Bought a laptop that was misadvertised

[JonniBravo]

Hi All,

 

I bought a laptop from an online retailer and spent a little over £1600, this was a refurbished laptop but was described as in perfect condition with no obvious faults, the only problem was it did not come with the original extra's manuals ect..  

 

After ordering the laptop I realised that the reason I had bought the laptop (the storage) was different in the title then in the description.  To cut a long short in the title of the webpage it described the laptop as having 512gb storage whereas in the description it described the laptop as having 1gb of storage.  I raised this with the supplier as the laptop was in transit before it arrived.  They emailed me back fairly quickly and later agreed that they had indeed mis advertised the item and offered my £40 in cash or £50 voucher to spend on there site.  Foolishly I accepted the voucher hoping to replace the storage and buy a SSD to replace the one that was not as sold.  Little did I know these things are not easy to fit into a laptop and I would possible void the limited warranty I had, not to mention that an equivalent SSD with the same spec  would have cost me in excess of £100.  But I had accepted the offer and soldiered on and accepted that I would have to foot the larger part of the bill to put this right.

 

The rest of the tail becomes a bit drawn out but to make this a little simpler.   I was not told I could not spend the voucher online and needed to call a representative to use the voucher despite there being a tutorial on their website showing you how to apply voucher and discount codes, I work nights as a nurse and found it difficult to do this, they failed to respond to this complaint so I complained again and was given the option £20 in cash or a £30 voucher to add to the £50 I already had.  I then ordered a drone after 4 weeks I had already ordered the replacement SSD for my laptop as I could not wait to start using the laptop as intended.  I ordered it next day delivery and was advised at 11pm that night it would not be delivered, I had to cancel due to being at work for the next 4 days and would be unable to accept delivery, I was refunded the money I  paid extra and was advised I would receive an email with the voucher 

 

After 4 complaints I don't think I cant take anymore, I have refused to accept the £80 saying I wanted to take further advice.  Is there anything I can do about this.

[JonniBravo]

Sorry missing information.

I ordered the laptop on 27th May, After 11 days waiting for the refund of the £80 voucher I found myself making a further complaint and as a result I refused the offer of £80 voucher because they believe the problem was adequately dealt with they said I should allow them a further 2-3 days to process the voucher.

[slick132]

Hi JB,

 

Ok, so you ordered to laptop on 27th May. Please confirm :-

 

1. Name of the retailer.

 

2. Date you first complained about the storage misdescription.

 

3. Did you discuss all this by phone or email.

[JonniBravo]

9 minutes ago, slick132 said:

Hi JB,

 

Ok, so you ordered to laptop on 27th May. Please confirm :-

 

1. Name of the retailer.

 

2. Date you first complained about the storage misdescription.

 

3. Did you discuss all this by phone or email.

LaptopsDirect

I sent an email to their customer enquiry desk prior to receiving the laptop then I confirmed that the laptop was mis advertised, I saved a cache version of the webpage, I already knew it was an error because as soon as I saw the error on the website I checked the model number before I received the item.  Laptops direct accepted they had mis advertised the item

 

I discussed all this via email and have all my emails including there responses.  In the second complaint in in every complaint afterwards I expressed the thought that I had accepted the first offer without thinking and I actually realised how much it was going to cost to get the laptop to the storage I wanted and after reflecting upon it I did not feel this was an appropriate offer.

Edited June 28, 2020 by JonniBravo

[slick132]

Hi JB,

 

You don't need to requote my post when answering - just use the reply box underneath this post.

 

Probably best that you give Bullet Point reply with dates and events, so we know what happened, and when. Keep it short please with just the basics.

 

[JonniBravo]

15th May Ordered laptop then Made Laptops direct aware I believed the laptop has the wrong storage quoted in the description after reading the title.

 

16th May recieved the laptop and conformed this and made an intial complaint

 

20th May Laptops direct responded to complaint with a standard email and stated 2-5 days to resolve the issue

 

22nd May

I'm really sorry for the issues you've experienced with your order and for any inconvenience you've suffered from this.

I would be happy to offer a £40.00 refund or £50.00 voucher if you wish to keep your item. The voucher can be used across all of our brands, which you can view here www.buyitdirect.co.uk, and it doesn’t have an expiry date so you can use it whenever you fancy! This has been mis-advertised on our website so we are unable to supply the correct GB.

24th May received the voucher

 

27th May attempted to spend the voucher could not enter code on website despite online tutorial which is still on their website despite them saying they do not have discount codes or vouchers.  Second complaint raised confirmation of complaint received.

 

4th June third complaint made for no response, escalated to head of customer service.

 

9th June, a further £30 voucher given confirmation they do not take vouchers online and this had to be done over the phone or on live chat.

 

11th June Ordered Drone from drones direct a sister company of Laptops direct, received notification delivery would not be made next day despite being advised next delivery would happen.  

 

12th June Cancelled order advised I would receive full refund £259 into my bank account within 5 days and the voucher would be refunded within 2 days.

 

23rd June Raised another complaint to James Rigg the director (the website says you can complain directly to him if your not satisfied), I received my refund into my bank but did not receive the refund from my vouchers.

 

24th June.  Received an email from James Rigg's address from the customer relations manager saying they were sorry it was unacceptable for me to have these issues, plaese allow us 2-3 days to speak without accounts team and have the voucher raised again.

 

24th June.  Replied declining the voucher and stated I wish to take further advice as I felt the issue was not being resolved.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by JonniBravo

[JonniBravo]

Just to be clear I tried to use the voucher initlally to purchase a NVMe SSD, the next day when |I tried again the NVMe had gone up in price by thirty pounds, which eventually I had to buy from Amazon for 160 with the ssd enclosure because opening this laptop to put one in although you can do that it's a skilled job and I did not want to void my limited warranty and statutory rights.

Edited June 28, 2020 by JonniBravo

[BankFodder]

This story is a bit confusing.

In your first post you give us a story about a laptop.
In a subsequent post, you gave us a sort of chronology but then we found ourselves hearing about a drone which cost a certain amount of money and which was refunded – and I really don't know where you are or how these two stories fit in  with each other.

I think it will be helpful if you started again and posted a brief – not too much narrative – chronology of events. If we are dealing with two different problems here then you should start off with two different threads.

However I have to say that on the basis of your opening thread which seem simply to be about a laptop, you seem to have accepted a voucher in respect of the misdescribed laptop – and if that is correct and am afraid that you have probably burned your boats on that one.

A real shame because you could have asserted your right to reject the item – and in fact he should come here we probably would have helped you get the item that you thought you are buying – at the price you actually paid for it because once you made the contract to receive a certain item then there will be no requirement on you to pay anything extra. You could have gotten an equivalent laptop with a full 1 GB storage for the same money. Unfortunately you seem to have surrendered the opportunity.

 

You've been here since 2008 – why on earth did you come to us first. We would have helped you sort it out completely and in very short order. Instead you seem to have sold your rights off for a mess of pottage

I have to say that £1600 for a laptop nowadays seems to me to be a lot of money – when it is a refurbished laptop. What's so special about it?

[brassnecked]

Is it perchance some species of MacBook, or a Windows laptop? I think Bankfodder has highlighted where you have made errors, a rejection would have been best way forward, without getting into the other complications.

[JonniBravo]

It's a gaming laptop, theses can cost a much as £3000 this laptop retails brand new roughly £2000.  Yes I did accept the offer of a voucher that was wrong on my part, I guess as you get older the fight for your rights gets weaker.  But i did say in following emails I felt I had accepted the offer without understanding what my rights were.   5 years ago I would have used all my rights in full but I've been a bit dumb.  Guess I'll have to suck it up.  

 

Is there no way I can reverse it and go back to the original problem,  I've been on nights working as a nurse and it's been very difficult I've had limited time to complain can i not cite not knowing my rights.   I'm gutted. 

 

Our perhaps please for a good will gesture. 

 

Could you explain what my rights would have been in the first instance, when the laptop was misadvertised perhaps I can write directly to the director and plead insanity or not knowing my rights,  the response in the email received from laptop'sdirect does suggest they were aware they should supply me with a laptop with equivalent storage.

Edited June 28, 2020 by JonniBravo

[slick132]

HiJB,

 

I'm not into Gaming, nor am I good on the Techy aspects of Gaming-focused laptops. However, 1Gb of Storage is so low these days so I have no idea why you didn't reject the machine, having expected 512Gb Storage and paid over £1,600. I have 256Gb on this lappy I bought 6 months ago for less than a quarter of what you paid.

 

So, before we go on, can you please confirm, did the gaming laptop you bought for over £1,600 really have just 1Gb of Storage.

 

What RAM does the lappy have.

 

Given the huge discrepancy in the Storage capacity figures, I wonder if you could seek to reverse the initial transaction and get a laptop suited to your needs. The company seem to have been helpful so far - maybe they'll go a step further and try to provide you a suitable Gaming lappy with the right spec at an acceptable price.

[BankFodder]

I had missed this part.

Surely we are talking about 1 TB – not 1 GB??

[BankFodder]

Your rights were very simple.

As it did not conform with its description, you had a right to treat the contract is terminated and to insist on a full refund – and also to recover any ancillary losses that you might have suffered as a result of their breach of contract.

By accepting a voucher in order to compensate you for the problem, you accepted the laptop as it arrived – and you gave up your rights on the issue.

If the laptop develops some other problem then that would be a different matter and you might find that you have some rights in respect of that.

If something like that happens I suggest that you come here first instead of going it alone

 

Also, in my experience, replacing these hard disks is not too difficult a job – and doesn't require any soldering. However, you would then have to reinstall Windows and you wouldn't simply be up to copy it over from the old disc. You will probably find that you had to purchase a new copy of Windows.

[JonniBravo]

 

Thank you for your help guys much appreciated I'll come here next time I have a problem. 

[BankFodder]

Try to come here before you have the problem rather than wait until the problem develops

[JonniBravo]

9 hours ago, BankFodder said:

Also, in my experience, replacing these hard disks is not too difficult a job – and doesn't require any soldering. However, you would then have to reinstall Windows and you wouldn't simply be up to copy it over from the old disc. You will probably find that you had to purchase a new copy of Windows.

 

Now here I am extremely knowledgeable.  I have been building/fixing pc's for nearly 20 years now.   There are two solid state drive slots on this laptop, no need to copy anything,  and you can clone/copy Windows 10 especially with new ssd's Microsoft does not mind so much anymore,  usually it does when change major parts like the motherboard but even that can be achieved if your clever enough.  And on a laptop installing ssd's depending on the device can be a skilled job many new laptops are no longer designed with little port holes you open and simply slot a new drive/memory in.   This laptop required a skilled hand.  Much like cars got with small tight engine bays, mobile phones with sealed units and no more removable batteries. 

 

I may now longer be a skilled consumer activist like I once was, but I'm a good nurse, an excellent therapist,  and I'm the local computer nerd.  Once again thank you for all your help and advice. 

[stu007]

Hi

 

Bankfodder is correct in the advice he has given.

 

What you could try is contacting Laptop Direct and explain that yes you accepted the voucher and the Laptop but you didn't realize at the time that if then upgrading the Hard Drive may void your Consumer Rights even  if a qualified party upgrade the Hard Drive and that you did try to use the voucher but their system wouldn't let.

 

Would it be possible for Laptops Direct to upgrade the hard drive using the voucher not to void your Consumer Rights.

 

(note: if Laptops Direct agree to this you need to clarify any further costs you may be liable for i.e. postage, upgrade to XX SSD, if more than voucher etc.)

 

I see no harm in simply asking them to see what they say.

 

[brassnecked]

Worth a try, M.2 NvME are dropping in price, and 512 GB are less than £80 now, SATA still cheaper, but if lappy can run NvME that's best option They might be amenable if they are going to get adverse reviews     

[JonniBravo]

I purchased a Sabrent PCIe x4 NVMe 1tb from amazon, i bought it after not being able to spend the voucher on laptops direct and had it in a enclosure.  I Fitted it on the laptop yesterday when I realised I screwed up.   Its lightning fast on the laptop,  i also bought one for my desktop cloned windows from my sata ssd.  All working good. 

 

So do I just accept the voucher,  i think I have no option now. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by JonniBravo

[BankFodder]

I think that as you seem to be content with what you've got now and as you had basically lost your rights by accepting the voucher, then probably the best thing to do is to call it a day – take whatever advantage you can and then leave it.

 

[brassnecked]

just as matter of interest what was the stated specs, cpu graphics, RAM etc?  Probably better to  accept voucher so long as its of use Still a lot of misunderstandings regarding SSD/NvME and retailers  don't always get it right.

[JonniBravo]

Acer triton 500, i7 8750H, 16gb ddr4 ram, 512gb NVMe ssd, RTX 2070 q max gpu, 144hz full HD display

 

The description stated the laptop had 2xNVMe 512gb in raid config.  In the title it said only 1x512gb 

 

What happened was I was docking between 3 different laptopsreading the specs and eventually settled on this one because of storage

Edited June 30, 2020 by JonniBravo

[brassnecked]

The NvME you bought would likely be quicker than RAID of 2 x M2 SATA anyway, whether the Intel chipset is PCIe x 4 NvME capable is another matter, only AMD seems to support that properly as yet.As per BF if machine is otherwise OK its a voucher better than nothing scenario as rights given away with acceptance of it

[JonniBravo]

You are right,  the PCIex4 its in the desktop,  and is supported by my asus maximus formula mb.  It's my age its getting to me. 

 

I'm going to ask for the money in cash as apposed to a voucher given the trouble I had spending it and the expense of sorting the problem myself. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by JonniBravo

[slick132]

Hi JB,

 

Let us know how this ends.