Sold as stunning in the advertisement. Refused when its pixels died.
This video is not about the person. He came to do his job, and he did what Sony's process asked of him. What you see is the process: a warranty decided from a phone photo, with no test, no report and no proof. That is the point, and that is all this video is about.
Sony would not honour the warranty it sold us. Our advice, from our own experience: do not buy a Sony TV.
We paid ₹1,50,031 for this television. In month 22 of Sony's own three year warranty the panel failed on its own. No dent, no crack, no scratch. Sony said the damage came from outside, decided that from photos sent on WhatsApp, and has never shown us the damage.
- Paid
- ₹1,50,031
- Model
- K-55XR70
- Failed at
- Month 22 of 36
- Billed
- ₹29,130
An independent consumer account of one owner's Sony BRAVIA warranty claim. Not affiliated with Sony. Corrections published on request.
The advertisement took thirty seconds. The warranty has taken two months, and it is still going.
- Dents, cracks or scratches found
- 0Dents, cracks or scratches found
- Month of Sony's own 3-year warranty
- 22/36Month of Sony's own 3-year warranty
- Tests named. Reports shown. Proof given.
- 0Tests named. Reports shown. Proof given.
- The bill they sent us instead
- ₹29,130The bill they sent us instead
Reporting a fault to Sony is not a process. It is a circle.
Two months in, this is all it has ever been. Every step leads back to the one before it, and nothing in the middle of it is ever written down.
Why did I buy a Sony BRAVIA?
Ohh. Sorry Bravia.
Step 01
You report the fault.
A job number is created. Something is finally happening.
Step 02
A man comes and photographs your screen.
He does not use any tool. He does not run any test you can name.
Step 03
The photos go to people you never meet.
On WhatsApp. You never learn their names or what they looked at.
Step 04
“External damage.” Here is your bill.
₹29,130, and five days to approve it.
Step 05
You ask, in writing, for the proof.
What test did you do? What damage do you mean?
Step 06
Nothing comes back. Your file is closed.
Closed on the grounds that you did not reply. We had replied twice.
↻ Back to step 01. We are still going round.
A warranty is only worth what the company will actually honour. Sony would not honour this one.
This is what a denied warranty claim actually looks like. The TV cost ₹1,50,031. It came with three years of full warranty from Sony. In month 22 the panel started failing on its own, with no dent, crack or scratch anywhere on it. Sony said the damage came from outside. They never showed a photograph of that damage. They never named a test. They never told us the warranty period on our own TV, even after we asked three times in writing. Then they closed the case and said we had not replied, which was not true.
What is left is a bill for ₹29,130, two months of emails and phone calls, and a lot of stress. That is the real risk you take. Not that the TV breaks. That the company can decide your fault caused it, show you nothing, and walk away.
The advertisementMonth 22
- Bill, on a TV inside warranty
- ₹29,130Bill, on a TV inside warranty
- Of emails and phone calls
- 2 monthsOf emails and phone calls
- Photographs of the damage
- 0Photographs of the damage
Every corner is intact. Every pixel test fails.
We bought the TV on 20 September 2024. That date falls inside Sony's own BRAVIA Special Warranty offer, which gave this exact model three years of full warranty. We also bought a two year Croma extended warranty the same day. Five years of cover in total.
The TV was in ordinary use for about 21 months, wall mounted, never moved and never knocked. Then thin vertical lines appeared at the top left of the screen. We called Sony's helpline the same day. More lines appeared while we were still on the call. That call is recorded in Sony's own system.
The fault kept growing. More lines, then a dark patch. We are not going to claim how long it took, because we did not time it. What we know is that it grew, on its own, with nobody touching the TV.
We reported it to Sony's authorised service centre, well inside the warranty. Their verdict came back: “damaged due to external cause.” Not covered. Repair bill: ₹29,130, to be paid by us.
We asked them to show us the damage. All they sent was a photograph of the failing screen. That is where this website starts.
Two records. Two days. Neither shows a mark.
Dated, and described exactly as they are. One is a frame from a video we recorded the day the fault started. One is Sony's own photograph, taken by their technician. Each says what it shows and what it does not prove.
The day it started
- Shows
- A still frame from a video we recorded the day the fault appeared. Vertical lines and a dark band, over a picture that is still playing.
- Not
- Any crack, dent or point of impact. This is one frame of a short clip, not a series taken over time.
The photo Sony calls proof
- Shows
- A pale test screen, taken at our home during the inspection. Sony's technician took this one, not us. It is the exact image their decision refers to. Private details blacked out by us.
- Not
- A scratch, dent or crack. It only shows the fault.
The gap in their case
A photo of a dead screen proves the screen is dead.
It does not prove who broke it, or what broke it. That is the one piece of evidence missing from this whole file, and it is the only piece that matters. Sony has had two months to produce it.
“…the Display panel has been damage due to external cause… Photograph attached for your reference.”
Word for word, from the rejection email. The full email is not shown because it carries our personal details. The photograph they attached was a photo of the failing screen, not of any damage.
Two months. No proof. A legal notice.
20 Sep 2024
Bought, and covered for five years
A BRAVIA K-55XR70, 55″ Mini LED, ₹1,50,031. Sony's own offer gave this model three years of full warranty. We added a two year Croma extended warranty for ₹20,789 the same day.
Sep 2024 – Jul 2026
About 21 months, then the panel died
Wall mounted the whole time. No drops, no knocks, nothing.
2 Jul 2026
The lines appear. We call Sony.
Vertical lines at the top left, over a working picture. We called Sony the same day. More lines appeared while we were describing it. That call is in Sony's own system. The service request was raised that day.
3 Jul 2026
Home visit. Then ₹10,000 in cash.
A technician came home. He found no mark, because there are none. He photographed the screen and sent the pictures to a team somewhere else on WhatsApp. Then he offered to get it covered for ₹10,000 in cash. We said no.
More on this14 Jul 2026
“Damaged due to external cause.” Bill: ₹29,130.
Sony's decision arrives by email. Three parts to be replaced, two of them inside the panel. Their proof: a photo of the failing screen. We replied the same day asking how they reached this. No technical answer ever came.
24 Jul 2026
We report the cash offer in writing
We emailed Sony India about it and offered to give them the date, the person and exactly what was said. They never replied. No enquiry, no acknowledgement, nothing.
27 Jul 2026
Final notice
We asked for a written technical report, an independent inspection, the warranty honoured if no external damage is proved, and one named person to deal with. No real reply.
29 Jul 2026
Case closed, for a reason that is not true
Sony closed the service request saying the customer “had not confirmed the same.” We had not gone silent. We had disputed it in writing on 14 July and again on 24 July. Both emails are in their inbox.
1 Aug 2026
They inspect again, after closing the case
Three days after telling us the matter was shut, the service centre came to our home again. We recorded it. On camera the attending person confirms he never physically examined the panel, cannot state any engineering qualification, and does not know how the damage happened.
3 Aug 2026
Our emails bounce back
We sent a detailed reply. Two of the Sony addresses rejected it. The emails were bounced by Sony's own mail servers.
4 Aug 2026
A phone call and a promise
Someone from Sony called to say the matter was being looked into. Nothing followed. Not one line in writing.
6 Aug 2026 · still open
An automatic reply. That is all we have.
We followed up again. Back came an automatic receipt with a case number. In five weeks Sony has sent us a verdict, a bill, a closure notice and a robot. Not one photograph of the damage they say we caused.
1 Sep 2026
A legal notice. ₹5 crore.
Sony India's lawyers write: delete the videos, the posts and this site, apologise within seven days, or face civil and criminal action for ₹5 crore. The notice runs to six pages. It does not contain a technical report.
What it says, and where we stand
Our reply · 2 Sep 2026
A ₹5 crore legal notice, for asking for proof.
Recorded the day after the notice arrived. Nothing comes down. The complaint stays filed. The question stays the same: how did you decide?
What the notice says, and where we stand“Paise do, warranty lo. Paise nahi? ‘Physical damage’ lo.”
What a warranty is worth, in one line
₹10,000 in cash could make the “physical damage” go away.
The technician sent by Sony's authorised centre looked at the TV at our home. He found no dent, no crack and no scratch, because there are none. Then, before any decision had come from Sony, he made an offer. This is how we remember it:
“Agar aap 10k do, to warranty me cover karwa dunga, turant. Nahi to humne photo upload kar di hai. Sony wale aapko batayenge ki warranty milegi ki nahi.”
In plain English: “Pay ₹10,000 and I will get it covered under warranty, immediately. Otherwise, we have already uploaded the photo. Sony will tell you whether you get warranty or not.”
Said at our home, after the inspection, before any decision. We said no: “nahi, mujhe to warranty hi chahiye.”
At the time we thought it was an official charge. It was not. A real panel repair is quoted near ₹30,000, on paper, with a bill. This was ₹10,000 in cash, with no receipt.
If ₹10,000 can turn “not covered” into “covered”, what made the decision technical?
We refused. The report came back: “physical damage.” On a TV without a single scratch.
We want to be straight about this one. It is our own account of a conversation, not a document. We reported it to Sony in writing on 24 July 2026 and they never replied. No finding has been made either way. Everything else on this page is on paper.
Where is the physical damage?
Sony says physical damage. Physical damage leaves a physical mark. So point to it. We looked everywhere. You can look too:
- the dent: not found
- the crack: not found
- the scratch: not found
- the impact mark: not found
- the technical report: not found
- the lab test: not found
- any proof at all: not found
Put it another way
A broken engine does not prove somebody crashed the car.
A failing screen does not prove the customer broke it. The fault is not the cause. That gap is the whole case, and nothing Sony has sent in two months has filled it.
One look. No test. One verdict.
This is how a ₹1,50,031 warranty claim was decided. It is taken from our own documents and from what we saw at our home.
What actually happened, this case only
- 01
The screen was photographed on a phone. The pictures were sent to a team somewhere else on WhatsApp.
- 02
That team decided the cause was external, from the photographs alone. We have never met them and we do not know their names.
- 03
What that team said became Sony's official answer to us, sent to us in writing.
- 04
Sony's letter calls him “our engineer.” On camera we asked him what qualification he has. He did not answer.
- 05
We asked him how the damage happened. On camera he says he does not know.
Think about what that means. The reason your claim is refused can be decided from a phone photo of your own broken screen, by someone you will never speak to, who never sees your TV, and who never has to explain how they reached it. There is nothing you can argue with, because nothing was written down.
This section describes one service experience and is our own account of it and our honest opinion on it. It is not a statement about any other customer or any other case.
This is a known problem.
Publicly posted reports from other owners, and Sony's own support notice. Presented as reported by their sources.
“Vertical lines of death”
Owner forum threads about BRAVIA sets developing vertical lines, widely described as a panel or T-Con failure needing a new panel.
What Hi-Fi? forumLines at 15 months
A user reported vertical lines after about 15 months, and says he was told the cover was finished, with a charge just to look at it.
AVForumsSony extended the warranty itself
Sony has published a formal warranty extension notice for BRAVIA LCD panel failures. Panels failing on their own is a documented problem, not a freak event.
Sony India support noticeIt did not only happen to us. Send us yours, we will publish it.
One household is a complaint. A hundred households is a pattern, and a pattern is much harder to file away. If a Sony warranty claim has been refused on you, write to us. With your permission your case gets its own entry on this site, next to ours.
- 01
The set and the date
Model number and the day you bought it. A bill or an order screenshot is ideal.
- 02
What actually failed
What you saw, and how many months in. Plain words are fine. You do not need to sound technical.
- 03
What Sony said back
Their exact wording, especially if they used the phrase external damage or physical damage.
- 04
What it cost you
The amount they asked for, and anything you have already paid.
- 05
Any paperwork
Job sheet, ticket number, emails, WhatsApp threads. Screenshots are enough.
- 06
Your call on publishing
Tell us whether we may name you, keep you anonymous, or not publish it at all.
Send it here
we-sucks@sonybravia.comYou do not have to write it neatly. A few lines and a photograph of the job sheet is plenty. We will come back to you before anything of yours goes up.
Open a pre-filled emailNothing is published without you. We can use your name, keep you anonymous, or simply keep your case on file. You tell us which, and you can change your mind later.
Would we buy another Sony BRAVIA? No.
Everything above this line is on paper and you can check it. This part is different. This part is our personal opinion, and we want to be clear about that.
Our advice, after living through it: do not buy a Sony BRAVIA.
Sony BRAVIA sets are not cheap. At this price, in our opinion, other brands give you a better television and far better service when something goes wrong. That is where our money is going next time.
A panel that dies on its own in month 22 is not a television we can recommend to anybody. But even if it had lasted, the warning would be the same one. We are warning you about the day it stops working, and about the service and the support you get after that. In our case it was not a repair process at all. It was a circle.
The whole thing, in one line
If there really was physical damage, why can nobody show it?
A warranty you cannot enforce is not a warranty. It is a sticker on a box.
Want to reach us? Write to us directly.
Journalists, consumer groups, lawyers, and anyone from Sony who would finally like to show us the damage: this inbox is open. If you are an owner with a refused claim of your own, there is a template waiting for you in send us your case.
Email us at
we-sucks@sonybravia.comWe read every message, and we answer the ones that need an answer. There is no form, no ticket number and nobody here will ask you to send a photograph on WhatsApp.