Comet laptop broken outside of warranty.

Upya

Hi guys, I hope someone can give me some advice.

My parents won a brand new laptop (and all accessories) in a Christmas draw at their local club in December 2009. They were obviously thrilled with this and very much enjoyed using the laptop.

However, unfortunately the laptop stopped working around 5 months ago (16 months after the date it was purchased).

They originally put this down as a bad loss, however were recently told that this was in no way reasonable and that the Sales of Goods Act state that goods should be of 'satisfactory quality', which they clearly were not.

Since then my parents have taken this laptop to a local independant computer repair shop and paid for it to be inspected and have a report that states that the laptop is 'beyond economical repair' and this is through an inherent fault in the graphics card/motherboard and not through any accidental damage or misuse.

I have done a little research and it appears that you have a case against the supplier as they have liability for the goods they sell for up to 6 years and clearly my parents laptop falls within this liability.

However I am unsure how the fact that they won this laptop in a draw affects their consumer rights? The laptop and accessories came with the original Comet receipt (which they still have), however the receipt is in the name/address of the lady who buys all of the prizes for the Christmas draw each year.

She is aware of the problem and is happy for my parents to seek redress, however I don't think she is willing to seek it for them.

Does anyone know where my parents stand in terms of the 'Sales of Goods Act' given the above circumstances and the fact that they were not strictly the original purchasers?

What would you advise my parents do next?

redped

I would expect Comet to say they'll only deal with the person who bought the laptop. What make/model of laptop is it? Have they spoken to the manufacturer directly? If it's a known fault, there's a chance the manufacturer may offer them some goodwill, either by fixing it for a reduced fee, or maybe offering some discount off a new laptop.

The flip side is that they've had 16 months' usage of a free laptop (okay, for the price of a ticket in the draw), so they haven't actually lost out financially. If it was me, I'd be speaking to the manufacturer to see if they can do anything to help.

Upya

The laptop is an Acer AS5535-624G, it cost £379.99 and the total package including all accessories was £429.98.

My parents contacted Acer when the laptop first stopped working and Acer really didn't want to know, all they offered was to inspect the laptop at some very inflated cost and give an estimate cost to repair. In fairness, it seems that they have no responsibility in these circumstances and that contracts exist between the consumer and retailer, not the manufacturer.

It has been suggested that the 'Contracts (rights of third parties) Act 1999' covers my parents rights to assert the contractural rights against Comet, but I need to have a good read to be sure of that, can anyone else confirm this?

I don't really agree that the fact that my parents won the laptop means that it isn't fair and reasonable for them to expect it to work in a satisfactory manner for a reasonable amount of time, or for the retailer to remedy this matter for them.

Thanks for your reply.

CoolHotCold

Issue is a contract only applies between the purchaser and the retailer.

redped

Upya wrote: »

I don't really agree that the fact that my parents won the laptop means that it isn't fair and reasonable for them to expect it to work in a satisfactory manner for a reasonable amount of time, or for the retailer to remedy this matter for them.

You're putting words in my mouth here - I too would expect the laptop to last longer than 16 months, and would be annoyed if it broke. I was only putting things in perspective by saying they hadn't actually lost any money (although they did pay for the laptop inspection) - they can either take this further with Comet and/or Acer, or cut their losses and put it down to experience. If they do the latter, then they'll at least know not to buy another Acer.

TBH, I think it would be easier if they could somehow persuade the original purchaser to chase this up with Comet, as it will give Comet less opportunity of denying any responsibility..

Upya

Sorry, I didn't mean to put words into your mouth, I apologise.

I too think it would be a lot easier if the original purchaser was happy to chase this up as it does somewhat muddy the water, unfortunately though, this isn't possible as they are unwilling to do so as they are too busy.

Thanks again for your response and my apologies if I offended you, that wasn't my intention.

redped

No offence taken

InsideInsurance

The sales of goods act all revolves around the contract of sale. Your parents have no contract of sale with Comet and so have no claim against them. The woman who bought the item would be required to be the one that takes it up.

Of cause your parents could "try it on", most big stores are very bad at dealing with things and you'd probably get away with it unless you needed to involve the courts at which point more astute people probably would notice names not matching up.