Currys/PC World extended cover

dori2o

Hi.

A friend of our has just been round to ask me to look at ther Laptop as it's not working.
Now before I opened it up I asked if it was under warranty etc and she says she has extended cover on it, but PC World have said the fault is teminal and are unwilling to replace it for a laptop that has the same spec, despite there being this extra cover on it that clearly states it will be replaced.

The laptop she has was on a deal when she bought it and has quite a few 'extra's'that were part of the package, they were not added on later or added on at my friends request as part of the sale.

PC World have said they cannot give a similar spec laptop to my friend as the cost would be too high. It seems the only model available is £300 more than what my friend paid for hers.

Can this be right? If she accepts the offer of the laptop they are offerring it will be an inferior product.

I have determined that the problem, from reading reviews of similar faults with this laptop on the internet, is likely the motherboard, which can be bought from Ebay for about £60.

Should she ask for the money back on the extra cover and just have the motherboard replaced and have done with PC World.

Esqui

What's the reason for rejecting a write-off? If they can repair it they will, if not, the only reason you'd not get vouchers for equivalent spec is if the laptop was originally pre-owned or non-pristine.

dori2o

Esqui wrote: »

What's the reason for rejecting a write-off? If they can repair it they will, if not, the only reason you'd not get vouchers for equivalent spec is if the laptop was originally pre-owned or non-pristine.

The laptop is in as new condition,and was bought new in the box.

PC World are saying they could not suffer the loss as the equivelant laptop in store is almost £300 more than what my friend paid.

Surely that is their fault for selling the one she has soo cheap?

neilmcl

Given that they're seeking a remedy via the extended warranty, what does the T&Cs say?

Esqui

That's never normally been a problem in my experience. Do also bear in mind that the store manager has the authority to over-ride a voucher to allow you to get an equivalent model, but it should really be done automatically.

There are a few exceptions, such as:
- if it's a WEH Multicare (i.e. 2 or 3 items on the same policy, bought over the phone), that's a different set of T&Cs.
- Also, they won't match on minor things, such as brand (although you won't be forced to go, for example, from an HP to an Advent!), colour, number of USB ports, etc.

dori2o

neilmcl wrote: »

Given that they're seeking a remedy via the extended warranty, what does the T&Cs say?

T&C's simply say if the laptop cannot be repaired then it can be exchanged for an equivelant model.

Esqui wrote: »

That's never normally been a problem in my experience. Do also bear in mind that the store manager has the authority to over-ride a voucher to allow you to get an equivalent model, but it should really be done automatically.

There are a few exceptions, such as:
- if it's a WEH Multicare (i.e. 2 or 3 items on the same policy, bought over the phone), that's a different set of T&Cs.
- Also, they won't match on minor things, such as brand (although you won't be forced to go, for example, from an HP to an Advent!), colour, number of USB ports, etc.

The model they want to give her only has 1GB Ram (Compared to the 2GB in the laptop she has), has a lesser CPU and does not have a Blu-ray player

CoolHotCold

Is it under first year?

Esqui

Are you being sent a voucher for it, or is it being exchanged in store? If the latter, then the store has only the original purchase price as credit, but should discount to match - though it's bad practice to land the store with having to do that.

dori2o

Esqui wrote: »

Are you being sent a voucher for it, or is it being exchanged in store? If the latter, then the store has only the original purchase price as credit, but should discount to match - though it's bad practice to land the store with having to do that.

So essentially because their 'equivalent' products are now too expensive due to their own price increases on top of the VAT increase, my friend cannot have what she paid for?

The terms and conditions clearly state, 'equivalent specification', therefore if it doesn't have 2GB ram, an almost similar CPU and most importantrly (the reason she got this one in the first place) the blu-ray drive, why should she accept the replacement?

dori2o

CoolHotCold wrote: »

Is it under first year?

No, it's about 19 months old, but she took out their extended cover for an extra 3 years warranty.

sirmarcus

Suggest you escalate and complain to John Browett, Dixons Group/Currys/PCWorld Chief Executive, via sending him an em to [EMAIL="john.browett@dixons.co.uk"]john.browett@dixons.co.uk[/EMAIL].

He is pro-active in reading ems and will respond.

Good luck and hope this helps.