Cash refund denied - faulty PC confirmed by Dell

[mbass]

Hi everyone,

sorry, I've searched for a while, but I couldn't find my question answered already.

I bought a brand new Dell laptop from PCWorld on the 6th of February,

I had a few problems since then regarding the screen, after a few calls with Dell, and after they sent an engineer to my place to change the whole motherboard (never seen that before!!), Dell themselves told me they are going to give me a full refund and gave me a "call number" to show to PCWorld for this.

Fair enough, I went then to PCWorld with the laptop, receipt and Dell number, asked for my refund in cash but they said nope: you can either get voucher or a replacement with the same machine.

Now, this is like forcing me to buy my next laptop from them again (NB: as soon as I mentioned this, they warned me: "Hey, how dare you! We don't force anybody to do anything!"), however I wanted to be free to go and buy my next laptop somewhere else, since I've found better prices on the internet...

Now, I called Dell again and they confirmed I am entitled to ask for the refund in cash, so I went to speak the manager at PCWorld again and he told me nope again.

What can I do now? What does the law says? Am I allowed to get a cash refund or not?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[AtlantisZPM]

*sigh* advice like this sends chills down my spine, speak to the customer services team and register a complaint that the store are not upholding your legal rights. Eventually someone must see sense and honour your request.

 

Good luck

[Renzokuken]

Phoning customer services won't help.

 

Their company policy states that within 28 days you'll get an exchange or refund. Outside of 28 days you'll recieve a repair, exchange or credit note.

 

I'd suggest putting your complaint in writing to head office, but they have no legal obligation to offer you a cash refund. So long as they offer a remedy that results in you owning a working laptop of the same or better specification without greatly inconveniancing you they're legaly doing nothing wrong.

[chris-t-2k7]

Hello,

 

I've not heard of this before, although Dell can't force a refund it would be for them to repair / replace (if they can do it within 28 days) not Pc World. Pc World would replace after 28 days.

 

How long was it when the fault was reported and how long did it take to get repaired?

 

Motherboards do get replaced, so its not something that's unheard of.

 

Its dependant on how long it took to get repaired, the store may argue that they want to try and get it repaired within its time period. Dell are usually 7 days, so they may push for this.

 

Chris

Tech Guys

[dx100uk]

being on both sides of the fence [business and consumer repairs]

dell will refund you but sadly as a public consumer you have to go thru your retailer, and again what is said is correct from pc world.

 

i dont know how you can resolve this, p'haps it might be an idea for dell to speak to pc world, though i agree its rare for cash to be exchanged.

 

if you had brought it direct from dell you'ed get a refund.

 

this happens with us all the time. [not retail though]

 

now, a new MB will sort your issues though, so my gut reaction is to go with that.

 

dx

[Conniff]

What can I do now? What does the law says? Am I allowed to get a cash refund or not?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

The law says simply - If you take goods back to the seller because they are of unsatisfactory quality, not fit for their purpose or do not match their description then you do not have to accept a credit note, you are within your legal rights to ask for your money back.

[blitz]

You are entitled to a refund as a consumer by the following parts in the SOGA:

 

s. 48C which allows for you to rescind from the contract if the seller cannot repair or replace the product within a reasonable amount of time.

 

or

 

s. 35 By non-acceptance of the goods and as so rejecting them for breaches in s. 14, where acceptance can be by saying you have accepted the goods, or by keeping them for a period of time without imitating to the seller that he has rejected them.

 

With regards to this case it comes to the matter of the latter entitlement, as PC World have fulfilled the former by offering a replacement.

 

It comes down to whether the OP has deemed to have accepted the goods in terms of s. 35 of the SOGA. Most retailers take 28 days as an acceptance period, such a period depends on circumstances and goods, in something like this it would matter when the faults started occuring and if PC World was informed.

 

If faults started occurring within 6 weeks and have been reported within this period there is the likelihood that you are entitled to reject the goods. If the period is longer it is debatable to whether you have accepted or not.

 

Dell cannot make PC World provide a refund, it is them the contract is with. You are within your legal rights to ask for a cash refund, they are also within their rights currently to refuse such a request. Don't take store credit, nor a replacement if you really don't want one and stick to your guns. If you could tell us when the faults started occurring it would be a massive help.