Vizio accused Consumer Reports of publishing a “grossly inaccurate” survey after the organization withdrew is recommendation for Vizio televisions over reliability issues.
Vizio released a lengthy press release to rebuke Consumer Reports’ findings, and asked that the organization disclose the entire methodology for its survey, publish Vizio's full comments, and rescind its decision to include the “fatally flawed” reliability data in its overall TV scores.
"We at Vizio strongly disagree with Consumer Reports' results, which are inconsistent with actual Vizio data, and it is disappointing that Consumer Reports has chosen to allow the results of a deeply flawed survey to impact the overall assessment of our products," says Scott Patten, senior vice president of operations and tech support, in a statement. “Rather than provide meaningful insights, Consumer Reports' announcement threatens to mislead consumers about the likelihood they will encounter problems with their TVs in the future.”
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According to Vizio, Consumer Reports’ survey, which asked respondents who bought TVs between 2010 and 2018 whether their TVs "broke or stopped working as they should,” didn’t provide enough context or information for respondents, particularly as it relates to connected TVs.
“Consumer Reports' survey skews toward a narrow demographic that is not representative of the entire purchasing public, and the frustrations encountered with modern, connected devices may be attributed to difficulties adapting to, and a misunderstanding of, newer technologies,” Vizio said.
Consumer Reports did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Vizio’s statement. The organization said that both Vizio and Hisense have challenged its findings.
Consumer Reports last week withdrew its recommendation for TVs made by Vizio as well as Element, RCA and Hisense after it completed its reliability survey.
“As we incorporate reliability into our overall score for more product categories, we continue to see discrepancies in how products perform in our rigorous lab tests versus how well they hold up over time. But, we know that consumers want products that both perform well in their daily lives and are reliable,” said Liam McCormack, vice president of research, testing and insights at Consumer Reports, in a statement. “Products that earn our recommendation are more likely to offer consumers the performance they demand and the longevity they expect.”