Getting refunds instead of replacement/warranty repair on bad computer hardware

james.crowley

Hey everyone,

I'd really appreciate your advice on this (and apologies for the tech-ness of the post!). I bought an OCZ SSD drive from Dabs about 13 months ago, which now has a fault. The device has a 3 year warranty. On arriving at their forums, I realised that many many customers were having the same issue ([It seems I'm not allowed to post URLs. Search on Google for "site:ocztechnologyforum.com vertex 2 not detected"] - there are over 4600 posts on their own forum with regards to this issue).

50% of the reviews on Amazon are one star:

[Search on Amazon UK for OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SATA II 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive]

But the biggest thing for me is there are large numbers of these reports indicating they've had replacements from OCZ, which have then failed in exactly the same way. Some are on their 4th or 5th replacement! This to me indicates a serious design flaw with the product.

Having emailed OCZ, asking if returning the device and getting a replacement would fix anything, they stated

"Can I give you a 100% yes or no answer that this will be resolved? No I cannot. The latest firmware 1.35 for the "2" series should not exhibit this issue, but if you are using sleep/hibernate in a mobile or desktop environment, some PC's do see this kind of issue."

As I was already running the 1.35 firmware when the drive failed, I have zero confidence that the issue has been fixed at all. They're just sending out identical replacements and hoping for the best.

I've gone back to Dabs and outlined the scenario, but they're refusing to give a refund - stating that I have to give OCZ a chance to fix it. I'm loathed to (a) pay to ship the faulty device internationally for a warranty replacement (b) get a replacement that looks in all likelihood destined to fail in the same way at some unknown point in the future, (c) risk losing yet more data when it does and (d) a whole load of time reinstalling everything again.

Do I have any leg to stand on pushing Dabs further to give a refund? Any other thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!

scheming_gypsy

you wouldn't have much chance getting a refund when it's worked for 13 months.

james.crowley

Even with a design flaw in the product that they seemingly can't actually fix? I put up with a separate issue with the device, which meant I had to immediately reboot my laptop everytime I turned it on... which they eventually fixed with a bios update 6 months later. Now I'm wishing I'd just asked for a refund immediately then.

wealdroam

What 'design flaw' are you talking about?

If there is an inherent fault, then the seller must provide a remedy.

Firstly you need to prove that the fault is inherent.
Lots of people posting poor reviews, even if they all point to the same symptom, does not prove that your device is suffering from an inherent fault.

Perhaps get an independent engineer to produce a report that clearly states that the fault on your device is inherent.
Of course you will need to pay for that report, but if it confirms the fault is inherent them the retailer will refund that cost as well as provide a remedy.

Now, back to that remedy.
The remedy can be either a repair, replacement or refund.
Your choice, but the retailer can refuse your choice if it is disproportionately costly.
If a refund is decided upon, the retailer can reduce that refund to take account the use you have had to date.

Whatever remedy is decided upon, it must not cause you significant inconvenience.

Anything the manufacturer may offer, like a three year warranty, is in addition to your statutory rights. They can include in that terms like 'you must pay for carriage both ways' if they like.

mattyprice4004

The retailer provides a remedy of their choice, not your choice. They're choosing to repair, which they are entitled to do.

CoolHotCold

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

The retailer provides a remedy of their choice, not your choice. They're choosing to repair, which they are entitled to do.

I believe it's actually worded, "You can request, but the retailer can refuse on the grounds of disproportionate costs"

(E.g in this case the retailer would loose 100% of the cost of the SSD, compared to a repair which OCZ will do for free, so you can't argue your entitled to a refund as the cost is negligible)

wealdroam

CoolHotCold wrote: »

I believe it's actually worded, "You can request, but the retailer can refuse on the grounds of disproportionate costs"

Yes, pretty much what I said two posts earlier...

wealdroam wrote: »

The remedy can be either a repair, replacement or refund.
Your choice, but the retailer can refuse your choice if it is disproportionately costly.
If a refund is decided upon, the retailer can reduce that refund to take account the use you have had to date.