laptopsdirect refund problem

caspol · 18 July 2006 at 2:48PM

Hi all, I am having a problem with a company called easy computers trading as laptopsdirect.co.uk. Briefly I orderd a new Acer laptop from them several weeks ago but when it arrived I could not get the wireless card to work no matter what I tried. I restored the machine to factory condition on several occasions without any success and finally used the Broadcomm (card manufacturer) diagnostic utility which said the card had failed several tests. I have used and fixed/built pc's for over 10 years so after 2 days of this I decided to send it back for a refund. The company agreed to this but when I returned from holiday this week I noticed they had refunded less nearly £94!!

When I contacted them today they said this charge was becuase, once their techies had restored the laptop to factory config, the card was found to be working and they were charging fees for restocking etc. They took no notice of the fact that I had already restored the machine several times without any success and that the Broadcomm utility had found errors with the card. I also contacted my credit card company who said they would file a dispute which is fair enough. Has anyone else been in this position or can you give me any advice on how to proceed to get my money back? Cheers and thanks in advance...

albertross_2 · 18 July 2006 at 3:27PM

Did the acer have a switch to switch the card on? Did you turn it on?

Little_John · 18 July 2006 at 3:28PM

The company I used to work for bought PC's from easy computers, they were fine with us then again we spent quite a bit of money with them. I didn't realise Laptopsdirect were the same people.

The only thing I can think is that you were doing somthing wrong when it came to setting up the wireless, either not enabling the card, no wireless access point or wireless network to connect to somthing like that or

albertross wrote:

Did the acer have a switch to switch the card on? Did you turn it on?

. I know you have experience when it comes to PC's but we all forget little things sometimes. What were the errors that you received with the card?

What was the timescale involved? online orders with them allow 7days for you to return the laptop in a new condition if used factory settings defaulted as you did for a full refund less carriage costs and any finance fees, ohh and returning the item is at your cost. if it was outside this time you should have given them a chance to rectifi the problem.

garcia · 18 July 2006 at 3:36PM

Couldn't you send it back under distance selling regulations (rather than faulty component)?

Also if the laptop is fixed (allegedly) and you wanted the said laptop, why not just ask them to send you the laptop (and call it even).

I've had a similar experience from "Watford Electronics" aka "Savastore". I bought a wireless keyboard/mouse combo from them. The mouse worked fine, but the keyboard would drop letters every couple of words, making it nigh on useless. I sent it back - they kept a large chunk of the refund for restocking purposes. Their excuse was that there was nothing wrong with the keyboard. I tried to get some proof of this but couldn't. They were extremely nasty about the whole thing.

Upshot is they've lost far more custom by me not buying from them ever again (and warning others not to do so).

Screwing your customers is bad business. After reading your story I won't be buying anything from laptopsdirect (I'm currently looking for a laptop). If you speak to them again and they don't cooperate let them know that you've posted a negative review on MSE - the country's largest consumer website.

P.S. to LJ (and anyone else) - how do you restore to factory default settings? I bought a laptop from dabs and clicked on XP license agreement and entered a username. Other than that I didn't do anything. Does this qualify as factory settings?

caspol · 18 July 2006 at 3:43PM

Hi all, thanks for replies. Yes the laptop had a wireless switch that I switched on and off repeatedly with no result. I have two other wireless laptops through a router in the house that work no problem. I tried a spare wireless card that I had on the laptop and it worked fine. I also contacted their online support who talked me through all the options that I had tried, couldn't come up with any more, and advised me to return it as faulty. The laptop was received on a Friday and I spent Sat/Sun working on it and returned it on Monday. However, I never though of just returning it as assumed that as faulty there would be no problem getting a refund. Maybe as one of you said I should just have said I didn't want it. I needed the laptop for my father-in-law that I was visiting the following Friday so couldn't wait to have it returned to me, and ended up persuading him to take one of my other (Dell) ones!! The usual complicated story....

Astaroth · 18 July 2006 at 3:53PM

I must admit that I have had no end of poor after sales experience with Laptopsdirect with the one I bought from them. I thought I had got bad service from one of their advisors until I spoke to their customer service manager who made their advisor look like someone that should get an award.

Whilst you could have asked for it back upon them stating it was working fine they would have then charged the collection and redelivery fee which in all possibility is equal or greater than the collection and restock fee.

For me, the price was so low that I would still probably consider going back to them if I were to need another laptop but it would be full knowing that I would have to fight for anything should after sales be needed. There is however one young chap there who is great and couldnt be more helpful - unfortunately their process appears to be they have to get sign off on anything from their CSM

caspol · 19 July 2006 at 9:16AM

Oh well, you live and learn. I have to say their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. The only response I have had to my email complaint so far is:

"Hi,
There was no fault found with the item and the box was damaged so the re-stocking fee and admin charges stand.

Kind Regards"

Laptops Direct
Trident Business Park, Leeds Road, Huddersfield HD2 1UA

When the box left me - the actual laptop was in its own box inside this one - there were no marks on it at all. Anyway I will keep on trying to get some some of satisfactory response out of them. Thanks all for your comments

ABH_3 · 19 July 2006 at 9:33AM

caspol wrote:

Oh well, you live and learn. I have to say their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. The only response I have had to my email complaint so far is:

"Hi,
There was no fault found with the item and the box was damaged so the re-stocking fee and admin charges stand.

Kind Regards"

Laptops Direct
Trident Business Park, Leeds Road, Huddersfield HD2 1UA

When the box left me - the actual laptop was in its own box inside this one - there were no marks on it at all. Anyway I will keep on trying to get some some of satisfactory response out of them. Thanks all for your comments

If anyone else finds themself in a similar situation, as I advised before on here. You should take the faulty unit (laptop\computer\whatever) to someone such as a computer shop and have them check the system out. Then have them write a report which can be called an 'expert opinion'. You can then use this to as proof that something is\was wrong with the unit.

Also, if you purchased privately, then a company cannot legally charge you a restocking fee. Restocking Fee's are only for businesses customers. If you're not a business customer, then it maybe worth raising a dispute with your credit card supplier to get your money back.

HTH

bingo_bango · 19 July 2006 at 9:42AM

Several points I want to make in relation to this case.

Having read through the T's & C's of Laptopsdirect, they make mention of the DSR's, but I believe there may be some confusion to their actual application of them.

1. They state that you MUST have an RMA number to return the goods.....there is no mention of RMA or returns numbers in the DSR.

2. They will refund you minus carriage and any card charges.........they can't do this. The DSR state that ALL monies paid must be refunded. The trader is not allowed to charge a restocking or admin fee, and must refund the postage charged to you. They can however expect you to pay for the return of the goods.

3. They state that you have seven working days to return the goods under DSR, starting the day of delivery.......The DSR actually state that the consumer has seven working days, starting the day AFTER delivery.

4. In the FAQ section, under Returns Policy, they state that all guarantee work is the responsibility of the manufacturer, not Laptopsdirect. Whilst this is technically true, there is no mention of either the consumer's statutory rights, or the relevant legislation. This could be construed as an attempt by them to restrict the consumer's rights under the Sale of Goods Act. They further go on to say that they make no claim as to the durability of the items they sell. Another cynical attempt to place responsibility elsewhere........

All of the above points are designed to maximise the trader's profit, while at the same time, they diminish the consumer's rights. As such, this matter needs to be reported to your local Trading Standards Office, to be looked at for unfair terms in a consumer contract.
The OP is in a good position to do this, as he actually has proof of these practices, having had a reduced refund. Trading standards may not be able to help the individual, but a complaint to them will make Laptopsdirect rethink their policies, and could possibly lead to action against them. They may also be able to 'discuss' the OP's case with Laptopsdirect.

Little_John · 19 July 2006 at 9:45AM

garcia wrote:

P.S. to LJ (and anyone else) - how do you restore to factory default settings? I bought a laptop from dabs and clicked on XP license agreement and entered a username. Other than that I didn't do anything. Does this qualify as factory settings?

Most branded PC's and laptops come with a bootable cd or dvd that contains an image of the system's drive as it leaves the factory. ok it isnt one of that laptop but as they produce the system in large quantities they make all the systems exactly the same so 1 disk is good for every system. you put the disk in reboot the system and it restores the factory instalation after checking your sure you want to do it and loose all your data ect.

Regading the baox being returned damaged who arranged the method of carriage? you? make a claim against the courier for the damage to the box if the internal box was damaged then it was very poorly treated in transit. if it was Easy/Laptopsdirect then they should be making a claim against the courier.

caspol · 19 July 2006 at 10:53AM

Bingo Bango, thanks for your comments. I feel that their T&C's are quite poor in the way they treat the consumer. I was very careful to ensure both boxes and all packaging were as new so can only assume that the Post Office were throwing it around. I will complain to them as well. The Acer laptop had a very good and simple to use restore system that I implemented on two occasions with no success. I think the fact that I connected another wireless card to the Cardbus slot and it worked first time is pretty good proof that the internal wireless card was non-functional. I have been in contact with the company again to say that I am even more unhappy now with their response as they are now claiming I damaged the box and awaiting a response to this. I will keep you informed...

laptopsdirect refund problem

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