Samsung Electronics America has been slapped with a class action lawsuit by upset consumers who claim that TVs they purchased online lack a number of key advertised features.
The lawsuit, Rodriguez v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. et al, accuses Samsung and Best Buy of advertising certain 4K QLED TVs with features that were not available on the TVs that were actually delivered.
News of the report comes from the Korean news agency Yonhap, but it doesn’t make clear how many people are involved in the class action lawsuit or which specific TV models they bought. But it lists some of the advertised features that were not delivered, including Samsung’s Motion Accelerator Turbo+, which is a technology that’s designed to reduce blur without increasing latency or lag, Freesync, which is an essential gaming feature that reduce screen tearing with variable refresh rates, and HDMI 2.1 ports.
Notably, those features are particularly desirable to gamers, who want to enjoy smooth, judder-free and low-lag gaming experiences on their shiny new TVs. So we can imagine that some people may be quite upset if the TV they bought advertised these features but didn’t actually have them.
We’re reluctant to accuse Samsung of any wrongdoing here as it is a highly respectable company that prides itself on the quality of its TVs and also its advertising. Most likely what’s happened is that there were mistakes in the Best Buy listings – either the described features only pertained to certain sizes of the model in question and it wasn’t made clear which ones, or the listings just had the wrong information.
It’s fairly common that the same model of TV will have different features and capabilities depending on the size, with smaller models often lacking some of the most advanced functionality. For example, if we look at LG’s C2 OLED TV from last year, the 42-inch model has a lower spec audio system than the 48-inch version. In addition, HDTVTest's review found that the 42-inch model was using an older, less-advanced OLED panel than the 48-inch model.
Whether or not the consumers really were misled or just didn’t read the small print remains to be seen, but if it turns out they didn’t receive features as advertised then they likely have a good case for receiving some compensation.
More importantly, the lawsuit serves as a reminder that consumers should take great care when choosing a specific TV model and size to ensure that it comes with the specifications they require. Be sure to check the specifications for the specific size of the model you intend to buy. It also makes sense to view trusted reviews of the model in question, to ensure the features work as advertised.
