Advent laptop - what to do?

[Parva]

Bought an Advent laptop (£550 as I recall) in September '06. I still have the receipt kicking about. Being November now it's obviously out of its 12 months warranty.

This is my daughters laptop, it's come adrift at one of the two hinges. It still works perfectly fine but having the screen rely on just the one hinge now is scary. She obviously hasn't abused it as it's still in damned good condition apart from the broken hinge and I've read threads where other people have had issues with hinges on Advent laptops.

My question is, do I make an issue of it with PCWorld (bearing in mind it's over 12 months since purchase now) or do I just forget?

[ForestChav]

You would need to take it to PC World first of all see what they say - I suspect they would initially refuse to do anything on either of two grounds:
1. The product is out of its 12 month warranty
2. The nature of the fault sounds more accidental damage, or misuse, or wear and tear than any manufacturing fault.

Your rights under the Sale of Goods Act (which are separate from your rights under the warranty, which vary depending on what T+Cs the manufacturer has set) rely on the fault existing when the product was bought, so in other words an inherent fault; it was always going to happen.

Personally I doubt cracked hinges is an inherent problem (though sometimes it has been proved so) so you're unlikely to get anything with that.

And you will need to prove it was faulty at purchase (as you are the one making the accusation, so to speak). You can do this in many ways but obtaining an accredited engineer's report proving so is probably the easiest. (The cost of the report would be recouped in the event of successful action).

[Parva]

Clearly not worth the aggrevation then. I better tell her to start saving for a new one.

[gyzmo]

Is it me or does there seem to be a whole lot of people with Advent laptops that don't work properly? These cases should be reported to Consumer Direct, as then Trading Standards will have an idea of the scale of the problem and may be able to do something if the manufacturer or seller is not trading fairly. It may not help in individual cases, but if the commerce world is not playing ball, and action is taken against them, then perhaps iin future they will stop selling defunct goods, which will benefit everyone.

I suspect however taht many people may not care that much. I hope I am wrong.

[ForestChav]

They're no different in origin to any other brand but the quality is variable, occasionally you do get a "model" with a few issues.

[gyzmo]

Or do as I said and report it to Consumer Direct so that they may have grounds for investigation under the Enterprise Act (see Fred - legislation is there for a purpose). It may not help you now, but it will contribute towards companies being forced to provide a decent service, product etc in the furture - one that you may well buy, and be thankful that the seller realises he cant just rip you off for.

[mad-16]

Here is the link to the sale of goods act. As a consumer you have right under the act to have the product repaired in the first instance, or if that fails to have it replaced. The Contract is with the Companythat sold you the product and not with the manufacturer,

Trading Standards Central - Trading Standards and Consumer Protection information for the UK

Hope this is of use to you. I used this to good effect when my son's laptop broke.

[mad-16]

The manufacturer's warranty is in addition to your rights under the sale of goods act, and as I said in the previous post you need to take up the complaint with the supplier of the goods. The SOGA clearly states that a product must last for a reasonable time, in many cases up to 6 years. In the case of a laptop, I would expect at least 3 years if not more. just go in to PC world and be firm but polite.

[Delta-NC]

Uhh, I was under in impression that all consumer electronics had a minimum two year warranty at a European level. Am I mistaken on this?

From Directive 1999/44/EC

The Directive applies to
·any defective movable consumer product
·any seller, that is to say any person who, under a contract, sells consumer goods in the course of their trade, profession or business
·a producer, meaning the manufacturer of consumer goods, the importation of goods or any other person who purports to be a producer by virtue of their name, brand or other distinctive sign

The directive calls for
·a guarantee of at least 2 years for new goods (or longer if the Member State wishes) where the seller will undertake without extra charge to reimburse the price paid or to replace and/or repair consumer goods if they do not meet the specifications set out in the guarantee statement or relevant advertising.
·a guarantee of at least one year for used goods (except those sold by a private seller)

[spikeachu]

As far as I'm aware, European law is not automatically entered into UK law. Also, the Sale of Goods act under UK legislation provides greater protection than the European equivalent.

[Delta-NC]

European laws are placed above national laws. It is in effect where we have agreed to make a law standard across the whole of the EU. The only way a country would be exempt is where it is specifically stated within the directive. The only mention of the UK in Directive 1999/44/EC is as follows

Sale of Goods Act
Dealers and manufacturers usually repair or replace faulty components under warranty. The Sale of Goods Act does not legally oblige them to so. The Directive stipulates that from 2001 repair or replacement will become a legal liability for UK sellers of new goods. Consumers will also have the right to financial compensation.

I'm no legal expert though, It's just the way I read it. If anyone can say for sure ether way it would be useful.

[spikeachu]

Again, I'm no expert, but if this was a requirement in the UK, then all retailers would be supplying goods with a 2 year warranty. As it stands, this isn't the case. Any warranty that is provided is usually accompanied by a phrase that states that your statutory rights are not affected. I don't even think it's a legal requirement to provide a warranty on goods in the UK.

[Delta-NC]

Not necessarily. I just think retailers and manufacturer would prefer to keep hush hush on this. I have actually seen this legislation referd to on the front page of a newspaper. ("50 years of the EU, 50 reasons to love the EU" but I forget which paper it was)

The law always overrules what it says on the box, a company can't write "10 day warranty" on something and get away with it, the case would be the same here. If this was relevant in the UK, it would overrule any supplied text stating one year of warranty.

I have noticed an increased number of products now stating that they have a two year warranty.