Hi guys and gals, new here and looking for help.

I purchased a laptop (compaq presario m2000) for £699.00 from guess where? on the 24/12/05. On the 17/02/07 hey presto the thing packed in suddenly.

It was bought as a combined birthday/ christmas present for my student daughter, and now contains 13 months worth of coursework.

The laptop lost all power suddenly and will not power up for more than a few seconds if at all..

Laptop under arm I returned to PC world with it and it was decided that it needed a new kettle lead and transformer for which I was offered one at the pricley sum of £80 and told that this is a consumable just like ink and paper.

On deciding not to take up the offer purchased a universal laptop charger and a mulitmeter from maplins for under 25 quid.

Plugeed new charger into laptop and guess what? same thing. I tested the original charger with my new mutimeter and found it to be kicking out the correct voltage.

So now I have a bust laptop a new multimeter and a spare charger.

Took laptop to local computer repair company and they quoted me after two hours of taking the thing apart that it neede a new motherboard and this would cost in excess of £400

Returned to PC world yesterday with laptop and waited just under 1 hour to speak with the manager of the LEEDS store.

Was told that it was just over 13 months old and that they couldnt help me, no free repair, no replacement. No nothing.

I was advised that I could book it in for the tech guys to look at but that would only involve plugging it in and seeing if it ran. at a cost of £69.00

If it was found that it did infact need a majour repair then it would be sent to pc services for a quote, they will call me and ask perission to fix it at my expence.

I quoted the SOGA and was told that people expect things to last forever and that a 12 moth running time was perfectly acceptable for a laptop.

Now are laptops consumables! is my question? can I expect such an expensive item to last more than 13 months?? Store manager disagreed and stated that i should have purchased something a little better.

So the laptop has been left at PCworld Leeds for a look at, whether I have done the right thing leaving it with them and signing a form which states I will be expected to pay for repairs is a worrying thought.

The manager stated that he would not budge although he was sypathetic and that PC world policy was to vehemently defend challenges from trading standards and the small claims court. Saying "if thats how you wish to procede then please feel free"

How do I really stand, I have read many such threads here but not really found anyone with a good outcome.

Help

How did you pay for the laptop?

I paid with my masercard

I paid with my masercard

Write to them, outlining your complaint, don't forget you can sue them also. They can charge back to PCW if needs be.

Write to them, outlining your complaint, don't forget you can sue them also. They can charge back to PCW if needs be.

Or even better, write to PC World customer services. Stores like to hide behind policy, whereas customer services deal with law.

Hi guys and gals, new here and looking for help.

 

I purchased a laptop (compaq presario m2000) for £699.00 from guess where? on the 24/12/05. On the 17/02/07 hey presto the thing packed in suddenly.

It was bought as a combined birthday/ christmas present for my student daughter, and now contains 13 months worth of coursework.

 

The laptop lost all power suddenly and will not power up for more than a few seconds if at all..

 

Laptop under arm I returned to PC world with it and it was decided that it needed a new kettle lead and transformer for which I was offered one at the pricley sum of £80 and told that this is a consumable just like ink and paper.

 

On deciding not to take up the offer purchased a universal laptop charger and a mulitmeter from maplins for under 25 quid.

 

Plugeed new charger into laptop and guess what? same thing. I tested the original charger with my new mutimeter and found it to be kicking out the correct voltage.

 

So now I have a bust laptop a new multimeter and a spare charger.

 

Took laptop to local computer repair company and they quoted me after two hours of taking the thing apart that it neede a new motherboard and this would cost in excess of £400

 

Returned to PC world yesterday with laptop and waited just under 1 hour to speak with the manager of the LEEDS store.

 

Was told that it was just over 13 months old and that they couldnt help me, no free repair, no replacement. No nothing.

 

I was advised that I could book it in for the tech guys to look at but that would only involve plugging it in and seeing if it ran. at a cost of £69.00

 

If it was found that it did infact need a majour repair then it would be sent to pc services for a quote, they will call me and ask perission to fix it at my expence.

 

I quoted the SOGA and was told that people expect things to last forever and that a 12 moth running time was perfectly acceptable for a laptop.

 

Now are laptops consumables! is my question? can I expect such an expensive item to last more than 13 months?? Store manager disagreed and stated that i should have purchased something a little better.

 

So the laptop has been left at PCworld Leeds for a look at, whether I have done the right thing leaving it with them and signing a form which states I will be expected to pay for repairs is a worrying thought.

 

The manager stated that he would not budge although he was sypathetic and that PC world policy was to vehemently defend challenges from trading standards and the small claims court. Saying "if thats how you wish to procede then please feel free"

 

How do I really stand, I have read many such threads here but not really found anyone with a good outcome.

 

Help

Hi Hunger

Have a look at Compaq's website - here IT Resource Center - warranty check - it is possible you have a 2 year manufacturers warranty on this machine.

It is stated on the base of the machine on a label apparently. In order to access the warranty status, you'll need your machine serial number/product number. If you haven't got it at home, might be worth a trip to PC world to look at it (pressuming they haven't finishing looking at it).

A couple of other points from experience (both as a techie and from PC world nightmare before) -

If your pc is crashing after just a few seconds on boot up - it can be a number of things.

Without a full s trip down and swap testing components, it's pretty rash to assume the motherboard is faulty. A ceased/seized cpu fan can shut down as a safety precaution; loose memory modules short out the BIOS 'POST-Power On Self Test' check; a hard drive boot sector virus can also do a number of flip flops on booting up.

PC World engineers in my expeience, have 'formatted the hard drive' thinking it may resolve a boot up restraint in the software (virus/bad sector) { sorry if these terms are techie minded, but you may recognise them in conversation}. Thus your daughter has lost her files!

Might be worth checking or asking exactly what tests/procedures they have carried out - especially if you're paying for the priviledge!

The hard drive can be removed and placed in another machine as a 'slave drive', and if accessible (good sign) can be backed up in order that all coursework etc is not lost.

If all else fails - try the Compaq link above, or use their 'Contact Us' link - give 'em a call and speak to someone a little less biased (In my opinion of course).

Good luck, and please update your thread - I'd be interested in your outcome!

Perseus

....Took laptop to local computer repair company and they quoted me after two hours of taking the thing apart that it neede a new motherboard and this would cost in excess of £400

 

Help

http://uk.best-price.com/procSystem,showProductSearchByUserSearch,disabled,1,presario%20motherboard%20m2000.html Another thing - a link for ane xample pricing on replacement motherboards for your laptop.

Most expensive one is approx £66 !!!

COMPAQ PRESARIO M2000 Laptop Batteries, Chargers and Adapters Laptop Lithium ion 367759-001 PF723A Replacement charger example £51.99 inc Vat and Shipping...

I would not expect a laptop to last for only 12 months, personally. I would expect a judge to say the same.

I believe that you could pursue them under the Sale of Goods Act for repair, like-for-like replacement or - if those are not possible or too expensive to provide - a partial refund allowing for the use you have had.

Ultimately if they refuse to budge you'd need to take it to the small claims court, however.

How did you pay for the laptop?

Here is the link to the sale of goods act fact sheet.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page24700.html

Go back to the store with it and demand a repair/replacement. I did this a year ago with my son's laptop that failed in a similar way. The company had to admit defeat and repair it for free.