Another PC world/Rent Smart thread!

Gbennett87

Jinks wrote: »

Hi GBennett,

Please accept an apology for the behaviour of the staff from an ex-PCW-salesperson who was also pressured into selling this package to customers.

More importantly, under the terms of your agreement if they can't repair your laptop promptly you are entitled to a brand new replacement - so don't let them get away without giving you one! Check your paperwork carefully. You should have a couple of pages about the Whatever Happens cover that is included with the Infinity package. It IS the premium cover that is included (apparently the person dealing with you either didn't know that or didn't want to tell you) and I know that where PCs are concerned they must fix or replace your laptop within ten days. I never dealt with an Apple Infinity but there is a different repair procedure with Macs because PCW/Currys don't have access to Apple parts and engineers, so just in case it's different, please check the paperwork and see what it says about the repair time.

Once you know the exact terms and time limit, you can take the paperwork to the store and tell them they have broken the terms of the agreement and as they have exceeded the ten days allowed for repair you expect them to either replace the laptop or cancel the contract. You are fully within your rights to one or the other and you have it in black and white so don't let them tell you otherwise. If they tell you to call Rentsmart do it in the store as you did the last time, that was the right thing to do.

Be polite but firm. They will probably replace it for you if you are threatening to call Rentsmart and demand cancellation for breach of contract - as you've already noticed, they are pretty desperate to get and keep Infinity customers. At least with a new Macbook you will have got what you are paying for. Good luck with it.

Thank's for the info jinks,

The only information I got for Know how was less than half a page long when I signed up. I did find some info on the PC world website and there is nothing in there that says anything about Apple products being dealt with differently.

As for the Anything happens, my contract does not state it being premium, just "Anything happens policy"... But I have noticed on the copy they gave me and the receipt I got during the repair situation it says IPAD3??!!, I wonder if this affects my situation.

I did find a small part that states "occasionally you may have to pay for the repair and claim the cost back by contacting the KNOWHOW customer services team", But this does not say I would have to book the laptop in and take the laptop to Apple retail myself... Sorry if I'm being thorough with this but I really want to make sure I have something to go with when I take it back.

Thanks, Grant.

Jinks

OK. If it doesn't say anything in your paperwork about Apple products being dealt with differently, then the standard repair terms apply (if that's not the case, it should be stated in the paperwork, so they can't just say "this doesn't apply because it's Apple").

The Whatever Happens terms are detailed here (and you may find more useful information in general on the Knowhow site):
http://www.knowhow.com/uk/repair-protect-pillar/protect.aspx

As stated there, the premier service promises repair within 7 days (which has changed, it used to be 10) and the standard service promises repair within 21 days. Infinity comes with premier WH so seven days should be the limit to how long you are without your laptop. But even if they try to fob you off with the standard service, 28 days is too long.

Make sure you discuss this with them - you are paying for the WH service as part of your rental agreement and if they don't fulfil its terms, the contract you are paying for becomes "significantly not as described"!

Jakg

Jinks wrote: »

...there is a different repair procedure with Macs because PCW/Currys don't have access to Apple parts and engineers

PC World still have an Apple repair department, it's just not publicized any more - I had my MacBook Pro repaired by them in December, and it was repaired in their Newark workshop.

Gbennett87

Jakg wrote: »

PC World still have an Apple repair department, it's just not publicized any more - I had my MacBook Pro repaired by them in December, and it was repaired in their Newark workshop.

Hi jakg, Either you was lied to and have the wrong information, or I was lied to and the whole "we've gotta send it to Apple" was utter crud...

I'm gonna do a little research tomorrow and visit another PC world and ask about infinity, see if I get told the same bull as before, I might even "accidentally" record the whole thing... it's getting personal now, can't believe some of the threads about Curry's / PC world I'm reading on here and if most of them are true it needs to be dealt with.

Jakg

Gbennett87 wrote: »

Hi jakg, Either you was lied to and have the wrong information, or I was lied to and the whole "we've gotta send it to Apple" was utter crud...

Trust me - it was repaired in Newark.

(I've got a printout of the Myriad notes showing it's location at every point of the journey, and all parts being ordered)

Gbennett87

Jakg wrote: »

Trust me - it was repaired in Newark.

(I've got a printout of the Myriad notes showing it's location at every point of the journey, and all parts being ordered)

May I ask what the fault was? as mine is a motherboard fault so maybe it's beyond PC world's ability...

Thanks

Jakg

Gbennett87 wrote: »

May I ask what the fault was? as mine is a motherboard fault so maybe it's beyond PC world's ability...

Thanks

Dead motherboard (2011 MacBook Pro MD314 with the i7 CPU - new motherboard costs £450!). Had it back within a week, and they even cleaned the screen for me (it was spotless when it came back!).

Expected it to come back covered in scratches or marks etc... but no.

Dead impressed.

Gbennett87

Jakg wrote: »

Dead motherboard (2011 MacBook Pro MD314 with the i7 CPU - new motherboard costs £450!). Had it back within a week, and they even cleaned the screen for me (it was spotless when it came back!).

Expected it to come back covered in scratches or marks etc... but no.

Dead impressed.

Well it's beyond me as to why I have to deal with my repair, like I said I will be returning to the store on Monday to get this sorted and if they tell me the same bull as before I will ask for the contract to be terminated as I've had enough and it's just not worth the money Im paying. Uhmm maybe it's because my model was discontinued by apple...

Will update this thread with the outcome.

Jinks

Jakg - that's interesting! I'm glad you were able to get such a great service with your repair. But I worked at PCW up until the middle of last year and our store definitely didn't have access to an Apple repair lab - we always had to pass Mac repairs onto Apple (though there were no delivery issues at that time so it would be unheard of to expect the customer to do it). It may be that there is a small capacity for Apple repairs for certain stores or that they are trialing an Apple repair service, which would make sense considering the volums of Macs the company sells these days. That doesn't necessarily mean that the OP was misinformed about it being available, though it may help to tell the KnowHow staff that he knows someone who had their Mac motherboard repaired at their Newark repair centre and see what they say. Be aware that they may genuinely have no idea that's possible, because the staff at our store didn't have any knowledge of that.

Jakg

Jinks wrote: »

Jakg - that's interesting! I'm glad you were able to get such a great service with your repair. But I worked at PCW up until the middle of last year and our store definitely didn't have access to an Apple repair lab - we always had to pass Mac repairs onto Apple (though there were no delivery issues at that time so it would be unheard of to expect the customer to do it). It may be that there is a small capacity for Apple repairs for certain stores or that they are trialing an Apple repair service, which would make sense considering the volums of Macs the company sells these days. That doesn't necessarily mean that the OP was misinformed about it being available, though it may help to tell the KnowHow staff that he knows someone who had their Mac motherboard repaired at their Newark repair centre and see what they say. Be aware that they may genuinely have no idea that's possible, because the staff at our store didn't have any knowledge of that.

Question - what happens if the Mac is under Whatever Happens and gets accidentally damaged? It can't be sent back to Apple like that, nor can it be written off, so it gets repaired centrally.

However, as with all manufacturers who repair their own products - if it can be sent back to the manufacturer for repair, it will. I have not heard of an issue sending machines back to Apple, though.

(current employee)