Thread: New Laptop Broken - can I insist on a replacement? please help

Hi Everyone

I bought a new Sony laptop on 28th September for £699 from Currys. I took it over 10 months credit but did not take out their "whatever happens" additional insurance policy.

A couple of days ago part of the casing where the power cord plugs in came away from the casing and is now only holding on via the wire that goes into the laptop, (sorry I can't be more accurate but I'm not very technically minded!)

So given that the laptop is under 2 months old can anyone tell me whether or not I can insist on a replacement laptop, or are they entitled to take it away and repair it? I would like to be in possession of the right facts before going back to the shop with it.

All advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Simon

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Hi Simon,
I think this will need to be repaired as there policy states "If there is a fault with your product within 12 months of delivery, we will offer a prompt repair service"
I had a problem with a TV that stopped working after 3 months and they would not budge from repairing it, In fact I got it back from the repair shop yesterday after Toshiba authorized a replacement due to the length of time it was going to take, I got a full refund on a gift card.
Good luck, after reading your post about the victory you had with sky I'm thinking if anyone can get a new lap top you can.

Thanks for that, I was hoping I might be entitled to a new one as it obviously wasn't fit for purpose, given it is only 2 months old. Maybe I see if I can contact trading standards and see what they say.

The thing is it really p's me off to think that something so expensive can break after so short a time and I just feel like a new one should be given, I even chose Sony based on their good reliability

Thanks again
Simon

PS. Does anyone else know where I stand with this?

Our cases do seem very alike I have to agree. You did seem to get quite a good result in the end and that currys chap was right, we shouldn't take it out on them. They are only doing their jobs but what they too have to understand is we part with a lot of money for these items and after such a short timeframe they should not be breaking down, or have bits dropping off them.

I think that it should be statutory for people to get a refund or replace promise, if the item goes wrong or breaks within the first 6 months.

Hi simon

Best of luck with getting through to someone who will help - but persevere as I have just suceeded with a camera from them - accepted a repair and it is now ok.

By the way how are you?

I miss our little chats

Originally Posted by auris

Simon,
When you purchased this product you declined the whatever happens cover, had you taken this out you could have the product repaired within 21 working days or you would have received your money back.
You declined this option.
If you take the computer back to curries with your receipt, they will advise you how it can be repaired, and the actions needed.
These actions for repair will be laid down by the manufacturer, that is if it is actually a manufacturing fault and not damaged caused by the user.
In many cases user damage is often tryed to be passed off as a manufacturing fault.
However, it would have made sence to call the manufacturer, under his 12 months warranty to see what course of action you should take.
Why did you not do this in the first instance ?
I am also bewildered that you seem to expect a new computer.
After two months you find a bit of the computer loose and it just seemed to happen?
Why did it take you so long to notice this?
You also take great pride in your comments and sucess with another retail outlets.
You also come across as very agressive in your reaction to curries, discussing your problem on this site without firstly seeing what steps you need to take to rectify the problem.
Curries did not cause your problem,as you say it is a manufacturing problem, and as for you comments of,'not fit for purpose', you have already indicated what your true motives are.

Mike

Whateverhappens is 21 working days or they send out vouchers, the only way of getting your money back under currys return policy is to return the item faulty or unopened and unused within 28 days. Also, whateverhappens is to be quite honest nothing more than an expensive piece of paper, it covers you for mostly the same things your statuatory rights already cover you for, bar accidental damage. (DISCLAIMER: I don't know if this is legal, just stating their policy)*

I agree with you when you say many people try to pass accidental damage off as a manufactoring fault, but under law (and I'm sure bookworm will be all over this soon enough), it's up to the retailer to prove an item was damaged accidentaly if returned within a year. I've been told thetechguys do all sorts of drop tests and stuff on laptops so they have data to back up any claim against the owner of neglectful damage. I have no idea if this is true or legaly binding. :/

I also agree with you that the customer should contact the manufactorer (they should never HAVE to, but it's always a step in the right direction). To clarify, the manufactorer is a million times more likely to give a return authorisation to a customer rather than a currys employee. I have no idea why, most of there staff just don't like us.. go figure. This cuts down the time the store has to spend on the phone following up there stupid and unlawful returns policy which can sometimes take upto 2 days. On principle, if I were the customer, I'd say it's not my job to chase the manufactorer up, but if I knew that a 15 minute call on my end would save me waiting for a day or two while the sales staff chased up the same phone call, I'd probably do it just to get a repair/replacement quicker.

But reguardless, as a shop floor employee, it's not mine or anyone elses place to judge without proof. It's a going trend for customers to believe they're in the right whenever they get one over on a big company, little do they know, they're actualy getting one over on just the store, and directly effecting the wage packet of the staff in that store.

And your correct, currys did not cause the problem, but they sold the item and act as the intermediary between the customer and manufactorer, they're also under contract because they sold the goods. Meaning they sort the problem out, not the customer, the sole reason the returns policy is so harsh is because they want returned goods to be either sent back for the manufactorer or sent away with the customer. No store wants to take the hit of having a broken item, and nowhere to return it.

*Before someone rips my head off for it.

Also to Simon.

If I were you I'd just return the laptop to the store, they'll take a look, book it in for repair and ask if you want it picking up from the store or your home. With it being a loose power connector, it should just be a case of either soldering it back down or replacing the bottom half of the casing, either way it's a quick repair. Although they have (under there policy not law) upto 28 days to repair it, It should be a relitively quick repair. If the store have stock of the same laptop, you could try having a chat with the manager (make sure it's the same shop you bought it from), and ask him if he'd be kind enough to just swap it over. He may well do it with it being quite close to the 28 days, just be sure to let him know that it would cause you massive inconvinence to send it away and you'd be very grateful if he could bend their "rules".