Am I too late?

arsenalboy

I bought my son an Asus laptop in Oct 2011 for his Uni work, it was not cheap at over £900. It came with a 2 year warranty. At the beginning of last week the hard drive failed at 2 months out of warranty. I am well versed in SOGA and rang technical support who gave me a support ID but stated I had no rights as the 2 years were up.
As it was end of term and my son had to hand work in, he got a same day hard drive replacement by the Uni IT dept.

I have written to Asus claiming the repair cost, referring them to support ID to show I had contacted them before going ahead with the repair, quoting my rights under SOGA.

They have come back and stated that I didn't buy the laptop from them. I thought I did, but it was a company called Asus Laptops.

I am well aware that my rights are against retailer and not manufacturer. Where do I stand now going against the retailer? I am concerned that I did not contact them before the repair. I am sure if I had of done they would have told me I had no rights or told me my rights are against Asus.

Have I burnt my boats or can I claim time was of the essence as regards the repair and I could only contact them retrospectively?

paddyrg

I suspect you'll be out of luck, so put on your best humble voice and ask. I presume you have the dead drive for them to inspect etc? You may need to rely on goodwill somewhat so don't expect a whole heap.

System

I would suspect you've got no chance. You may have been able to get them to repair it but they're not going to refund you for a repair that a 3rd party have done.

arsenalboy

goater78 wrote: »

I would suspect you've got no chance. You may have been able to get them to repair it but they're not going to refund you for a repair that a 3rd party have done.

What would have been the position if I had contacted retailer in first instance. Would it have been reasonable to still have got it repaired in the Uni IT workshops?
The failure happened on the 9th with a project to hand in 2 days later before the end of term. My son couldn't access it until the new hard drive was put in (they also managed to save his data).

If the retailer had agreed to repair it, it would have been impossible to have returned it in the circumstances, so it would always have been a 3rd party repair.

Would that strengthen any argument I might have.?

SuperHan

So, although well versed in the SoGA you completely disregarded in your situation... Sensible...

If Asus is not the retailer (as you imply) then they have no need to reimburse you for your repair costs.

It doesn't appear that you have given the retailer a chance to remedy the problem before getting the repair done yourself, so they are unlikely to reimburse you for any repairs either.

In order to get a remedy under the SoGA (as I'm sure you're aware as you're well versed) you need to present the retailer with a independent engineer's report proving the fault is inherent. It doesn't appear you've done this either, and now you won't be able to as there is no fault left to prove.

The retailer can also take time to repair (or could replace or refund) so long as this isn't insignificant. I'm sure your son's uni provides computers for use by students, so the same day repair wasn't necessary, he could have used one of these machines to do his work.

In summary, you can try to pursue the retailer, but you probably have no chance.

System

arsenalboy wrote: »

Would that strengthen any argument I might have.?

Not really. He should have been able to use the back-up copy of his files on one of the myriad of computers available to students on the campus.

He did have his important worked backed up I assume?

SuperHan

arsenalboy wrote: »

What would have been the position if I had contacted retailer in first instance. Would it have been reasonable to still have got it repaired in the Uni IT workshops?
The failure happened on the 9th with a project to hand in 2 days later before the end of term. My son couldn't access it until the new hard drive was put in (they also managed to save his data).

If the retailer had agreed to repair it, it would have been impossible to have returned it in the circumstances, so it would always have been a 3rd party repair.

Would that strengthen any argument I might have.?

As in my above post (seemingly posted at the same time as this!) it wouldn't strengthen any argument. The Uni IT guys/the retailer could have gotten the information off the hard drive, then put it on to a CD for example for your son to complete on a different machine while yours was in for repair.

If you had just had the data recovery done by the IT guys, you might have stood a chance at reimbursement, but as it stands, you're in a very poor position.

Next time, try abiding to your side of the law that you're so well versed in...

arsenalboy

Not sure why you seem to have a problem here Superhan, I am only asking for advice, no need to be sarcastic. My only crime is assuming that Asus Laptops was Asus, my mistake which I have acknowledged.
My son is 4th year working off campus with no networked backup and using specialist software not available on campus. So none of the suggestions that have been given would have helped in this situation.
The repair had to be done as there was no other option. But this doesn't detract from the fact the a £900 laptop shouldn't fail when only 2 months out of warranty.

Thanks to those who have given helpful comments.

wealdroam

arsenalboy wrote: »

I am well aware that my rights are against retailer and not manufacturer. Where do I stand now going against the retailer? I am concerned that I did not contact them before the repair. I am sure if I had of done they would have told me I had no rights or told me my rights are against Asus.

You are probably right with your last sentence there... that may well be what they would've said.

However, as you know, they would be wrong to say that, and you of course would be able to tell them that.

Here is a short quote from MSE's Consumer Rights guide to reinforce that view:

Know who's responsible

When returning items, beware shops trying the oldest trick in the book: saying they're not responsible for the shoddy goods and you must call the manufacturer. This is total nonsense!

If a company fobs you off by saying “go to the maker instead”, it's wrong. It's the retailer's job to sort it.

It doesn't matter if it's an iPod from a high street shop or a designer frock from a department store. If something's broken, torn, ripped or faulty, the seller has a legal duty to put it right as your contract is with them.

System

arsenalboy wrote: »

But this doesn't detract from the fact the a £900 laptop shouldn't fail when only 2 months out of warranty.

A hard drive fails after 2 years of treatment students tend to give their laptops then TBH I would not be surprised. I wonder how many times that has been dropped, kicked around or generally abused in that time.

SuperHan

arsenalboy wrote: »

Not sure why you seem to have a problem here Superhan, I am only asking for advice, no need to be sarcastic. My only crime is assuming that Asus Laptops was Asus, my mistake which I have acknowledged.
My son is 4th year working off campus with no networked backup and using specialist software not available on campus. So none of the suggestions that have been given would have helped in this situation.
The repair had to be done as there was no other option. But this doesn't detract from the fact the a £900 laptop shouldn't fail when only 2 months out of warranty.

Thanks to those who have given helpful comments.

All this is entirely correct (although I'm not sure what you mean about Asus laptops being Asus? Who did you buy the laptop from? Asus directly?)

It shouldn't have failed, you would have been entitled to a remedy.

I didn't mean to cause offence, but there's no need to proclaim your knowledge of the SoGA if you don't actually know it that well. I wouldn't say I'm 'well versed' in the act, I just have a basic working knowledge, which is enough to know you shouldn't have got the repair without the consent of the retailer!

The best thing to do is to speak to the retailer and ask if they will help, but you should be aware they have no obligation to.