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“Astronomical Repair Cost for Loewe TV”

written by Bibs on 07/07/2011

We bought a Loewe Xelios A26 television in May 2007. Shortly after buying it we realised how unfriendly the user interface was and how temperamental it could be. We often had to resort to turning the power on and off until it 'sorted itself out'. For the past few months we have had an intermittent fault where some days we cannot get a picture, only sound. It's almost as though there is a dry joint because if we leave it on, without the picture, all day, and then turn it on and off a couple of times in the evening, we can often get one. We contacted Loewe and they give us the details of their nearest repairer.
After 6 weeks with the repair agents they decided we needed a new LCD panel. They quoted £2100 for the repair. This is absolutely ridiculous as it is nearly double the cost of a new TV. I collected my TV from the repairer (still broken) and contacted Loewe (after tracking down a number for the UK HQ in their arty but not very functional website). They have said that they cannot improve on this repair price but have offered me a 30% discount on a new model.
I cannot believe that such a high value (and Loewe would argue 'high quality') TV is basically unrepairable. Do Loewe do it on purpose in order to ensure new sales ? How naive they can be that experiencing such an unreliable product would encourage us to buy again from them. Quality is about fitness for purpose at the right price. We were disappointed that the TV failed so soon and that it will have to be scrapped.
We definitely will not but a Loewe product again nor would we recommend it to anyone else.
Planned obsolescence like this is an insult to the consumer.