LG 4K Blu-Ray Player - Consumer Law

jammy2006 on 06/09/2023 - 14:54
Last edited 06/10/2023 - 15:22

Update October:
Got the case escalated to someone locally, who agreed that with the minimal use the player should still be working. The consumer law coverage was approved, and also managed to get the service center to allow me to post the player in. Player had a faulty power supply: this was replaced and the player sent back to me.

I'm out the minor cost of postage: no big deal. And hey, I can now enjoy BBC's Frozen Planet II in glorious high bit rate 4K Ultra HD.

Little annoyed at LG at this point. Purchased a 4K Blu Ray player late in 2020, which has been used a total of 3 times for a total play time of a couple of hours at most. Otherwise it's been unplugged its entire life. It's now dead and won't power on.

Of course it's well past its limited warranty coverage, but I thought I'd try for a consumer law repair. Reason being I'd fully expect the player to last more then 2 hours of play time and 3 instances of use. LG refers me to their repair center 35km away, who tell me they need $55 to assess the product but are unable to provide consumer law coverage and referred me back to LG.

Given the player only cost $240, it doesn't seem worth it to drive the distance and then pay $55 + a repair fee. At the same time, an essentially brand new player as e-waste isn't exactly great either.

Does anyone know any unofficial electronics repair shops in Sydney or otherwise any other ideas on how to go about reviving the player?

Edit: To everyone making remarks about the device not being used and therefore of no value. that's not the topic of discussion here. I'm not going into the reasoning behind the use of the device and the perceived value.

Electrical & Electronics

Related Stores

LG Australia
LG Australia

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 06/09/2023 - 14:56
    +7

    Your usage has nothing to do with it. It's 3 years old.

    2 hours of play time and 3 instances

    I'm guessing you didn't even enjoy the movies.

    • djsweet on 06/09/2023 - 15:04
      +1

      brutal

    • jammy2006 on 06/09/2023 - 17:01

      To everyone making remarks about the device not being used and therefore of no value, that's not really the topic of discussion here. I'm not going into the reasoning behind the use of the device and the perceived value.

      • Muzeeb on 06/09/2023 - 17:08
        +2

        That makes sense. Cheers

      • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 06/09/2023 - 18:42
        +1

        You're not the boss here. We demand you go into the reasoning behind the use of the device and the perceived value.

    • HeWhoKnows on 08/09/2023 - 17:09

      Sorry Muzzeb
      Not exactly correct
      Under law any product must be fit for purpose and it must be of mechantable quality.
      It could have been new in a box and just removed 3 years later.
      So the age in this case is not a deciding factor.
      The manufacturers warranty is their MINIMUM responsibility.
      They try to make out that its the maximum.
      OP hence has a valid claim under consumer law.
      But how to prove such minimal use is OPs problem?
      And is OP willing to travel the 35km and back (70km) at least 2 times?
      Given one can buy second hand Blu-ray players with little use now for $10-$20 and sometimes even free, Id suggest its hardly worth going to all this trouble.

      • jammy2006 on 10/09/2023 - 02:07

        Unfortunately this is a 4K UHD Blu-Ray player, and are worth considerably more then standard HD Blu-Ray players which is a much older format. A 4K LG sold for $98 + $22 recently on eBay, and I can see a few used basic players from other manufacturers around the $150 mark.

        It's not even just a matter of the traveling 70km's x2 though. They're only open weekdays, which means taking time off to drive there. Then there's the issue that the service center is not LG themselves and have no say in whether or not consumer law might even apply.

  • Hybroid on 06/09/2023 - 15:06

    How many times you claim to have used it isn’t really relevant. It’s 3 years old for a relatively cheap device so will be tough to argue.

    Do you know what’s wrong with it? Is it a manufacturing defect or could be user-damage. Maybe a power surge knocked it out or improper storage, water corrosion damage etc. Not unreasonable for them to want to check it out. Same would apply to any electronic repair shop.

    • Savvy shopper1111 on 06/09/2023 - 15:46
      +2

      Its more the value in the range of product. So what do blu ray players usually go for, I dont know about you but anyone spending over $200" on a blu ray player would be expecting it not break after 2-3 years. That shows poor quality control.

      If there was a subscription service that charged you $100 a year just to use a blu ray player would people pay it or think thats insanely high for just the base hardware not the discs/media itself.

      • Hybroid on 06/09/2023 - 15:54
        +2

        That shows poor quality control.

        Well it doesn't. Unless you know what the cause of the defect was. Like I said, could be user-damage.

        • It could be that something wasn't glued/screwed properly and you could claim manufacturing defect.
        • It could be that a capacitor popped for whatever reason which could be argued either way.
        • It could be that owner dropped it or overloaded power circuit or spilt water into it etc which is on them.

        You can't just claim any product stopping working 3 years later is a manufacturing or quality issue. There's no way to know conclusively. That's what the assessment tries to do.

        • Savvy shopper1111 on 06/09/2023 - 16:20
          +1

          "When a business sells a product or service that doesn’t meet basic rights, known as consumer guarantees, it must offer the consumer a solution.
          Businesses must not tell consumers to take the problem to the manufacturer or importer.
          When a product has a major problem, consumers can choose between a refund or replacement.
          When a service has a major problem, consumers have a right to alter their agreement with the service provider.
          Businesses must fix a minor problem with a product or service by at least giving a free repair."

          -> charging consumers for an assessment is not fixing minor problem or providing free repair. If the assessment was free but just an inconvenience to consumer as an hour drive that would be annoying but not unreasonable from manufacturer.

        • jammy2006 on 06/09/2023 - 16:57

          Your points are good in general, particularly if the device had been in regular use. However in this case, it hasn't been plugged in since the last time it was used, nor has it ever been dropped. It's literally brand new.

          I get the assessment thing - but $55 just for someone to take a look and having to take time off work to drive 70km round trip isn't ideal. Even if LG don't have to pay for return/transport fees, it would help if they had a mail in option.

      • jammy2006 on 06/09/2023 - 16:52

        I would put personally put 3 years to be a reasonable time period that you'd expect a product to work. Unless you're on the bleeding edge, many people get 5 years+ out of a daily use item such as a television. Coupled with the fact that it's relatively unused adds to the argument.

        But if there's no one to actually discuss the issue with, then you can't progress to a resolution. The repair center has stated over the phone that they are unable to discuss consumer law warranty with me, and can only provide a quote to fix outside of warranty. The issue being that they are an authorised LG repairer, but not LG themselves.

    • HeWhoKnows on 08/09/2023 - 17:12

      Some valid points made Hybroid.
      But not all of them.

  • Fredfloresjr on 06/09/2023 - 15:18
    +12

    don't bother repairing mate as you will only use it 2 hours for the next three years.

  • garetz on 06/09/2023 - 15:28
    +1

    Things fail, maybe buy something you are going to use instead of just leave to collect dust.

    If you never used it in 3 years why even bother getting it repaired to leave it for 3 more years collecting dust.

    If you learn anything from this hopefully is to stop wasting money on things you will neve reuse.

    • Savvy shopper1111 on 06/09/2023 - 15:49

      Yeah to a degree this is fair. In 3 years you have barely enough touched it. Maybe rethink if its needed, maybe its just a sunk cost, move on as no point fighting it for 3 year old tech that you cant resell or wont likely use.

      Not worth your time and energy perhaps

      • garetz on 06/09/2023 - 16:28

        I should add consumer electronics like this is made to fail through planned obsolescence, that's why they usually only have 12 months warranty.

        The laser in these machines are very fragile, and will likely die sooner rather than later.

        • Savvy shopper1111 on 06/09/2023 - 16:44

          That was one of the things consumer Law was made to address, dodgy business practices (not planned obsolescence) but just outright making something so poorly that it fails and you need to buy a new one.

          Its like buying a $5,000 tv and it breaks after 2 years and 1 month. Nobody in their right mind would expect a tv that expensive to fail in that space of time, 5-10 years at least. Manufacturers will act in their self interest to reduce their liability so its a good thing Consumer Law exists!!

    • HeWhoKnows on 08/09/2023 - 17:15

      Im sure OP had good intentions of using the Blu-ray player.
      Indeed I actually did the same but bought a used one for $10. Though mine is still working!
      But technology has rapidly changed over that time where Netflix etc have become to preferred mode of watching movies.

  • pinchies on 06/09/2023 - 16:10
    +1

    I feel your misery mate. It's ridiculous that it failed after 3 years. We have a Sony 4k Bluray player that suffered a similar fate — and after googling it turns out to be a common defect. Especially when we buy these things hoping to enjoy them, but busy lives get in the way, only to discover when we finally do have time, that they are out-of-order — so disappointing!

    Dead and won't power on is better than some kind of intermittent fault. Could be a power supply issue, best case could even be an easy fix. Sorry I don't have any local repairer recommendations for syd.

  • Protractor on 06/09/2023 - 17:29

    What is the model number?

  • barratttc on 07/09/2023 - 07:59

    Get a Panasonic. They work. I originally got a Sony (still the current model). Caused nothing but problems and eventually completely died just out of warranty. Had 2 Panasonics since and have been great. And I'm a Sony man.

  • jammy2006 on 06/10/2023 - 15:21

    All's well that ends well.

    Got the case escalated to someone locally, who agreed that with the minimal use the player should still be working. The consumer law coverage was approved, and also managed to get the service center to allow me to post the player in. Player had a faulty power supply: this was replaced and the player sent back to me.

    I'm out the minor cost of postage: no big deal. And hey, I can now enjoy BBC's Frozen Planet II in glorious high bit rate 4K Ultra HD.

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