Please help! PC World Repair Policy

[AshBlackler]

Hey Guys,

 

First off, I am new here so thank you in advance for any help.

 

I bought a sony vaio laptop last January along with the premium whatever happens policy! BIG MISTAKE.

 

Cut along story short, I was doing uni work and spilt a drink on my laptop, which killed it. I sent it away, only to receive a letter saying it was caused my neglegence! The policy clearly states accidental damage is covered, but they are not interested in helping me. I have sent a letter to a man named Gary Perryment, who is their investigator.

 

Waiting to here back from this person, but I am assuming they are still going to say it was caused by neglegence.

 

What advise can you give to ensure I get my money back or a replacement for my laptop?

 

Ps - They sent me my laptop back without even looking at it - Accidental damage = automatic letter saying caused by neglegence?

 

Thank you in advance,

 

Ash

[rebel11]

Hi Ash

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

[AshBlackler]

Okay doke,

 

Thank you for the reply.

[labrat]

ok i know its not what you want to hear but you will have to communicate with that address as they are the only ones who can overide the decision

 

might sound silly but was there anything else up with the laptop or had it been in before for accidental damage as it is quite rare for them to refuse over a spillage

 

best thing to do at the end of the day is to keep pushing the point that they would have to prove its malicious something which they cannot do ussually

[AshBlackler]

Well they are saying it has been caused by neglegence, which is obviously untrue. I am in my last year at university and my laptop is absolutely essential - why would i want to destroy it?

 

The laptop was working like an absolute dream, they didnt even look at my laptop. Just instantly dismissed it as malicious.

 

I dont understand how they can claim that anything is not accidental ? It is impossible. In theory, they are calling me a liar, which is clearly outrageous!

 

Thank you all for your help.

[labrat]

not a problem

 

write a full account of what happened and send it to the address listed

 

give them a deadline to respond to your letter but make it a reasonable time i.e. 14 days plus say 4 days for postage times

 

point out that if you do not receave a satisfactory responce you are likely to take it further through the small claims court (you must be willing to follow this up dont make empty claims)

 

they are likely to get someone to call you in the week after the letter claiming to be from the claims investigation department however this will basicly be someone in a call center with a list of questions they will ask, look on other threads for a fuller list of questions but it will probably be type of drink, ammount of drink, have you ever worked for the company, have you had any other claims, do you like the colour blue, why not? etc untill they get some answer they deem "suspicious"

 

im pretty sure that it wouldnt go down well with the company but i feel that you would be well within your rights to request that this communication is in writting not over the phone, the reason for this is so that if they is a claims in the courts you can prove what was said not said etc, rather than them improvising on the spot

 

if you feel upto sending them a tenner, then do a SAR request asking for all information held on you on their systems, specify call records, workshop records, and the coverplan report. the last one is important as this is the one they use to assess your claim and gives the reasons they choose to refuse it

[AshBlackler]

if you feel upto sending them a tenner, then do a SAR request asking for all information held on you on their systems, specify call records, workshop records, and the coverplan report. the last one is important as this is the one they use to assess your claim and gives the reasons they choose to refuse it

 

Thanks for your response,

 

What on earth is a SAR and how do I go about getting one?

 

Cheers

[labrat]

sorry i forgot to elaborateif you hover over the word SAR in the previous post it should bring up some more information

[AshBlackler]

Superb. Thank you for pointing that out.

 

After reading other posts, I am anticipating a phone call from the Tech Guys that will like an interview?

 

Do you suggest I refuse to answer any questions until I have them in writing ? This way they will not be able to mix my words or claim I said something I never.

 

Thank you very, very much for your help. I really appreciate it.

 

Ash

[labrat]

ill be honest im not sure on that question

 

if you refuse to deal with them over the phone they are likely to see that as an admission of guilt in there own mind, however there own mind doesnt matter in the courts of law

 

if you get it all in writting it is much harder for them to say that you said something other than what was said

 

it is very much like an interview the phone call its hard to say what it will contain as it seems to vary alot

[AshBlackler]

I think it might be helpful if somebody who has already dealt with these people before could possible advise me on what to do?

 

I see what you are saying about refusing to answer the questions, but I have already said in my letter if they dont comply I will be getting the court and trading standards involved. I also said something along the lines of," by suggesting I have purposely damaged my laptop, you are calling me a liar and I am committing fraud, therefore I would assume you are getting the police involved." They are must be clear I am not messing around, I need this sorted.

[C-130]

I think the claim has failed for a couple of reasons. And I realise this wont be of much help to you. The time you have claimed at for a laptop.

 

You have at christmas time on an accident invovling liquid. This is a time of year when people get new laptops etc. So they may be seeing it as a fake claim. I realise this sounds ridicolous. I have heard of it before though.

 

On another note when claiming take it to store first. Or try that now go in kick of hell shout for managers etc. It gets a point across and if done properly a manager may decide to concede and award it from store.

[AshBlackler]

Fair point, however, if I was going to do it on purpose, I would have backed up the entire years of uni work... I am absolutely gutted I've had to redo numerous amounts of essays and the start of my dissertation.

 

Luckily my uni have let me borrow one of their laptops until this gets sorted.

 

I tried going in to store, but got absolutely no help what so ever.