UPDATED:Move By The Good Guys To Flog JVC TV’s Upsets Some Executives + Dick Smith

The rift has been caused due to the perceived
quality of the Chinese made JVC TV’s which have no association with the Victor
Company the original manufacturers of JVC TV’s other than via the licensing of a name.    

The TV’s that are manufactured in the same factory
as the Dick Smith DSE house brand and the Dick Smith JVC branded products. Some
models are made in factories that have come under scrutiny due to their lack of
compliance with in Country regulations. 

Yale Prima a South African Company who offer
Australian retailers an OEM branding service for house brands has been
contracted to supply the new TV range.

The man behind the move to sell house branded JVC
TV’s is Geoff Reader, formerly the group general manager of merchandise
planning and inventory management who was recently appointed to the role of
Chief Merchant.

Reader was convinced to sell the JVC branded TV’s
which have no connection with JVC other than via a licensing agreement for the
name by Yala Prima management, a Company who has had a past relationship with
Reader. 

 Yale Prima is a distributor of electrical,
toiletries, cosmetics and household Goods. They supply a wide range of branded
and non-branded products to the retail, wholesale and commercial sectors
according to their web site.  

The Company is listed on the Australian Competition
+ Consumer web site following the recall of products distributed by them.

 In 2006, Yale Appliance Group joined forces
with Prima Australasia in Melbourne, forming Yale Prima Pty Ltd. 

This investment attracted interest from a South
African public company, Nu World Holdings, who are one of South Africa’s major
distributors of appliances, white & brown goods.

JVC quit the retail TV market back in 2008, the
owner of the brand Victor Co of Japan effectively withdraw from its loss-making
domestic TV business and now licenses its name to Chinese house brand
manufacturers. 

At the time JVC was manufacturing TV’s in Japan,
management said that the decision was taken to quit the TV market due to sharp
falls in retail prices of flat-screen TVs.

According to one executives from The Good Guys who
spoke to ChannelNews the decision to sell JVC Branded TV’s has not been
welcomed by several managers who are concerned about the quality of the brand.

One executive said “The
TV market is in decline and to introduce another brand is seriously
questionable especially a house brand TV that has a questionable pedigree”.

Also upset is Dick Smith Management who were of the
opinion that they had the rights to the name exclusively. 

Neil Merola Marketing Director at Dick Smith said “we constantly
review our product range. We were of the opinion that we had exclusivity with
the JVC brand. If Yale Prima has
done a deal with The Good Guys we will review our relationship, as there are plenty
of other brands out there”. 

A visit to various forums reveals several problems
associated with JVC TV’s manufactured in China. 

At the US Consumer Affairs site one JVC TV owner
wrote “In August 2014, I purchased a 42 inch JVC television and it went
blank in February 2015. I was advised that it was under warranty, they sent
their technicians to pick the TV in March and it was sent …for repairs. 

“After 6 weeks, I was told that there is no spare
in the country for this TV and they are waiting for the power supply from
overseas. I called at the end of May, I was told the TV is lying at one of
their centres as it is not repairable. There is serious problem with this
product. Once broken, no one wants to carry responsibility. There is no support
services, no spares for it”.

Another owner wrote “JVC used to be a good
brand in analogue TVs. We have one almost 20 yrs. old still working. This LCD
TV just stopped working. This is a bedroom TV 32-inch which probably has less
than a month’s actual viewing time on it. We just do not use it that often.
These TV are not worth fixing unless under warranty even if you could get
someone to work on them. I think we will stick to Samsung from now on”.