Faulty laptop, Comet and the Sale Of Goods Act

Stokesy

I think you all know where this is heading...

14 months ago I bought a £550 laptop from Comet. I wouldn't normally go to a high street store for anything worth that much money but they had the best price on the product I wanted so I took the risk.

Anyway, a couple of days ago it refused to boot up. I gace Acer a phone but they aren't interested as it is over a year old. A local PC store had a brief look at it and concluded that it was probably uneconomical to fix.

I sent an email to Comet detailing the fault and referencing the Sale Of Goods Act. I got the following response.

Dear Allan,

I was very concerned to learn of the problems that you have experienced regarding your faulty laptop. Please let me say how sorry I am and thank you for taking the time to get in touch.

We take great pride in the products that we sell and our after-sales service. We want our customers to be completely happy with the items they buy from us, hence all the products we sell are covered by a manufacturers’ guarantee. The length of the guarantee is usually sufficient for any technical problems with the product to materialise.

Comet will not charge you for repairs carried out under the guarantee period. However, if the manufacturers’ guarantee or extended warranty on your product has expired, repairs are chargeable. Your laptop has been working for 14 months, as this is the case we feel that it was of satisfactory quality when you purchased it and therefore will not repair it free of charge.

I appreciate that this is not the response you are looking for and I apologise that I am unable to assist you any further in this matter.

Regards

Comet Customer Services

It's pretty much what I was expecting. However, the incredibly fake I'll pretend to care then tell you to *$#@ off response wound me up a tad.

I'm going to give Trading Standards a call tomorrow or on Monday depending on when they are open and I'll send one of their template letters to Comet by recorded delivery.

I'm just after some general advice here for anything that I may have missed out? I'm also curious about the timescales associated with this kind of claim? My dad thinks that I should buy a new laptop then try to charge them for it as I need one for Uni andthe fact that they're trying to fob me off is negligence on their part. From a moral standpoint I think he is correct. However, I doubt a judge would see it the same way.

Thanks in advance for any esponses.

4743hudsonj

Don't buy a new laptop.... Whilst they've not explained it, what they're basically saying is prove its an inherent fault. Which they're allowed to do under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

I'd do as you say, give consumer direct website a visit (TS' public face...) and get a template letter mentioning the act and asking them for a solution. If they refuse then to take it further you will need to get an engineers report proving its inherent and then continue your claim.

Otherwise I'd plea on their better nature to pay towards a new one. Or go to your uni to see if they can get discounts for anything but apple.

Stokesy

Thanks for he response. When I say I need it for Uni I don't NEED it need it:)

It's going to be a pain in the !!!! but I ca get by without it

Unintentional

Do you still have the receipt for the Laptop?

If so, Even if it is out of warranty, It's in the 6 year duty of care that Comet still have the responsibility to contact the manufacturer and arrange a repair of the product. You may be charged for the repair if it's out of warranty but it'll probably be far cheaper then forking out for a new laptop. A bank statement might be acceptable if you don't have the receipt.

If the laptop is un-repairable then I would argue that in the sales of goods act a product has to last a reasonable amount of time and 14 months for a laptop is poor if you've used it correctly. If they still put up a fight I would go to trading standards.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck in getting this resolved.

atomicsheep

Maybe you could post some specifics here.... Does it power on at all?

a common fix for boot problems is this:

take battery out | unplug power cable | press and hold power button for at least 30 secs | put battery and power cable back in | try boot as normal

___________________________________________________

If not maybe give some more specifics here. Does it try to power on or is it dead in the water, will it boot so far then turn off?

shaun_from_Africa

If the laptop is un-repairable then I would argue that in the sales of goods act a product has to last a reasonable amount of time and 14 months for a laptop is poor if you've used it correctly. If they still put up a fight I would go to trading standards.

Whilst this is correct, you've missed what 4743hudsonj stated earlier.
Comet are only liable under the SOGA if the laptop had an inherent fault, and they will need a report from an independent engineer or repair service to show this.

somethingcorporate

Unintentional wrote: »

If so, Even if it is out of warranty, It's in the 6 year duty of care that Comet still have the responsibility to contact the manufacturer and arrange a repair of the product.

Wrong, where does it say anything about a 6 year duty of care?

A product only has to last a 'reasonable' amount of time and depends on price, what it is etc etc.

Stokesy

I spoke to Trading Standards this morning. They agreed that I have a case so I sent one of their template letters off by recorded delivery this morning.

I'll keep this thread updated to let everyone know how I get on. I've found a few similar threads on here useful so I'll try to return the favour.

atomicsheep wrote: »

Maybe you could post some specifics here.... Does it power on at all?

a common fix for boot problems is this:

take battery out | unplug power cable | press and hold power button for at least 30 secs | put battery and power cable back in | try boot as normal

___________________________________________________

If not maybe give some more specifics here. Does it try to power on or is it dead in the water, will it boot so far then turn off?

It gets to the Acer logo then refuses to go any further. It makes a "deee de deee de" warning noise when switched on. I tried the technique you mentioned but it didn't have any affect. The bloke in my local computer shop thinks that it's the graphics card that is the problem. Apparently there are problems with Nvidia mobile graphics cards so I'm going to do some reading to see if my model is one of those that are affected. It won't let me post a link due to my low post count but if anyone else is having similar problems with an Nvidia card they should google The Nvidia Defect Forum.

closed

refit the ram, hard disk, and graphics card

shaun_from_Africa

Trading Standards, the OFT and the DTI have all stated that the time in which you can claim for faulty goods is up to 6 years, and not that goods must last up to 6 years.
This would depend on the nature and price of the items in question.

kkpolobear

closed wrote: »

refit the ram, hard disk, and graphics card

i didn't think you could refit a graphics card in a laptop you learn something new everyday