My question is not only for PC World but for all major PC retailers who seem to adopt the same policy. I have been told that if I buy a laptop or a netbook with Windows preinstalled and then I format or shrink the hard drive and install anything else, that would invalidate the warranty. I remember a few months ago somebody at a Linux user group telling me this is illegal. At the moment I don't know of any retailers selling a laptop without OS. Novatech sells a netbook without OS but at a premium. Any input appreciated. Thanks.

Hello, Just after a small bit of advice before I need to contact Panasonic if this is the case. I recently emailed the retailer / online store that I purchased a 3DTV (42VT30) from in January of this year for £1,024. I've contacted them by email of a fault I believe has just delevoped but they are telling me to contact Panasonic and get a Panasonic Service Centre to look after me and take a look at the fault it seems, but I believe that this could cost me even though the Television is still under warranty. Here is the following coversation with this Company with regards to the fault I've found, in my first contact I made a mistake on the date of purchase but later told them the correct date, anyway here it is. And their response to me was To which I replied to them with And their most recent reply, which has caused me to create this thread asking for advice was

Hi there, I registered on here today after nearly a year of enduring pc world's service. I purchased an Acer Aspire X1301 desktop PC from this store on the 16th of January 2010. I also purchased the Whatever Happens Club warranty service they offered - now known as the KNOWHOW service. Right off from the start we had a problem; the first unit we received and took home would not start up. Now it's clear that this must have been some sort of sign for the troubles that would arise in the next years. We returned the first unit and got another unit. This unit we have had for nearly 2 years now. The pc wouldn't start and had the blue screen of death frequently, and general power issues such as the pc booting but no fan running despite the blue led light on the front turning on. This was in March 2010, and an engineer came to our house to replace the case due to "power issues to do with the pc case". Next, in October 2011 the SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED. We sent the pc in for repair, and the fault was diagnosed by pc world as "boot fault", bsod and powers off". They had, this time, not even TOLD US WHAT REPAIRS HAD BEEN MADE. The desktop, being so unpredictable, ran fine after this again, until the 15th of March 2012. The SAME PROBLEM HAPPENED - YET AGAIN! Again the pc was sent in for repair and this time we were told on paper that during the repair the Hard Drive had been replaced - WHY HAD THEY NOT DONE THIS BEFORE? IS THIS SIMPLY THEM LYING, or replacing things because they do not know the real fault with the pc? I'm not sure. Then we received the pc back from the 'KNOWHOW' team. Then, just 3 DAYS LATER , the PC started acting up again - WITH THE SAME PROBLEM of turning off randomly. This time, I'd had enough of this terrible treatment PC world had given us - CLEARLY, they HAD NOT FIXED THE ISSUE THAT HAD STARTED IN 2010 with the "faulty case", and again, we took the PC to our local PC WORLD store. The 'KNOWHOW expert' at the store was very sympathetic and told us that the pc would be sent in for a write-off request - When we were at the store howeer, he opened up the pc, checked some things, didnt even bother booting it up, and just phoned the 'repair team' and talked about getting a write off. However, we were finally glad that we could just get a new pc that would just work - and not one that would have to be sent in for repair every few months - or even days at one point! We were told by the KNOWHOW member that we would be able to get vouchers to get a new pc at PC World. We were happy with this, and he said that it would take around a week for the whole procedure normally. Just three days later however, another KNOWHOW member called us up informing us that the write-off cannot continue. Apparently, the pc was working fine at that moment, and for this reason they could not send it off to the write off team - THE PROBLEM IS, I EXPLAINED TO HIM, THAT THIS IS WHAT ALWAYS HAPPENS - THE PC IS FINE FOR ONE MOMENT AND THE NEXT IT DOES THE WHOLE TURNING OFF THING AGAIN! ! I told him this, but as ever, the KNOWHOW team say they understand our situation as customers but do not do anything to help us. He told us that the pc would be cleaned, sent back and that was it. I was very frustrated at this terrible service, and he also told me that when the problem happens again, i should phone up the call centre and ask for "second level TSA support" - this, he said, was a higher form of authority which would be able to push for a write -off stronger and thus would help us get a replacement pc. At this point, if you have read all this, I hope you can see what I am so frustrated about. This pc has been sent in 4 times (5 if you include the exchange of pc on the very day we bought it), and the same problem occurs all the time. The pc world KNOWHOW person who was there had even told us that since it had occured 4 times, with the same problem, we were entitled to a write-off and replacement, but he unfortunately did not tell us that after 4 times we were only eligible to a write- off. This is not that much of a problem however as this is in the warranty contract. The problem is that the pc turns off randomly, so at times it will seemingly work fine and then gradually it gets worse until we send it in for repair. Then the same cycle would happen again! I would really appreciate some help with dealing with this ridiculous service I have received over the past 2 years - I just want a working PC. Add on top of that that the warranty runs out in January 2013 - it seems to me as if they are delaying replacements until the warranty finishes and then they will do nothing about it at all. I really would like some help with this ordeal - sorry for the long post but I wanted to make it really clear how bad I feel I have been treated as a customer who has paid over £500 for the PC and the warranty service.

Hello All First time poster, glad such a forum exists, willl be one of my dialy reads from here on!!! AWESOME My issue is as below, if I can get a view on what my options are? I bought a laptop from PCWORLD in Staines in Aug 2011, my criteria was backlit keyboard, dedicated graphics with HDMI and the fastest processor possible which was the i7, so I found the HP Envy 14, 2002EA very appealing. The sales guy asked me " So why the fastest processer, what you going to be doing on it?" so i expalined its for work and I dont like a slow laptop, " ah right, so business use?" to which I replied "Yes" so instead of the Club insurance I got the Premier Insurance at £14.00 a month, the reason? well if your laptop goes away for repair you will get a loan! That was the selling point of the "Premier" Laptop worked nicely, until May 2012 when it gave off a horrible burning smell, went in for repair to be picked up Saturday, "we dont have any loan but can put you on the waiting list.." Is what I got when I mentioned. Needless to say I did not receive a loan and the laptop was away for 8 working days rather than the 5 promised. Laptop came back repaired worked for 20 mins and burnt out again, so again no loan to give to you sorry sir, will put you on the waiting list, by the end of the week I had not heard back so I went and bought a new laptop as I needed one. Eventually they wrote off the HP Envy, gave me the voucher code popped into the store and they had matched the specification and offered me another HP, which turned out to be an i5, priced at 499.99. You can imagine my reaction to that!! I questioned this as mine was an i7, anyhow alot of time later and many phone calls it transpired that the INTERNAL PCWORLD website had the incorrect specs so they corrected their mistake and offered me the cheapest i7 priced at 799.99. It was a Toshiba it looked nice so I took it, however the speakers popped on this machine so I have just returned it today. After thinking it over and using the not so good toshiba I started to feel extremely angry so glad I was able to return that however now I have 799.99 on a gift card I am out of pocket by 1100-799.99= 299.00 and also the 10 insurance payments of 14/month =£140 Now since HP provide a years manufacture warranty, why should the customer have to loose out on a 1/4 of the laptops value? I feel very very angry now considering I have 7 warranty/insurance agreements with them. again I will be looking to possibly cancel all of them if i do not get anywhere, so far the Staines manager has offered to ring up head office and see if they can up the voucher, my local Slough store were not even willing to do this. Again no promises. If the store can not get anywhere, where do I go next? Thanks for reading and apologies for any grammar, spelling its late and I am not happy

My Mum bought a year old vectra two years ago and we have just noticed she was sold a warranty promise....i have asked the main dealer (perrys) what it is and they've gone all shy (it cost £500)...it was for one years cover but we never received any pack and they are intimating that it was a promise to carry out work under factory warranty Can anyone enlighten me or is it as it seems...mums been ripped off ???.....next step is customer complaints me think thanks in advance

I note the announcement of new Hyundai models coming out in July, undoubtedly with a five-year warranty. But what s the value of a Hyundai warranty? In y experience virtually none. I am a Hyundai Tucson owner with a vehice covered by a five-year warranty and a turbo which Archers of Edinburgh, the Hyundai dealer, confirm must be replaced. Despite providing Hyundai with a fully stamped service history booklet, and all services having been carred out by VAT-registered and reputable garages, Hyundai sre now insisting on detailed information on all services dating back four and a half years. I work full-time for a national charity and simply do not have the time to conduct this detailed research. Hyundai have the stamped service history booklet if they wish further information. Everyone I have spoken to, even Archers, concede this is nothing more than an attempt to get out of meeting a warranty claim. So, before you buy a Hyundai ask yourself tjhis question -- Is their warranty worth the paper it is printed on? So far I would emphatically state NO and any one thinking of buying a Hyundai should seriously consider whether they will face the same problems as I am facing when and if they wish to lodge a warranty claim. I have written to the company's Prssident and CEO, spoken to their Customer Services department. Archers have also spoken to Hyundai but we are all in limbo.

I recently purchased a 2004 Citroen C8 along with an RAC Gold warranty, i wrongly assumed that it covered breakdown as per the text on the front page of the booklet ( RAC GOLD WARRANTY AND BREAKDOWN) so did not bother changing over my existing Breakdown cover from my old car. Unfortunately my car broke down whilst on the M5 recently but luckily i was close to junction 6 and managed to coast off the motorway and stop on the motorway island. I had the warranty booklet with me and eventually managed to find the phone number on the back cover in small type. When i got through i was informed that the RAC GOLD WARRANTY & BREAKDOWN COVER does not cover recovery , i explained that i had existing cover on my old vehicle but didnt bother changing it over because i assumed RAC GOLD BREAKDOWN COVER would actually cover recovery costs, i then had to pay £25 to do a change of ownership of my old cover. I had to then wait for 2 and a half hours for recovery whilst my car was on the very busy junction 6 roundabout with cars swerving to avoid my car and blowing horns and gesticulating constantly. When the RAC did arrive the fault could not be diagnosed so i asked to be taken to a local garage and asked for a recommendation from the RAC patrol man. My car was taken to a garage in Worcester and after 5 days it had been diagnosed as a snapped cam belt and the engine was stripped down showing extensive damage. the RAC warranty people were informed and an engineer was due to go and look at my car and make a report on the following thursday , this was put off till the friday with no explanation or apology , on enquiring on the friday i was told for the second time by an operator at RAC Warranty services that it was not up to them to chase the engineers report up and their only input was to book the visit online then leave it up to the repairing garage to chase the report and outcome ! I was told the earliest the report would be done was by the following monday, monday came and went with no news, so i again phoned on tuesday and was told again it was nothing to do with them and it was up to the garage to sort out, i pointed out that i paid the RAC for the warranty and expected them to take some interest in my problem, she then looked on the system and informed me that they were turning down my claim.... The warranty booklet clearly states the timing belt is covered and i quote …. Timing belts Provided there is proof that the manufacturer’s replacement recommendations have been complied with, and they are free from oil contamination. So no problem there you would think as it has been changed in line with service schedule and they agreed there was no oil contamination but no they turned the claim down for the following reason : We would conclude that the timing belt has suffered an over load failure. There was no evidence of excessive wear, lack of lubrication or seizure to account for the condition apparent. As such we can only consider 2 possible causes for the defect and 1 unlikely cause fatigue: 1 The engine has been exposed to accidental over speed 2 The belt has jumped causing a loss of timing and on reengagement valve contact has developed. Clearly for this to have developed the belt would need to be running undertensioned. I was obviously not happy with this decision and asked to speak to a manager but was told they dont do things in that way and all i can do is request a call back and this will happen within 48 hours, when the manager did call back he explained that because they could not explain the failure it was up to the garage to prove why it snapped ! I pointed out that using that reasoning they could get out of paying any claims for timing belts ever ! He explained the over speed comment infers i changed down from 5th to 1st gear by accident ! i pointed out i was driving down the motorway at the time and not changing gear at all, he noted my comments and said he would investigate further. Meanwhile the repairing garage had received the same report and the owner called me to let me know he was furious with the report and that if i didnt sue the RAC he would as he had never read so much bull s*** and that it was totally unfair and that although he had no personal interest he was going to demand another engineer was sent out and also that he would in the mean time charge the RAC storage costs for my car. This seemed to wake the RAC up and within half an hour i had received a call to say suddenly my claim was now being honoured. I never thought that such a large and what i previously thought was a well respected organisation such as the RAC would act in such a manner and will be widely publicising my experience to encourage people to think twice before taking out a GOLD WARRANTY and also not to accept blindly what their report on the vehicles failure reports. A Google search indicates that a lot of people have suffered similarly and so i have created a Facebook group and will be inviting people to share their experiences.

Hi i'm posting this for my dissabled father i really hope someone can help me on this matter has my father as given up trying!!. My father bought a 07 vw passat from the local garage & they sold him 12months warranty for the vehicle, within 3months of purchasing the car there was a fault with the accelerator pedal. He rang the garage to report the fault & they said to phone the warranty company which he did on more than a dozen occasions but could never get through to them , so he went back to the garage & ask to speak the manager a few times but the manager was never available, any way being dissabled he needed the car so he took it to a VW dealer & they went through the small print on the warranty & the problem was covered the VW dealer wrote a letter stating this & carried out the work costing £900. My father went on a consumers programme on the radio they looked into it for him & said the warranty company had gone bankrupt before the policy was sold to him hense thats why he could never make contact with them, & the radio said he's not the only person thats having the same problem with the warranty company. He went back to the garage that sold him the car & they said they are not interested. So if anyone could give me some addvice i would be grateful.

I bought a LG 50PG4000 Plasma TV on the 5th November 2008 along with 5 years extended warranty (insurance) for well over £1000. At the beginning of January of this year 2012, the TV became faulty. I called Comet and asked for the TV to be repaired. An engineer came round to assess fault and advised Comet of the cost of the repair which was nearly the price of the TV at just under £1000, and advised Comet to pay out. After several weeks and no contact from Comet, I called to chase up and was told Comet had opted to repair the TV. This was the beginning of my nightmare experience with Comet. To cut a long story short, it has been over 2 months and there has been no progress. My TV is still in my front room faulty and considering the poor level of service I have received and the length of time this is taking, it is clearly evident that the parts in question cannot be obtained, although they claim they are still waiting for the parts. They are using these delay tactics to avoid paying out for the TV of which I have paid for in full including the extended warranty (insurance). Throughout this period they have failed to keep me informed of the progress of this case and I have been forced to chase which is unacceptable. I have also sent letters to the complaints department and emailed the Comet directors to no avail. I have requested a full credit note for the value of the TV so I can replace the faulty item and a refund on the 5 years extended warranty which is not being honoured. I am still awaiting an immediate resolution anything else I can do to force the issue, as this is unacceptable!

I bought my Mercedes Sprinter van new 5 years ago and had 3 yearly services with the same garage up to 42,000 miles. For the next 2 years up to 75,000 miles I used a local garage in the NW10 area which came highly recommended {had Astons, Bentleys etc in the garage}.... anyway my van broke down and I had it towed there and have since discovered that I need a new engine. I am amazed to be told this as the van has only 75,000 miles on it. The quotes I have been given by 3 different people in the past 36 hours have ranged from £3,500, then £6,000, then £9,000 and now back to £6,000. What I would like to know is if there is a company out there that can investigate or do an inspection to check that official Mercedes parts have been used and also if I can have the oil analysed as I know that using the wrong oil can mess up the engine and void the warranty. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there, I was mighty annoyed by a recent situation with Tom Tom customer service / repair centre over my faulty Tom Tom. I read in the news today that Apple have been fined in Italy over something that sounds very familiar to my experience with Tom Tom and I'm wondering if there is anyway of flagging it up to any relevant authorities - if we have any... Apple was recently fined almost .5million euros for 'failing to adequately inform consumers about the two-year guarantee.'.. I received a Tom Tom device for my Xmas present in December 2010, ordered on 15th November 2010. I logged the problem on the 16th Nov 2011 (I didn't know the date it was bought at the time or would have made sure I'd done it the day before, but that's by-the-by). My father, who bought it, didn't even receive the Tom Tom in the post until the 22nd Nov (got the Tom Tom delivery slip - it came from them direct from their Amsterdam centre). So I had an argument with them that it wasn't even in our possession for a year before it broke. I was asked by the repair center of the date the unit was bought and proof of purchase, which was provided - they then told me categorically (via email) that it was out of warranty as it was over a year since we bought it that I logged the problem (by one day) and that I've have to pay £82 to fix it (price was variable but that was the guide price). Which considering it was a refurb by father bought, and that it cost £87 when new....makes it all a bad deal. I replied saying that it was pretty shoddy service when taking into account the points above and that they had put me in the position of having to buy another Sat Nav (not a Tom Tom!). My father belatedly managed to dig out of the Tom Tom website a legal document stating that there is a two year warranty on all Tom Tom devices. I naturally then emailed across this document to the same woman, asking her why if this document was correct was I to be charged for a repair? A reply came back saying, Thank you for sending us that document and that they would fix the Tom Tom free of charge. No explanation, no apology, and as this was the Tom Tom repair centre - the main point of contact for all repairs - they MUST know that the units are in warranty so why are they telling people they are not and trying to charge them? It naturally made me very angry. I'd already bought another Sat Nav and got screwed around and had no adequate explanation or apology. I feel that it's a stitch-up and it looks very similar to the Apple case. I don't think I'm being unreasonable - please let me know if you agree. Is there anything I can do about it? I have all the email copies. I had a look at the ombudsman - but couldn't see that there was one that covered Sat Navs? Thanks, Sophie:x

Hi everyone, I'm one not very happy bunny. Also, I thought I was pretty consumer savvy, but I have no idea what to do with this little problem! Bought a Fujitsu Lifebook laptop PC about 18 months ago. At the time, Siemens were pulling out, so the offer was a free Lifebook laptop, every 3 years for life, as long as you paid for the 3 years warranty on the first one. Which wasn't that dear - cheaper than rip-off PC world warranties etc... by miles. Had one major, major fault (total failure, black screen) fixed FOC within the 1st years warranty. A few weeks ago, I noticed the left hand buton was sticking a bit. Next thing I know, the button has detatched itself and its pretty much not usable. I call the Warranty helpline who arrange for the Fujitsu subcontractor, Testlink, to collect FOC. AFAIK, the guy on the phone mentioned about spilages not being covered copiously, but nothing else. Certainly no mention of a £45 charge if they deem the fault to be accidental. I work odd hours for the NHS so 2 weeks goes by and I'm getting suspicious. No missed calls, but when I phone them, I am told the damage was deemed to be accidental, and I owe £45 for inspection and courier fees - thats just to get my laptop back. I am arrogantly told 'you would have been informed of this when you booked the repair'. I'm pretty sure I wasn't - at least, no charge IF the repair was deemed to be your fault BUT you didn't want the work done. I have been given a generic CS address to write to. But I need my laptop back pretty soon, it has all my personal stuff on - yes, I do have a backup, but would need a laptop to restore it on to! And in order to get my new one in 18 months, this old one must be returned. I am stumped. Fundamentally, I know that the damage was NOT accidental, I don't even use it for games, just a bit of surfing, and, er, customer complaint letters This is a business grade, worldwide warranty laptop, which I paid £1000 for. Over the odds, yes, but the 3 year deal for life kind of sold it. Secondly, if I cannot prove the damage wasn't me, I am certain I did not agree, or was not advised, of the 'inspection and return' fee. What routes do I go down? Even if I was to claim SOGA, they would almost certainly still insist I paid the £45 to release it, I guess? Any advice gladly taken! Thanks for looking, Stu.

Hello everyone, After my experience with Car Craft and their NAC warranty I decided to join the forum to seek for advice and share my story. Let's start from the beginning: Back in September 2010, I was a proud owner of a Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 diesel (2007) with 22k miles, cheap to run, reliable, never had a problem with it. The only issue: it was too small for me (I am 1.91cm and 130kg) so on the 11th of September I used Car Craft's website to value my car. After around 2 hours I received a call from my local Car Craft (Chertsey) asking me if I was looking for anything in specific and invited me to go and visit them as they had "some very special offers reserved for me that day". I said to myself: "Why not?!" it was Saturday, 10:30am and had nothing special to do that morning, but I HAD NO INTENTION TO PURCHASE A CAR THAT DAY. At around 12:00pm I walked into the showroom. I was greeted by a young woman (SEEBA) who kindly offered to "show me around". Straight away she asked me some routine questions, she showed me few cars and then started her sales pitch. I told her I was not interested in buying a car that day, as I would have to sell my car first and I was not happy with their evaluation (the website had offered me £3500 on a car worth nearly £6000), so I was about to leave when I saw this wonderful Black Vauxhall Antara 2.0 Diesel. She must have noticed the glow on my face and started this strong sales/friendly pitch. And let me tell you, she was good. By that time she had built a rapport of trust with me, I was hooked. The car was really lovely. Big for a guy like me, low mileage and in very good conditions. The problem was that I DIDN'T WANT TO BUY A CAR THAT DAY and moreover it was well over my capabilities as it was marked at £15,499, whilst my budget was £7000 max (after the sale of my Fiat). She told me: “don’t worry about that, my GM is here today and I can talk to him for a big discount”, to which I replied: “Even with a HUGE discount I wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway as I don't have that kind of money.” She told me: “That’s ok. We’ll apply for a finance for you” to which I replied, “I don’t think it will go through as I have just got a new job a week ago and I am still on my first 3 months’ probation period.” She told me: “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way” That’s when the hell started: We went back inside the show room, she had a look at my Fiat while another “friendly“ guy was talking me into how good that Vauxhall Antara is. Then after a VERY LONG bargaining with the sales manager the deal was done: £15,499 - £1,459 discount - £4,480 part-ex= for a total of £10,000+1 year warranty+4 services Not bad, you would say, but there was a little problem: my credit history was good but the fact that I had recently changed job wouldn’t give me good chance to get the finance approval. They (Car Craft) told me that by taking this 5 years extra warranty I will have good chance of getting the finance approved, costing me £45 a month extra but it will give me full peace of mind and the assurance of getting the finance approved. We moved into another room, she asked the address of my employer and printed some paper stating that I was working with them for more than 3 years. I signed. I then moved to another room, by that time it was 6pm and I was exhausted, another guy (PAUL H.) talked me on how good was this NAC warranty that they will cover for almost anything, that it will cost me only £45 a month, it’s £1,5 a day, some cigarettes stuff and bla bla bla….I guess I just wanted to go home, I signed some papers, got my brochure and left. Another important thing I would like to mention is that Seeba followed me to my home because she had to collect a copy of my ID and the documents of my old car, after that I was so shattered that I went straight to sleep. The following morning I started realizing how a fool I was. I found myself with 2 finances: 1) £10k for the car with a 13.1%APR sums up £17,626 2) £1795 for the NAC warranty with a 19.7%APR sums up £2,742 Meaning that the car is costing me a total of £20,368 (and don’t forget my part-ex worth £5500). I rushed there straight away, I spoke to the sales manager, telling him that I wasn’t happy with the way things went with this sales, that Car Giant had the same exactly car for £14,000, that I wanted to cancel the warranty as it was useless. He told me that he will speak with the head office and he will try to get some money back for me. In regards to the warranty there was nothing I could do as the fine print “clearly” said that it couldn’t been cancelled, so I asked if I could save money if I cancelled the finance and pay by credit card which I did, ending up paying “only” £1821.93. Needless to say that I have never heard from the manager. Meanwhile my life started being very ethic, I was too busy to look into this matter, but also didn’t know what to do. I went back there in 2 occasions to get my services done, and they always been very helpful and professional (Jo is an angel). During my second visit I also confronted (in a civil manner) the sales manager again, telling him that I was still waiting to hear back from him; he just said something which I didn't understand and avoided me for the rest of my stay at the show room (I have been there 1 hour waiting for my car to be serviced). By that time I learned how to live with this whole situation THIS IS THE BEST/WORST PART: Until last week; in May '11 I noticed that my steering wheel was getting harder to manoeuvre. Brought the car to a local mechanic and he noticed that the fluid in the little tank was low, he added some and that's it. Same thing happened last week, I was told that the thing could be serious. I decided to bring the car to a Vauxhall main dealer, I tried to speak many times with NAC before as I wondered what the procedure should have been, which I did manage to speak after many attempts. I was told to bring the car to a VAT registered repairer, then the repairer will need to contact them explaining the problem so that they could evaluate if cover it or not. The investigation led to the fault of the power steering rack (covered by their T&C) for a total of £1872.84 which they said that WILL NOT BE COVERED. This because according to them, the fault is down to tear and wear but Vauxhall is saying that this is not the case as the car has only done less than 34kmiles. Now my question is: what should/can I do to sort this warranty bit? Let’s don’t mind about their sales techniques (I accept that it was mainly my fault), but I can’t accept the fact that NAC (part of the CC group) are not willing to cover the breakdown because they just don’t want to. Isn’t this a breach of the contract? Please help. Regards, Andy

Hello, I would like some advice on where I stand in regards to warranties. I upgraded the HDD and RAM on my netbook but a week later, the screen started flickering. I did not touch the screen but I had to remove the warranty sticker to get to the RAM/HDD. I've heard that there might be a law that protects consumers from manufacturers blaming the fault on the user (such as refusing to honour a warranty on car with a blown engine because the customer used a different make tyres etc...). I bought the netbook from Amazon and I haven't contacted them yet. I want to be ready for the inevitable "it was your fault" reply from them

Hi, was looking for some advice. I purchased an OEM computer hard drive approximately 2.5 years ago from a well known online retailer (who I don't want to name quite yet). The manufacturer - Samsung - says they offer a 3 year warranty on their drives, both retail ones and OEM drives. They also say that drives they sell as system integrator drives have a 1 year warranty. The retailer offers only a one year warranty. My drive has developed a fault. First thing I did was try and organise a return online, but Samsung's site reject it as being a non-UK serial number. I contacted the retailer and explained that Samsung had rejected it. They refused to accept a return, saying they weren't bound by anything and that only offer a 1 year warranty in their T&Cs. I've been arguing with the retailer since on the basis that they sold me a Samsung OEM drive and that Samsung sell it as having a 3 year warranty. I know from doing research on this that the retailer will have bought grey market drives abroad and imported them, that's why Samsung reject the serial number. This certainly wasn't in the specification. I feel this then makes the retailer responsible. The retailer have agreed that they sold me an OEM drive and not a system integrator drive, but claim their specifications (which are no longer publicly visible as the product is no longer stocked) list this as a 1 year warranty and that they aren't bound to do anything. This they say overrides Samsung saying that an OEM drive has a 3 year warranty. I've tried claiming that SOGA applies and that the product doesn't match it's description, since it's sold as an OEM drive but only getting a 1 year warranty. Retailer denies this. Having discussed this back and forth, the retailer still deny liability of any sort but have issued an RMA as a "goodwill gesture" and that if a repair or replacement isn't feasible, then they'd only offer a proportional refund on the basis of the use I've had this far. Should I argue any further? Do I have a leg to stand on? What is a fair proportion? Any advice would be appreciated.

2 years ago I bought an Apple ITouch from Tesco for my daughter. After 6 months the display screen went blank. As we live in Malta it was a few of months before it was returned to tesco still under warranty. They returned it (presumably to Apple) and duly sent us a new replacement but now after a further 9 months or so this new device refuses to charge up. We took it to our local Apple agent who tested it and told us that it would be too expensive to repair and we might as well buy another one. Whilst I understand that the warranty has now expired my main question is - is it reasonable to expect me to buy an iTouch every year? Which is what is suggested by the lack of reliability of these two machines. With no moving parts shouldn't they be expected to remain in reasonable working order for longer periods of time? Can I pursue this further (e.g. directly with Apple) or is there some other consumer right that I can use to help my case. I'd be grateful for any advice as this is an expensive device which has had relatively little use. Thanks

Our lass has an Acer netbook she bought from an online reseller. Just within the warranty period it developed a fault and now I'm trying to sort it out - we're now actually 2 weeks outside warranty. I didn't realise this at the time. Acer have refused to get involved. I understand the contract is with the online reseller. Am I right in saying that although the laptop is outside the normal warranty period it is reasonable to say that 1 year is not fit for purpose or of satisfactory quality? Finally should I be quoting the sale of goods act or the EU legislation? Thanks

I have a laptop that Acer sent me in April this year to replace a previous one that was faulty. The laptop is an Aspire 5942g that replaced a Aspire 6930. The new laptop now has the same problem as its' predecessor - it stopped playing Blu Ray discs, then stopped playing any type of disc. I've asked Acer to fix it under warranty, but they say I have to pay because the warranty of the original laptop expired earlier this year. However, this is not the original laptop - it's one I've had 8 months that they sent to replace the original broken one. I believe that the new laptop has its' own warranty, so should be repaired under that. Acer state that the warranty of the earlier broken laptop applies to the replacement. What's the legal standpoint on this? Surely, a new unit has its' own warranty, and not the one of a broken unit it replaced - especially not a different model of laptop. Am I right? Thanks in advance for all your help

Hi all, Got an interesting one here. I bought a VW about 18months ago now. At the time of purchase I queried the service history as it looked like it hadnt been serviced within the manufacturers timescales. The dealer said that it had and I got him to confirm that to me in writing. I am now in a position where the car has developed a fault and it is just outside of its warranty. On speaking to VW UK they advise that they would not get involved in a goodwill repair because it missed its first service interval. Therefore I can only conclude that I have been mis-sold the vehicle and have solid evidence to prove this. My intention will be to write to the dealer asking for a) it to be repaired at their cost - but also the service history is now worthless and also VW would normally consider my vehicle for goodwill cover for another 2 years which they will now not do due to the service history issue. I was also therefore going to ask for a) free service for 2 years as service history is worthless and b) extended warranty to cover the 2 years that VW would consider goodwill for. The alternative option I would accept is a full refund. My question is a) is this the right approach and b) am I asking for enough/too much or what? Many thanks, JChaplin

Hello, I have bought an engagement ring for my then-fiancee. It has a central diamond and two small stones flanking it. After one year(ish), she noticed to her horror that one of the small diamonds fell out. It was actually five days before the wedding. I rushed with the ring to the place where I got it to have it repaired. I was told that the work will be done FOC, however, since I did not provide the missing stone, I would have to pay £65 for a replacement. To my relief, though, I was told that time wasx not an issue, and that the ring will be ready the same day. Indeed, it was ready within three hours. The new stone was not exactly the same, but it was a close match. In all, we did not complain and were in fact grateful for the quick rescue. HOWEVER, some 10 days later, in the middle of our honeymoon trip, the new stone fell out again (and again, we could not find it). I was surely ****ed, and my wife's distress was even greater. As soon as we came back, I took the ring to the jeweller again. Now, what they said was the same as before: they are going to do the job for free, but I need to pay again £65 or something for yet another stone! My question being, is this a fair trade practice? Is there a guarantee covering faulty craftsmanship like this one? Finally, where should I need to look to find support to fight my rights (if I am right, that is). I must admit at this point that I do not have the receipt for the first repair. I still have the receipt for the original purchase. The ring is ATM at the jewellers, uncollected, as I am still unsure about my next step. Thanks in advance! Jacek

Hi guys, Need a little advice as to what my rights are on this!! So, let me start at the beginning. Happy little ol' me gets new car home, waits a month and then takes into the garage about 6 weeks later for its 1000 mile/1 month service. Now to begin with, it arrived with a scratch which they had admitted was done when fitting a panel and agreed to repair. This was only small and in a fairly unobvious place so I was fine with the small paint touch up required to fix it. Here comes the worst part. While there, parked in the lot post service, some lovely inconsiderate idiot opened their door into my car (or so I have been informed) leaving the usual trademark door dent. Now, normally with my little old car I would have been happy with the paint repair job and all would have been well. However, this is a 6 week old vehicle that went in with immaculate paintwork, not a scratch (bar the small one at time of fitting) and not a dent. So, my concern is that there will still be a visible blemish either to the frame or the paintwork. In fairness is my other gripe that is that this was my first brand new car all specially made for me waited for months and now it has been spoilt, but on this I dont think I have a stand point. Apologies for the ramble but thought it would be best to explain in full. What are my rights here? I haven't seen the car yet but I just want to go in prepared. Am I entitled still to a full refund as the car will no longer be 'as new'? Any help and advice would be much appreciated!! On a cynical note, why is it that my local garage my old car used to go to never did anything and now both cars I have taken to a dealership have been returned with damage (the last was on my old car which made it easier to accept though equally as tiresome!)!!!! A frustrated car owner who is in desparate need of some advice!!!!