Help! Purchased laptop online with 12 months warranty...they're saying it was 3 month

stellamanella

HELP Please! I purchased a laptop off portable universe in December 2011 with a 12 month warranty.

I used it a handful of times and by March it was faulty and didn't work. I phoned and they said it was the battery and it wouldn't be covered under the warranty. So I purchased a new battery and it still wouldn't work. Anyway they agreed it was still under warranty and told me to send it back (which I paid £20 for a return and £20 for the new battery).
on the 19th of April a returns was issued.
31st of May they said it wasn't repairable and sent me out an upgraded laptop.
21st July - again new laptop faulty so sent them an email.
23rd July email back of PU saying "I have to also point out that this laptop was purchased back in December 2011, and is therefore no longer under warranty." even though it was purchased with a 12 months warranty.

I replied straight away saying it was bought with 12months warranty and therefore still under warranty. I also stated a few of the above points. I also mentioned - under The Sale of Goods Act 1979 makes it an implied term of the contract that goods be as described of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. As you are in breach of contract as it's getting quite obvious that the laptop's supplied are not fit for purpose. I am requesting you refund the sum paid. I also require you to arrange for the laptop to be collected.

They ignored my email and after a second email from me, they've come back to me with:

Dear Customer,

Sorry to hear about the problems you are having. However the laptop is nearly a year old and has been used. You have also had you laptop replaced with a better spec model within that time. For these reasons you will not be able to get a refund. As for the one year warranty, we only provide a three month warranty with out laptops. Which means you are currently out of warranty meaning that there would be a charge for repairing the laptop. I hope this answers all of your questions.

Im getting fed up now, not only are they refusing to fix it, they are refusing a refund. I don't want them to fix it now as it's likely the laptop will only work for a month and break again, therefore I want my money back. Where do I stand, who can I complain too and what are my options?

Any help would be appreciated! If your thinking of purchasing a laptop through these....my advice is DON'T!

Thanks

NiftyDigits

Warranty Information

Return to Base warranty warrants the PC system to the end user, against defects in materials and workmanship for the period advertised on each individual machine, either 3 Months or 1 Year, beginning on the date of purchase by the customer.

Perhaps you just need to remind them.

andy2004

Go to you local C.A.B, get them to contact the company, also ask to speak to a solicitor through C.A.B. if C.A.B can not get a reply from them, and get them to send a letter by recorded delivery, also tell the company you'll be contacting Trading Standards via the solicitors letter make sure to put a warning in the letter sent by the solicitor that if they dont refund you, you will take them to court.. Then see if they refund, if not take them to court. You could also tell them you've told people not to buy from them using this website, i'm sure then they will come on here to explain themselves.

stellamanella

Thanks for your help. THey've replied now with a returns slip to get it fixed, but I'm fed up of them TBH, I want a refund. Do you think I have the rights for a refund?

Fosterdog

What is the problem with the new laptop?
What make and model is it?

You don't have an automatic right to a refund but depending on the fault (hardware or software) you may be entitled to have the problem rectified and they can choose whether to repair, replace or refund, as long as you are left with a working laptop at the end of it you have to accept whatever method they choose.

stellamanella

Considering this is my second laptop off them that broken, and after a month it won't switch on, I also don't see what difference the make and model makes to me having a refund? I thought The Sale of Goods Act 1979 makes it an implied term of the contract that goods be as described of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. The laptops received have been neither of these if they break after a short period of time. The first laptop when that broke they refused to fix it and said battery was not covered. So I bought a new battery and found out it was the laptop that was faulty. I then had to pay £20 for a return, which took well over a month, they then issued another laptop. This one has turned out to be faulty after a month! This time when I contacted them they refused to cover it under the warranty and said it was only valid for 3 months, but I purchased with a 1 year warranty. They are delaying the process, I'm reluctant to get another laptop from them which will break in a month and by then I really will be outside of my 1 year warranty. The laptops should last longer than a month or so shouldn't they? How long do you expect to get from a laptop?

victor2

Not all laptops are created equal. You haven't said what brand/model it is, but maybe you chose a poor quality one.
If they're going to repair or replace it then get that done and cut your losses, by selling it on fleabay as soon as you get it back.

stellamanella

It's a Dell Latitude D610, I thought Dell was a decent make? It should still last longer than a month! I don't think that would be fair on the person buying it from me, It certainly wouldn't be something I'd be happy about If I bought a faulty laptop off fleabay.

victor2

It's a known brand and generally fairly reliable. You may just have been unlucky. I still have a 6 year old D600 laptop, which had a new hard drive under warranty, Dell replaced the battery FOC under a recall programme, and I had to replace the screen hinges after they broke last year.
If you're honest with the advert to sell it, there should be no problem or reason to feel guilty.

NiftyDigits

Be realistic. It should last longer than a month, but it was maybe six years old when you bought it.

Latitude D610

The D610 was an update of the D600 design; it used the same case design and very similar specs. The chipset was updated (to the "Sonoma" platform) and used DDR2 memory, and it used a second-generation "Dothan" Pentium M chips running on a 533 MT/s FSB (and available in higher speeds.) The location of one memory socket was moved to underneath the keyboard. The D610 was available with either an ATI Mobility Radeon X300 discrete GPU or Intel integrated graphics. It still continued to use a PATA hard drive and D-series modular bay.

Many Latitude models had a near-clone Inspiron, in the case of the D610, it was the Inspiron 610M.
[edit]
Latitude D610 problems

Some Dell Latitude D610 units with a dedicated ATI x300 graphics card seem to have problems with the audio-out jack. Symptoms of this problem include a noise or whine when an audio device is connected to the audio-out jack. Up to this date Dell does not have a clear solution to this problem.[1][2][3][4]

A number of Dell Latitude D610 units will develop microscopic fractures of the motherboard. Symptoms of this problem may include inability to turn on the computer, unexpected shut down within 30 seconds of being turned on, or visible screen artifacts while in operation. This problem also frequently contributes to the blue screen of death (BSOD) in Windows.

The Dell Latitude D610 was intended to have a 3-4 year life. After this period, some known issues include deterioration of CPU and other issues causing poor performance, especially with newer software.[