legal standing on failed pc...HELP PLEASE lol

rover220

hi guys

bought an acer pc through comet back in october...today the hard drive has decided it no longer wishes to work rendering the pc useless to me.

being 6 months old, where do i stand if i were to take it back to comet, the retailer. what are they obliged to do by law and wht can i expect.

any help gratefully appreciated.

cheers

eyeinthesky

Repair or replace, at their discretion. Don't think they would offer a refund. Most likely scenario is they will send it for a repair, but ask how long this will take, it must be within a "reasonable" period of time and not cause you excessive inconvenience. Have a look on directgov., I think you will find some useful information there.

eyeinthesky

If you bought in October, then it is just under 6 months old. This means that if it is faulty, it is taken to have been faulty from purchase, and it falls on the seller to prove that the fault was not there from the outset. After 6 months, it falls on the purchaser to prove it was faulty from the outset. Take it back immediately, speak to the manager, and calmly state that the pc has an "inherent fault", and that it is not "fit for purpose", and ask for a replacement. Stand your ground and try to insist on a replacement, rather than a repair. I don't think they legally have to give a replacement, but it can't hurt to try. Don't forget to back up all your stuff first though, good luck!

soolin

Unfortunately with Comet knowing your rights is seldom enough, that is not only my experience it has been echoed on other threads on here as well. Like eyeinthesky suggests in the first instance take it back with all your receipts and allow them to offer a repair. Try and tie them down to a time frame, if possible get them to mark it that you are allowing say 21 days for return. It might also be worth just checking if you have any at home support as it would obviously be easier to have someone come out and repair it, it's worth a try.

Put everything in writing afterwards, keep notes and names of who you talk to.With Comet it also pays to be persistent, but at no point ever raise your voice to them or use any bad language, however minor, as they have a habit of throwing you of the premises.

bookworm1363

The key will be when in October you purchased it. If you are still within the 6 months, burden of proof falls on the retailer and it will be a lot easier for you to get remedy. 1 day past the 6 months and the burden of proof falls on you.

Don't let them fob you off to Acer direct, even though their products have a high incidence of failure, they will deny it to the end.

If it's a total HD failure, it's probably just as cheap or close enough for them to replace than to send for repair so being firm on what you want may well get you better results. Get to talk to the manager, btw, not one of the floor staff, what they know of stat rights could fit on a small stamp.

rover220

ok, been back to comet today. spoke the manager (at least he said he was).

aparrently, because ive opened the case up to hoover it etc the warranty is most likely void. this doesnt sound right to me and i dont know what to do next. he said all they will do is book it in and speak to acer but he cant promise that they will do anything about it.

help!!!!!!!!

Jem8472

When you opend it up to hoover out did you brake and warrenty void if broken labels?
But you know if you send it back you will lose any data that was on there. Does the laptop give any errors on starting up?

System

I think that they would have difficulty enforcing that as it is a device that is intended to be upgradeable. Not allowing opening the case would be considered an unfair term in any warranty.

OlliesDad

!!!!!! wrote: »

I think that they would have difficulty enforcing that as it is a device that is intended to be upgradeable. Not allowing opening the case would be considered an unfair term in any warranty.

Not necesarily. They may advise that any upgrades/work has to be carried out by somebody with the relevant qualifications.

In my job we advise that the warranty will be invalidated if the fault that has occured is due to the unit being damaged during the cleaning/upgrading. If there was no damage caused during the hoovering, i do not see how they cqan get out of their responsibilities.

CHR15

rover220 wrote: »

ive opened the case up to hoover it etc

Why did it need hoovering if you've only had it a few Months?? and what does etc. include??

When you say Hard Drive, do you mean the Hard Drive or the whole PC is goosed??

soolin

rover220 wrote: »

ok, been back to comet today. spoke the manager (at least he said he was).

aparrently, because ive opened the case up to hoover it etc the warranty is most likely void. this doesnt sound right to me and i dont know what to do next. he said all they will do is book it in and speak to acer but he cant promise that they will do anything about it.

help!!!!!!!!

Keep on at them, do you have the full name of the person you spoke to? Mid morning tomorrow phone the shop and say you were expecting a call and wanted to know what was going to happen, be persistent, they may well never bother to make a call for you otherwise.

Incidentally I echo what the others have said and would ask why you needed to hoover the PC case. I'm a bit worried in case this is something that I should be doing as in all the years of owning a PC I have never done it yet...