wow i am glad that someone got the reason why i actually asked for a bit more info, one reason is becuase i like to hear horror stories about dsg and secondly becuase you actually might be wasting your time and money by going to court and there are plenty of people on this forum that know a lot about consumer law who could actually tell you if you had a case. also the excuse that you do not want to go into any detail in case DSG checked this website is a pretty poor one as they have no way of poving who you are unless you start using your real name, start listing and start listing things that are unique to your case .

well saying the computer has failed does not really help me, what is wrong with it, does it not turn on, does it not boot up, does it keep blue screening, will it not connect to the internet, has the optical drive failed, do the usb ports not work etc etc. How old is the machine? do you have the extended warranty? what have both you and them done to sort the problem out? and now where is the disagreement? In some situation pc world are well with in their rights to ask you to get and independent report done on the machine.

Can i actually ask what you problem is and why you are wanting to take them to court? Also as what that pc world member of staff said does not really make any sense. If I machine was miss sold to the person then they can take can simply take the machine back and get a refund. Plus i have no idea what you mean by pluggins? As if it software then there is free alternative software to all the major brands (anti virus, security programs, office appliactions, burning software etc) on the internet and all computers come with the same basic hardware so that makes no sense either, and if it is addition hardware like printers and scanner then you have to be pretty foolish not to realise that a computer can not do them without another bit of kit.

lol i was not trying to have an argument was just trying to stat microsofts line on this and what their licence agreement actually says and i have to say i do agree with it, it is kind of like triggers classic only fools and horses joke about his broom (if you dont know what i am on about YouTube - Only Fools and Horses Heroes and Villians Triggers broom skip to about 2mins 15secs in) Also like i said before 9 times out of 10 they will give you a new activation code if you are the one that is not then you are either suck with a motherboard you cant use or you have to pay for a new licence or you have to take them to court and argue it is the same pc

Well according to microsoft you can upgrade your pc as much as you want as long as you have a retail copy of windows. Else you can upgrade as much as you want as long as you do not change your motherboard and only change your processor once. At the end of the day I guess it all comes down to when it is a new pc? is it a new pc when the board is changed when the processor is changed when the hard drive is changed or what? The line has to be drawn somewhere and i guess micosoft drew it with the mobo being changed or more than one processor. If this line was not drawn then as long as you kept in the sam box you could keep upgrading and upgrading everytime a new piece of hardware is brought out and claim it is the same pc. If you don't agree with those terms than that what the retail copy of windows is for but most people have brought licence for the OEM version which is for the pc it came on and that pc only. Saying all this I have read on number of forums if you swap out your mobo and call them they will 9 times out of 10 give you a new activiation code, although the people saying that are the ones that brought the oem version on disc rather than preinstalled on a machine.

The problem is when does it become a new computer? I would personally say that once the motherboard has been changed it is a new computer and microsoft also have the same stand point. I have also taken a look in an microsoft forum and one of their own members of staff have confirmed in it that if the motherboard is upgraded on an oem machine the licence key is no longer valid, also states that if a motherboard is replaced with an the same make and model in the warranty period then a new licence is not required so that how they do it when a mobo is replaced due to it being faulty. The member of staff points out that you can replace any other component in the machine and the licence key will be fine the only time a new licence needs to be purchased is when a motherboard is upgraded

I am pretty sure that you a wrong on this issue, when you buy a pc like a packard bell you are buying a licence for an OEM copy of windows and not a retail copy. Like forest says that licence key is for that machine and that machine only. if it was a retail copy of vista then it could be uninstalled and then reinstalled on a different machine. Again like forest says if a major component is changed in a pc then microsoft say that you have to buy another licence and a mobo is a major component. If you replace you mobo becuase the old one is faulty then then i believe what they do is take bios string from the old motherboard and and flash it on to the new so that it believes it is the same board (i could be wrong on this point). As for packard bell machines the motherboards and the mobos are bound to each other and if one is replaced then you need to do something called a tattoo this basically ties the two back together and when you run a recovery on the machine it will install all the proper drivers back on although if you just install a fresh copy of vista from a disc this is not needed and you can just download the drivers from the PB website

Sorry to carry on an old thread here but what you said (quoted above) is surely a miss leading. Most customers who take out the extended waranty do not acutally have whatever coverplan as there are surely two coverplans, the standard cheap one an the more costly whatever happens. Now if you can afford the extra whatever happens is better as you are covered for "whatever happens" and it has more favourable terms like 21 days to repair your machine. The standard coverplan that most people have is alot less favourable and one example is that that dsg can take 6 weeks to repair your machine before you can request a replacement (something they never tell you in the store i am sure) and i know for me to be with out my machine for 6 weeks would be a major inconvience. I am glad it was all sorted out for you in the end margaret and is a shame about the photos

Have to agree with Renzokuken for once (should make him happy ). The machine is faulty and therefore you are well with in your rights to claim your money back or get a replacement. There is no way this much should have been booked in for an uplift and the person in the call centre should never of done so, just becuase the store manager is refusing the refund does not mean they should have booked it in. Seriously if you have a video of the present being opened just show it to the store will save you a lot of time and hassle in the long run. Whatever you do i would not let the machine go away for repair as chance it will get sent back unrepaired and then the 30day policy the store have probably would have expiered and you have even more fun and games trying to get what you want.

as everyone has said we need to know more, ie are you connecting wirelessly, wired (ethernet) or wired (modem) Just some quick pointers, if your connecting wired with a modem best of luck to you as I do not believe this machine has a modem port. If connecting wirelessly have you actually turned on the wireless card in the machine? you can tell as the casing has some indicator lights on it in the bottom right hand corner and the second light from the left you be your wireless indicator, if it is not lit you have not turned it on. To turn it on hold down the FN key in the bottom left hand sind of the keyboard and then press the f11 on the top row of the keyboard to turn it on. Hope that helps.

Hello, firstly can I advise you that you start up your own thread as it is then much easier to keep track of what of your issue. As for your problem can I ask how old your machine is? as if it is under 6 months then you do not need to get an engineers report done at all as it is up to DSG to prove that is does not have a manufactures fault not for you to prove that it does.

I am not bias againist your advise at all as long as what you tell the consumer or the poster what the whole deal is, you can not deny telling the op to buy a new copy of windows is good advise, i know that you also said you can go to the manufacturer and get recovery disks but thats where you should have stopped, even suggesting buying a new os is just stupid, it would work but it is stupid. and if you got sacked for toeing the company line that DSGi are worse than i thought as i would think after making a loss for the first time in 24 years they would want people who toe the company line and try and get customers to follow there policy when they are entilted to more (and i am not specificially talking about this case). Your job is not at all risk by posting on here as it is annoyomous, firstly DSGi would have to get the forum to break data protection act laws to get your ip address and the DSGi would have to get your isp to break data protection laws to get your address and if that is not all they would not have grounds to sack you as being a member of a forum and offering advise is hardly gross misconduct or bringing the company name into disrepute.

Strange becuase my OEM product key that is on the bottom of my laptop works perfectly fine with my standard windows vista disk, yeah i do not get the bundled software or the drives that comes on the manufacturers recovery disks but that is hardly what you all a problem, and i am sure when i reinstalled vista on a dell machine using the product key on the bottom the machine using a standard vista disk it worked fine, but maybe that is just me. The reason why people sometimes disagree with your advise is becuase you simply toe the company line and while in some instants that is fine in others it completly ignores the customers rights. In this case i believe the customer has very little rights and therefore can either buy a new copy of vista (wouldn't do that myself), get hold of vista disk (would do this myself but then again i will probably find this easier than the average customer) or go straight to the manufacturer and pay the 20 odd quid that it is for recovery disks and than pray that the machine does not need tattooing but i believe a compaq/hp tattoo only needs doing on motherboard replacements

Why would the price of windows disk be £50 or £70, when you buy these disks you are not paying for the disk you paying for the licence and customer has already brought the licence when they brought the machine and therefore do does not have to buy a new one, they simply have to get a hold of windows disk and use there licence key on the machine. I know this can be a problem for some people but if you know where to look or know anyone with a disk then it is easy enough.

i could be completly wrong on this as i am not from a legal background at all and i am bit surprised that someone with a lot more knowledge than me has not commented yet but does a company not have upto 28 to credit a refund back to a customer? might have got the amount of days wrong there but i thought it was around a month.