I purchased a 50" Sony Grand Wega (top of the line) TV in June 2004 for $2300.00. I duly registered it with Sony, and other than replacing a lamp for $200 the set was fantastic. I had no reason or intention of buying another set anytime in the foreseeable future. Or so I thought. In August 2009 (5 years and 2 months after purchase) vertical blue pinstripes began to appear on the screen.
I called Sony support and they advised I check my cable connections. I jiggled the cables around and the lines disappeared. Hooray! But then a day or so later the lines reappeared. I chalked it up to my cat knocking a cable loose, so I checked the connections. They were all fine, and the lines didn't go away. So I googled "blue vertical lines on Sony TV" and found a few hits. One of them suggested giving the set a firm "thump" on the top or side. I did that and once again the lines disappeared. But they kept coming back and getting brighter.
Further searching on the internet turned up hit after hit after hit of Sony Grand Wega televisions with blue blobs, and blue lines, and green lines, and red lines, and yellow blobs invading the blue blobs and all of them were caused by the same thing - optical block failure. The optical block on a Sony Grand Wega is the light engine. It's what makes the TV go. And it's expensive - $1000 - $2000 to replace. And even better, after making the repair, you still have a defective optical block because Sony didn't correct the original design defect!
To add insult to injury, Sony knew about these defects and did nothing about them. There were some limited warranty extensions for certain models and years, but no notification to owners. Sony has tried to hide behind their assertion that if you weren't notified it was becaused you didn't register your set. Then, as in my case, where my set was registered I was told there was no problem with my model (not true), or there was no warranty extension (not true) or the warranty extension expired last year. You get a different answer each time you call.
Some owners have had offers to pay for half the repairs or to purchase a new TV at a reduced cost. Again, depends on who you talk to at Sony. From what I read on the groups, most folks who did receive offers have turned them down, because even half of the repair bill is too much for a high-end, high dollar TV that lasts only 5 years or less.
One consumer was successful in CA small claims court - and did get a Judge to declare a reasonable life expectancy for a product such as this television would be 12.5 years, and they were able to collect damages accordingly.
Rather than restate all the horror stories, I'm including a few links for your convenience. You'll find the same story over and over and over.
GetSatisfaction.com (there are years of archived info as well)
http://getsatisfaction.com/sony/topics/sony_grand_wega_optical_block_issue?utm_content=topic_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=reply_notification
ecoustics.com - search sony grand wega, or sony LCD projection TV problems
Again, tons and tons of posts - all with the same problem.
Finally, there is a facebook page - I have a defective Sony TV dedicated to this issue.
Speaking of facebook - Sony has a facebook page, but if you post a negative comment, they have begun restricting access.
Sony sold these sets for years with knowledge of this fatal flaw. They did nothing to address it and this has left hundreds if not thousands of Grand Wega owners with large worthless TV sets that should have lasted another 8-10 years at a minimum. When you have this many sets that require a major repair to get 1-2 years additional life, there is something seriously wrong. Consumers need to know that Sony is not the company they used to be and they are not standing behind their products.
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