A ruling from the Consumer Complaints Commission has awarded a petitioner 500 kr. in compensation for not having been told by an outlet that a new television set only had a limited life-span.

Since the customer bought the television, up to 700,000 similar units – television sets that are only MPEG-2 compliant - have been sold and the television trade fears having to fork out DKK 350 million in compensation, according to Børsen.

MPEG confusion
The potential financial blow to outlets comes because some 685,000 flat screen televisions sold from January 2008 to November 2009 are only able to receive MPEG-2 signals – which will only be able to be used until 2012, when Danish national television moves exclusively to MPEG-4 technology.

The case began in January 2008 when a purchaser complained that she had not been told that the television she was buying had a limited life-span. At the time, there were only few televisions available that were prepared for MPEG-4.

500 kr.
Nonetheless, the Authority ruled that she should have been informed of the limited life-span of the set she was purchasing and ruled that she was liable to DKK 500 in compensation from the Fona chain, which sold the set on January 14, 2008.

Since then, trade sources say that some 685,000 similar sets have been sold, and if all customers demand and receive DKK 500 kr., the trade will have to fork out some DKK 350 million.

Uncertain
The Consumer Council says it is uncertain whether all customers will be liable to compensation.

“The decision points to the fact that dealers should have known the situation and informed customers,” Consumer Council Deputy Manager Lars Arent tells Børsen adding that the Commission ruling is highly concrete and refers to a specific date of purchase.

The Danish Chamber of Commerce is furious at the ruling and its potential consequences.

“It can’t be right that outlets and consumers have to pay the price of a messy political process,” Chamber of Commerce Foodstuff and Consumer Chief Lone Rasmussen tells Børsen, adding that the public sector has not provided timely information about the different standards.