Living with a Sony 70"LCD SXRD BRAVIA KS70R200A

[frizzup]

I gotta take the TV into a service center for it to be assessed. So will see what happens from there.. SO annoying how Sony distance themselves from their independent service centers..

I think I'm over Sony so whatever the offer, I may sell off. Unless they offer a 60" for next to nothing. I'm thinking of upgrading to a 60"+ and have had my eye on the Panasonic TH-P65VT30Z but wallet is remaining tightly shut right now

Have been reading up on it, but then unfortunately stumbled upon this..Green Blob issue.
I don't want another TV with issues after this Sony debacle. Have any of the NZ Panasonic's suffered from this issue?

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/tvs-an...een-blob-fault
http://www.avforums.com/forums/plasm...problem-2.html
http://www.avforums.com/forums/plasm...-part-2-a.html
http://www.whathifi.com/forum/tvs-an...30-green-blobs

Had the green blob appear on my 60"SXRD in Sept 2011 which was bought brand new in Oct 2007. The TV was assessed as being "uneconomic to repair". I was initially offered a KDL55EX720 but after a couple of phone calls and a polite but strong representation of the CGA I was offered the KDL60EX720 at zero cost.

Frizzup

[jabz]

Update: I sent the TV to the service centre at Sony's insistence. It was assessed and low and behold it has the Optical Block problem.
The estimation for the OB was $3000 which I saw in the online job notes.

Sony has approved a repair where they will pay for the parts and I pay for the Labour. At this stage I have rejected this offer. I don't think the TV will be the same again, and the OB will most definitely be a refurbished one. And the problem will come back due to the faulty design of these TV's.

I have also heard countless stories of others getting their TV's replaced. So I have requested a call back from the customer relations group to discuss options.

[Dunnersfella]

How do you know the OB will be a refurb? Is there a way to prove it?
And why do you think the TV won't be the same?
I'm picking you're just angling for a new tellie here... I'd be stoked to have it fixed personally.

[Adam]

As he says, if it's a design flaw then it will just happen again (and probably won't be covered by the CGA when it does). This fact will always be in the back of his mind. If I were in his position I also would want to wash my hands entirely of that TV model.

[Dunnersfella]

It will be covered under CGA as you could easily argue that once a known fault is repaired, the cover of that particular part should start over.
Whether Sony can see the value in constantly repairing the set... well, that's their call.
Personally, I doubt Sony will be in NZ's TV market in 2 years time, but that's just my personal opinion...

[Adam]

So to recap, he should be pleased to accept the offer of a repair as when it inevitably breaks down again he 'might' be able to argue that, as a known issue, it 'should' be covered by the CGA and be repaired yet again (if Sony feel like it). But you don't really expect Sony to be in the market when this happens anyway. And just asking for a new TV that isn't faulty from the outset, removing the need to go through this hassle, is just being greedy. OK. Sounds reasonable to me.

[frizzup]

Had the green blob appear on my 60"SXRD in Sept 2011 which was bought brand new in Oct 2007. The TV was assessed as being "uneconomic to repair" i.e replave the optical block.

I was initially offered a KDL55EX720 but after a couple of phone calls and a polite but strong representation of the CGA I was offered the KDL60EX720 at zero cost to me which I agreed to.

You have rights under CGA. In my opinion you should not have to pay for parts or labour. In my case I got a brand new 60" 3D LCD to replace the SXRD.

Frizzup

[ARIKIP]

Sony has approved a repair where they will pay for the parts and I pay for the Labour.

Unbelievable how these companies try to wring money out of you no matter what. I would utterly reject it as well. The optical block problem was due to a design issue. This issue is likely to return...it could be 5 weeks or 5 years??? Funny how Sony discontinued the Rear Projection lines after this debacle. I would want a new replacement TV and wipe your hands of that SXRD TV. With the way they have treated 3LCD/SXRD owners in this country i do hope their TV division in NZ goes under. I mean theres far superior TVs to be had elsewhere...Panny,Samsung. I myself will never buy a Sony TV again.

[coleus]

I mean theres far superior TVs to be had elsewhere...Panny,Samsung.

Sorry , but at the time everyone was buying SXRD's they were the best thing since sliced bread , with LCD and Plasma being very expensive and with Samsung not even in the market yet , SXRD served their purpose as a bridge , sure now there are better options and time has proved that the TV's have/had issues , but in all honesty can you say getting a 60" 3d TV as a replacement for one of those behemouths is a bad outcome , come on.
Wasnt there a thread here just yesterday , with someone being offered an inferior Panny U series in the first instance as a replacement for an older superior model. All companies do it including Panasonic and Samsung.
Somtimes one needs to offer balance in these threads with all the sheep / jumper on's and haters it can all be a bit dis-heartning.
If Sony is gone in two years , it'll be a sad day, with the loss of one of the great innovators and manufacturers , less choice of TV will not in the end be a great outcome for the NZ consumer.

[ARIKIP]

The only reason Sony played nice and gave the "free" 60" 3D TV was because the disgruntled customer had to go out of their way and throw the CGA act at them. Even though the problem is obviously the optical block,Sony will tend to try and make you replace the lamp to see if that fixes it(haha yeah right). Then they will try to get you to pay for a "tech" to look at it when the answer is obvious....AND THEY KNOW IT. With my dealing with Sony on this issue the "tech" didnt even have to come around as he knew what the obvious cause was...Sony played nice in my case as i took a 5 year extended warranty with Harvey Norman. I have a few family members/friends with 3LCD/SXRD TVs that have the same problem....as they have no extended warranty Sony will just give them the runaround. A class action lawsuit put a stop to that in the US...temporarily. Of course Sony NZ has absolutely no knowledge of the problem...NOT. Their blatant stalling tactics have left a lot to be desired in 3LCD/SXRD owners minds. With most kiwis being oblivious to the CGA and having that she'll be right attitude i would say most of these Optical Block issues will never see the light of day. I think Sony will be very happy with that. Sorry for the rant....Just my 2c.

[jabz]

How do you know the OB will be a refurb? Is there a way to prove it?
And why do you think the TV won't be the same?
I'm picking you're just angling for a new tellie here... I'd be stoked to have it fixed personally.

I have seen countless threads where customers TV's weren't really the same after repair and threads on return of the issue.
This very thread details Mark's experiences with the repair on his 70" which wasn't satisfactory and took months to resolve.

I do want to wash my hands of the TV and not sink any more money into a repair. I had spent $300 on a new lamp a few weeks beforehand to check if that would fix it, as it had in the 2nd year when I had a yellowing issue. And now to pay for labour feels like I'm wasting money for which is a Sony manufacturing defect. I have to pay an assessment fee regardless, I told and showed them that this issue is the optical block issue and they wouldn't have a bar of it. A day after it was dropped to the service center the report showed optical block. I bet the tech only had to turn it on.

Frankly am a bit sick of Sony, which is why I have purchased a Panasonic 65VT as a replacement.
Whatever the outcome will give to my Dad who is still watching his Sony KV-HR36 CRT TV.

[jabz]

So after rejecting the "I pay for labour, Sony provide parts" offer, Sony came back with some pro rata pricing on some models I chose. I said I will take up the offer on the 40".
KDL55EX720 - $1950
KDL40EX520 - $700

I will give it to my Dad or put in bedroom if he has other plans. I didn't want another Sony TV in the lounge, this experience has really changed my view on the brand.

[AgrAde]

What a joke, you can get the 40" for under a grand and the 55" for a little over two. They're still making decent money on those if you're buying it straight from them.

That's offensive.

[ARIKIP]

I think the only option is to go the disputes tribunal. DO NOT TAKE UP THAT OFFER!!!!! Offensive is probably too nice a word to describe it. Frizzup had a successful conclusion to his 60" SXRD drama 5 years after he purchased it....i hope you do whats wise and do the same. Keywords...CGA and Disputes tribunal.

[jabz]

I accepted the 40" offer, If I hadn't purchased my VT65 then I would have pursued this further. However I can't be Ar*** now, with the time that Sony have already taken and stalled, I won't have resolution to this for another few months. I simply cannot afford the time its going to take, it will end up costing me in time and strees/emotional state that probabaly simply isn't worth it, this due to a company like Sony who can bully their customer into accepting sub-standard service. I certainly am going to try make the their NZ/Aus head office aware of the situtaion and the pain customers are put through.