Refurbished Laptop and my consumer rights-advice please

medindexer

I bought about 8 months ago a refurbished Gateway laptop from IJT (inks). It came with a 12 month guarantee. It has broken down for the fourth time. Twice the backlight failed, once it failed to boot. Now it's failing to boot again.

Each time, Gateway repairers (now taken over by Acer) have repaired it or even said that when it arrived at their place it was not faiulty at all - very odd. Now it has failed for the fourth time.

The repairers say their only responsibility is to repair it each time, but I feel it must be reaching a point of being described as substandar goods or not fit for purpose. I don't know what my consmer rights are under Sale of Goods legislation. Both IJT say I need to speak to the other if I want to discuss a refund or replacement. I feel if this carries on, then when it fails after 12 months I'll have nothing.

Can anyone with expertise in this area tell me concisely my rights and the path I should take? I'd be very grateful. Cheers

Esqui

You have a right to claim a remedy (repair, replacement, refund - the choice lies with the retailer though) for faulty goods for up to 6 years from purchase. However, after 6 months, you must prove that the goods were inherently faulty (e.g. caused by poor manufacturing) and that it would be reasonable to expect the failed part to have lasted longer.

The latter is the sticking point with a refurbished laptop - you wouldn't expect it to last as long as a brand new one. That said, it should last more than a year.

Your contract is with the retailer, and they are ultimately responsible for sorting any problems. They use Acer (the manufacturer) as their repair agent, which is normal for a lot of things. But the retailer must not wash their hands of all responsibility.

You should contact IIJT, to explain the situation and that they are responsible to rectifying faults. Nonetheless, by repairing it each time, they are still techinically fulfilling their obligations under the sale of goods act. Clearly this will get increasingly inconvenient for you, and repairs should be completed without causing significant inconvenience to you.

One idea would be to ask the retailer if they have a policy whereby they will repair x number of times before exchanging. If not, suggest that you have the repair this time, but if it fails again within however many weeks, they agree to replace.

medindexer

Thanks for you clear and concise advice

md63

Hi, sorry if I'm posting this in wrong section, but I am absolutely furious!

I sent gold items to a company advertised on t.v, was not happy with the cheque sent (way to low) by them, I returned the cheque, which they received on 14th September, and I still don't have my jewellery back. They are supposed to send the items back within 21 days!

Phoned them earlier today,only to receive a 'couldn't care less attitude' I was told they would try to find out what has happened, but no offer to call me back. I said I would call them back later. Any advice by anyone please?

oldagetraveller

md63 wrote: »

Hi, sorry if I'm posting this in wrong section, but I am absolutely furious!

I sent gold items to a company advertised on t.v, was not happy with the cheque sent (way to low) by them, I returned the cheque, which they received on 14th September, and I still don't have my jewellery back. They are supposed to send the items back within 21 days!

Phoned them earlier today,only to receive a 'couldn't care less attitude' I was told they would try to find out what has happened, but no offer to call me back. I said I would call them back later. Any advice by anyone please?

You might do better by starting another thread rather than hijacking this one, it's apparently not classed as good forum etiquette!
I got "told off" on a previous occasion for doing similar.:D

md63

OK, sorry, thanks for the warning, as you can see I'm quite new at this