Laskys Laptop 1 week out of warranty

[freeparking]

Purchased an emachines laptop from Laskys for £299.99

on 2/9/2009.

Delivered 9/9/2009.

 

Since then I have been using it without any problem connecting to the internet wirelessly.

However I'm not going to have wireless internet next year so I using the wired RJ45 and it will not work.

 

A week ago I rang up Laskys and was told to ring emachines (0871 number) they advised a number of things (check router, cable reinstall driver etc) none worked. However when I rang I didn't have the computer so was unable to give the serial number so now there is no record of the complaint.

 

I think the LAN ethernet card if faulty.

 

Laskys & emachines now say it is out of warranty.

 

I saw a similar case on this forum and wrote them an email making a claim under the SOGA 1979.

 

Their reply was basically that I didn't understand the SOGA and they have no responsibility.

 

Any ideas what my next move should be?

[silverfox1961]

Hi.

The warranty offered is in addition to your statutory rights. Although the laptop wasn't a particlarly expensive one it still should be fit for purpose.

 

If an item fails within the first 6 months it is assumed the fault was there when you bought it. After 6 months you may have to prove the fault existed from the time you bought it.

The Sale of Goods Act covers items for up to 6 years although the basic ruling is "What would a reasonable person expect from this product"

I would contact the SELLER and remind them of their obligations under the act. They may ask you to get an independant report at your own expense or they may offer to repair. See how you go

Can you not get an itemised bill which would show when the call was made.

[freeparking]

They have come back and said I need a written engineer's report (as I expected) confirming that the fault is inherent.

 

How would anybody even the most qualified engineer be able to prove that a fault is actually inherent. This essentially means that the fault or error in design or manufacture existed at the time of purchase

Is there particular qualifications I should be looking for?

How much should I be paying for such a report?

 

Regards

 

Jay

Edited September 14, 2010 by freeparking

[Surfer01]

In addition to SOGA you have a EU directvie which gives you a full 2 year warranty on all electricla goods and with no obligation for you to prodcue any engineer's report!

[freeparking]

I got a report which said what the fault was. The engineer however said there was no way of him knowing if the fault was inherent. I.e. how would he know if the fault existed at the time the product was made?

 

Sent the report to laskys who said "the report doesn't say the fault is inherent so we are not obliged to fix it"

 

What should I do now?

[Surfer01]

EU directive states electronic goods sold in EU will have a two year warranty regardless and then we have our own SOGA. I have not got the link for the EU directive, but do a Google search for it and also contcat Trading Standards. Worked for me.

[labrat]

any idea what model of emachine it is out of curiosity?

[freeparking]

It is a

G720-422G16Mi

 

The fault has been identified as being with the motherboard (as the network card is built into the motherboard)

[labrat]

oddly enough its one ive never serviced so unfortunatly i woudl find it hard to give an opinion..

 

first time in a long time thats happened ive dismantled most of them

 

remember emachines are now made by acer may be worth getting in touch with them

[freeparking]

I started with the emachines helpline and they said they could fix it for a fee. I'm guessing the fee for a motherboard would be too much to be worthwhile. It is an Acer motherboard

[labrat]

well it depends if its a replacement motherboard or a simply chip change

 

if its showing up in device manager to re-install drivers then its not likely to be a entire mainboard

 

can i ask did the engineer who made the report dismantle the laptop at all?

 

reason for asking is if a ports not working its often down to either a bent pin in the port (unlikely) or cracked or not properly flowed solder on the connecting cables

 

e.g.

 

if it is this its ussually visable then it proves manufacturing defect

[freeparking]

He said he had it all apart, because once he identified that it wasn't a software issue he then looked for dry soldered joints(?).

The conclusion that the motherboard needed replacing was becasue he said people dont try repairing motherboards. He thought it was the chip working, because everything else on the laptop is working and it is showing as working in Device Manager.

[labrat]

mainboards are repaired all the time...

 

place i worked at recently repaired upwards of 50 a day

 

sometimes they can take the port off an replace a new one

[Surfer01]

But if they can get away with replacing a motherboard they make more money. In real terms it is probably cheaper for the company to replace a motherboard than it is for a technician to repair it with a labour cost of £x amount over 2 hours.

[perplexity]

EU directive states electronic goods sold in EU will have a two year warranty regardless and then we have our own SOGA. I have not got the link for the EU directive, but do a Google search for it and also contcat Trading Standards. Worked for me.

 

The Directive 1999/44/EC applies to any goods and the time limit of two years is a minimum:

 

The seller shall be held liable under Article 3 where the lack of conformity becomes apparent within two years as from delivery of the goods. If, under national legislation, the rights laid down in Article 3(2) are subject to a limitation period, that period shall not expire within a period of two years from the time of delivery.

Part 5A of the Sale of Goods Act is an amendment especially to implement the Directive.

 

8)

 

The case to make is simply that the item should have lasted for longer so was not fit for purpose, as per section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act.

 

The need is thus to negotiate.

 

N.B.

 

"The consumer may require an appropriate reduction of the price or have the contract rescinded"

 

8)

[Servitor]

hold on. So there was a fault that developed with the motherboard? How does that suggest that it is the buyers fault? Also doesnt sound like something that happened through normal use of the laptop.

 

Ergo its the retailers responsibility to remedy the situation. If it were me i'd be contacting their head office, LBA then start a claim via moneyclaim online.

 

Wouldnt bother speaking to them on the phone unless you record all the calls. All retailers try to do is rip people off. Start treating consumer purchases like it is a business contract from one business to another and you will get better results.