After initially defending its sale of Telefunken TV sets incorrectly marked as “Full HD”‚ Game stores have now removed the mislabelled stock from sale.
An investigation conducted by online telecommunications group MyBroadband and the global non-profit information systems association ISACA revealed that the “Full HD” 32-inch Telefunken TV‚ which was sold by Game and distributed by Nu-World in South Africa‚ contains a panel which is not Full HD‚ but rather the lesser HD Ready.
“It says Full HD on the box‚ on the back of the TV‚ and the salesman confirms the display puts out 1080p‚” MyBroadband reported. “There’s just one problem: the display panel is not Full HD.”
ISACA member Abu-Huraira Oman Abdalla purchased one of the supposedly “Full HD” TV sets (Telefunken model TLEDD-32FHD) from a Game store in KwaZulu-Natal‚ tested it and then shared his findings with MyBroadband.
“When plugged into the PC‚ there was no Full HD resolution to be found‚” MyBroadband reported.
Instead it had 720p HD Ready panels. Abdalla confirmed his digital tests with physical pixel counts. Initially‚ when confronted with the evidence‚ a Game spokesman told MyBroadband that the TV complied with the relevant standards and laws‚ and that “we believe the product is compliant”.
Nu-World told the group that “the unit is sold as a TV”‚ supports Full HD “dependent on source through HDMI”‚ and that it “makes no claim to native resolution”.
And Telefunken said it is only a “licenser” and that its licensee and distribution partner in South Africa‚ Nu-World‚ should comment on the issue.
Abdalla told MyBroadband that he could find no “country‚ standards authority‚ distributor‚ or retailer” which accepted the resolution of the set in question as being Full HD.
He said certain retailers he dealt with regarding the TV investigation did not sell the unit as they did not believe in “misleading or lying to customers”.
But shortly after the story was published online‚ Massmart Holdings‚ which owns Game‚ instructed Game to remove the offending stock from its shelves.
“It’s not unusual for Massmart to become involved in this way‚ and it’s a strength associated with governance in our group‚” said Massmart’s group corporate affairs executive‚ Brian Leroni.
The TV sets were “inaccurately labelled” by the supplier‚ he said‚ “however we could have been more diligent in conducting an accuracy check on labelling”.
Game did not set out to deliberately mislead its customers‚ Leroni said.
“We are really sorry for the inconvenience that has been caused to our customers.”
The unsold stock has now been removed from the shelves of Game stores countrywide and the issue is being dealt with by the supplier.
“The supplier is required to liaise with the National Consumer Commission to authorise and arrange a recall‚” Leroni said.
“The timing of the process is difficult to predict.”
Asked if the unsold stock would be labelled correctly before being put back on sale‚ Leroni said no decision had been taken regarding the withdrawn stock.
He said the company was still in the process of determining how many units of the TV had been sold.
Consumers who bought the model in question should contact the Game helpline on 0861 426 322 73.
Game stores recall 'full HD' TVs that aren't
After initially defending its sale of Telefunken TV sets incorrectly marked as “Full HD”‚ Game stores have now removed the mislabelled stock from sale.
An investigation conducted by online telecommunications group MyBroadband and the global non-profit information systems association ISACA revealed that the “Full HD” 32-inch Telefunken TV‚ which was sold by Game and distributed by Nu-World in South Africa‚ contains a panel which is not Full HD‚ but rather the lesser HD Ready.
“It says Full HD on the box‚ on the back of the TV‚ and the salesman confirms the display puts out 1080p‚” MyBroadband reported. “There’s just one problem: the display panel is not Full HD.”
ISACA member Abu-Huraira Oman Abdalla purchased one of the supposedly “Full HD” TV sets (Telefunken model TLEDD-32FHD) from a Game store in KwaZulu-Natal‚ tested it and then shared his findings with MyBroadband.
“When plugged into the PC‚ there was no Full HD resolution to be found‚” MyBroadband reported.
Instead it had 720p HD Ready panels. Abdalla confirmed his digital tests with physical pixel counts. Initially‚ when confronted with the evidence‚ a Game spokesman told MyBroadband that the TV complied with the relevant standards and laws‚ and that “we believe the product is compliant”.
Nu-World told the group that “the unit is sold as a TV”‚ supports Full HD “dependent on source through HDMI”‚ and that it “makes no claim to native resolution”.
And Telefunken said it is only a “licenser” and that its licensee and distribution partner in South Africa‚ Nu-World‚ should comment on the issue.
Abdalla told MyBroadband that he could find no “country‚ standards authority‚ distributor‚ or retailer” which accepted the resolution of the set in question as being Full HD.
He said certain retailers he dealt with regarding the TV investigation did not sell the unit as they did not believe in “misleading or lying to customers”.
But shortly after the story was published online‚ Massmart Holdings‚ which owns Game‚ instructed Game to remove the offending stock from its shelves.
“It’s not unusual for Massmart to become involved in this way‚ and it’s a strength associated with governance in our group‚” said Massmart’s group corporate affairs executive‚ Brian Leroni.
The TV sets were “inaccurately labelled” by the supplier‚ he said‚ “however we could have been more diligent in conducting an accuracy check on labelling”.
Game did not set out to deliberately mislead its customers‚ Leroni said.
“We are really sorry for the inconvenience that has been caused to our customers.”
The unsold stock has now been removed from the shelves of Game stores countrywide and the issue is being dealt with by the supplier.
“The supplier is required to liaise with the National Consumer Commission to authorise and arrange a recall‚” Leroni said.
“The timing of the process is difficult to predict.”
Asked if the unsold stock would be labelled correctly before being put back on sale‚ Leroni said no decision had been taken regarding the withdrawn stock.
He said the company was still in the process of determining how many units of the TV had been sold.
Consumers who bought the model in question should contact the Game helpline on 0861 426 322 73.
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