Screen burn on 4 year old LG OLED TV - advise on our rights please!

I would advise to look into this thread where you might find some experience from others and how they managed to solve their case: OLED SCREEN BURN ( permanent image retention)

Most OLED owners managed to get a panel replacement for around £200 which is better than what I experienced. They seem to have been more successful by communicating with the retailers instead of LG's customer support. Also you should call it "uneven image degradation" instead of "burn-in" when you are talking about the issue.

I owned an LG 55" OLED B7 which I bought from amazon.de for 1511 Euros. It got some "burn-in" marks after around 2-3 years due to reading news on "teletext" and watchin a morning show with a yellow banner on a daily basis (check out the image in my profile pic). I wasted 6 months with LG's customer support and their repair service partner. Here in Austria LG is asking you to pay 2/3 of the TV's price for a panel replacement (that's 1050 Euros for a 55" screen). Also LG does not seem to fix the production issue which they had on the 55" 2017 models where a rectangle is visible in the middle of the screen and according to rtings.com they should have fixed it for free in the period of 5 years. The LG customer support hung up the phone on me when I was trying to resolve that issue. Now I own a Sony LED TV.
 
Could the OP please post a copy of the JL T&Cs showing the entire section where it says screen burn isn't covered? Probably under "exclusions."

I recently ran into a T&C warranty issue with a Miele washing machine. They quoted their T&Cs. I pointed out to them that their T&Cs breached the rules on unfair contract terms, quoting the relevant statute and regulations. They backed down and replaced the washer. Their legal team are now mulling over what they need to change to keep within the law.

It may be that JL's T&Cs are also unfair, but I'd need to see the wording.
 
They are saying that screen burn is accidental damage caused by the user.

Our guarantee provides:

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A repair service in the event of breakdown of any functioning part of your product, for the period stated above​
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Repair services provided by authorised service technicians​
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If we can't repair your item, we'll replace it with an item of equivalent specification. If no equivalent product is available we'll discuss an alternative settlement with you, and we'll always do our best to make sure that you're satisfied with the outcome​
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Occasionally, we may ask you to pay for the repair and claim the cost of the repair from us​

Our guarantee excludes:

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Repairs due to breakdown caused by use other than domestic by your household​
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Deliberate damage to or neglect of the product or failure to follow the manufacturer's instructions and/or installation guidelines​
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Consumer replaceable items including, but not limited to, batteries, light bulbs and other consumables​
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Cosmetic damage and/or non-functional parts which do not affect the normal use of the product including cabinet trim, scratches and rust​
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The unblocking of drainage channels in refrigeration products​
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Work relating to a manufacturer's recall of the product​
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Any loss suffered as a result of not being able to use the product or any loss other than the repair or the replacement cost of the product​
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Frozen food loss as a result of the product breaking down​
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Accidental damage, servicing, inspecting or cleaning of the insured product​
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Failure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and/or installation guidelines​
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Deliberate damage or neglect of the insured product​
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Please note we reserve the right to charge for the expense of a service call, when no fault has been found with the product on inspection​
 
Guys on this thread have had new panels fitted or a new TV for this, no reason why your parents shouldn't as well


 
Hi all
My mum and step-dad bought a 55" LG OLED 55B6 about four years ago from John Lewis with a 5 year warranty.

About a month ago some dark blurred blocks appeared on the screen and have stayed permanently. They have contacted John Lewis who were going to send out an engineer. No engineer came out so my mum chased it and they then asked her to send them a video showing the issue. She did this, and they have now replied saying that it is screen burn and is not covered under the warranty.

My mum and stepdad are in their 70s and do not play video games and their TV only has normal use. They do not leave it paused for long periods and have no idea what could have caused the image burn to have appeared.

I can't see how this is caused by general use and to me is a fault with the device, and googling LG OLED screenburn suggests a lot of people have had similar problems through no incorrect/misuse of their own doing. I also can't see how in this type of thing is acceptable and manafacturers would think it OK for their TVs to display this size of issue.

What approach should we take and what are our rights on this issue? I feel John Lewis should at least still send out an engineer to inspect it properly instead of just fobbing us off with an email based on a video and a couple of photos saying it's not covered, and I just cannot see how marks this size would be considered acceptable under general use. Its not even like it's a cheap TV, you'd expect it to last considerably better.

I have attached a couple of photos to show how bad it is. It's not like a couple of dead pixels or a small block either, they're pretty damn big!

Thanks
Hi I am also in same position with Sony Bravia Oled KD65AF8 TV bought from Currys PC World. you can look at our case under NavSoo. We will keep up with each others progress.
Regards
 
I see nothing in their wording above about screen burn specifically?

When you say they "they are saying screen burn is accidental damage" was that over the phone or in writing to you after you queried it? A judge surely wouldn't agree that something which occurs naturally without user influence could possibly be accidental damage. If an inherent "fault" is in-built to an item and the manufacturer is aware of this I would say you're in a good position legally.

Unfair contact law disallows a business (LG or JL) to alter the terms of any contract (the warranty) after it's come into force on the day of purchase, i.e. mention afterwards about screen burn, and also dictates a consumer should reasonably be expected to know about a warranty term later relied upon by the business when arguing it's not liable, in this case for you to have known screen burn could happen and wouldn't be covered. What normal consumer would know this?

Relevant law is NOT in the CRA 2015, it's in:

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
See - S.5 (1)(a)&(b)
Schedule 2 (c)&(d)

The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999
See - Schedule 2 (1)(i)&(j)

Unless the possibility of screen burn was specifically pointed out to you prior to purchase, in writing, AND specifically excluded in the warranty I don't see how JL can argue it is excluded now?

Anyone disagree? Forget that you, dear regular AVForum member, and I know about the possibility of screen burn. "Everyone knows about it" wouldn't stand up in court as a defence for JL. In fact it may play into the OPs hands as a judge would likely say to JL: "So you're telling me you DID know about the inbuilt defect when you sold the TV?

Write to JL giving them 14 days to agree to what you want or you'll issue proceedings in the small claims court and sue for the cost of a new TV.






 
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They told me over the phone and in an e-mail, and just ignore the fact that a warranty cannot be changed for people who purchased before the changes were made !
The fact that the warranty terms changed would indicate that the problem was known,
Thanks for the links, I'll read through the info because I'm not going to brushed off.
I'd also like to see the engineer explain to a judge how so much of the screen can be affected by screen burn, this is an uneven failure of LED's in a much shorter time than the manufacturer claimed.
 
They told me over the phone and in an e-mail, and just ignore the fact that a warranty cannot be changed for people who purchased before the changes were made !
The fact that the warranty terms changed would indicate that the problem was known,
Thanks for the links, I'll read through the info because I'm not going to brushed off.
I'd also like to see the engineer explain to a judge how so much of the screen can be affected by screen burn, this is an uneven failure of LED's in a much shorter time than the manufacturer claimed.

JL have an official complaints procedure. Use it. They tend to assign a case handler who has more powers to resolve an issue. If nothing else it shows you tried every avenue to resolve the issue should you go the legal route
 
I highly recommend that you tell John Lewis that you will go down the small claims court route, if they do not fix the TV.
Forget John Lewis's T&Cs and LGs for that matter. If a TV fails under years old, it is very clearly not fit for purpose under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Any judge can see that the TV is suffering from a design defect. It is really obvious.

Stand your ground with John Lewis - their staff do not understand UK law and I suspect are not even trained on the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Easy win.
 
Hi. Same problem here I’m fuming. Bought Xmas 2017. LG OLED 55B7V. £1800 5 year warranty
Recently noticed green circle bottom left. Rang John Lewis and sent screen shot. Said prob burn in (we had never heard of it) and they’d arrange an engineer. Said not covered on warranty as it’s preventble 🤷🏻‍♀️ but LG usually replace for £250. I followed this up with an email saying I was very unhappy, the tv had only had very normal use and the warranty doesn’t mention burn and that in my opinion they had sold me an item which was not fit for purpose. Meanwhile we read up on it. and did a screen test. The circle is GMTVs logo and there are lines across the bottom presumably news threads, a clock, LIVE, BBC 1 unbelievable! Worse still there is a large green rectangle (which I’ve read was common to this model/year). Engineer came and said there was burn and it wasn’t covered in warranty but due to the rectangle we might get a free replacement. We asked would it happen again with the new panel and he said yes (so def not fit for purpose). JL rang today (different person)said the engineer said we weren’t covered 🤷🏻‍♀️ and that they had a quote for the repair. £1441. 😳what? No mention by them about LG £250. So I said the last person said LG would replace for £250. “ Yes” she said “they do but we don’t cover it. I don’t know why they do it so cheaply”. 😤 I asked for an email address so that I could escalate the complaint. So here we go...........
 
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I spoke to LG and asked if it was an improved panel that they are using as a replacement,
he said no, but if you run the pixel refresher every couple of weeks it will prevent burn in.
Just wondered if anyone who has had a replacement can confirm whether this works ?
 
Use your frustration and anger to your advantage and action the situation in the right way.

Follow what I previously stated and you will succeed.
 
It’s a horrible situation you guys are in but it needs everyone to stand their ground and make LG & JL sort these issues out. These TV’s are not fit for purpose and they are hiding behind screen burn. I really wish these forums and other Av sites would champion the consumer and not stay silent on this. Inherent faults should be Publicised
 
My 55B8 has no burn... yet, but interestingly it is inferior to my 55SK8500 Nano with full array dimming.
Are we all fooled by "experts" into buying OLEDs due to hype?
 
My 55B8 has no burn... yet, but interestingly it is inferior to my 55SK8500 Nano with full array dimming.
Are we all fooled by "experts" into buying OLEDs due to hype?
That's a different discussion for another thread I may suggest :)
 
That's a different discussion for another thread I may suggest :)
Yes.

I do wish someone would take a test case to court on screen burn though.
The almost guaranteed success would either make manufacturers solve this issue or stop them selling OLED screens full stop.

It's like buying a car where the manufacturer knows the engine may seize if you happen to do a constant 70mph on the motorway. But of course they don't warn you of this when selling it to you in the showroom. And selling OLED as the best technology when plainly it's not. A Rolls Royce with a ticking time bomb.
 
Im not going to let this drop. The highly inflated quote of £1441 that JL gave me is to make LGs £250 look like a bargain. Not fooled. Not happy even with a free replacement screen if its going to repeat the destruction! They werent “fit for purpose in Dec 17 (and prob still arent) I want a refund - I buy everything from JL I have a £700 order for blinds pending in my out box! Small claims court for me!
 
Yes.

I do wish someone would take a test case to court on screen burn though.
The almost guaranteed success would either make manufacturers solve this issue or stop them selling OLED screens full stop.

It's like buying a car where the manufacturer knows the engine may seize if you happen to do a constant 70mph on the motorway. But of course they don't warn you of this when selling it to you in the showroom. And selling OLED as the best technology when plainly it's not. A Rolls Royce with a ticking time bomb.

People already have been taking retailers and manufacturers to court over burn in, from what I have read most of the time judges simply look at how much the TV cost and the how long the product has last since those are 2 major traits I guess with judges, it would be unreasonable to spend say 2K on a tv that last say 3 years for example.

Id guess at year 4 or heading towards 5th year it maybe more tricky.

It is a tricky situation as said earlier, engineers reports can be deadly really and as we know many engineers mis-diagnose the green blob as burn in when LG themselves say its an manufacturing defect. I have seen retailers engineers diagnostic reports say one thing...... and then manufacturers engineers report say totally different yet the retailer sides with their report naturally and for any retailer or company to not even acknowledge they maybe in the wrong I personally try to avoid.

You have to sometimes try retailer then manufacturer and keep pressing, id say solicitors letter to retailer and manufacturer stating they are breaking the consumer law may work but last course is the small court claim or opt for that £250 bill, one also has to remember at the moment the electronics industry is experiencing a major shortage of components (cpus, chipsets etc) and prices have gone up 2-3x for many electronics due to no stock or supply so I think if you can get things sorted for £250 its not bad at all and well worth it.
 
Yeah well something went amiss between what the engineer said on his visit to us (rectangle fault) and what JL say (engineer report says customer fault). Porky pies anyone?
 
...but the JL warranty says THEY will repair it so why should the consumer have to pay £250?

Well, because JL say burn is accidental damage - rubbish. By using the unfair contract law above you could easily win a claim and not have any bill.
 
People already have been taking retailers and manufacturers to court over burn in, from what I have read most of the time judges simply look at how much the TV cost and the how long the product has last since those are 2 major traits I guess with judges, it would be unreasonable to spend say 2K on a tv that last say 3 years for example.

Id guess at year 4 or heading towards 5th year it maybe more tricky.

It is a tricky situation as said earlier, engineers reports can be deadly really and as we know many engineers mis-diagnose the green blob as burn in when LG themselves say its an manufacturing defect. I have seen retailers engineers diagnostic reports say one thing...... and then manufacturers engineers report say totally different yet the retailer sides with their report naturally and for any retailer or company to not even acknowledge they maybe in the wrong I personally try to avoid.

You have to sometimes try retailer then manufacturer and keep pressing, id say solicitors letter to retailer and manufacturer stating they are breaking the consumer law may work but last course is the small court claim or opt for that £250 bill, one also has to remember at the moment the electronics industry is experiencing a major shortage of components (cpus, chipsets etc) and prices have gone up 2-3x for many electronics due to no stock or supply so I think if you can get things sorted for £250 its not bad at all and well worth it.

I also dislike they call it an Engineers report, they're not engineers.
 
People already have been taking retailers and manufacturers to court over burn in, from what I have read most of the time judges simply look at how much the TV cost and the how long the product has last since those are 2 major traits I guess with judges, it would be unreasonable to spend say 2K on a tv that last say 3 years for example.

Id guess at year 4 or heading towards 5th year it maybe more tricky.

It is a tricky situation as said earlier, engineers reports can be deadly really and as we know many engineers mis-diagnose the green blob as burn in when LG themselves say its an manufacturing defect. I have seen retailers engineers diagnostic reports say one thing...... and then manufacturers engineers report say totally different yet the retailer sides with their report naturally and for any retailer or company to not even acknowledge they maybe in the wrong I personally try to avoid.

You have to sometimes try retailer then manufacturer and keep pressing, id say solicitors letter to retailer and manufacturer stating they are breaking the consumer law may work but last course is the small court claim or opt for that £250 bill, one also has to remember at the moment the electronics industry is experiencing a major shortage of components (cpus, chipsets etc) and prices have gone up 2-3x for many electronics due to no stock or supply so I think if you can get things sorted for £250 its not bad at all and well worth it.
Sadly if people keep going along with the £250 con nothing ever changes🤷🏼‍♀️
 
Sadly if people keep going along with the £250 con nothing ever changes🤷🏼‍♀️

Agree but shortages and supply issues are rampant, JL have in the past coughed up the £250 or met the customer half way of that bill so its still worth another option, id bet they buckle at the thought of having to go to court and know they would lose and pay even more.
 
I also dislike they call it an Engineers report, they're not engineers.

I got a Chartered Electronics Engineer to produce a report - there's no point messing around.

One that specialises in DSP and visual systems was icing on the cake.
 

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