Warranty advice. PC Motherboard. Dabs.com

Azimuth99

Hello,

Back in July, I purchase a £105 PC motherboard from a company called dabs.com (now owned by BT). It was a big purchase for me.

The item duly arrived, and I installed it no problem. All was well.

Last week, it failed in totality, and I went to Dabs as a first port of call, assuming I had a 12 month warranty.

When I tried to return the item, dabs denied me the right to return (on-line), so I sent an e-mail explaining my plight. Today, I get a short reply saying 'It's out of warranty. Sorry for the incovenience.' I have replied asking for a deeper explanation, as I neither opted in or out of any warranty on-line, and I'm a bit confused. I have returned items before on-line (long time ago) with a toaster (Argos) fail after 3 months.

Do I have ANY rights at all in this matter. It has only seen five months use.

Having now looked on-line about this company, there are an awful lot of disgruntled people who have fallen into the same trap - and seem stuck.

By law, the company seems to have no obligation under any warranty (bar broken on delivery) - as clarified by many in forums here.

Any advice welcome here...

Azimuth99

4743hudsonj

They have an obligation under the sale of goods act. You are entitled to a repair, replacement or refund at their discretion. if they refuse, you have the right to request they prove the item doesnt have an inherent fault. Consumer direct is your next port of call for all the info you need and templates for letters.

Persevere and you will have a resolution.

neilmcl

What is the make and model of the mobo. I'd be surprised if it wasn't covered by a manufacturer's warranty. Warranty aside though, the SOGA should apply, provided it's failed due to an inherent manufacturing fault.

Azimuth99

Thank you 4743hudsonj, I'll give that a whirl. Perhaps it will meet with a better response. The board has been acting intermittantly weird (graphically) since purchase - but I always assumed bad software.

Thanks for the reply neilmcl
It's an MSI DKA790GX Platinum. I've contacted MSI UK to ask where I stand - but no reply yet. I'm not sure they would help though. What limted consumer law I know begins and ends with the retailer - not the manufacturer - but perhaps MSI will help. All I want is a working PC. Can't afford another £100+ outlay. Although, browsing the MSI website, there are hints of standard 1 year and 3 year warranties. Who knows?

Azimuth99

4743hudsonj

Azimuth99 wrote: »

Thank you 4743hudsonj, I'll give that a whirl. Perhaps it will meet with a better response. The board has been acting intermittantly weird (graphically) since purchase - but I always assumed bad software.

Thanks for the reply neilmcl
It's an MSI DKA790GX Platinum. I've contacted MSI UK to ask where I stand - but no reply yet. I'm not sure they would help though. What limted consumer law I know begins and ends with the retailer - not the manufacturer - but perhaps MSI will help. All I want is a working PC. Can't afford another £100+ outlay. Although, browsing the MSI website, there are hints of standard 1 year and 3 year warranties. Who knows?

Azimuth99

well your rights under the sale of goods act are with the retailer, the manufacturer doesnt even enter into it.

Azimuth99

Well, after having sent a written letter, Dabs have come back (via e-mail) and told me the item was B Grade goods, and only had a 90 days warranty. Also, the manufacturer warranty is also void - so looks like I'm finished - unless MSI care to help.

I remember the item being discounted by £10 I think, but nothing told me I had opted out of a full warranty, and nothing allowed me to extend that warranty.

Anyone familiar with the term 'B Grade' goods. Sounds a bit dodgy to me i.e the board had something wrong with it.

Azimuth99

williham

Yeah their B grade goods are clearly advertised that they have a 90 day waranty.

You can try sending it back to the manufacturer, if they say its waranty has ran out say that you bought it 5 months ago and don't mention that it is b grade.

You can show them your receipt to prove when you bought it and it wont mention that it is B grade. See where you get, it has worked for me many times.

xocbc

B-Grade can mean that it is ex-display, stock returned by a customer, stock returned under warranty and repaired etc etc. It may also mean it has been opened and something is missing from the box.

It will however have been tested and working when sold. The warranty is 90 days because it wasn't bought as new.

I don't know about Dabs, but other computer retailers I've used in the past (Overclockers, Insight etc) make the status of B-Grade and the warranty pretty clear on their websites.

williham

Azimuth99

Thanks everyone, I remember the green ticks thing, but nothing else. The process was pretty seemless and quick. Strange though, because when I received it, everything was still sealed and in pristine condition. Took ages to unwrap.

Your screenshot confirms though that there are no options to buy a year's warranty (or whatever is required.). Same happened for me. Would have been nice if it flashed up as a warning, rather than just text. Also, this information (90 warranty/B Grade) appears nowhere on my printed/electronic invoice or any of my on-line transaction records. No wonder I was hitting a brick wall with customer service.

Returning to MSI is still an option for repair, but keeping quiet about B-Grade status would be dishonest - and MSI are not stupid. Depends if I get a reply from their support section or not. Ho-hum!

Cheers

Azimuth99

Zanzibar

Hold on - the Sale of Goods Act still applies to B-grade or second hand goods regardless of their 'Warranty'. Given the known status of the goods (retuned/unboxed etc) they should still perform to a reasonable expectation - and 5 months for an item not subject to wear and tear isn't it.

You need to remind Dabs of this and if they aren't interested you can claim the amount back using Money Claim Online.

see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/x-ray/x_guides/consumer_law/12-1.shtml


I've had B Grade goods fail before - a PC from Micro Direct (they also stated a 3 month warranty) - they didnt even mention that and replaced after 6 months.