retailers to sort out these issues, so always have a good repour with them who are usually able to better handle these problems.

So its worth trying LG and then Amazon again. You have it written in black and white or email hopefully that LG can give you the £2100 so that won't go away. Take it one step at a time, see how it goes.
 
Tried an email to [email protected] - it goes to the senior exec team. Not sure how it works now he technically left his role - but i expect it still works.

This is the first point of call with any
Legal matter with Amazon. CS level grunts are script readers and nothing more.
 
I think you got very lucky for LG to offer a compensation at all
It’s the retailer who should sort this out.
If it’s a third party seller on Amazon, then it’s not Amazons problem either

This is a risk you take when buying, usually cheaper and shorter warranties, items from third party sellers. I’d always advise buying from major retailers with 5 year warranties at all times.
 
Did you happen to pay by credit card? If you did then you should have additional protection under section 75 of the consumer credit act, if the retailer isn’t responding, ring the cc company and lodge a claim that way. They will have a process in place to resolve which may get you a better result.

As for LG settlement figure it seems a little low but it depends on what formula they use and the time period. Flat depreciation over 6 years would be more like 2.6k after 18 months
 

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