Getting a repair from Curry's/Sale of Goods Act advice

bludolph

I'd like advice on how to get my Dell Inspiron laptop repaired at Curry's under warranty for this problem, and how difficult it would be:

Recently, a thunderfly crawled under the screen and is now stuck there, causing some disruption to the LED display around it. I can't help but feel that this was able to happen because the laptop was poorly sealed/constructed around the edges, so can I reasonably blame this on poor workmanship?

I don't see that Curry's could claim this is my fault (I didn't put the little nuisance in there!), and even under "wear and tear" I would've expected it to last much longer than 3 months. Is it correct that for anything less than 6 months old I have the right to a repair if they can't prove the defect wasn't present at the time of purchase?

Esqui

That would be correct.

However, I believe your argument should be with the fly

CoolHotCold

Seriously?

A laptop is not a sealed unit so while unfortunate it doesn't really fall under the retailers responsibility.

But to answer your question, you would have a hard time to get the courts (if it went that far) to see it from your end, as if it was there since purchase you would of taken it back within a few days max, not 3 months.

And yes, under 6 months the retailer has to prove it was sold without the defect there, and like I said, if it did go to the courts I fear they would rule in the retailers favor, plus if you tried you would be plain out trying to deceive them as you've just admitted it has just recently happened.

You can phone KnowHow and how what to do, but don't be surprised if they say sorry.

bludolph

Yep, seriously.

And no, I wouldn't be trying to deceive them at all. I meant the laptop not being sealed well enough would be the defect from purchase, not the bug. But thanks for your reply anyway!

arcon5

As already said, the problem is a gap on the exterior of the product could be seen easily on inspection.. and after 3 months it would be deemed that you have accepted the product.

bludolph

It didn't really bother me until the bug crawled its way inside. But yeah, it's looking like it might be better to just wait until my comp-genius buddy visits and pay him to replace the screen (plus it'll spare the £50 rip-off from just getting it looked at in the shops, win-win!)

visidigi

ok, I can tell you from experience on this...

Dell will not touch it with a barge pole - the laptop is not defined as sealed, nor water or splash proof - additionally the screen can't be in a totally airtight unit otherwise it would need to be much heavier and stronger than it currently is.

I have an office Dell and even with Corporate High Level warranty support Dell would not entertain calling out to deconstruct and remove the thunderfly that has died under my screen.

The guy at Dell did guide me to the manuals online, which are flash based and show you very clearly how to remove the bezel and get out the object (I need to do it when I have the time, so far I am just about putting up with the dead fly) - note in my case there is an antiglare plastic sheet infront of the LCD, indeed the mouse pointer on mine goes under the fly, indicating that i might be lucky enough to get this fly out by myself - it might be the case with yours...

You won't get currys to fix it, its a natural event - nothing they are compelled by law to fix but armed with an old credit card im going to give the bezel removal a go in the morniung after suitable amounts of caffine first!

CoolHotCold

Ok, without any holes in the laptop it would overheat.

There are a ton of holes in the system, cooling it a major entry point, speaker holes also, microphone too.

Not only is it impractical to seal the laptop up but trying to argue the point with the courts would almost guarantee a newsworthy article in the Daily Mail.

bludolph

visidigi, good luck with that Hope you can get the little beastie out of your comp.

CoolHotCold, I understand that. It's just that this is the first time it's happened, so I wondered if the slightly dodgy edging could have been a factor. It'd probably be impossible to say though, so I'm now leaning toward just getting the screen replaced or cleaned if possible. Hah, I myself would laugh if I ever saw that article! The temporary fame would be nice, but it'd take a while to shake off the humiliation of being beaten by a bug.

visidigi

bezel off - my bug is inside the panel itself - looks like Im stuck with it. litterally.

vyle

This happened to me with my netbook last summer. Two thrips under the screen, and nope, not a thing you can do about it, nor do retailers or manufacturers have to do anything about it.

The only thing I learnt (which has saved my two main PC monitors) is that if you ever see a thrip moving around inside a screen, switch it off, and put a bright light next to it.

They go into the screens as theyre attracted to the warmth and light, so if there's something warmer and brighter, they'll leave and go to that instead.