@comethelp Chippenham store manager refusing SOGA REPAIR - Faulty TV 18mts old - well known issue.

[angryatcomet]

Hi everyone, i hope you can help.

 

I purchased a Samsung TV from comet on 23.02.11. It has developed a fault where the volume goes up and down and switches channels automatically. I've searched Google and I'm not the only one, it seems a fairly common Samsung fault.

 

I went to see the store on 16.08.12 ( year and half after purchase date) and they wanted nothing to do with it. The manager wouldn't even pass on the letter I'd taken in with me, just point blank refused to take it. He said my claim is with Samsung and nothing to do with them.

 

I've written to Hugh Harvey explaining the details and quoting SOGA stating that a TV should be expected to last longer than 18months. Their reply was simply, i can have it inspected for £70 and IF they deem it a manufacturing fault, they'll help out with a discounted repair!

 

Now firstly I'm not sure what they are going to class as a manufacturing fault and this sounds very wooly. And secondly, surely if the TV is faulty, shouldn't it be repaired or replaced FOC?

 

I was going to write back and quote the EU 2 year legislation but after reading on here it doesn't seem worth it as SOGA is deemed to overrule it?

 

What are my options now? I don't want to loose another £70 on their inspection if I'm still going to have to pay to have it fixed. Oh and it was paid with a debit card so no claim there

 

any help much appreciated

 

thanks

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.

You are correct in much of what you say.

We have a rep from Comet on the site who I think might be worth a shot.

I will flag this to them for a response.

[dx100uk]

 

have we?

dx

[GorgieBoy]

Hi Angry ,

 

I feel in a bit of a time warp here , first of all Hugh Harvey left COMET around May 2011 and as far as a COMET Rep goes they have vanished without trace months ago probably made redundant like many of their Staff as it stands nowadays .

 

the guy you want is ,

 

bob.darke@comet.co.uk

 

This will get you through to the Directors Office .

 

The Fault with your Tv is Customer Control assembly on your Tv , yes this is a common fault with Samsung Tv,s .

 

 

Will COMET say this is an inherent Manufacturing Fault ? the answer is most certainly NO .

 

You could obtain an Independent report which you will have to pay for with regards to your faulty Tv or get it inspected by COMET but they will want a payment of £70.00 as you know all ready .

 

Once again this is a hard one as your Tv has worked okay for 18 Months .

 

The fault is not caused by a major component failure for example Lcd Panel or Plasma Display.

 

Forget EU law and anything else as we have SOGA in the UK .

 

I am sure the site Team Guys can advise you further here but I would imagine you will have to pay something upfront in the first instance before you have the chance of any redress against the retailer COMET .

 

Good Luck ,

[GorgieBoy]

 

have we?

dx

 

I dont think so dx

[angryatcomet]

thanks guys,Oops, i thought Hugh Harvey was still current as his name is all over the internet (including some current posts). Thanks for the info on Bob Darke. My letter even though addressed to hugh was replied to from the Directors office so i guess it still gets there.Its starting to sound a lot like chasing Comet is going to be a dead end. Seeing as its a common fault, i don't suppose if anyone knows if you can buy these control assembely's seperately and fit yourself? or how much its likely to cost to get someone else to do it? Even though you pointed out its worked for 18months, thats still a very short time for a brand new TV to last as far as i'm concerned. If anyone has any more advice i'd love to hear it.thanks

[dx100uk]

all the more reason to nail them.

 

if its a common fault you never know, new tv time.

 

dx

[angryatcomet]

@dx100ukI'd love to, believe me! their customer service has been shockingly bad! I will be avoiding in the future as there are plenty of alternatives to comet around these days. I'm a bit stuck with what to do next though. I showed the local manager a list of around 50 links online where other people have complained about the same problem with Samsung TVs and he just shrugged and said my complaint was with Samsung not them. Short of taking them to small claims, is there much i can do?

[GorgieBoy]

Hi angry ,

 

Once again the standard response from COMET "my complaint is with Samsung not them " this is a the usual reply and the PROBLEM is with COMET as they are the retailer who sold you the product .

 

I would not suggest you tackle this repair yourself unless you have sound electrical Knowledge and know your way around the inside of a modern Tv set .

 

This control unit in normal circumstances is unique to the paticular Model of your Tv set and can be isolated to prove that it is faulty which is the first thing an engineer would do in case the fault lies elswhere .

 

The Tv can work normally with this disconnected .

 

It is maybe in this instance worth contacting Samsung with the details of your fault they may authorise a Samsung Dealer Repair or FOC Inspection they are the guys who would probably examine the Tv anyway as COMET do not have any field engineers left now .

 

Getting your Tv working again is the priority but to achieve this in the short term payment of some description would be required .

 

You can take them on which is your right but how long could this take is another question as they will stall you at every opportunity .

 

This is the tactic that they use now .

 

There are to many unresolved posts still here on CAG where the consumer has tried taking on COMET with regards to similar aged products which fail after 18 months or so unfortunately many get ground into submission by this retailer .

 

It should NOT be the case but it still happens and still will until the law is changed in the Customers favour regarding faulty goods that are outwhith a first year period.

 

I am sure the site team guys can advise you further regarding your rights under SOGA .

 

On a final note it should be easy to find an authorised Samsung Dealer local to you by entering your Post Code on The Samsung Consumer Site but I still think contacting Samsung direct will may give you more of a hope than dealing with COMET direct , the latter you have found out already is going to be really hard work albeit this should not be the case .

 

Good Luck ,

[angryatcomet]

thanks for the reply.I've actually already isolated the problem by disconnecting the control unit and the problem stops. Unfortunatly this also means the remote control no longer works either so its not a fix i can live with. Thanks for your suggestions with regards contacting Samsung direct, i think i'll try down this path next as the more i read the more i realise just how bad comet are and how unlikely i am to get some sort of favourable solution.I think i'll put it down to experience and actively tell everyone i know to avoid comet at all costs

[GorgieBoy]

thanks for the reply.I've actually already isolated the problem by disconnecting the control unit and the problem stops. Unfortunatly this also means the remote control no longer works either so its not a fix i can live with. Thanks for your suggestions with regards contacting Samsung direct, i think i'll try down this path next as the more i read the more i realise just how bad comet are and how unlikely i am to get some sort of favourable solution.I think i'll put it down to experience and actively tell everyone i know to avoid comet at all costs

 

The Contol Unit should be able to be disconnected from the Ir Receiver or by disconnecting on the control unit itself , thus allowing Remote Control Operation .

 

Watch what you are doing as these connections are very fragile .

[angryatcomet]

I seem to remember there only being one white plug in the area where the control unit is, so i disconnected that to test it, and it stopped the remote as well as the problem. If i take a photo of it later do you think you'd be able to point out which part needs disconnecting to enable remote control use?

[GorgieBoy]

Hi angry ,

 

I dont think that is is a good idea as this could effect any future repair being carried out by COMET or SAMSUNG if there are signs that the Tv has been interfered with .

 

Also I dont think the Site Team guys would alow pictures on this thread as CAG is not a Technical Forum and may give others wrong ideas which could result in damage to the Tv , electrical injury or worse .

 

I am sure if you googled further you would find the information you required elswhere .

Edited September 3, 2012 by GorgieBoy

[angryatcomet]

understood. thanks for your help

[dx100uk]

can you please name the store

ive added this to the comet twitter feed

and slighly changed your thread title.

 

dx

[angryatcomet]

Store is Chippenham, Wiltshire

[MARTIN3030]

Following a check,it seems that the Comet Response registration was done by a CS individual.It may well be the case that this individual has now left the group.

We have contacted their Web relations team to invite a new registration.

The existing one has now been withdrawn.

[GorgieBoy]

Following a check,it seems that the Comet Response registration was done by a CS individual.It may well be the case that this individual has now left the group.

We have contacted their Web relations team to invite a new registration.

The existing one has now been withdrawn.

 

We await a New Arrival with interest ,

 

Nice work Martin ,

 

 

dx what is the Twitter feed we can follow is it @comethelp ?

[MARTIN3030]

@CometPlc

[MARTIN3030]

Would you believe it ?

 

 

Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!

 

Thanks for noticing—we're going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon.

Search for a topic, full name, or @username

[MARTIN3030]

Seems our link is inop and they have a new one.

 

Comet Group Ltd

 

@comethelp

 

Comet Ltd help & advice service. We aim to respond to tweets within 24hrs. Please follow us & provide as much detail as possible so we can help. Thanks

United Kingdom · http://bit.ly/EmailCometCustomerServices

[dx100uk]

wondered why it did not appear

 

can we update our one then so it appears?

 

dx

[MARTIN3030]

Yes Ive already replaced it with the new one.

[MARTIN3030]

Link included in thread title now.

[BankFodder]

If there really are 50 links to stories of similar faults then I owuld have thought that this would be more than enough to persuad a judge that there was a design fault and that Comet should provide a response.

 

Even 30 or 20 would do.

 

I would think very seriously about suing them after having downloaded the internet complaints and double-checking that the complaints weren't merely the same person just doing the rounds.

 

Comet seem to have a very poor customer service culture.

I sued them once several years ago because they supplied me wiht a cooker hob with only one ring working.

Initially they refused to collect it. Then they went to the wrong address and refused to come out again.

 

Some poor Comet drone actually turned up in court but needless to say they lost.