To the Point: • Purchased 50" Samsung Plasma in March 2010 • 1 Inch Vertical Bar Appears within 3 months with blue line o Comet refuse to replace set, but fixed fault • 3 more visits over next few months for same intermittent fault • Last visit October 2010 • Same fault reappears August 2011 • Contact Service Centre o Will charge for call out o Not Happy! • Agent refuses to put me through to Supervisor o Not Happy! • Visit Store o Can’t Help , but did contact Service centre o Service Centre say More than 3 months since last repair, have to pay call out o Store gives me “Head Office” Number • Call Head Office o 45 Mins on Phone, being passed around o Told that as I questioned the SOGA we would need to pay £69 for call out to be told the fault still exists ( with refund if it is the same fault) o Not Happy • Go online o If fault exists within 6 months the onus is on the Retailer o As Such email MD & Contact them via Web LetterReads: Dear Sirs Order No 1074-22012693 As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct. On the 4th March 2010 we Purchased a Samsung 50” Plasma TV from your store 1074 – Yeading. By June of 2010 we were experiencing blue lines and fixed bands of disruption to the picture. This was reported to your service department on 4 different occasions and repaired. The last repair being in October 2010. On each occasion we requested replacement of the product, but each time we reluctantly agreed that the Engineer repair the fault. The engineer agreed on the last visit that this was an existing fault with the TV and as such any future issues would be rectified by Comet. At the beginning of August 2011 the same fault has once again appeared. On Sunday 7th August I called the Customer Service number expecting a engineers visit to be arranged. I was told this would be a chargeable repair by “Paula”. The operator refused to put me through to a Supervisor to discuss any further. Not being satisfied with the response , I proceeded to visit the Yeading Store. The store was not able to assist directly, but did speak to Kristy at the service centre. The service centre explained that as the last repair was over 3 months ago, again this would again be chargeable. The store then gave me the head office telephone number ( 01482 320681). On Friday 12th August I contacted the number and after 40 Minutes and having been put through 4 people I eventually spoke to Dan in Customer Service. Having explained for the 6th time what my issues were and of my dissatisfaction in the service and product, I was told I would have to pay £69 for an engineer to do a site visit to assess the TV. It was explained to me that under the sales of goods act it was our responsibility to prove the fault and as such we would have to pay for the visit and reclaim the costs once it was proved the unit had a fault. On further research following the call I found that this only applies to faults first appearing after 6 months. The fault clearly occurred within the first six months and therefore this should not apply. The product is clearly not fit for purpose and on each occasion of the fault the use of the product has been restricted. On the basis that you have refused to make further repairs or replace the product as requested, we now formally request payment of the following: Refund of Samsung 50” TV £949.99 Less £90 for reasonable use (£90.00) Refund of Delivery Charge £19.95 Time lost for engineer Visits ( 4*£50) £200.00 Total claim £1,079.94 Alternatively we would accept for an engineer to visit and make a repair the product with a written guarantee any re-occurrence of the fault in the next 5 years would be repaired free of charge. Please find below a photo of the fault on which I intend to rely in my claim against you along with past photo’s of the same issue taken within the first 6 months of purchase. In accordance with Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct I would request that you provide me with copies of the following documents: • Logs of all calls made regarding this claim • Copies of Engineers reports and worksheets for all visits • Details of any similar issues reported with this model to yourselves within the last 24 Months I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and would consider any other system of Alternative Dispute Resolution in order to avoid the need for this matter to be resolved by the courts and would invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard. In closing I would draw your attention to section II (4) of the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim. I look forward to hearing from you within the next 14 days, should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you. Yours sincerely TBC.......