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UI want to bring awareness to how **Sony India** is treating its premium customers and violating consumer rights. I purchased a **Sony OLED TV (Model: XR-55A80J, ₹1,62,000)** on **November 14, 2021** from Croma. Recently, the TV developed a **panel defect**. When I contacted Sony, they admitted that the display panel needs to be replaced but **conveniently claim they cannot source it anymore.**
Instead of honoring a **free replacement** (as they cannot repair the product), Sony India is **forcing me to pay ₹79,167 for an exchange with a new model.** This is a blatant **violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019**, specifically:
• **Section 2(47): Deficiency in service** – Failing to provide necessary repairs or replacement for a defective product.
• **Section 2(47)(ii): Unfair trade practice** – Forcing a customer into an unfair exchange instead of honoring their obligation.
Even after multiple emails, Sony is **avoiding the words “defect” or “fault”** and refuses to acknowledge their responsibility. Their **scripted corporate replies** are carefully worded to **manipulate customers into submission.**
I have already:
✔ **Filed a complaint with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH).**
✔ **Initiated legal action through Consumer Court (E-Daakhil).**
✔ **Started social media exposure & escalations to Sony’s corporate departments.**
🚨 **This is NOT just about me. It’s about how big corporations exploit customers knowing that many won’t have the time, energy, or resources to fight back.** 🚨
Sony India is essentially saying:
“We can’t repair your TV, but we won’t replace it either. If you want a working Sony TV, **pay ₹79,167 more**.”
This is **corporate bullying** and sets a **dangerous precedent** for all consumers. **If they get away with this, what stops them from doing this to others?**
📢 **I need advice!**
1. **Has anyone fought a similar case and won?**
2. **What are the best ways to amplify this issue to ensure accountability?**
3. **Any suggestions on further legal escalation?**
I appreciate any support, advice, or suggestions! Let’s not allow corporations to take advantage of consumers in India. **This needs to stop!**
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LThey did this to me a couple of decades back when I had a Sony mp3 player. So yeah, nothing new. This was the time of brick & mortar stores & the store owner really cared about their reputation; the store owner intervened and got me a replacement.
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EAfter reading the entire content – my personal opinion.
Your TV is not in warranty, if the model is obsolete, the common process across brands is to pay half or whatever price and get a new tv.
With the evolving technology, models become obsolete quickly, in Samsung the product cycle is only 4 years. If you buy the model in 3rd or 4th year, your doomed as it will be phased out quickly.
Just because one bought a premium TV doesn’t mean Spare supply is endless.
Be rational – oled panels are expensive and even if they did provide the spare part it will be expensive. Why not just take the new TV? Usually they charge 60-70% or panel and 30% – 50% for pcb, here they are giving you new tv for less than 50% of cost, that too new mode. I’d suggest to negotiate for 50k and get the new tv, else the joke will be on you.
Again. Same process across brands, not just Sony, but be happy Sony is atleast providing you an alternate option. For our samsung tv, they have 20k for pcb and bought it from us because they couldn’t source panel after 4 years.
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UI get your point, but this isn’t just about warranty or obsolescence—it’s about **Sony failing to support its own ₹1,62,000 premium product just 3 years after purchase**.
Sony has **no spare parts**, making the TV **unrepairable**, and instead of taking responsibility, they’re forcing a **₹79,167 paid exchange**. Even if they **had the spare**, charging nearly **50% of the TV’s original price** for a repair is **completely unfair**, especially when **their own technician confirmed the failure was not caused by me.**
A premium brand should **ensure long-term serviceability**, not make customers pay again for their failure. If Sony follows this model, **every high-end TV buyer is at risk of paying half the price again just to keep it working after 3 years.**
This isn’t just about one TV—it’s about **Sony setting a bad precedent for premium customers.** A responsible brand **stands by its products, not forces expensive repairs or replacements**
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EI get ur point, but hear me out, sony has better service than some brands. Panels do cost as much and it’s pure bullshit that the entire industry is pushing oled when it’s longevity is in question.
Have one 2014 sony lcd going, 2018 oled going strong. For Our 1996 crt sony was able to get pcb from Japan in 2006. But had same shitty experience as you with samsung. Has a bad experience with top of the line sony experia phone.
Thats why I take their 5 year extended warranty to avoid this bull shit.
Like I said, negotiate and take the latest and greatest tv. Take only their top of the line series.
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IWhat sony is doing is immoral but not illegal.
Even if they had spare parts, it would have cost you atleast 60% of original price if not more. Panels are the most expensive part of the tv.
You are in fact getting a cheaper repair this way.
The issue is having a 3 year warranty period on a 1.6 l product is insane. It should be much longer.
Consumer needs to know that always assume warranty = product life in worst case. Most people will get more life easily out of it, but few unlucky one will get stuck
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PYou’re doing gods work, let us know how we can show support to the case or add our opinions to this.
The way I see it is – it’s a legal loop hole. They claim to repair or replace the same model. In this case, if that model is out of production or doesn’t exist anymore, they get an escape.
Ideally the govt will have to intervene and ask these brands to either replace it with whatever the latest version is no matter what. Or stop giving out such poorly worded warranties to dupe customers and be more transparent with it.
In this case, you’re probably going to win. But then they will mostly change the wording in their warranty going forward
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PHad a similar issue with my Sony Bravia TV. Something broke, Sony offered an exchange but asked me to buy a higher priced model and pay the difference. Absolutely illogical arguments. In the end I got it repaired from outside and fortunately it’s working fine. I bought Sony because everyone said they long lasting but absolutely not going to buy another one ever again.
My in-laws also had a bad experience. We called Sony person for repair, he said it will cost 15k. We said it’s too much, he gave me a contact and when I called him, he said basically the same Sony person will repair it for 6k with his personal warranty.
Such is the state of Sony India in 2024, shit is about to hit the roof.
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UBro chill! I am certain that if you take Sony to consumer court, you will win for sure. You will not only get free replacement but also ad additional compensation for harassment you will go through in the process.
If you are willing to go through it, please do it.If not, the alternate is to reach out to top management of the company on email. You may need to send one or two follow up emails to wake them up but that should solve your case.
Thanks
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UAppreciate the support bro! I’ve already escalated this to Sony’s top management via email, including the MD. I’ll follow up as needed, but if they remain unresponsive, I’m fully prepared to take this to consumer court.
It’s not just about my case—this kind of after-sales service needs to be challenged so other premium customers don’t face the same issue. Will keep this thread updated!
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UYou going to consumer court definitely helps the larger public.
An additional action you can take is to put it out on twitter / LinkedIn with proofs. Do that only if you are not hearing back from MD.
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UI’ve already posted about this on LinkedIn and Twitter to raise awareness. This fight isn’t just about me—it’s about consumer rights. Many won’t challenge such unfair policies, but I can, and I will.
Also, ₹1,62,000 was after paying 30% income tax, meaning I had to earn much more just to afford this. A premium product should come with premium reliability and service, not failures and costly replacements in just 3 years.
This is about holding brands accountable so others don’t face the same issue.
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UI had an issue with a volkswagen passat which has an engine size problems at 8000km in the first year.
The service center claimed an estimate of 12 lakhs on a 30 lakhs brand new vehicle stating this is not covered under warranty and my insurance did not cover it either.
I sent legal notices to VW service center, the india company ceo, and Germany head office ceo that I will hold them personally liable for purposefully send their shitty stalk to a “third world” country like India.
Also writing emails to VW global ceo in germany to share his home address so that I can fill the car with garbage and dump it his house.Went to auto expo with sign board about VW, gave TV interviews at Z and in autocar online for how shitty this experience has been and after one year of all of this nonsense I received a legal notice for unpaid parking charges at the service center for my car being “dumped” there for “no reasonable cause”.
Started calling all VW CXO/senior management I could find the number for and paid an intern to call all 15 folks at night and odd hours and festivals.
Sent legal notice to all fo themNo one from the service center nor company came to court since it was a civil offense and eventually the court passed a bailable warrant for the service center and company director. That’s when I started getting calls for finding reasonable resolution.
Finally got my car back after paying 1 lakh in “parking charges”.
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UThis is what sony does and never acknowledges their mistake and will force the customer to pay to get another working product.
This also happened to me. When I was a kid my psp had a fault that it stopped detecting the disc. At the service center they said the same but I knew a person who works there and he said they will fix the psp and will do the same with another customer who is facing the same problem basically it’s a second hand like what apple used to do.
My uncle’s xperia display also developed a defect and he was denied warranty. He took it to court and got compensated with a free new device.
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UYou are in the wrong.
You’ve said in other comments that your unit is out of warranty.
So any repair from Sony would have cost you money.
Since Sony cannot arrange a replacement panel for this model, they are offering a new unit of a different (newer) model, which costs 2 lakh at the cost it would have taken to fix the old unit.Sony is not in the wrong, they are actually going out of their way to give you a decent deal to retain your continued business.
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USo dear @CapitalistSloth, just for my understanding you’re saying this product sony sold me, its life time is just 3 years? Once the product go out of warranty which is just three years since I bought it , Sony has nothing to do with it? I hope it’s not gambling.
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UThat’s exactly what a 3 year warranty means. That if the item develops a defect after 3 years, you’ll have to pay for repairs/replacement.
Sony can in fact tell you tough luck and not bother with a discounted replacement either, but they are willing to give you a INR 2L TV for 70k, which it would have cost to replace the panel on your existing TV, which, pay attention here to this bit, you’d have had to pay for if a spare panel was available.
You can argue that a INR 1.6L TV should have a longer warranty or should not develop a defect after 3 years but that is a different discussion altogether.
The terms of service that you agreed to while making the purchase aren’t being violated by Sony.
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CAgreed. And if there’s anything illegal here, its this post. It’s misleading and defaming Sony for no fault of theirs. I had almost opined that Sony has bad customer service and was about to close the post when I came across OP’s comment mentioning its out of warranty and wants Sony to offer free replacement just because OP ‘thinks/feels’ so that’s what Sony should do.
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USamsung was unable to repair my monitor which was in warranty due to unavailability of panel ,so they asked me to wait for a month to source it, upon failure they refunded me the last listing price of the product,sony should do the same
Sony is known for shit customer service went through hell for my xm3 headphones ,don’t let them get away with it
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USony is infamous in India for this. They have excellent products but they make every excuse to not honor warranty if an issue arises. They rely on the fact that people will give up or not contest. LG is much better in my experience. I had developed a panel issue with my work monitor after 2 years and panel warranty was up to 3 years and it was promptly replaced no questions asked.
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UThat’s sad, especially coming from Sony. I had a similar problem with my TCL tv, again panel defect. This was just under the extended warranty period. They agreed to fix or replace the tv and collected it. Later they informed that my panel size for that series (43 inch) was no longer available and only option is to upgrade to 50 inch. After a week, I had a 50 inch tv at home – no extra charge!
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RWhile Sony is at fault for not keeping the panels for repair, I do believe they are offering a near-fair offer. As the faulty Sony TV is out of warranty, any repair is going to cost the panel replacement charges and any service charges. Also, OLED panels are pretty expensive and while I don’t know the cost of a 55inch OLED panel used in the A80J, I am pretty sure it’s close to the exchange cost asked by them for offering a brand new OLED TV, which is also the newest model you can get. If you were expecting that repair was going to be cheaper, you are mistaken. I know what I am talking about. You can haggle and bring the exchange price down but it’s not going away. Again, Sony is still at fault for not keeping spares but their resolution seems near-fair. No rights are being violated.
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Sif it’s in warranty they’ll give you a FREE replacement if not case karo ya amaran uposhan karo kuch nhi milega by going through a few comments i see the said product is out of warranty best I’d suggest you find a good local repair man and ask him to take care of it he’ll probably source a 3rd party chinese panel but ask him to source a good one my LG tv panel needed a replacement few years ago not in warranty contacted service centre they said since the TV is 10 +years old we don’t have this panel in stock and it’d be expensive and time consuming to source one so decided to get it done via a local repair shop he did it under 5k and no issues since 5 years 🙃
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SI had the exact same issue, but in the Netherlands.
2021 Sony model KE-55A87 bought in 2021, which developed a panel issue in 2024. The TV was outside warranty and they (Sony) offered a replacement with K-55XR84 if I paid them 750€ (~₹68000). They acknowledged that it’s an issue with these TVs but didn’t offer a free replacement.
Luckily I had insurance, which covered the costs.
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UThanks for your post. I have been facing a similar issue with Sony.
Purchased Sony BRAVIA XR A95L 65″ worth approx 3L around Aug 2024 and there is a manufacturing defect I noticed on the display in just 15-20 days of me buying it. I have been constantly after Sony to get my TV replaced as I have shown them the proof that it is a manufacturing defect but they only wish to change the display instead of a replacement. I do not want them to open up my new TV.
I wish to take them to the court as well…
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USimilar situation. Bought a Bravia 7 65″ for 2L in July 2024. It has started showing a dirty screen effect but the service centre is claiming that it’s dust. Again, they can do a panel change but I am not comfortable in having people who don’t know what dirty screen effect to open up my TV. Have registered a complaint at the consumer helpline, been 2 weeks now and nothing has happened. Only I have to call and check the status, no one from Sony ever reaches out. Looking for legal options, let’s see.
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