Hell....

[sexyali]

ooops i meant dell

hi guys,

just wanted to ask for some assistance, I bought a laptop Feb 2007 from dell and made sure i purchased warranty (next business day on site), towards xmas 2007, i noticed my screen kept blanking out, so i contacted dell who sent out an engineer next day and he replaced the lcd and graphics card.
All seemed fine till about 3 weeks later when the fault reoccurred.
Dell arranged another engineer this time the graphics card and motherboard was replaced, the laptop was fine but 6 days later the fault reoccured i also mentioned i've found areas that the engineer didnt close properly, Dell's response to this was I had dropped the machine which outraged me. I sent them pics showing areas the engineer didnt close, they've turned around and said i dropped it and said this would not be covered under warranty as there is a great big crack on my laptop which i believe is the angle of the picture taken i sent further pics which they agree there is no crack, I've said to them the fault has reoccured and that they've attempted to repair but as fault is reoccuring i wish for them either to refund me or replace the laptop with similar specification. some guy from dell phoned up (india) and was rude and said how dare i threaten them with legal action and that i've not given him a chance to resolve the issue and that he wants me to return the laptop they will fix it and then send it back out.
I aint happy with the fact I paid extra for to have an engineer visit me to fix any fault yet they want me to return which means i will be out of a laptop for 7 days.
I've read up the Sales of good act and it mentions if good are faulty within 6months i can request a replacment or refund but it's very patchy as to over 6 month, as the original fault was recongised into month 11, but the fault reoccured in month 12 and 13.

has dell broken the warranty agreement by requesting i return the laptop?
Am i within my right to request a replacement?
my warranty is good till 2010.

I'll appreciate any help you guys can provide.

TIA

[ForestChav]

Under SOGA if a fault is proved to be inherent at time of purchase the buyer may require the seller to repair or replace the goods.

Outside six months then the buyer has to prove the fault was present at purchase.

Once the law deems you to have accepted the goods, there is no automatic right to a full refund, at least not as an initial remedy.

[sexyali]

the fault is intermittent and first occured in month 11, but the same fault has occured 3 times now, dell have attempted to fix it twice now over a period of 3 months all i want is a working laptop. as i paid extra for an onsite visit (Warranty) should a problem arise but dell want to take the laptop away to fix. this leaves me buggered as i use the laptop for business purposes and being without a laptop for a week will leave me at a great loss as it is already causing me a great deal of problems as the display fails when i am using it.

Are Dell breaking the agreement by taking the laptop away rather than fixing this on site and Can i request this is replaced with a different model?

[gyzmo]

What does the warranty provide for? I believe some state that if a fault reoccurs, then they will povide a replacement.

Under legislation, you have the right to expect goods to last a reasonable length of time and be fit for purpose. You also have teh right to a repair / replacement / pro rata refund (in that order) - whchever is most proportionate compared to the others and which does not cause significant inconvenience. I would argue myself that another repair is invonvenient - either they do it onsite or provide a replacement.

[sexyali]

Originally Posted by gyzmo

What does the warranty provide for? I believe some state that if a fault reoccurs, then they will povide a replacement.

Under legislation, you have the right to expect goods to last a reasonable length of time and be fit for purpose. You also have teh right to a repair / replacement / pro rata refund (in that order) - whchever is most proportionate compared to the others and which does not cause significant inconvenience. I would argue myself that another repair is invonvenient - either they do it onsite or provide a replacement.

The warranty is for parts
I've spoken to them, they've refused to replace and said they want me to send the notebook back to them for further repairs and they've said i will not be compensated, the guy also asked how many dell machines i have which i replied is irrelavant to the conversation,
I asked them how i can apply to get all data they have for me and he said he's not gonna tell me as i' didnt tell him how many dell systems i have and that its for internal use.

he said if i right a letter to complain it will come directly to him and that he will take no further action

what am i to do.

[gyzmo]

Quote s. 14 of Sale of Goods Act - that goods are expected to be fault free, be of reasonable quality, last a reasonable length of time. Also quote what I stated before which is s. 48B. You will probably be better off writing in rather than talking to some numpty who has never heard of statutory rights

[sexyali]

thanks for your help, the guy has really wound me up, and then laughing by saying what ever letter i write it will come back to him, he'll simply tear it up and call me to tell me he's done that, i'm so fuming.
I've forgot to mention, i bought this laptop on credit, with dell finance, not sure if this will make a difference.

are there any templates i can use ?

in my letter i've so far written,
Re: Sales of Goods Acts 1979 (As Amended)

I am writing this letter to log an offical complaint, I purchased an Inspiron 6400 in February 2007 and as of December 2007 I logged this with [Agents Name] in the technical support department. An engineer visited and fix the fault however this fault reoccured within a few week, I notified [Agents Name] of this and another engineer visited me to repair the fault on for it to reoccur 5 days later.

The Problems as follows are intermittent
1. When turning the notebook at times the screen remains black
2. When using the notebook the screen will blank out
3. When resuming from standby/hibernation screen remains blank.

I wish to draw your attention to Section 48b. of the Sales of Good Act, a repair has been attempted twice but fault has reoccured. It has been over 90 days and and fault is still present intermittently, I wish to exercise my right of a replacement or partial refund.

Please respond to my complaint in writing within the next 10 days.

Yours Faithfully

XXXX

[gyzmo]

Change the last paragraph (on SoGA) to this :

Your attenion is drawn to s. 14 of the Sale of Goods Act which requires implies that the laptop should be fit for purpose, free from faults or defects, of a quality a reasonable consumer would expect and last for a reasonable length of time. This is not the case for the reasons pointed out. Your attention is also drawn to s. 48B of the same Act which requires that any remedy carried out must be proportionate to the problem and of minimal inconvenience to myself. You have already attempted repair twice, and the same problem has occurred again. It is not convenient for another repair to be carried out given the timeframes and inconvenience caused. It is also apparent that repairs are not resolving the problem, and therefore a repair is not proportionate as a remedy. As such, I would request a replacement laptop is provided.

You have stated to me that you will rip this letter up. I am advsing you that a copy of this letter has been forwarded to my local Trading Standards department.

Your obligations in this matter are quite clear. Should you fail to agree to this reasonable request, I will have no hesitation in referring the matter to a court.

I trust that you will act in a responsible manner nd I look forward to hearing your prompt response.

[gyzmo]

Oh - check the spelling!

I would contact Consumer Direct and ask them to get a TSO to call you (due to this guy blatantly not doing what he should be doing). I would also forward a copy to some senior manager at Dell, requesting that smeone else deal with the matter rather than that nincompoop.

Good luck.

[sexyali]

i've just spoken to consumer direct and they were very helpful,

advise me to send the letter to them and give them 7-10 days to get back, should they fail then send a follow up letter.

In my letter should i also include how unhelpful the guy has been?

gyzmo, thanks for you help much appreciated. i'll let you know how it goes on.

[gyzmo]

I would mention the unhelpfulness in a letter to Dell's head office. Be factual though - you dont want to give the impression of being a whiner (which some staff do see such complainints as being, in my experience). You could request that the calls are listened to. If it does come to court, anything you get will not look very good on them!

I wouldn't bother phoning dell in future though.

[Hammy1962]

Hi Ali

I think this is a similar post of yours:-

clik2complaints.co.uk-Sounding Boards - Dell Computers - Faulty Dell and Warranty problems=

If it goes any further you will have to decide which version to use Are you a Student or was the Laptop purchased for business puposes. Different rules may apply if it was a business purchase.

Hammy

[sexyali]

i've managed to speak to someone at Dell who is in the UK who provided me all the information i require. If they brought their technical support and aftersales back to the uk, their reputation would be excellent.

anyways I've sent a letter to the complaints department and also wrote to the director with a copy of the complaint included.

[sexyali]

UPDATE: had a call from dell, who said they gonna arrange someone to call in on me and have a look at the problem

[gyzmo]

Its a start...