Hi There,

I Purchased a mini HP laptop from Argos.

On taking the laptop home I was extremely disappointed its performance of the laptop. It seemed sluggish and slow to perform various tasks compared with other computers I have owned.

I do not believe the laptop to be defective it was just not fit for purpose. Not being a technical expert I had no idea a mini laptop offered such poor performance. (I know the spec is in their catalogue however it is still hard to equate this to actual performance.)

The Laptop was returned to the above store the next day after purchase on Thursday 26th of April. It was boxed and immaculate.

I spoke to a girl that had on the badge “Stock Manager” at the store.

· Without really establishing all the facts she more or less immediately told me I must contact HP directly and gave me a little pamphlet.

· I felt in this instance her advice was not really appropriate as the issue was more about the disappointing performance rather than any defect.

I politely stated I was more dissatisfied with the product and would like a full refund.

· Her response this time with a little more agitation again was to take the laptop home and contact HP. She went on to repeat this quote a third time which was delivered in slow motion. As I suffer from throat cancer and speak with an artificial device, judging by her patronising tone, I can only imagine my visual appearance led to her believing I was mentally challenged also.

· She was politely told there was no need to repeat this again and I understood.

· At this point I politely asked if I could speak to the Store Manager and she stated she was the most senior member of staff available. I was not even offered a suitable time I could discuss the matter with the Store Manager.

I was told no refund could be made due to laptops being exempt from being refunded as part of an exemption from their 30 day guarantee.

I then asked her to explain the items exemption from the 30 day guarantee in relation to a customers rights under the Sale of Goods Act 1979. (ss35 acceptance)

· In my opinion she was unable to do this with any clarity and certainly did not provide me with any legible explanation why a refund could not be made. In fact she appeared agitated and flustered by now.

I can honestly say that I was not aware and do not recall this items exemption from their 30 day guarantee being explained to me at point of sale. It was 17.55 when I bought the item, the store was about to close, and last couple of customers were being served quickly. It is not beyond the realms of possibility this could of been overlooked as I tried to convey to the Stock Manager. However her reply to this was frankly bizarre.

To quote the Stock Manager:

· “We will check the security camera and will be able to confirm you were told the item was exempt from the guarantee”

I had to tell her she was speaking nonsense in a light hearted way. Pointing out the obvious that your security cameras are unlikely to record conservations. She again stated they could do this as if it were a definitive statement to evaporate my opinon.

Sensing I was getting knowhere I then left the store.

Anyway is view of my dreadful experience I would welcome any suggestions where I stand and what actions I can take.

Thanks and best regards,

Charles34c

It should be in writing on the receipt about returning laptops, but I have never heard of any exemptions.

Thanks for your reply.

It says on the receipe *Exempt from 30 day guarantee The 30 day Argos guarantee is there own no quibble return policy of which Laptops are not part of.

Unless there is a breach of contract (I.e its faulty, not as described etc) than Laptops are not returnable to Argos. ss35 of the SOGA only applies when there is such a breach and not if you are disappointed with the goods, remember the fit for purpose qualify is to be fit for the purpose it is described as and not fit for your purpose unless that is clearly mentioned before a contract is made.

I can only apologise for any poor service you have received (Though I do not post as an employee of HRG on this forum), and my apologies for any bluntness I may convey. On CAG I write up the facts and the statutes to either help you or make sense of companies actions.

There is no law for the return of non-faulty items, such return policies are dictiated by the retailer, who can set their own terms of conditions. These are in addition and do not affect your statutory rights. Laptops wherever advertised have 30 day exemptions, this is also clear on the receipt and should be stated at the till however even if this isn't, this wouldn't qualify you for a refund.

To clarify some aspects they won't be able to check security cameras, you can't see if something like this was said, they may speak to the member of staff. With regards to not speaking with the Store Manager, my response would have been similar unfortunately, the management team (Store / Stock / Customer Service) are all allowed to make these judgements with that decision in store ending with them.

The companies response for laptops is now to ask the staff to hand over the leaflets and contact HP directly, not the best CS, but for faults it can actually help not if its not fast enough for you.

If you feel you have been unfairly treated I would recommend passing this on to Customer Services, you can also appeal to them for a refund / exchange within the store, however in the terms of the law they don't have to provide one if it has been correctly advertised and there is no breach of contract.

Hello Rob,

Thanks for your reply.

It is hard to guage using a display model as they dont tend to be connected to the net or have a facility to test load of any significant software.

I am certain the Laptop is not defective and it is just a case of the netbooks performce being very poor when compared to full size laptops.

My main gripe is the lack of customer service and how I feel I was treated.

Thanks anyway.

Scott

Hi Blitz,

I agree with much of what you say however from a customer service perspective surely any company would promote the policy of allowing the customer to speak to the Manager should it be necessary. It is quite hard to take someone serious when they have just told you they will use the shops CCTV to confirm a particular conversation which took place. This is the basis of any sequence of chain: 1. Make complaint at shop floor level 2. If not happy escalate to Manger. 3. Still not happy make formal complaint to central customer service 4. Escalate further as necessary.

Regarding her lying about the fact the CCTV could be used, that actually is bordering on dishonesty, if someone of such character was willing to make such a statement to try and get rid of a customer, then what else could they fabricate?

In this case there was no fault so trying to bully someone to contact HP is just pointless.

Yes it does say 30 day exemption or words to that affect on till receipt, however to make things crystal clear, why does it simply say 'NO EXCHANGE OR REFUND ON THIS ITEM IN STORE' because that is pretty much the case. Even if there was a fault you have to mess around with 3rd Parties.

As you say individual retailers do set their own policy and clearly Argos is amongst the least customer focused in this area.

I can understand why Argoes need to protect their own interest and would not want someone using a laptop for 29 days and returning it expecting a refund, however somone taking one back 14 hours later with all packaging intact, well there should be some discretion used.

I had already passed my complaint onto customer service as well as the CEO regarding my treatment on a personnel level.

Thanks again for taking the time.

It is the HP mini 110-411, by significant I really meant little more than watching youtube videos and general office useage.

The Stock Manager refused to test the laptop in anyway and repeatedly told me to contact HP. I guess peformance will always come down to opinion based on your perspective and expectation.

I have written to the Store Manager also, I actually sent letter to him, CS, & CEO, in the hope somone will at least do something.

For atoms, N270, N280, N450, N455, N470, and N475 are all generally slow - the N550, N570, N2600, and N2800 are faster, and the longer numbered ones have better graphics support. There is another slow one, but I cannot remember its number though it might be N435 which was aimed at very low power use.

Some N270s came with Ion graphics which made then very usable.

Most can have the 1GB stick swapped for a 2GB replacement although sometimes major dismantling is required. Although other times its like swapping a mobile sim almost (albeit bigger/longer). Make sure you get the correct memory type, as it varied even in the same model families.

To get an idea how all processors compare look at the link below. Although some processors such as the E300/E350/E450 come with a rather useful graphics processor for a small machine that actually overcompensates for the sluggish processor.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

Argos could not re-sell this as new, so if they accepted it back they wild take a hefty hit on profits. Whenever buying something expensive it is defiantly worth googling the product and comparing it to others, or popping on to a forum and asking. Netbooks generally focus more on low power consumption, so they are underpowered as a computer. This is so the battery life is better. As a customer you are faced with a trade off with all laptops and mobile phones for that matter. You can get fast and powerful or a longer lasting battery. This was a bad choice, not a broken netbook.

You have no legal right to return an item because you changed your mind, so it is always at the shops discretion. Sweet talking them a little may get you your own way, but remember you are asking Argos to throw over £100 into the bin (as essentially they can no longer sell the item as new.)

You could sell it on Ebay and take a hit yourself, then research what you want from a computer and get some opinions. Not ideal but still an option.

As bang! says, you can commonly upgrade the memory easily, visit http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner/ with the netbook and it will find the compatable memory upgrade for your netbook. I'm not saying this will cure 100% of the problems, but I find all computers running Windows 7 (even Windows 7 Basic) sluggish if they have under 2gig in them so if you are gonna stick with the netbook it is probably worth a try, and it can be quite cheap to upgrade the memory aswell.

If you are prepared to forego Windows, there are versions of Linux that will run far faster than windows on all machines, and can make not great netbooks a pleasure to use.

Also - malware and viruses are almost non existent for Linux based operating systems.

http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

Visit that site and it will let you install Ubuntu on a memory pen, and then run your netbook from the pen to see if you like the operating system without wiping windows.

When ever buying anything your unsure of buy it online so your covered under the DSR.

I hate all monitor manufacturers with their dead pixel policies,Recently purchased a new 27" monitor online rather than the shop which is local

enough for me to collect, Also never paid the extra £20 for a pixel check.

Monitor came and looked real nice, seemed perfect once up and running and then the dreaded dead pixels came to light, in total 5 pixels off in various

places, If I had bought in store I would have to lived with it but since I ordered online I could return under the DSR.

The shop were almost perfect in the return, the web site is incorrect for DSR returns but they accepted it no problem and my card was issued a refund there and then.

While the DSR is not there for customers to try items they purchase I find it certainly helps when making high value items like monitors that could have pixel problems

which are not covered under any warranty unless there is a certain amount of dead/stuck pixels.

Not sure on Argos returns for online orders but would think the exemption wouldn't apply due to been unable to actually test the item before hand.

George

If you return it as faulty you will be offered an alternative, tell them if you have no faith in that brand and if any others you may be offered do not have the same specs as you wanted in the first place, you should get a refund.

If you return it as faulty you will be offered an alternative, tell them if you have no faith in that brand and if any others you may be offered do not have the same specs as you wanted in the first place, you should get a refund.

I'm not sure this is correct, what with it now being 30 months since the purchase ..........

Lots do this Bazza, see something on google and then don't check on the date. I'll close this thread.