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Argos Card Reader Blew Up My Computer
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Mursal
Posts: 1 Newbie
I bought an SD card reader from Argos and within minutes of plugging it into the USB port I smelt burning. Turned out the cable was faulty and fried my computer.
Had to get an independent Engineers report. It said that the cable was faulty and the computer needed a new motherboard.
Argos wanted to carryout their own tests on the cable/card reader.
They also found the cable faulty.
Argos are now offering 40 pounds in compensation for my computer?
Any advice would be very much appreciated
Had to get an independent Engineers report. It said that the cable was faulty and the computer needed a new motherboard.
Argos wanted to carryout their own tests on the cable/card reader.
They also found the cable faulty.
Argos are now offering 40 pounds in compensation for my computer?
Any advice would be very much appreciated
0
Comments
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You'll have a hard time finding a new motherboard and having it installed for 40 quid! You'll need more like £100 inc labour costs0
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£100+ would be my guess for a new motherboard and fitting if it was a reasonably recent machine.
How old is it?
and How much did the machine cost new?
I ask as both of those factors will be taken into account when Argos were deciding on compensation.
IE if the machine was 5+ years old they wouldn't offer the cost of the motherboard, when it was new, likewise if the machine was a £300 Emachine PCWorld special the chances are the motherboard was a very cheap one (you can get them new from about £30, but on a more expensive machine the boards can cost £200+ depending on processor and features* they support).
I'd suggest if they've admitted the problem was caused by something they supplied, then try looking for an equivalent board to the one that has blown, and asking them to pay for that + fitting.
*Some MSI boards start at under £30 retail (MSI are popular with the likes of emachins as they can/do customise the boards for big orders and start off very cheap), on the other hand a good Asus board will cost £100+ with ease and a top of the range one £200+ (and Asus usually do a range based on the same basic board, with the cheap version at say £50, and the best one at £100+ having things like extra hard drive connections, wifi, better sound, additional network controllers).0 -
Have you asked them for more, giving details of the costs you expect to incur to fix the problem? I would suggest that as a first step, and see what they say.0
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Argos have admitted that there was a fault. Therefore, they have admitted liability. They need to sort out the problem.
How much has the independent report quoted for the fix? How much did the report cost? Send Argos a bill for this and give them 7 days to pay. Remind them that both they and the independent report come to the same conclusion - there was a fault with the item they sold you. Should they not pay, then send them one more letter - a letter before action and let them know that the next thing they will hear from you is a small claims court action. This should hopefully get them moving.0
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