Laptop Problem At Currys

tedmagnum

Did you ever get this fixed, I'm having a similar problem but with a different model and wanted to know if there was a easy way to sort it before taking legal advice.

Despite what the currys employee above will tell you, a speaker you cant hear over the fan isn't fit for the purpose of sale.

vickyj

they are not obliged to take the item back as they will no longer be able to sell it as new hence wil have to take at leat 10% off.
they will no doubt think why should they loose money because you have purchased the wrong thing.
They only make on average 3% - 6% on laptops so by refunding you they will loose money. best thing to do is as is suggested above, try and do a deal with a manager for an upgrade and see if you catch him (or her) in a good mood or failing that go and buy some speakers.
sorry for seeming negative but am just trying to be informative.

Vicky

pulliptears

Fujitsu Siemens Amilo 7320G £399. And the thing is up full blast

Run, run away now! Ive spent 12 months arguing with Dixons over the next model up from that. Yes, the sound is tripe, more worryingly is the fact that every major componant failed on mine within the first 8 months.

I was told by a nice Dixons manager that they sold Fujitsu's a while ago and stopped selling them because they were so notoriously faulty. He said he was amazed when they took the decision to start selling them again.

If you can get it returned it would be great. I finally got mine replaced with a £499 Toshiba and it has surround sound, the quality is fabulous.
Good luck!
x

tedmagnum

vickyj wrote:

they are not obliged to take the item back as they will no longer be able to sell it as new hence wil have to take at leat 10% off.
they will no doubt think why should they loose money because you have purchased the wrong thing.

In my opinion I didn't purchase the wrong thing. I bought a laptop with a speaker expecting to be able to hear it. Maybe currys should warn potential customers that you cant hear the speaker over the noise of the fan.

I'll be talking to the manager tomorrow about replacing it with a different model, if they refuse to replace it we'll have to see what a lawyer says.

furrypolka

First question: Is the item faulty?

If it is perfectly normal and standard for the laptop's sound to be this low, and it is manufactured as such, then the store can argue that it is not faulty and does not breach the "satisfactory quality" term of the Sale of Goods Act.

Second question: Did you tell them you were buying it to listen to music on?

If you did not tell them this, then the laptop also does not breach the "fitness for purpose" term of the Sale of Goods Act.

Third question: Was the item misdescribed in the advertising or by the salesman?

Unless there has been an actual false description of the item, it will not breach the "as described" term of the Sale of Goods Act. Equally there will be no breach of the Misrepresentation Act as you have to have a representation in the first place in order to have a misrepresentation.


Sorry this isn't good news.

Incidentally, I would advise you to only get a solicitor involved if you are on legal aid, as you won't be able to claim back legal costs win or lose. Consumer Direct and Trading Standards have staff who are often more well versed in consumer law than many solicitors anyway, and their advice is free. (I advise in consumer law myself - not for CD - but I am not insured in this capacity as it's my free time, so do get further advice from CD)

gerretl

tedmagnum wrote:

Maybe currys should warn potential customers that you cant hear the speaker over the noise of the fan.

I have yet to see a retailer that puts a warning on their product. You need to prove you bought the item for a specific purpose. This gets much more complicated with the multifuntionality of computers/ audio/ TVs.
My advice: be nice to the manager, and mentally accept a ten percent reduction on the refund. Tell them you are disappointed with the product (but not their service) and ask for their suggestion on a substitute product. Look interested, because they are people too. If you get a refund against a new computer, you have got a result. If you get a cash refund, even better.
Do not quote every retail law under the sun. And don't go threatening with trading standards or Watchdog.It doesn't work. It just gets peoples backs up.

tedmagnum

furrypolka wrote:

Second question: Did you tell them you were buying it to listen to music on?

If you did not tell them this, then the laptop also does not breach the "fitness for purpose" term of the Sale of Goods Act.

If you bought a phone that played mp3's, would you tell them you were buying to listen to music or assume that since the functionality is included that it would be suitable for that use?

Third question: Was the item misdescribed in the advertising or by the salesman?

Unless there has been an actual false description of the item, it will not breach the "as described" term of the Sale of Goods Act. Equally there will be no breach of the Misrepresentation Act as you have to have a representation in the first place in order to have a misrepresentation.

With 1Gb of memory and 60Gb of hard drive, this laptop handles many applications and provides plenty of storage space for music, photos and files. Play, watch and burn films and music with the built-in DVD rewriter. Enjoy your PC games wherever you are thanks to the 128 Intel UMA graphics card. This lightweight laptop also has wireless compatibility for cable-free access to the internet at home or away.

Straight from currys website, seems clear to me that its designed to play/watch films or music which it clearly isn't suitable for due to the volume.

gerretl wrote:

I have yet to see a retailer that puts a warning on their product. You need to prove you bought the item for a specific purpose.

As above the description states its suitable for the use I bought it for.

tedmagnum

Quick update, been to speak to the manager today despite the snow and he's agreed to offer me a full refund after listening to the volume level

pulliptears

Nice one Ted! Just dont buy another fujitsu

batvink

I helped a friend buy a Philips X58 laptop from PC World (which I believe is the same grup as Currys). We got it home and found that the sound was barely audible. After a slight attempt to resist the request for a refund, they did agree.

In this case, I think the following is relevant:

1. The box has media/DVD/movie/audio references all over it.
2. It has Windows installed, and you can't hear the Windows sounds and warnings!!!
3. It has DVD, Music and entertainment software pre-installed.
4. The instore demo model was out of action, the screen has been rotated 90 degrees and they couldn't fix it.
5. The assistant asked what it was for, probably to try and upsell. She was tell it was for playing DVDs and presentations.

Windows Home Premium is the basic edition + added media capabilities, which I would also cite as reasonable evidence to suggest you should be able to hear the sound!!!