Need advice on Laptop issue

[Pixiestar]

Hello everyone!
I was trying to find the welcome section but could not find it!! Anyway I have had a couple of weeks of bothe with Currys and their Whatever happens helpdesk and thought I would ask you knowledgable peeps what you thought.
I bought an IbookG4 off Currys on 19/08/06 ( making it less than 90 days old) and all was fine until 2 weeks ago when suddenly it would not turn on and kept coming up with an error message to restart laptop but when I did, again I got same message. I phoned the helpline and spoke to a guy who said it sounded like I needed a doftware update. I asked how I was supposed to get this when I could not turn the darn thing on and he put me on hold and then hung up on me
I called back and this time spoke to someone who immediatley said my system was corrupt and I needed to reinstall my operating system, which I did, which took about 2 hours.

To my delight after doing this everything seemed ok, apart from when I tried to connect to my wireless network. This option was greyed out so I could not select it at all. I called back AGAIN and the gent told me that the aiport (wireless) card was now not being detected on the system and that since Apple insist on doin their own repairs it was down to me, even though their whatever happens package says they would do it for me!!
I contacted Apple out of interest and told them what Currys had said and they informed me that Currys should not have told me to reinstall operating system as this has more than likely caused the problem with the wireless connection. They would have gone down a completely diiferent route!!!

By now of course I am very angry with Currys, who dont appear to know what they are talking about. I went to turn on my laptop today to backup some stuff and LO AND BEHOLD the original problem is back ( wont turn on!!!)
I have read some pretty bad stuff about currys repair system and frankly do not trust them to fix and cannot wait 21 days for them to try as I am in the middle of doing a dissertation! What are the chances of me going in to store and asking for a replacement or refund? I was hoping if I make enough fuss they will just give me a new one considering how new it is and that it seems their technicians have messed it up even more?

I would be sooooo grateful for any advice as I cannot afford to lose my laptop or money!!
Thanks for reading my rant, sorry it is so long

[TFD]

After having worked at Currys for a few years, I would say you don't have a hope in hell. If the product is more than 28 days old (3 times that in this case) they are entitled to send it off for repair, and won't look at replacing it if it can't be fixed in a 'reasonable' timescale - something like 4 or 6 weeks.

If the product is less than 28 days old, Currys can be sent back to the manufacturer for a refund. If it's older than this, Apple wouldn't accept it back from Currys, so Currys won't want to accept it back from you.

This is before even going down the route of whether it's a software or hardware issue...

[chiefengineer]

Originally Posted by Pixiestar

Hello everyone!
I was trying to find the welcome section but could not find it!! Anyway I have had a couple of weeks of bothe with Currys and their Whatever happens helpdesk and thought I would ask you knowledgable peeps what you thought.
I bought an IbookG4 off Currys on 19/08/06 ( making it less than 90 days old) and all was fine until 2 weeks ago when suddenly it would not turn on and kept coming up with an error message to restart laptop but when I did, again I got same message. I phoned the helpline and spoke to a guy who said it sounded like I needed a doftware update. I asked how I was supposed to get this when I could not turn the darn thing on and he put me on hold and then hung up on me
I called back and this time spoke to someone who immediatley said my system was corrupt and I needed to reinstall my operating system, which I did, which took about 2 hours.

To my delight after doing this everything seemed ok, apart from when I tried to connect to my wireless network. This option was greyed out so I could not select it at all. I called back AGAIN and the gent told me that the aiport (wireless) card was now not being detected on the system and that since Apple insist on doin their own repairs it was down to me, even though their whatever happens package says they would do it for me!!
I contacted Apple out of interest and told them what Currys had said and they informed me that Currys should not have told me to reinstall operating system as this has more than likely caused the problem with the wireless connection. They would have gone down a completely diiferent route!!!

By now of course I am very angry with Currys, who dont appear to know what they are talking about. I went to turn on my laptop today to backup some stuff and LO AND BEHOLD the original problem is back ( wont turn on!!!)
I have read some pretty bad stuff about currys repair system and frankly do not trust them to fix and cannot wait 21 days for them to try as I am in the middle of doing a dissertation! What are the chances of me going in to store and asking for a replacement or refund? I was hoping if I make enough fuss they will just give me a new one considering how new it is and that it seems their technicians have messed it up even more?

I would be sooooo grateful for any advice as I cannot afford to lose my laptop or money!!
Thanks for reading my rant, sorry it is so long

Appe Macs are not my area of expertise, but I suspect it is a software issue from what you've said.

It may be worth having a look for an Apple support forum, to see if anyone else has the same issue.

It may also be worth ensuring you have the latest Mac OS Updates.

Jeremy

[Pixiestar]

Hi
Thanks for the replies. Yes you are right currys would not replace but also will not even send it off for repair for me even though I have Whatever Happens. It seems that 'Whatever happens' does not cover you if you have a roblem with an Apple cos Apple insist on you doing it yourself.
To be honest I am totally fed up with Currys and have gone straight to Apple store in London where it is covered by its year warranty.
They think it may be a software issue but I will keep posted about what happens with them.
I will never buy off Currys again. I spent over 2 hours in the store and was patronised by the manager and told by one of the staff ( off the record) I would have had more luck with 'whatever happens' if I had 'accidently' thrown my laptop out the window.

[TFD]

To be fair, if you buy a laptop from a general electronics retailer, not a specialist Apple shop, it's unreaonable to expect them to have an Apple specialist on-site to fix it.

I bought a laptop from PC World, so had to deal with much the same warranty procedure. The hard drive and CD drive failed on a Sony Vaio. The stored directed me to contact Sony who arranged courier collection, fixed it within 2 weeks and shipped it back to me.

"Whatever happens" - this extends the benefits of the warranty to essentially add accidental damage in the first year. And Currys then provide warranty from year 2 onwards. Therefore a warranty issue after year 2 may well involve Currys taking the unit back. I don't understand the issue with it going straight to Apple - surely they're the best people to fix it?

[sjc1985]

Currys may not replace it but does the sales of goods act not come into force here? If a repair is done and the product is still unsatisfactory, do tyou not have a right to demand a replacement? After 6 months it is up to the individual to prove there is a fault... if there is a fault then surely a replacement should be given?