Hello,
Maybe this comes as a surprise but the legal position in Switzerland with respect to consumer protection and consumer rights is quite advanced and does protect the consumer quite well. An example here is that every purchase unless from a private person and explicitly stated to that effect has an automatic 14 day right of return if the goods are unused and with the sales receipt. As in many countries this does not mean money back and quite often means voucher back
With respect to defective LCD panels there are basic rules as to when the panel is defective but these are rather complex to understand and not simply "more than 5 dead pixels and you have a dud". If a problem can be demonstrated the manufacturer has the responsibility to replace or repair and not the supplier - though this also depends on the status of the supplier. If the supplier is an official representative of the manufacturer then they act as the agent of the supplier and thus have responsibility. This is written into their contracts with the supplier. If they try to fob you off with a "contact the manufacturer" statement and refuse to help they are assuming that you will act like many people and accept the small fault as "normal". If you then threaten them with sending it back to the manufacturer with a letter of complaint regarding their lack of service or interest in representing the good name of the brand then they will almost always change their tone- ie take you seriously.
The above may sound a problem of Swiss lack of service but it is actually to be found worldwide even in countries with perceived good service models. When the margins shrink something has to give and this is usually the interest in "wasting" time servicing "an already parted with their money customer". Bigger problems exist with internet shops where the legal basis for the transaction is not always clear and even worse on internet auction sites where generally there is very little consumer protection - unless you pay with credit card...
The credit card sales point is also quite interesting. Generally, and this may seem strange, the lower the crime rate the less interest in taking credit cards. Credit card companies typically charge 4% on transactions. This is a substantial amount of money when the margin on goods sold may only be 20%. The cost of dealing with cash in Switzerland (dirty, hot, dubious or otherwise
) is very low and this causes the lack of interest in accepting ccs. Conversely as an example in England the cost of credit card transactions is up to 2.5% and the cost of dealing with cash is similar - so do you choose low/no risk or deal with cash?! Incidentally the most confusing sales in this area are in tobacco where the margin is typically 5% and sometimes you can pay with credit card - is it worth it?!
For the interest of all here are the links for consumer protection unfortunately most are not in English
http://www.konsum.admin.ch/index.html?lang=en http://www.konsumentenschutz.ch/
Regards
Richard