Resolved: -Problems with Medion Laptop and refused warranty repair

kittykarate

I purchased a Medion Erazer laptop one year ago and in September it developed a problem where the power to the item was intermittent. If you held the the cable at a different angle it would charge, so this led me to believe it was a problem with the power supply.

I sent my laptop back to Medion and they are refusing to repair the item under warranty as they claim that the problem had been caused by 'Brute force or Damage' and want £40 to return the laptop from Germany or £220 to repair.

I know that the laptop hadn't been dropped, stood on, or generally abused, so I'm shocked that they want me to pay for the repair. I was very careful with it as it was my pride and joy.

Can anyone offer me advice on how to proceed? I think this company is just weaselling out of their responsibilities.

somethingcorporate

Where did you but the laptop from? your rights under SOGA are with the retailer and not the manufacturer.

You may need to prove that the fault is inherent given you have had the product over 6 months.

kittykarate

The laptop was bought from the manufacturer via their website https://www.medion.co.uk

Esqui

Often (note: not always), that situation can be caused by the pin inside the power port on the laptop being pulled slightly aside. Have you ever lifted up the laptop with the power cord in, or stood on the power cord while it was in the laptop, causing it to pull?

Such damage is not covered under the warranty, and they are charging for the carriage and time. If you are sure that it is not due to "misuse", then pay the £40 to get it back. As it is over 6 months from purchase, you will need to get an independent report detailing the cause of the fault and send it to Medion. They will then be obliged to repair/replace/refund the item, and, one would assume, refund your £40 carriage charge, as well as the cost of the report.

Equally, try a different charger if possible. I've noticed that rotating the charger (for example, picking the laptop up with the charger in, moving it around, etc) can wear out the plastic on the inside of the charger..again, giving rise to the same symptom you have.

kittykarate

Thanks for all your responses.

I managed to get hold of someone more senior (or maybe just more willing to negotiate!) on the hotline, who looked at the photos and the condition of the rest of the laptop. This guy said that it was damage to the charging pin, but it was very minor and didn't look like brute force. So, they are now going to repair for free, and I should have my laptop back with me in 10 days.

I think if the rest of my laptop had looked battered I might have had a fight on my hands, but it was in mint condition (still had the protective sticky on the lid lol)

ukbidz

kittykarate wrote: »

I purchased a Medion Erazer laptop one year ago and in September it developed a problem where the power to the item was intermittent. If you held the the cable at a different angle it would charge, so this led me to believe it was a problem with the power supply.

I sent my laptop back to Medion and they are refusing to repair the item under warranty as they claim that the problem had been caused by 'Brute force or Damage' and want £40 to return the laptop from Germany or £220 to repair.

I know that the laptop hadn't been dropped, stood on, or generally abused, so I'm shocked that they want me to pay for the repair. I was very careful with it as it was my pride and joy.

Can anyone offer me advice on how to proceed? I think this company is just weaselling out of their responsibilities.

Interesting...I purchased a netbook for my son for part of his Christmas 2011, so two months ago, after 1 month and it being on maybe four times, it developed a fault with the keyboard and also the touchpad which wouldn;t work.

Contacted Medion and they collected the netbook for repair under warranty. I today received much the same as above that the repair would not be carried out under warranty as it was liquid damage. The quote was £323.45!! Now unbeknown to them I am an IT Technician and own a business repairing and servicing computer systems, also, prior to returning the unit for repair I removed the upgraded RAM and put the standard 1GB stick back in. This meant removing the keyboard where you can see the vast majority of the motherboard..liquid damage my rear end Medion. Also the list of parts you have listed do not equate to liquid damage which include a top and bottom case and an LED Board!

Anyone buying anything from Medion be very wary, also on the 'it's in Germany' conversation, this is not the case, it is actually probably in Swindon as I discovered

Needless to say an email has been sent to them and I shall also be calling them first thing on Monday morning to see what explanation they have

LlwydO

kittykarate wrote: »

Thanks for all your responses.

I managed to get hold of someone more senior (or maybe just more willing to negotiate!) on the hotline, who looked at the photos and the condition of the rest of the laptop. This guy said that it was damage to the charging pin, but it was very minor and didn't look like brute force. So, they are now going to repair for free, and I should have my laptop back with me in 10 days.

I think if the rest of my laptop had looked battered I might have had a fight on my hands, but it was in mint condition (still had the protective sticky on the lid lol)

Hello, sorry to bump this thread up after so long but I am having the exact same problem. I had the laptop since January and the charging pin has worked itself free from its normal position by a couple of millimetres to one side. I reported this to Medion on the 8th of August, they sent out another charger as they assured me this was the most likely issue. Obviously this did nothing.

After waiting for weeks due to their error in sending out a correct postage letter for their courier, I finally sent it for repair on the 8th of September. I asked the driver how long it would take to arrive and he said as it would be in Swindon, only one day. They acknowledged receipt of the laptop on the 17th of September. I received a letter from them on the 27th informing me that:

"The case of your device shows damages which have obviously been caused by inappropriate treatment. A free repair within the limits of our warranty is therefore not possible.

One or more of the connectors of your device have been damaged by an extraneous cause (connectors inserted the wrong way, wrong type of plug, brute force). Such kind of damages are not covered by our warranty. A free repair within the limits of our warranty is therefore not possible."

They then have quoted me a charge of £240 to repair it.
I challenged them and have just received a phone call from their ‘escalation team’ who asserts that their point is valid. I have asked for the unit to be shipped back to me.

Esqui wrote: »

Often (note: not always), that situation can be caused by the pin inside the power port on the laptop being pulled slightly aside. Have you ever lifted up the laptop with the power cord in, or stood on the power cord while it was in the laptop, causing it to pull?

Such damage is not covered under the warranty, and they are charging for the carriage and time. If you are sure that it is not due to "misuse", then pay the £40 to get it back. As it is over 6 months from purchase, you will need to get an independent report detailing the cause of the fault and send it to Medion. They will then be obliged to repair/replace/refund the item, and, one would assume, refund your £40 carriage charge, as well as the cost of the report.

Equally, try a different charger if possible. I've noticed that rotating the charger (for example, picking the laptop up with the charger in, moving it around, etc) can wear out the plastic on the inside of the charger..again, giving rise to the same symptom you have.

How would I go about getting an independent report detailing the cause of the fault? I mentioned this to them on the phone and they said that even if I did so they would be under no obligation to accept it or change their minds. Under what laws do have any right to claim what they sold me and aren’t meeting their obligation?
Do I have rights with an ombudsman?
I have their address to which I can send a formal complaint but would this do any good?
I have spent over a thousand pounds on this item, which is a huge investment for me. It has already been 2 months without it and I need it to write my thesis.
I have taken images of the laptop in the condition it was sent to them in, so I have those to support my case.

Esqui

One way would be to go to a local computer repair shop and get them to detail the fault and the reason for it. Should such a report prove that it was down to an inherent fault (which, for the reasons in my above post, is possible but unlikely), then you would send that to Medion.

If you can prove an inherent fault, then they are liable under the Sale of Goods Act to provide a remedy (i.e. repair/replacement/partial or full refund, as well as reimbursing the cost of your report). This is all assuming that the shop is UK-based, which I think it is. If they refuse, then you would need to go via the Small Claims Court, as they would be breaking the law.

LlwydO

Esqui wrote: »

One way would be to go to a local computer repair shop and get them to detail the fault and the reason for it. Should such a report prove that it was down to an inherent fault (which, for the reasons in my above post, is possible but unlikely), then you would send that to Medion.

If you can prove an inherent fault, then they are liable under the Sale of Goods Act to provide a remedy (i.e. repair/replacement/partial or full refund, as well as reimbursing the cost of your report). This is all assuming that the shop is UK-based, which I think it is. If they refuse, then you would need to go via the Small Claims Court, as they would be breaking the law.

I want to thank you for your advice. I have had the laptop looked at by a Microsoft certified IT technician. He opened the laptop up and found that the contact on the motherboard had never been soldered. This has caused the contact to arc and has burnt a hold through the motherboard.

He has confirmed that this is in no way due to brute force and is clearly due to poor manufacturing. The company can not have inspected the inside of the laptop before issuing me with their 'diagnosis' and quote for £240 for repair.

As the company has acted sthis way, and the product is inherently faulty, can I demand a refund?

I don't want a repair or replacement as I have no trust in the company or their product.

Any help again will be very much appreciated.

unholyangel

LlwydO wrote: »

I want to thank you for your advice. I have had the laptop looked at by a Microsoft certified IT technician. He opened the laptop up and found that the contact on the motherboard had never been soldered. This has caused the contact to arc and has burnt a hold through the motherboard.

He has confirmed that this is in no way due to brute force and is clearly due to poor manufacturing. The company can not have inspected the inside of the laptop before issuing me with their 'diagnosis' and quote for £240 for repair.

As the company has acted sthis way, and the product is inherently faulty, can I demand a refund?

I don't want a repair or replacement as I have no trust in the company or their product.

Any help again will be very much appreciated.

No. You can request one remedy over another (repair, replace, refund - which can be partial to take into account use you have had of the item) but the retailer can refuse if it is disproportionately costly in comparison to other remedies.

However, if they fail to carry out the repair within a reasonable time, you would be entitled to push for a refund. The repair should be at no cost to you and should not be a significant inconvenience.

Tbh I've had quite a few medion products over the year. Same with family members. On the rare occasion we've had a problem with said items, they've always been extremely helpful and have issued a repair/replacement with no hassle whatsoever. Never ever had them come back and tell us we need to pay so quite surprising to hear people on the other end.

I had my bedroom tv replaced by them. It initially broke 1 year into the 3 year warranty. I was expecting a repair but they sent out a replacement - Nearly 2 years on the replacement is fine.

LlwydO

What would be considered a reasonable time? I reported this fault over 11 weeks ago and their actions have also caused me a lot of stress.

They have a policy of 10 working days for everything, meaning I won't receive a response to my first official letter of complaint until next week.

Then another 10 days for my response to them including the findings from the IT report. Then another 10 days for collection, 10 days for the repair, 10 days for return. I will be lucky to have it back before Christmas if they do accept their liability and responsibility for the problem.