Be careful when buying electricals in tesco!

bubblegumcola

soolin wrote: »

The sale of goods act is in force here, retailers have a right to offer a repair rather than a refund. laptop was bought in May as per the OP.

Sorry didn't see the 'May" bit. So if its over 6 months old do they consider that a repair is all they can offer, couldn't it be exchanged for a new one. Electrical stuff just doesn't last these days....you'd hope spending 400 quid on something it would last longer than 10 months...well I would anyway!

Tibbs,The_Freebie_Hunter

I recall that when working for a major UK retailer that they tended to keep it hushed, but that electrical items should be covered for up to a period of 5-6 years - by the retailers, themselves.

This would be the expected lifespan of a real-life wriggly electrical goody.

After that if it dies, you are expected to bury it in the back garden - no? okay then follow the wee wee regulations for disposal - or remember that some retailers might accept old items as trade in (and might deduct money from the price of the new purchase).

The reason retailers keep schtume about this is that they want to sell you their money-making extended warranties, which you don't need because you are protected by law anyway.

Obviously check first to rule out simple things as fuses in plugs, batteries, etc. for which wear and tear is to be expected sooner, and is not covered in the guarantee.

If you want proof of the pudding - Spotted Phillip

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/mar/25/consumernews.howtocomplain

There is also a link to the reporter himself within the article, which perhaps you could use to ask him to provide his expertise on the subject in order to direct you on how best to approach your individual situations.

I really hope this helps.

Leothecat

To be honest, I think you've been very unlucky with this one.
About 3 weeks ago, I bought the cheapest laptop possible in Tescos - Emachine or something. I used it for 2 weeks and then decided it was a heap of crap and took it back. They gave me my money back without question. Even when I was truthful and said I didn't want it cos it was a heap of crap, they were happy enough to take it back.

Dollardog

I bought a combined DVD/Video recorder from Comet a year last December.
It started scratching discs in September. I took it back to the shop, where they have an engineer who can fix small problems as long as it doesn't need parts. He asked if I had cleaned the heads, which I have to admit I hadn't as I forgot you can get disc cleaners.
He cleaned the heads a few times and I left it with him for a couple of hours to test it. When I went back it appeared to be working ok. He even gave me a couple of used discs which he used for testing as a replacement for my ruined ones. I thanked him and asked him how long it would have been away if he had had to send it back for new heads, he said up to 21 days.
It worked for about 6 weeks then started scratching discs again. I cleaned the heads several times, but still it kept doing it. So I went back to the shop. It was the engineer's day off, so I explained to the staff that I had had it looked at by their engineer who had initially fixed the fault but it had come back. The staff member went off and after a few minutes came back and asked if I wanted a replacement or a refund.
I was quite shocked because it was November by this time and near the end of the units warranty.
I said I was happy to have a replacement of the same type but when the young girl looked it up, she said they hadn't got any, so a refund was given.
As I was receiving the money, another sales person came up and I said I thought it should have lasted longer than it did and were they noted for going wrong as quick as that. I said I had had Panasonic microwaves for years without any problems and was surprised this had gone so quick. He said that Panasonic, were normally one of the better makes and asked if it had been a demonstration model, it hadn't. I had also paid nearly £200 for it, so it wasn't a cheap one.
I told him that I still wanted another Panasonic to replace it and would go back to see if they had any in the next week. He said we have got the newer model of that one in now. He looked up the price and it was actually £20 cheaper than I had paid for the original one.
So I walked out of the shop with a brand new model with more features, £20 in my pocket and a new 12 month warranty.

In all fairness to them, I had expected it to be sent off for repair.

Well pleased.

BargainJunky

Slightly off topic but I'm taking a steam iron back to Tesco tomorrow. It was bought last June and on Sunday it fused the house electrics twice.

I hope they either replace or give me my money back. As much as I hate ironing I cant wait two weeks whilst they try to get it fixed.

zenseeker

catmiaow wrote: »

When ever I have brought electrical goods from Tesco, most of them faulty on first purchase. I have always got a replacement without argument.

I think if they do send it anyway for repair they should offer a temporary replacement laptop and I would think a gift card for the inconvenience, not like Tesco can not afford it but they are very tight!!

Laptops and computers fall under the Data Protection Act or something like that, it's all to do with protecting your personal data, that's why they cannot offer you a temporary replacement as it could contain the personal data of another customer (lets be honest, a temp replacements wouldn't be new), and when they pass it on to another customer as a temp replacement, it could still contain a lot of your personal data.

They are quite within their rights to attempt a repair before offering a replacement or refund.

lesley_mac

Last Christmas 2007 we bought 2 of the digital photo frames that were on offer at the time for my parents and my in laws. Despite only being used on the odd occassion at the most once a month my parents one no longer works. I am not at all happy about this as I would have expected it to last a lot longer than that.

I spoke to customer services at my local store and being as helpful as they usually are she said if i havent got the receipt then there is nothing they can do. I understand that this is to prevent people returning things that they have stolen or not bought from tesco but does the same rules still stand if the item is faulty?

I dont want my money back just a replacement for my parents. It was a tesco own brand and surely if they dispute that I paid for it they could check the clubcard data that they use for everything else!! The information could then be found that we bought two of this item in the same transaction?

I hope someone can advise me better on this matter as after working in retail myself I am sure the rules were different when it came to faulty goods.

Thanks in advance

katholicos

It's standard practice. I had something dodgy happen with my daughters laptop from PC world 2 weeks after we bought it. I marched in there with all guns blazing and said i wanted a refund... and they said it could be gone for up to a month while they looked into what was wrong with it.

nuttywoman

BargainJunky wrote: »

Slightly off topic but I'm taking a steam iron back to Tesco tomorrow. It was bought last June and on Sunday it fused the house electrics twice.

I hope they either replace or give me my money back. As much as I hate ironing I cant wait two weeks whilst they try to get it fixed.

Our kettle we bought last july did that the other week :mad: its a Bosch with 3yr guarantee, so waiting for prepaid label to send it back to them .

dacouch

It wont hold a charge as you have left the battery in whilst you have the lap top plugged in. With lap tops charge the battery up and they take it out if your using the lap top plugged into the wall. It is a problem with lap tops it ruins the battery within a few months and it wont hold charge.

I learned the hard way with my first lap top.

If you dont believe me search this forum or google you will find a lot about it