faulty laptop however Currys will not refund ***Full Refund***

[jabs]

Hi,

 

Any advice on what I could do to obtain a refund I would appreciate.

 

I bought a laptop from Currys on the 13/08/19. On the 20/08/19, just 7 days after purchase, the laptop would not switch on. I would let it rest, press the switch on button and it would not switch on. I made sure that it was plugged in, that the adaptor's light was on, but the power on button when pressed would not switch on the laptop.

 

On the 21/08/19 I took it to the Staples Corner branch where I had purchased the laptop. The technician who looked at it could not switch it on either. He then without asking for consent from me, pressed and held down the power on switch for quite a few seconds, 15 or more. Having released the power on switch, he then pressed the power on switch and the laptop worked. The repair operation he carried out is called a power drain, it removes excess electricity on the motherboard that confuses the power on switch and that is why it would not work. I told them that I did not want such machine and then he told me he refused to talk to me and went away. I asked for the manager and he also refused to give me a refund and argued that a virus could be causing the failure of the power on switch.

 

On the  29/08/19 the power on switch failed again. It would not switch on the laptop. On the 30/08/19 after numerous calls to Currys' over the phone customer service they put me through to over the phone technical support who gave a refunds authorisation code. So off I went to the Staples Corner branch to ask for a refund. I gave them the code, the customer service and technician read a message on the system associated with the code, then the technician a different person from the previous one attempted to switch on the laptop and was unable to do so. He then did a power a drain and the laptop worked again. His words were, "there is something wrong". However, he then ran some diagnostics on the laptop and as these did not find the cause of what was wrong, I was refused a refund.

 

The fault with the power on button has happened twice well within the 30 days and on both occasions the technicians became aware that the power on switch would not work.

 

I have written to Currys informing them about the consumer act 2015 and that they are in breach of this act, but they have ignored my letter. They have replied using a standard letter where they are getting me to go through the whole cycle again of phoning customer service. In my letter I also explained what had happened on my two occasions at the Staples Corner branch and I pointed out that the technicians had violated the terms of the 30 day agreement because upon not being able to switch on the laptop they had taken repair action without my consent. Doing a power drain is a repair action. The power drain is just a temporary fix.  In no way have they bothered to investigate what I am alleging is true or false. I m aware of this because I have been to the branch a third time and I spoke to the customer service over the phone and it became clear that they had not been in touch with the store to find out why I was having so much problems.

 

Is there a standards trading board that I can appeal to? or any other suggestions would be welcomed.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[king12345]

Send the branch AND the head office a letter of complaint first remarking the fact that under CRA you want a full refund within 14 days.

If no joy then send a lba to the same effect giving another 14 days.

In my experience at this stage currys backs down and pays without even bothering to collect the laptop.

[BankFodder]

There is no trading standards service which will help you with this. The level of customer service you are getting is typical of Currys. I have no idea why such a large company and so well resourced should quibble in this way – but I'm afraid that this is a fairly frequent story.

Under the consumer rights act, if the fault had occurred within the first 30 days and you had asserted your right to reject the item in writing then they would have been obliged to refund you – although it would probably have taken a bit of a fight.

You have missed this opportunity because you did not assert the right within 30 days. Now your situation is that you can insist on a repair and if the full re-occurs within six months then you are entitled to a refund. This is what you need to put in writing.

You refer to a 30 day agreement. Is there some Currys 30 day returns policy?

 

I'm afraid I have not heard of currys backing down in the way that you have been told by King – and certainly I haven't heard of them giving a refund without even bothering to collect the laptop. By all means try it out but I don't expect you will get anywhere.

[PIXeL_92]

Doesn't sound like a power drain issue, chances are it is getting stuck in sleep mode / hibernation.

 

Assuming it is Win 10, disable fastboot and see if it does it again.

 

By holding down the power button for a long period of time it will cut power to the system and then it will boot up normally as it isn't in a stuck state anymore.

 

The fact that the person said it could be a virus is laughable, these "tech people" are a complete joke, I remember I was looking for work coming out of Uni and applying at a few of their stores and got rejected every time despite having a good knowledge of most things electronic and they end up with people that can just about turn on a computer, worked out for me I am now the head of IT for the company I work for

 

Once went in and asked to be shown to the power supplies for a PC the guy came back with an IEC cable and tried to convince me it was the power supply that goes inside the PC.

[jabs]

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

I did write to Currys head office and the branch stating the consumer act on the 30/08/19 and they have received the letters. So I did write well within the 30 day limit requesting the refund under the 30 day policy. The 30 day limit finishes today. I also emailed them on 02/09/19 stating the consumer act and I got an email reply that was a standard reply suggesting I should phone customer service. In no way their reply showed concern about the fact that I mentioned the consumer act. I bought the laptop using a credit card. What I have been told is that under the credit card act  1974 section 75, I can ask the credit card company for the refund. I have also triggered such request from the credit card company within the 30 days.  I did that on the 05/09/19 and they got the letter the following day. I have not heard from them. 

 

I personally thought that Currys was an honourable company and that when I first went on the 20/08/19 I was going to have no problems. In no way did I envisage that they play such tricks to avoid their responsibility.  I have been sold a computer that has an intermittent fault and that it is likely to fail badly soon. A large company like Currys should refund without problems in cases like this. But that is not happening.

[PIXeL_92]

The next time it happens where the laptop doesn't seem to power take note of the time.

 

Then go into event viewer and search through the logs, if there is any events during the time it appears to not turn on then chances are it is the issue I mentioned above, the main one would be when it turns back on you will have an event about it unexpectedly losing power.

 

If it is the above then it isn't a fault with the laptop but one of the many quirks of Windows.

[BankFodder]

Yes you are right, the 30 day limit finishes today. My mistake. You must send them an email making it very clear that you are asserting your right to reject under the consumer rights act. I know it sounds like a formality but you must make it clear that this is the statutory provision that you are relying upon – otherwise the assertion is ineffective.

You had better do it now and frankly if you have an opportunity to take a letter round to the shop and deliver it by hand then that would be a good idea.

Don't expect curries to take any notice but at least you have given them the formal assertion.

You keep on referring to a 30 day "policy" – what are you talking about?

[jabs]

What I mean by the 30 day policy is what is stated on their receipt.

If one takes the faulty item within 30 days, Currys has to offer refund, exchange or repair.

 

Maybe I am wrong here because as I read the wording on the receipt it does not say that they will offer, it says they will refund, exchange or repair. 

 

Given what has been happening I can foresee that they will play with words and argue that they repaired it when they did power drain. So they did abide by the 30 day policy. 

 

It is obvious I have some battle ahead.

[dx100uk]

nothing to do with their policy

its under CRA.

you can totally reject a faulty item for a full refund within 30days no quibble

 

the fact that they've already repaired it once and within 14 days further strengthens your position

 

[jabs]

14 minutes ago, PIXeL_92 said:

The next time it happens where the laptop doesn't seem to power take note of the time.

 

Then go into event viewer and search through the logs, if there is any events during the time it appears to not turn on then chances are it is the issue I mentioned above, the main one would be when it turns back on you will have an event about it unexpectedly losing power.

 

If it is the above then it isn't a fault with the laptop but one of the many quirks of Windows.

I have been using WIndows for many years (i bought my first desktop in 1990 and began using Windows 95 when it was released) on laptops and desktops. Since 1995 I have used a Windows based computer  nearly on a daily basis. What I am experiencing with the power on switch on the recently bought laptop, I have never experienced before. It is not a Windows quirk, it is faulty hardware. It is possibly some components that are not making good contact and causing the excess power and therefore the need for the power drain. 

[jabs]

I wrote to Currys on the 30/08/19 stating the CRA  and gave them 14 days to reply. I should get a reply by tomorrow. If I don't receive one by early next week, what would be my next step to enforce the  CRA?

[PIXeL_92]

4 minutes ago, jabs said:

I have been using WIndows for many years (i bought my first desktop in 1990 and began using Windows 95 when it was released) on laptops and desktops. Since 1995 I have used a Windows based computer  nearly on a daily basis. What I am experiencing with the power on switch on the recently bought laptop, I have never experienced before. It is not a Windows quirk, it is faulty hardware. It is possibly some components that are not making good contact and causing the excess power and therefore the need for the power drain. 

 

I have seen it commonly with Windows 10 due to them adding this fastboot feature, a few laptops at work have had the exact same symptoms and disabling fastboot fixed them.

 

If it happens again take the AC adapter and battery out and put the AC back in immediately, if it switches back on straight away its a software issue, the time it takes for capacitors to drain is longer than a few seconds so it will prove what is at fault.

 

What is the model of laptop out of curiosity ?

[jabs]

It is a Dell Inspiron 15

[PIXeL_92]

1 minute ago, jabs said:

It is a Dell Inspiron 15

 

At work we exclusively use Dell Lattitudes. Try updating the BIOS and disabling fastboot.

 

If you know your way around windows check the event viewer under "System" and see what critical, warnings or errors you got around the time of the last "power drain" keep an eye out for unexpected power loss.

[jabs]

There are two aspects. 1. the way the technicians have got it going on the two occasions it has failed is by doing a power drain. The first technician explained to me that excess electricity was on the system and that pressing the power on switch down for a good 15 seconds or more got rid of that excess electricity. So the first technician was admitting there was some hardware issue. 2. It is an intermittent fault and nothing has happened since it last failed on the 29/08/19. I do thank you for your suggestions but these, updating the Bios and disabling fastboot,  I can only try out if the fault recurred often. I will look at the event viewer under System. 

[king12345]

As you have already rejected the laptop under cra and asked for a refund, on Monday send them a lba.

Your contract is with the store where you purchased it from, so the lba must be addressed to them (send it recorded delivery).

I would also send a copy to head office.

That's what i did in similar circumstances and head office refunded me without much trouble.

Also, good that you have initiated a section 75 refund.

Don't let them fob you off with rubbish.

Read the section 75 to them word by word and record the call.

You MUST record the call.

Very important.

You're on a winner, don't worry. 

[CraigMcK]

‘Get rid of excess electricity’ 

Holding the power button for a prolonged period simply invokes a hard boot process that powers down the entire system. This commonly solves problems where a process is effectively stuck in a loop. 

 

Sadly this shows what they try to get away with in unsuspecting customers. 

 

Im sure the options suggested above may help. However it’s not your problem to solve and at this stage in the game would not adjust anything as it may be used against you. 

[jabs]

When it comes to the credit card company and section 75, I have not yet parted with the money for the laptop. The date when I have to pay the statement where I have to pay the laptop to the credit card company is at the end of this month. What I was thinking of doing was to write to the credit card company telling them that I was suspending the payment of the laptop until the matter was under dispute. Currys has not investigated the matter so some independent has to investigate. Am I on my legal rights to suspend payment until the matter is investigated by an independent?

[jabs]

Yes I agree with GraigMcK, I should not attempt to repair myself.

[king12345]

No.

You follow the procedure to get a refund under section 75.

You phone the credit card provider, RECORD THE CALL, tell them you want the money back under section 75 because the laptop is faulty and currys is not playing ball.

If they try to fob you off ask to speak to a manager.

If no luck, tell them you will report the matter to the relevant body (I think it's FCA or FOS, others will confirm).

This usually makes them aware that they have to comply with the law and give you the money back.

[dx100uk]

follow our guide

 

 

[jabs]

Fine I will call the credit card company and record the call

[jabs]

 

This video explains what is happening with the laptop. However, it does not point to what could be the causes of this excess electricity. It does warn that the excess electricity could damage the motherboard. I think this could be good evidence to argue my point that my laptop is faulty. Do you agree? 

[king12345]

You don't need to be an it engineer to own and use a laptop. 

So to the average user, if the power button doesn't power up the laptop, it means that it is faulty.

You don't need to go out of your way to prove this.

99.9% of people in the world press the power button on anything electrical to power it up.

When it doesn't power it up, to this 99.9% of people it means there's a fault.

[jabs]

Thank you.

 

The problem is that I have been trying to convince the staff at the Staples Corner branch that the laptop is faulty and I have been unable to do so. But what I have to digest is that these people won't see reason because they don't want to part with the money. I have to accept that no matter what argument I come up with, they won't see it my way.

 

However an impartial who is more concerned about the consumer laws being adhered to is more likely to agree that there is a fault.

 

Your post King12345 was very reassuring. Thank you again.