faulty laptop from Argos.

tuvix

Hi folks,
I purchased a Toshiba laptop from Argos in July. It developed several faults so I returned it to Argos last week. They checked my laptop and rang Toshiba support whilst I was present.
The gentleman from Toshiba said from what was being described sounded like a hard drive fault. So Argos sent my laptop to Toshiba for repair which I was happy with.
Had a phone call from Argos yesterday saying Toshiba have said it's a software fault and it's going to cost me £120 for the repair. I am not willing to pay this so I asked for my laptop to be returned.
Toshiba will do this but at a cost of £87. As it's not a hardware fault this is what they want me to pay for there so called diagnostic.
Toshiba have not said what the software problem is or what has caused it. Argos do not want to know. So I either pay for repair or pay nearly £100 to get my faulty laptop back.
Any advice would helpful. I have been in touch with Argos complaints department but I'm not having much joy at the moment.

frugal_mike

Did Argo get you to sign anything authorising any kind of payment if it was found to not be inherently faulty?

tuvix

No I did not sign anything. I was informed that if it was a software problem then I would have to pay for repair. I do understand that Argos won't cover laptops for software issues. However I believe I can get the laptop repaired cheaper than Toshiba. I was never informed that I would be charged £87 to get my laptop back if I would be unwilling to pay repair costs.

spacey2012

If a retailer decides to repair as opposed replace any costs are theirs to bear, they examined the laptop and decided it required to be sent away for repair.
The people they sent it to say it is not guaranteed, well, you have no contract with Toshiba, yours is with Argos.
I would call them once again and state as they have failed to repair the laptop you are now invoking SOGA not fit for purpose and a refund or replacement or will contact trading standards.

jacques_chirac

spacey2012 wrote: »

If a retailer decides to repair as opposed replace any costs are theirs to bear, they examined the laptop and decided it required to be sent away for repair.
The people they sent it to say it is not guaranteed, well, you have no contract with Toshiba, yours is with Argos.
I would call them once again and state as they have failed to repair the laptop you are now invoking SOGA not fit for purpose and a refund or replacement or will contact trading standards.

I would normally agree with this viewpoint, except for the fact that Argos told the OP that if it was a software problem they would have to pay for a repair - in doing so Argos has not accepted responsibility for repairing the laptop, the OP has no right to a repair under SoGA.

Having said that, the OP should not be paying for the return of the computer as they were not advised of the charge for examining it. OP, exactly what has Argos said about this charge - are they saying you were advised of it?

tuvix

Hi Spacey.
Thank you for your reply. I did say this to the area manager at Argos complaints. They are the vendor. She said she will speak to Toshiba to ascertain what the problem is and get back to me on Monday but it's not looking good in my opinion
I don't see why I should have to pay £87 to get a faulty laptop back.

frugal_mike

Well I'm. Never totally convinced that being a software problem is enough to absolve responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act. If the laptop was provided with an OS preinstalled but not installed properly then I don't see why that would not be covered. Since it's less than 6 months since purchase it would be up to Argos to prove it was caused by the OP.

I definitely agree that OP shouldn't be liable for Toshiba's charges. Argos have the contract with them as they sub-contracted the investigation to them.

tuvix

At no point was I informed that I would incur a charge if I was unwilling to pay for a software repair. I would never have agreed to this and I don't think anyone else would. If it is a software fault that's fine. However I should be able to source out someone that may be able to repair my laptop much cheaper.