On August 17th 2003, I bought a Phillips LCD TV.  It comes with a John Lewis 5 year Warranty.  In late July 2008, the volume control button on the top of the TV snapped so that it fell into the TV case.  I contacted the John Lewis store, told them what had happened confirmed and was told to return it to the store.  I took it back to the store on August 2nd, they accepted it for repair and that it was a 'mechanical' fault and was covered under the Warranty.  They provided a receipt for it which stated that it could take 3 to 5 weeks to repair.

By this week (the fifth week) I'd heard nothing from them and called them.  Apparently, the person who was dealing with it was on holiday so they arranged for a call-back the following day.  They returned the call and left a rather abrupt message claiming to have called some weeks earlier (August 8th) and left a message - I had no answering service at the time so I'm not quite sure who they left a message for.

On finally managing to make contact with the Manager, their stated opinion is that the damage was 'Accidental' - based on the opinion of "Their Agent" and not covered under the Warranty.  However, they went on to state that they would like to offer me £50 off the cost of a new one if I bought a new one from them.

So, they seem to have concluded that I am somehow to blame for the damage so that it falls outside the warranty but offer absolutely no basis for that decision other than "Their agent said so".  There is no other damage to the Television, it's sat on the worktop since the day it was bought.  It's just one of those unfortunate things that it broke just before the Warranty expired.

I'm beyond arguing with them, I've shopped there for years and spent thousands there.  I'm NOT asking for a new TV, I simply want them to repair the one I've got.  As for offering me £50, which they later amended to included that they would contribute that towards the cost of repair, either they think I am somehow responsible or they don't ?!  This just smacks of them 'trying to wriggle out of it'.

So let the public decide what they think.  But, as far as I am concerned, their warranty isn't worth the paper it is written on.