Dell refusing to honour warranty

hsj2011

I bought a Dell business laptop second hand a couple of months ago and, though it wasn't advertised as such, it has 2 years remaining of the Dell Next Business Day Warranty.

A few days after receiving the laptop, the touchpad started to play up so I contacted Dell via email to request a repair. Someone from Dell emailed me back, arranged the repair and everything was sorted. The engineer visited my home the next day and carried out the repair and I thought nothing more of it.

Then, about 2 weeks ago, I went to reinstall Windows on my laptop, went to locate the product key, which is under the battery, and found the product key was missing - the Dell engineer had removed it along with the touchpad/palmrest when he replaced it.

I contacted Dell via email about this issue and they agreed that the Dell engineer should've replaced the Windows License on the laptop, but didn't, so they would send me a replacement COA. However, what they actually sent me was a Dell sticker with spaces to hand write the Windows product key. I emailed Dell again and explained that I don't have the product key to write onto the sticker because the Dell Engineer took it and product key finding software doesn't find a valid product key on the computer (probably due to it being a Dell pc).

Since then, I have been waiting for Dell to resolve this and the guy I've been dealing with assured me it would be resolved. However, yesterday, I had an email from him asking me what company the laptop was registed to. I promptly replied saying I didn't know as I bought the laptop second hand off ebay.

This morning I got an email from Dell saying that they are unable to assist any further until I can confirm who the laptop is registered to, so basically, they have stolen my Windows product key and are now not willing to resolve the issue at all.

They also said they cannot honour the remaining 2 years warranty until I know who the laptop is registered to.

So...

1. What can I do about my Windows product key? The license was for Windows 7 Ultimate, which would cost me £170+ to buy again so I think it's outrageous that the won't replace the license that the Dell engineer took without my knowledge and/or consent.

2. Can Dell legally withdraw a warranty on a product? Presumably, this warranty was paid for at the time the laptop was originally purchased and as Dell handle all warranty claims direct, I just feel it's a bit unfair to effectively void my warranty just because I don't know who originally bought the laptop.

ANY advice would be amazing as I really don't know what to do now.

wealdroam

Business to business sale?

tomwakefield

hsj2011 wrote: »

2. Can Dell legally withdraw a warranty on a product? Presumably, this warranty was paid for at the time the laptop was originally purchased and as Dell handle all warranty claims direct, I just feel it's a bit unfair to effectively void my warranty just because I don't know who originally bought the laptop.

Buying a computer does not include transfer of the warranty, which must be done separately.
Link
Until you have done this, the warranty is not yours, and Dell are within their rights not to repair it for you under the warranty.

hsj2011

wealdroam wrote: »

Business to business sale?

No, I bought it off a private seller on ebay that bought it off the original owner locally.

tomwakefield wrote: »

Buying a computer does not include transfer of the warrenty, which must be done separately.
Link
Until you have done this, the warranty is not yours, and Dell are within their rights not to repair it for you under the warranty.

I know what Dell says about it, but my question was are they legally allowed to do this?

neilmcl

hsj2011 wrote: »

No, I bought it off a private seller on ebay that bought it off the original owner locally.



I know what Dell says about it, but my question was are they legally allowed to do this?

Of course they can! The warranty is with the person who made the original purchase, not you. Legally they don't have to supply any kind of warranty.

hsj2011

neilmcl wrote: »

Of course they can! The warranty is with the person who made the original purchase, not you. Legally they don't have to supply any kind of warranty.

Ah but legally, under the 'Sales of Goods Act', the laptop has to last a reasonable amount of time, hence they are still legally obliged to repair it if it fails within that 'reasonable amount of time'

But ok, say there's no warranty on the laptop, I can live with that if need be, but as they made the error in repairing the laptop and they made the error in removing my windows license without replacing it (without my consent and/or knowledge), surely they should be responsible for a suitable replacement?

CoolHotCold

In a word they are legally allowed to do this.
Somewhere in the law there is a statment that says the contract is between the seller (aka the retailer) and the buyer. Some shops can and do not allow repairs/exchanges/refunds unless the original owner is there.

However the issue is with a issue they caused by carrying out a repair in the first place which has casued issues since then,

hsj2011

CoolHotCold wrote: »

In a word they are legally allowed to do this.
Somewhere in the law there is a statment that says the contract is between the seller (aka the retailer) and the buyer. Some shops can and do not allow repairs/exchanges/refunds unless the original owner is there.

However the issue is with a issue they caused by carrying out a repair in the first place which has casued issues since then,

Thanks. Yeah, it's more to do with the fact that their Dell engineer removed my Windows License and now Dell are refusing to rectify the issue because I cannot confirm who the original owner is.

As a side note, they said, all I need to do is tell them who the original owner is and they will transfer the warranty. They said they don't need any confirmation from the original owner, just for me to confirm who they are. As they already know, I don't see why they're making it difficult.

debtistheft

Which version of windows was it? If it is an older version could you not buy it cheaply off ebay? I know its a pain because it was originally free with the laptop but it might be easier and less stress to just replace windows. It also means you can put on a clean copy of the operating system which is safer from a security standpoint and will be appreciably faster without all the previous owners crap on there.

hsj2011

debtistheft wrote: »

Which version of windows was it? If it is an older version could you not buy it cheaply off ebay? I know its a pain because it was originally free with the laptop but it might be easier and less stress to just replace windows. It also means you can put on a clean copy of the operating system which is safer from a security standpoint and will be appreciably faster without all the previous owners crap on there.

It's Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit so a replacement would cost between £130-£180 so not really an option to be honest.

I have just suggested that Dell contact the original owner and ask for permission to transfer the warranty to me. Will see what they say.

debtistheft

hsj2011 wrote: »

It's Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit so a replacement would cost between £130-£180 so not really an option to be honest.

I have just suggested that Dell contact the original owner and ask for permission to transfer the warranty to me. Will see what they say.

Ah right, yes way too expensive to write off. Coul you send an email to the ebayer you bought the machine off to see what they can do?