Richer Sounds Warranty Claim

spanky2k

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Hi all,

The HDMI port on my Hitachi UT32MH70 has failed which makes the TV pretty much useless as it only has a single HDMI port. I purchased it from Richer Sounds and bought the extended 5 year warranty at time of purchase.

Do I have to take it to the RS store I purchased from or can I take it to my nearest store?

If they write it off and decide to give me a replacement, how much can I push them on the 'like for like' specs? I.e. the TV may be a non LED LCD TV but it's only 3.5 cm thick and I hunted around to find one in stock somewhere because of this (it was to be wall mounted in a bedroom and needed to be as close to the wall as possible). I know LED TVs aren't as thin as that these days but the Samsung ones are 5cm which is a darn sight better than the 8-9cm that are the cheapest I can see on RS. I'll be happy if they repair the TV of course but if not, I don't really want to be lumbered with some cheap, thick monstrosity that I can't use in the location I bought this TV for.

Lastly, the power cable for the TV's been snipped off for wiring in behind the wall mount. I've put a standard plug on the short cable for testing. Think that'll be ok?

The warranty documentation is pretty vague, hence why I'm asking on here!
 
If its genuinely faulty as opposed to damaged by being crushed up against the wall ? RS will repair it just ring them !

Just as a aside the thick cabinet led models are the real cheapo bottom of the range stuff , next up is led with thin cabinets .
 
Why would it be crushed up against a wall?

I took it to RS today. Didn't realise they have to send it off though, it could take up to a month to repair! I should have taken up their offer of a loan set but when I said no I thought it would be a matter of days. Never mind.
 
Because you stated "it was to be wall mounted in a bedroom and needed to be as close to the wall as possible"

Obviously within reason. Wall mounts don't come *that* slim. It's been two weeks now and no repair yet. It apparently reached an engineer on Wednesday. Heavens knows how long they'll take to repair it but I'm guessing it'll be the full four weeks. Crazy.
 
I'm after a TV and wanting a 5 year warranty and so looking at JL and RS, interesting to hear the problems and length for repair your having.

When you were asked if wanted a loaner is this standard practice for RS? A month seems a long time. I'll keep eye on thread as this could be a purchase decision going to JL.
 
It's now been with Richer Sounds for three weeks and there still isn't a repair update. It's been 'with an engineer' for 10 days now. The RS branch I'm dealing with asked me to call back in the week some time as their engineers don't work on weekends so they can't chase them up. It's only a week away from the 'within four weeks' maximum repair time I was given so hopefully I'll get it back soon.

I don't think it's part of the five year guarantee T&Cs in regards to a loaner, so you're not guaranteed one. However, they didn't hesitate to offer me one and when I was googling about it before it looked like a lot of people were offered loaners.

I agree, a month does seem to be a long time for a repair but they don't repair them in shop as I thought they might do (like 'local' tv repair shops do). They have to send them off somewhere else where there's likely a backlog. As my TV's quite an old and cheap one, they're probably not in a rush to get it done and are more likely to be prioritising people with big expensive TVs who are more demanding.

I'll update when I hear any more news.
 
It's now been with Richer Sounds for three weeks and there still isn't a repair update. It's been 'with an engineer' for 10 days now. The RS branch I'm dealing with asked me to call back in the week some time as their engineers don't work on weekends so they can't chase them up. It's only a week away from the 'within four weeks' maximum repair time I was given so hopefully I'll get it back soon.

I don't think it's part of the five year guarantee T&Cs in regards to a loaner, so you're not guaranteed one. However, they didn't hesitate to offer me one and when I was googling about it before it looked like a lot of people were offered loaners.

I agree, a month does seem to be a long time for a repair but they don't repair them in shop as I thought they might do (like 'local' tv repair shops do). They have to send them off somewhere else where there's likely a backlog. As my TV's quite an old and cheap one, they're probably not in a rush to get it done and are more likely to be prioritising people with big expensive TVs who are more demanding.

I'll update when I hear any more news.

Hi there,

I was sorry to read you’ve been having problems with the repair of your TV and offer my sincere apologies.

In order that I may investigate further, and resolve the matter to your satisfaction asap, please would you PM me with your repair and contact details?

Once again, I offer my apologies, I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Many Thanks

John Clayton
Operations Director
Richer Sounds
 
Still no update on my repair. The last update is still that an engineer took receipt of it and would be looking at it on the 7th so it's been with an engineer for almost two weeks.

Edit: Got a call from RS support and it turns out the delay in repair was because it needs a new main board and Hitachi have stopped making them. They've been trying to source one in the meantime but it's a no go. It looks like I'll be getting a replacement TV instead. Will update as I hear more but hopefully it'll all be resolved soon. :)
 
Last edited:
Final update:

Well, just within the 4 week period, everything has been resolved. As I mentioned in my last post, the delay was caused by the lack of available replacement parts by Hitachi. The customer support agent that called me (Tom) was incredibly helpful and offered to replace my TV with a similar specced model. He spoke to their engineers to try to work out what was the slimmest model they could give me as that was the main selling point of my television (which is why when I bought it, I drove all the way across London to the only store within 50 miles that had one in stock).

The set they recommended wasn't in stock at the branch I took my TV to so Tom got one delivered to them which I picked up yesterday. Unfortunately, as I took the box out of the car, I noticed that it was in fact damaged on the front (not on the corners which is why I didn't notice it in store). I didn't think much of it and proceeded to set the TV up at home. It all looked ok until I turned it on. Cracked inner screen. I called Tom late yesterday afternoon, just after 5pm to get his advice. He said he'd replace it and the easiest solution for me would be for him to get a courier to deliver it and pick the broken one up.

Just after lunch today, the replacement TV was delivered. What's blown me away though is that in order for me to get it before the bank holiday weekend, Tom found another RS store that had one in stock and got them to deliver it to me with a taxi. I kid you not, a young man in an RS uniform delivered it to my door after getting out of a taxi.

After a shaky start to the support process (due only really to the lack of information), I've had one of the best support experiences ever. I'm blown away by the lengths RS went to sort this out for me. Not only did they not quibble in the slightest when I brought in a four year old TV with a five year warranty (in this day and age I expect companies to try to weasel out of support), they went out of their way to give me a solution I was happy with. I just want to add that at no point in this process did I ask/demand a 'new' TV as a replacement or ask/demand that they get me a replacement before the weekend. The only thing I did was call up once a week or so to ask for an update on my repair.
 
Good service eventually although sounds like the Op Director had to step in to get things rolling? A 5 year should be 5 year though, so some resolution would be expected.

Great for you it's sorted, what set/model did you get as a replacement? You happy with it irt features etc from what you had previously?

Well done RS, gives you confidence to buy
 
Good service eventually although sounds like the Op Director had to step in to get things rolling? A 5 year should be 5 year though, so some resolution would be expected.

Great for you it's sorted, what set/model did you get as a replacement? You happy with it irt features etc from what you had previously?

Well done RS, gives you confidence to buy

Yeah a 5 year warranty should be a 5 year warranty but it's not always the case, I've heard companies refuse warranty coverage if you've changed the plug on the power lead!

I don't know who escalated it, I never asked to speak to anyone senior, just asked for support updates. The replacement TV is a Panasonic TX-L32E6B. It's much higher spec in almost every way and was the thinnest in practical terms they could get. I think it's about 5 cm at its widest point at the base but the rest (including where the HDMI sockets are) is actually thinner by at least a cm or so. With an appropriate wall mount, it shouldn't stick out of the wall by too much extra. The Hitachi was only 3.5 cm - amazing for the time especially as it wasn't even LED. This TV has a much thinner border though so I'm pretty sure my wife will be ok with it being a cm thicker or so but taking up much less wall space.
 
Glad all sorted. Regarding size difference I've went from a Samsung 40" to a Panny 50" and it only about 120mm wider as the bezel is so small! The screen is massive compared to it as it's "all screen" now!

Enjoy.
 

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