Sony A8F - Severe vertical banding - Sony won't honor the warranty

[Palavomaras]

I would like to highlight an issue I currently face with Sony and their refusal to honor their warranty and replace a defective panel.

I recently purchased a Sony OLED A8F model that comes with a 5 year warranty. 

Immediately when I turned on the TV I noticed several vertical lines across the panel as well as a burned pixel. 

Following a call with the store I purchased the tv from, in which I was advised that this was their last model and they cannot replace it, I called Sony and explained the situation. 

I sent Sony all these photos and explained to them that I haven't seen any other panel with this defect. Initially they agreed to replace but several days later, called me back saying that this is within the acceptable specs because it is an OLED. 

I fail to see how this is within the normal specs as this is affecting my viewing experience significantly especially in dark/grey background scenes. 

Does anyone else have the same problem ? Is this something that it is really normal ? 

[Pascale_F]

Hi Palavomaras,

Welcome to the community. I'll see if I can track down an answer. Maybe someone else in the community has an idea in the meantime.

Thanks,

Pascale

[The_Black_Rose]

Hi Palavomaras ,

I've passed this to my contact at Sony. Hopefully someone will get in tocuh with you soon.

Cheers,
The_Black_Rose

[Tektek12]

I would return it to the store you bought it from and ask for a refund and let them sort it out.

Buy another tv.

If its faulty (which anyone can see it is) then they have to take it back.

If sony dont wish to honor this then contact Financial ombudsman, send them pics and sonys response and see if they will help.

They can contact sony with your permission and sort this out.

Good luck

[Palavomaras]

So I had an update earlier rom Sony who claims that since I purchased the TV from the eBay store of electronicworldtv my warranty is now voided and they refuse to replace of repair my TV. Obviously they don't care that this is a physical store in Birmingham and the TV was brand new, but I assume that customers who buy Sony products from JL or Currys eBay stores are not covered anymore by Sony warranty simply because they purchased it from eBay. 

As if this was not enough they also asked me to provide them again with answers to questions that I answered the very first time I spoke to Sony without any good reason. Probably they think they it is a great idea to make me lose my time.

Just goes to show how much Sony respects its customers. Never again SONY.

I will return the TV and ask to replace most likely with the GZ950 but I just wanted to let people know of this. 

Many thanks to all for your kind previous answers, SONY's reply below. 

Thank you for your recent email.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the situation may have caused yourselves.

With reference to your enquiry regarding your Sony TV KD-55AF8,we would like to clarify that the online exchange request was canceled because any service will be chargeable as the TV was purchased from Ebay.

Kindly note that the extended warranty is voided as well.
In order to identify the root cause of the issue and provide a proper fix accordingly, we are seeking your kind assistance to elaborate the following for further investigation:
1- What is the exact software version? (Home - Help - System information )

2- What is the device ID? (Home - Help - System information )
3- When has the issue started to occur?
4- How often does the issue occur?
5- Do you have any external devices connected to the TV? ( EX: Blu-ray, DVD, set-top box, Ariel cable, soundbar ... etc)
6- How are they connected to the TV? What are the cables used? To which ports on the TV are they connected? (please mention each device separately)
7- What were you using when the issue occurred?
8- Do you have any USB devices connected to the TV? (EX: HDD hard drive for recording )

Your cooperation and understanding are highly appreciated.
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this email.
Yours sincerely,
Mais