money back / replacement?

[paul-101]

hello

 

 

after having my laptop for just under a month, it developed a flickering screen. it has got pretty bad and the laptop is just about useless

 

 

i went to pc world and asked for a replacement / money back. but they just told me to go away and phone a number to get it collected and repaired (i think its acers number) (28 day company policy)

 

a.) i am moving house, and wont be staying in the same house over the next few weeks.

 

b.) i am a student and rely on it for my work

 

why am i not entitled to a replacement / money back??

[curofone]

if the machine is 28 days old or younger and is faulty then you are entiled to full refund or a replacement so do not except anything less.

 

If the machine is older than 28 days but the fault occured with in the first 28 days then i hoping that you rang the call centre number that is on the receipt that you got with your laptop becuase then there will be record that the machine went wrong within the 28 days and again you should be able to get a replacment or your money back.

 

If it is older than the 28 days and you did not do the above than your best option is to ring the number and get the machine booked in for repair, i am sure some people will claim that you can reject the items or that the machine was faulty at the time of purchase and therefore under the sale of goods act says you can reject and get your money back but the SoGA also says that this has to be done in resonable amount of time (no time is specified) but the time period is normally very short and 28 days probably would be classed as a resonable time. Also i believe that you have to prove the machine was faulty at the time of purchase so could be costly to do so.

 

If you are moving house and you are over the 28 days then you can get the machine picked up from you local store, just tell them when you booking it in that you want it picking it up from the store.

 

and to answer your question why are you not entileted to your money back or an exchange? well you are if it went wrong in that resoanable amount of time that pcw specify as 28 days and the SoGA does not specify but 28 days is pretty resonable. The end of the day PCW is not going to give out a brand new laptop to every customers who machine goes wrong, they just would not make any money, therefore they just replace the component that has gone wrong it cheaper that way. It is the same with anything you buy, if your car developers a fault with lets say its radio under it warranty they will not give you a new car they would just replace the radio and it the same with your laptop.

[gyzmo]

Firstly, as pointed out, what is reasonable is a matter of fact for a court to decide. If you bought the computer 4 weeks ago, opened it 1 week ago (lets say there was some good reason for this such as a present) then you certainly will NOT have been deemed to have accepted the goods.

 

It is a tricky area as there are no hard or fast rules. If you are seeking the "old" remedies of recission or damages then it is for you to prove the claim. If, however, you claim under the newer remedies (s. 5A of SoGA) then no proof will be needed - it is for the seller to prove that the item conformed to the contract, but the remedies are in order of repair / replacement / refund.

 

You could if you wish demand a refund. You may get away with it. However, I would suggest that you should argue for a replacement. Whilst it is for the seller to select the remedy under s. 5A, it must not be inconvenient. I would suggest, having recently graduated, that for a student, anything more than a short period of time (absolute max 10 days) would be inconvenient and you can therefore insist on a replacement.

 

Who runs this telephone number they have given you? Hopefully not the manufacturer. If it is then be irate. Your contract is with PCW, not the manufacturer or anyone else, and it is for PCW to provide the remedy.

 

Do let us know how you get on and if in doubt call consumer direct. And good luck with your studies.

[curofone]

I would be very surprised if he had been given acers number as i doubt the store actually know it, from my experience with pcw stores they just give out the techguys call centre number if anything regarding a refund comes their way.

 

What you said about if the machine was given as a present was not technically that true, by pcws own policy the machine still would have been under 28 days so they would have been fine anyway but if you are waiting any longer than that month you would be very hard pressed to get a refund or replacement as the resonable time argument surely does not take into account if you brough the machine as a present, i once heard of story where customer brought a machine in the January sales and then gave as a present the following xmas and machine was faulty and they could not understand why the simple could not exchange it. I know that is an extreme case but customers really have to take some responsibility.

 

Like i say in most of these cases, i truely dislike pcw but their policy is actually pretty fair if the machine is older than 28 days then just take the repair option becuase other wise it you have to go down the road of legal action which will take a lot of time, effort and money with no guarantee you will get any more than a repair.

 

You can try gyzmo approciate and try and argue for a replacement but i certainly would not demand anything (and i am not saying gyzomo said to do so before someone quotes me, i am just saying do not demand). From my experience working in customer services when people demand stuff you are far less inclined to help them get anything more the minimum they are entitled to, espeically when they do not really have a legal leg to stand on.

 

Also like gyzmo said let us know how you get on i am sure i have given advice/my opinion on a number of these posts now and i think only one has told me how they got on.

[gyzmo]

I use "demand" in the polite sense - not the tantrum one. You are quite correct in that. the issue of legal stuff is dependant on how adamant you are. I have yet to fail to lose. I do not intend to do so anytime soon.

[paul-101]

well haha

 

 

if i do go back, i would like a replacement. as i said, i could be moving into the new house in the next 3-4 weeks. so sending the laptop off for repair is not really an option.

 

i'm stuck with a £400 brick atm

[curofone]

Well good luck to you paul becuase like i said before if the machine is over the 28 days you will be very lucky to get a replacement and if they do refuse then the only option would be to take the repair or legal action (which as you can imagine will take far longer to resolve than a repair)

 

you said "if i do go back", i would advice do it asap as in your case this is all about time and the longer you wait the less chance you have of getting a replacement.

 

Also i do not see why the machine can not be sent a way because you are moving, the machine can be picked up from any address and delievered back to any address (do not have to be the same address) so like i said before the machine could easily be picked up from your local PCW and sometimes currys, could be left at a family members address, could have it picked up from a place of work. So saying your are moving is not an excuse and really has no bearing on the situation, if you want a replacment move fast.

 

oh and another point on the moving front, if you were to ring up the call centre tonight (its open 24 7) the machine would most proberbly be picked up on thursday and be back to you by the end of the following week so if you moving in 3 to 4 weeks then whats the problem and even if it took longer than that you could ring up the call centre and get the redelievery address changed, so again moving is no excuse at all.

Edited October 14, 2008 by curofone

[paul-101]

yeah, i just want the minimum of hassle

 

 

if i do get a replacement, have you's got any idea if it will be a refurb?

 

 

oh and another point on the moving front, if you were to ring up the call centre tonight (its open 24 7) the machine would most proberbly be picked up on thursday and be back to you be the end of the following week so if you moving in 3 to 4 weeks then whats the problem and even if it took longer than that you could ring up the call centre and get the redelievery address changed, so again moving is no excuse at all.

because we are moving with council house, it really is a grey area as to when we are going to move!

 

any ideas how long repairs take?

Edited October 14, 2008 by paul-101

[curofone]

If you manage to get a replacement out of them i am pretty sure that it will be a new machine, pcw stores do not tend to have refurb laptops knocking about, they are noramlly sold online. If you go into a pcw store and you see a managers special chance are that is refurb or returned item that does not have the box or something like that.

 

My brother has a laptop from pcw and think that it has gone away twice and both times has been back within a week but i think they quote 7 to 10 working days on the phone and the contract you accepted by buying the machine states that they have up to 28 days from the first contact you make, otherwise you get a replacement, well vouchers to buy a replacement.

 

I understand what you are saying about moving but as i have said before you can have it picked up from the store, or are you moving to completly different city? and again if you were you can get the redelievery address changed if you needed to.

 

Anyway you have never said how old the machine is? you just said it went wrong within the month, if it is still under 28 days pcw can not really do anything but give you a replacement and if you went into ask for a replacement within the first 28 days then again they really have to offer you a replacement, at the end of the day i am sure they have time/date stampted cctv that shows you back in the store with a laptop so that would be pretty good proof you reported the problem with in 28 days.

[paul-101]

the laptop is just over (i think) a month old

 

 

 

and its is an acer aspire 5920

[curofone]

Dig out the receipt as it will have the date on it plus i think that it has their returns policy wrote on the back (not that i am saying their policy is law before someone suggests that)

 

Like i said before if you took it back within the 28 days and they told you to go away and ring the number then you should go back in and say that you tried to return within the 28 days but the member of staff refused

 

If you do that i imagine they will say either staff member x is not here to prove your story or staff member x does not remember and therefore you will have to ring for a repair, if they do say then ask for the cctv with you on under the data protection act your allowed to request any data a company hold on you and that includes cctv, now if you say that i imagine they will just back down and give you a replacement. Obviosuly what i am saying is completly dependant on the fact that you actually reported the fault within 28 days. if you did not then just ring for the repiar if you want a hassle free time.

[dx100uk]

if the lappy is more than 28days old, then it will need to be verified by the tech guys that it IS faulty, then they will issue a replacement.

 

as for moving, get a note put on the file that you need to be called on X mobile phone number before it is sent to you as you could have moved by then.

 

it might well be an idea to do a bit of research into that model to see if the fault you have is well known [an inherent manufactoring fault, which the makers acknowledge].

if this is so, you should be able to get a new lappy there and then as it will be deemed not suitable for the task sold for, regardless of the purchase date [within reason].

 

dx

[curofone]

so how did you get on Paul? It has been over week since you last posted and i am assuming you have done something to get your problem sorted?