Laptop Battery Problems

opalfruit

Hi guys,

I have a laptop which is now 1yr 3days old, the battery has stopped holding its charge, any other laptop i have ever owned, 3 to be exact, has outlasted this timeframe, none of the laptops have been mistreated or misused.
I therefore believe that this battery is faulty? and not "fit for purpose".

I have emailed the seller and received a reply as below,

My original email

From: Simon**************
Sent: 13 September 2010 16:13
To: w*****************o.uk
Subject: acer travelmate 5730
With regards to an acer travelmate 5730, S/N LXTQ20X012927161462000, received from yourselves 11th September 2009.
The battery pack supplied with this laptop has deteriorated so badly over the last few weeks that it will hold its charge for only about 10mins while running on battery power.
I feel this is unacceptable for a laptop battery to loose its capability in such a short timeframe. This renders the laptop unusable and unfit for its purpose as a portable device.
Could you please contact me either by phone or email to rectify this problem.

Kind regards.

Simon***********n

Reply from seller

Good Morning Simon,

Thank you for your email.

Batterys are generally not covered under the manufactures 1st warranty for any portable devise, weather it be a mobile phone, laptop or ipod.

This is due to the fact that manufactures are unable to control the usage or the way the batterys are used by the end consumer.

Acer are different in that they do offer cover for the 1st six months of the battery life but as you laptop is now a year old, this will not be covered.

Replacement batterys are currently on the market for £45.00

Many thanks

Stephen

I know £45 may not seem like much to Stephen, but its a good chunk of money which I would rather not have to spend on a product that, in my personal experience, should definately have lasted longer.


Now I have a question, are batteries covered under the SOGA?
I know it speaks of durability and fit for purpose etc.


If so what is my next step?


All the best



Simon

4743hudsonj

Yes they are but any claim under soga would require you to prove it was an inherent fault rather than fair wear and tear or misuse.

Personally, for The money or hassle I would kick up more of a stink but if that didnt work I'd just source a new battery (but not from China!).

opalfruit

Personally, i hate spending money which i should not have to spend, like in this situation. I would not care if the laptop had reached 3yrs of age when the battery failed but to only last 1 year is ridiculous.

If any of you guys out there could advise me on what sort of communication I should send next I woud be eternally grateful, I am not really good at the legal wording I should use to reply.

Thanks

opalfruit

I am going to send the suppliers another email to follow up on the battery, I will probably use the wording below.
If anyone out there could take a look and see if it looks ok, it would help alot. Just in case i have omitted anything important...
Thanks guys.

Hi Stephen,

RE: Faulty goods and the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)

Thanks for your reply.

I know your information may be correct according to “manufacturers warranty”, but let me explain my situation and query.

I have owned 3 other laptops, each of which lasted over three years and at the end of their life the batteries were still holding their charge for a reasonable time. As this laptop has not been treated any differently with regards to the battery pack, it would infer that this battery pack is of “unsatisfactory quality” and consequently “not fit for purpose”.

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) states that when a consumer buys goods from a trader they must be: as described; of a satisfactory quality; and fit for any purpose made known at the time of sale to the seller.

This legislation also states that the seller, not the manufacturer, is legally obliged to sort out a problem if the goods do not meet these requirements.
My goods are not “fit for purpose” or “of satisfactory quality” and I wish to claim a replacement battery pack under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 as amended.

Please respond to my complaint within 7 days from receipt of this email.

Regards

Simon

OlliesDad

Currently the retailer has no legal obligation to offer any remedy as the onus is on you to prove that the goods have an inherent fault.

As a battery is a consumable part, i think it would be tough to argue this much further than to send one last email appealing to the retailers goodness.

rsykes2000

I would respond to you that as you have had it a year, unless if you can produce an engineers report saying it had an inherent defect, then thank you for your initial custom and goodnight.
I suspect that you like most people have been running the laptop with the battery in and mains plugged in for long periods, this is well known to shorten the life of the battery and most manufacturers suggest you only plug it in to the mains if it is actually charging and remove the mains plug when charging has completed. If you need to run it from mains power for long periods, remove the batery - most if not all laptops work fine like this.
All said though, I agree entirely with you that it should last longer than it has, so good luck with the complaint

fozmcfc

We had this with laptops purchased through our company on the now defunct government scheme.

Basically it was a 3 year in home servicing agreements, which covered basically everything from the smallest problem, hardware/software to complete failure or acidental damage.

BUT the battery was not included in this and the battery only had a 3 month guarantee.

It is not uncommon for batteries to have 3, 6 or if your lucky a 12 month guarantee. As others have said if the battery is faulty because of say dodgy wiring which has deteriorated overtime, then a claim could be made if that is proved.

Do let us know how you get on OP, one way or another as it will be handy for others in a similar position.

opalfruit

Once again, thanks to all who have replied.

I will let you know how things pan out.

rsykes2000:
I suspect that you like most people have been running the laptop with the battery in and mains plugged in for long periods, this is well known to shorten the life of the battery and most manufacturers suggest you only plug it in to the mains if it is actually charging and remove the mains plug when charging has completed.

I am well aware of the capabilities and downfalls of "overcharging" laptop batteries, as I have had 3 laptops which all lasted up on 3 years each. All were well cared for and the batteries all outlasted the life of the laptops. In fact the battery would normally not be in the laptop as it is mostly plugged in when I am working on it. Except for when I have it out of the house at work.

Best regards to all...

opalfruit

Well after several emails back and forth I finally received this mail from the supplier.

[FONT=&quot]Hi Simon,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Over time, laptop batteries lose their ability to hold a charge. This is a normal occurrence and is common to all rechargeable laptop batteries. It is estimated that the life of a laptop battery today will be approximately 300 - 400 recharges. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As you have stated that you have charged you battery every day for the last year, 365 charges would be the recommend amount you get from your batterys life.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As a battery is a consumable product, there are excluded from the 12 month warranty which is given on any electrical item. You Acer laptop came with a 6 month warranty which is more than is given by other manufactures.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Unfortunately we will be unable to assist you any further with this matter.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Yours Sincerely[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Stephen[/FONT]

I always believed that the recharge "limit" on Li Ion batteries was around 1500 charges . I'm unsure how to be certain of this and I cannot understand how of all the laptops I have used that this Acer product falls far below the life of the other batteries, with no difference in use.

Fair enough I do have to charge the battery every day as I mostly use the laptop on battery power while on the road, but once again I am confused as to why this battery pack failed compared to others.

Any of you guys out there know how I can find out the "recommended " charges for a laptop battery.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks


****Update****
Not to worry found the info I needed here. batteryuniversity (cant post link as im relatively new user)
Seems that the supplier is correct ......... this time.
Thanks for everyones help.