Consumer Rights: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

Optimist

clareyp wrote: »

Hi,
Does anyone know what time is reasonable for a warranty repair to be completed? My car (Micra c+c) broke on 6/8, & the fault is covered under the warranty... However it's still in the garage now as Nissan HO are having a problem with locating a part... No-one can give me any idea as to when it will be fixed! - any ideas what I can do - if anything!

That seems totally unreasonable I would be banging on nissans door wanting a replacement vehicle at the least until fixed but give consumer direct a call http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/ they will probably be able to give you advice

mouthscradle

I don't know all the details, just what my friend mentioned to me and it didn't seem right to me so I thought I'd do a quick ask on here.

Basically he bought a Dell laptop 2 years ago, and ever since it's been nothing but trouble, the DVD drive doesn't work, the hard drive is now broken, a few months after he got it the battery gave up and it can't ever be used unless it's plugged in. He has phoned them various times, they always quote ridiculous prices to fix it. I said that for the money he paid, 2 years is a reasonable length of time to expect it to still work, and that I'd be complaining. But he says that as he didn't pay extra for the extended warranty he doesn't think there's much he can do.

What do you guys reckon?

ScottishSapper

mouthscradle wrote: »

I don't know all the details, just what my friend mentioned to me and it didn't seem right to me so I thought I'd do a quick ask on here.

What do you guys reckon?

Hi
Just off the top of my head I would say that you could, under the Sale of Goods Act, expect a hard drive to last a lot longer than 2 years.

Your friend certainly seems to have a lot of bad luck with this item. However, he has done himself no favours but not chasing remedial action before now. The fact he did not take extended warranty is of no consequence.

I'm not sure what he will be able to do about the previous problems (Battery/DVD drive) but for the hard drive he should now write, recorded delivery, to Dell:

Dell Products
c/o Milbanke House
Western Road
Bracknell
Berks RG12 1RD

With details of the hard drive and also mention this is not the first problem with the laptop and request that they repair/replace the hard drive. He should state the date of purchase and the service tag number. Suggest in the letter that a period of 10 days would seem sufficient for them to reply and after that you intend to seek assistance via the small claims procedure

[Deleted User]

6 months ago started a mobile contract where after x months you send a
bill in and claim cashback....
Anyway, did this a few months ago, and send all the relevant docs as
per the terms and conditions of the offer. Today I have had a letter
telling me my claim has been disallowed because the handset despatch
note was missing from my claim. Funnily enough, this letter was
recieved 1 day after the 60 day limit on claims had passed, so I cant
sort it out, so they're not going to pay at all...

However, a few things to note:-

1. I did sent the despatch note with my claim - and I sent it all
recorded delivery. Bit convenient that one important doc has now gone
missing.
2. The original T+Cs (which I printed out when I took out the offer)
did not mention the despatch note in any case. It appears the T+Cs on
the website have since been changed.

I've pointed this out in writing to them, and am hoping they're going
to see sense.

All sounds like a bit of con here by this company. Surely they cant
carry on like this?

If they say no, what can I do about it? OK. I can take them to small
claims court but what are my chances? Amount is £84, so how much would
that cost to start a claim?

BTW. My wife also did the identical same offer, but started a few days
after me. Whats the betting that shes about to recieve a similar claim
denial letter ??? :-)

sebbelcher

Hi, I had an incident last year, I bought a 19" flat screen monitor from a PC World store, for a princely £200. 4 weeks later it developed intermittent problems where the buttons on the side of the monitor would not function then 2 weeks later it stopped working completely, it simply wouldn't turn on in the morning. I phoned the Customer Services who gave me the usual patronising garbage about checking it was plugged in, and pressing the power button, and eventually told me to take it back to the store. So I took the monitor, boxed up with all its original packaging, manuals, cables, warranty card and receipt, back to PC World in Worcester. After queueing for 15 minutes to see the only guy (apparently) in the whole store who could deal with faulty products I was immediately told they would need to send it away to the manufacturer for verification of the problem. "Look" I said, "plug it to one of those 20 PCs behind you and I will show you the problem, it won't switch on". Apparently he wasn't qualified to verify that things wouldn't turn on so I inquired how long the sending away process would take, "around 4 weeks, depending on how busy they are". This was unacceptable, I use my computer everyday, I don't have a spare monitor so this would effectively mean I would be without my computer for 4 weeks. I relayed this to him and he simply shrugged.

Sensing this was going nowhere I retired for the day and did some research on the Sale of Goods Act and various statutes. I returned the next day to, unfortunately, the same bloke. Clearly he had some time to think about it as well, because when I laid down the Act to him he responded with "well, it worked for 6 weeks, monitors don't just suddenly stop working, you must have broken it". I went ballistic at this point and demanded to see the manager, and told him quite clearly, the problem, the law and that I didn't care whether I got a replacement, a 'loan' monitor whilst mine was repaired or a refund, but there was no-way I was leaving without a working monitor or my £200. Sadly the manager hadn't been to customer service school and no matter what I said he just arrogantly repeated the line "I've been working in retail for 5 years son, I know the law". Eventually he asked me to leave, I refused and he threatened to have me escorted off the premises, so I cut my losses and went.

Anyway, the very next morning I went to PC World in Hereford, just a 40 minute drive away, told them exactly the same and was given a replacement brand new monitor and was out the door in less than 5 minutes. Luckily I managed to resolve this myself, but who was right in the Worcester store? If after just 6 weeks a product breaks, can the company legitimately demand to take the product off you for 4 weeks, to send to the manufacturer just to have it 'checked for faults'. I can't see how this can be allowed, I have given them £200 6 weeks ago, now they are taking the product off me whilst keeping my money. They made the contract of sale with me, so surely it is their duty to analyse the fault not the manufacturer's? I'd be interested to know for future reference. Cheers.

ScottishSapper

[quote=[Deleted User];6304279]6 months ago started a mobile contract where after x months you send a
bill in and claim cashback....
[/quote]
Firstly I would think your chances are very good, secondly the cost (as it's under £300 will be £30 this will be refunded WHEN you win!)
You can make the claim online (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco/index.jsp) but before doing this have a read through the pages at http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm this should help you get started.

A friend of mine had this problem about 18 months ago, the provider also rejecting her claim as she had not followed the T&Cs. Unfortunately she let the matter drop!

You appear to have followed the ORIGINAL terms of the offer and did the right thing by sending it recorded delivery. Hopefully you kept copies of everything you put in the envelope so it should be your word against theirs.

The fact that they replied after the 60 day period is I believe irrelevant, you sent it off (with proof, quote the recorded delivery number and date of posting ALSO go on to the Royal Mail web site and track the delivery, you will be able to get an image of the proof of delivery showing date they received it and who signed for it).
Go get them!!:j

sebbelcher

[quote=[Deleted User];6304279]6 months ago started a mobile contract where after x months you send a
bill in and claim cashback....
Anyway, did this a few months ago, and send all the relevant docs as
per the terms and conditions of the offer. Today I have had a letter
telling me my claim has been disallowed because the handset despatch
note was missing from my claim. Funnily enough, this letter was
recieved 1 day after the 60 day limit on claims had passed, so I cant
sort it out, so they're not going to pay at all...

However, a few things to note:-

1. I did sent the despatch note with my claim - and I sent it all
recorded delivery. Bit convenient that one important doc has now gone
missing.
2. The original T+Cs (which I printed out when I took out the offer)
did not mention the despatch note in any case. It appears the T+Cs on
the website have since been changed.

I've pointed this out in writing to them, and am hoping they're going
to see sense.

All sounds like a bit of con here by this company. Surely they cant
carry on like this?

If they say no, what can I do about it? OK. I can take them to small
claims court but what are my chances? Amount is £84, so how much would
that cost to start a claim?

BTW. My wife also did the identical same offer, but started a few days
after me. Whats the betting that shes about to recieve a similar claim
denial letter ??? :-)[/quote]

Hi,

These companies RELY on you not completing the claims correctly to make their money, they will try every trick in the book to not have to pay you.

I was on a similar deal, I submitted the claim well in time with all relevant docs. Two week later I got a letter saying the initial bill hadn't been received, this was utter BS, it was sent. In reply I wrote a strongly worded letter detailing the exact time and date of the original letter including the tracking number, an exact list of what was attached and a threat of legal action if the claim was rejected, and for 'their benefit' I also attached photocopies i had made of all the documents as well.

Another 2 weeks later I received a handwritten envelope containing simply a handwritten cheque for the claim amount, no apology, no cover letter.

So, just keep at them, they want you to give up.

[Deleted User]

ScottishSapper wrote: »

Firstly I would think your chances are very good, secondly the cost (as it's under £300 will be £30 this will be refunded WHEN you win!)
You can make the claim online (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco/index.jsp) but before doing this have a read through the pages at http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm this should help you get started.

A friend of mine had this problem about 18 months ago, the provider also rejecting her claim as she had not followed the T&Cs. Unfortunately she let the matter drop!

You appear to have followed the ORIGINAL terms of the offer and did the right thing by sending it recorded delivery. Hopefully you kept copies of everything you put in the envelope so it should be your word against theirs.

The fact that they replied after the 60 day period is I believe irrelevant, you sent it off (with proof, quote the recorded delivery number and date of posting ALSO go on to the Royal Mail web site and track the delivery, you will be able to get an image of the proof of delivery showing date they received it and who signed for it).
Go get them!!:j

I'm not going to let it drop... The deal was 12 months free line rental. So thats £35 x 12 = £420 !!!!

Also, my wife did the same so thats £840 between us...

I just wondered how I stand legally with my word against theirs for inclusion of that document. Seems a bit unfair if they can claim I never sent it and get away with it !!!!

Art_2

[quote=[Deleted User];6305395]I'm not going to let it drop... The deal was 12 months free line rental. So thats £35 x 12 = £420 !!!!

Also, my wife did the same so thats £840 between us...

I just wondered how I stand legally with my word against theirs for inclusion of that document. Seems a bit unfair if they can claim I never sent it and get away with it !!!![/quote]


You seem to have done everything correctly. Write to the MD of the company giving him 10 days to resolve the problem and tell him if he doesn't you will go to the Small Claims Court.


I bought a phobe from Mobileshop in Doncaster and never had a problem reclaiming my free line rental.

Regards,
Art.

Art_2

sebbelcher wrote: »

Hi, I had an incident last year, I bought a 19" flat screen monitor from a PC World store, for a princely £200. 4 weeks later it developed intermittent problems where the buttons on the side of the monitor would not function then 2 weeks later it stopped working completely, it simply wouldn't turn on in the morning. I phoned the Customer Services who gave me the usual patronising garbage about checking it was plugged in, and pressing the power button, and eventually told me to take it back to the store. So I took the monitor, boxed up with all its original packaging, manuals, cables, warranty card and receipt, back to PC World in Worcester. After queueing for 15 minutes to see the only guy (apparently) in the whole store who could deal with faulty products I was immediately told they would need to send it away to the manufacturer for verification of the problem. "Look" I said, "plug it to one of those 20 PCs behind you and I will show you the problem, it won't switch on". Apparently he wasn't qualified to verify that things wouldn't turn on so I inquired how long the sending away process would take, "around 4 weeks, depending on how busy they are". This was unacceptable, I use my computer everyday, I don't have a spare monitor so this would effectively mean I would be without my computer for 4 weeks. I relayed this to him and he simply shrugged.

Sensing this was going nowhere I retired for the day and did some research on the Sale of Goods Act and various statutes. I returned the next day to, unfortunately, the same bloke. Clearly he had some time to think about it as well, because when I laid down the Act to him he responded with "well, it worked for 6 weeks, monitors don't just suddenly stop working, you must have broken it". I went ballistic at this point and demanded to see the manager, and told him quite clearly, the problem, the law and that I didn't care whether I got a replacement, a 'loan' monitor whilst mine was repaired or a refund, but there was no-way I was leaving without a working monitor or my £200. Sadly the manager hadn't been to customer service school and no matter what I said he just arrogantly repeated the line "I've been working in retail for 5 years son, I know the law". Eventually he asked me to leave, I refused and he threatened to have me escorted off the premises, so I cut my losses and went.

Anyway, the very next morning I went to PC World in Hereford, just a 40 minute drive away, told them exactly the same and was given a replacement brand new monitor and was out the door in less than 5 minutes. Luckily I managed to resolve this myself, but who was right in the Worcester store? If after just 6 weeks a product breaks, can the company legitimately demand to take the product off you for 4 weeks, to send to the manufacturer just to have it 'checked for faults'. I can't see how this can be allowed, I have given them £200 6 weeks ago, now they are taking the product off me whilst keeping my money. They made the contract of sale with me, so surely it is their duty to analyse the fault not the manufacturer's? I'd be interested to know for future reference. Cheers.

You were right. Under the Sale of Goods Act the resposibility is with the retailer and not the manufacturer.

You managed to resolve your problem but it should never had been necessary. I have said many times in this forum, the best lesson to learn from this is not to deal with PC World. They have no consideration for customers once a purchase has been made.

Regards,
Art.