Screen Fault Issue (V, W & X series, e.g. KDL40X****, KDL46X****, KDL40W4***, KDL46W4**)

[leonintelex]

This problem is much bigger than intially anticipated,  it appears that it is present in a large amount of Sony TV's released in 2007.

To help Sony customers and keep them up to date on the situation I have decided to do a separate thread where people can post updates.   I will update it as further news comes in.

Q+A's - Grey lines on Sony TV's

What is the problem?
Grey Dark Lines that appear on these models after a period of 2-3 years, these lines get worse over time.

Which Models are affected?

V, W & X series, e.g. KDL40X****, KDL46X****, KDL40W4***, KDL46W4**

How many people are affected by this:?

Up to now I have found over 90 people who are all reporting this problem.

What is Sony's current stance on this manufacturing fault?

Intially Sony will request that you pay £80 for the TV to be looked at,  if it turns out that the TV is a manufacturing fault then they may decide to fix or replace it at that point.

Currently they are offering no reassurance that:

A: You will not be left footing the bill

B: You will not loose your £80

C: This is indeed a manufacturing fault

😧 You will not be left without any TV for more than 4 weeks

Is it just Sony TV's that are affected by this fault?

No Toshiba TV's are also affected however Toshiba offer either an immediate replacement or an uplift for credit

Gosh, you are persistent what do you plan to do?

At the moment I am hoping that Sony take a similar stance to Toshiba and try to recitify this problem so customers feel a little less cheated.    I feel the way that Sony have treated the customers is completley unfair and unlawful.

I am currently trying to get together a group of people who suffer this same issue to show Sony how widespread this problem is.

Will you ever be happy?

Yes, I am just like everyone else who feels somewhat short changed by Sony.  I bought the TV in 2007 for over £1000 and less that 2 years later it goes kaput.  I have now been fighting this since 12 months ago and as  yet still have not had a positive response.    As I was one of the early adopters of this model it appears more and more people are realising this problem,  it seems that the problem is a lot more widespread then intially thought.

Please feel free to post any updates,  thoughts, feelings on this thread.  Sony moderators, if you do have any additional information other that what we have told already then please post.

To be fair to Sony any new information will be updated and I will regularly update this post with anything new.

Please try to resolve this for me and the many other people with this problem.

Update - April 2011:

Thanks to  Lee, I have now spoken to Sony and they have offered a resolution to my  problem and I happy that it is now nearly at an end.

The  new procedure is 10 times better than when I first put the complaint in  last June (which is where most of my problems arose).   Things have  changed considerably since then and Sony was a lot more helpful this  time round. 

If  you are having these problems pick up the phone and give them a chance  to try and resolve it,  yes you may have to pay for the TV to be looked  at (approx £65) but this is to eliminate any problems that may not be  down to a manufacturing fault.

Up  until this I was under the impression that Sony were a faceless  corporate who did not care about their customers.  I now feel I was  under the wrong impression and a number of people who work for Sony do  really care about customer concerns.

Message was edited by: leonintelex - Added further information.

Message was edited by: leonintelex - Complaint now resolved

Message was edited by: leonintelex

[leonintelex]

Why have the moderators locked all the discussions on the faulty screens????

Example:

https://www.sony.co.uk/discussions/message/646660

Are Spny customers not entitled to voice the fact they are unhappy with a fault with their TV???

[leonintelex]

I have started a brand new thread on a site that Sony cannot (lock , delete, close):

http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-led-lcd-tvs/1426432-sony-tvs-vertical-shadow-problem-very-unhappy...

I will also be posting this issue on a large amount of other LCD / HDTV Buyers

[Boughtafewsonys]

I'd also like moderators to comment on why the various LCD panel fault threads have been locked.

I'm also putting a lot of time into getting a fair outcome on my Bravia fault.

[sammieal]

add me to the list of people with dark lines on there screen i have a kld-40v3000 perchased it in 2008

[Big_G_Tattoo]

I have a KDL-40v3000 which i bought 2.5 years ago.

I also have a TCON Fault !

Dark lines appered on the screen on the right side about six months ago, they are most noticable with light backgrounds. At first I thought it was a signal issue but they are there all the time i.e TV channels, DVD, and consol. They are also getting worse.

I bought Sony because I thought I was buying the BEST, having bought a Hyundi lcd tv some years before which packed up, having said that it lasted longer without fault than the SONY !!!!

Its good to know I am not the only one with this problem, but I can not understand why sony are doing nothing about an obviouse common fault..

I am upset to say the least, this TV was not cheap and I have little money. I feel like I have been ripped off..  

[leonintelex]

Yes, join the growing list of people who are fed up with Sony's response to the problem.

Search for the countless other threads that Sony locked on this issue (they dont like people expressing how they feel on this forum). 

[strummer61]

My KDL-40X3500 is now booked in to the service centre this week.  Thanks to Lee (StartTheCar) I have faith that there are some decent people left at Sony UK, so let's hope they're going to fully own up to this now!

Here's a couple of pics of mine this morning   :

[leonintelex]

Sorry Strummer, looking at the pics you have uploaded this is not the same fault I have with my V3000.   The fault is grey lines (almost like a stain) that appears on the screen, if I get chance I will upload some pics of the fault so people can check it against their fault.

Update:

Thanks to Lee, I have now spoken to Sony and they have offered a resolution to my problem and I happy that it is now nearly at an end.

The new procedure is 10 times better than when I first put the complaint in last June (which is where most of my problems arose).   Things have changed considerably since then and Sony was a lot more helpful this time round.  

If you are having these problems pick up the phone and give them a chance to try and resolve it,  yes you may have to pay for the TV to be looked at (approx £65) but this is to eliminate any problems that may not be down to a manufacturing fault.

Up until this I was under the impression that Sony were a faceless corporate who did not care about their customers.  I now feel I was under the wrong impression and a number of people who work for Sony do really care about customer concerns.

[strummer61]

Hi Leon

So your fault is different?  Mine is identical to others, as can be seen in the thread titled :

X3000, X3500 and X4500 Screen Faults

Unfortunately, that thread is now Locked.  No idea why??

I don't think we are completely out of the woods yet.  There may be some good guys left at Sony UK, but I'm sure there are others who are trying to keep this thing quiet.