5 month old laptop from PC World - refund/replacement?

Jmoo

This is driving me nuts, I'd appreciate some help.

I've had the X360 for less than 6 months and had wifi issues since I got it. It was nearly £1,000 - the most premium laptop I've ever got. Yet from what seems like day dot I've had wifi issues which I originally put down to my home network. But after months of tinkering, complaints, and purchases I realise it's the laptop.

Yes I originally thought this was my BT Home Hub. It all works when I'm sat next to the router, but when I leave the room it all goes wrong. Even though I have no problems with my phone, iPad, other laptops, or Sky+ in other rooms.

So after tinkering with the settings on the Home Hub I called BT who sent me another to check it wasn't that. The second had no effect. After a few weeks I then got what was considered the best non-BT alternative, and spent £50 on it. That didn't help much at all. So I got myself a wifi extender in case it was still the house - which still had little positive effect.

It soon became apparent this was the laptop. I searched HP forums only to find many others in this position. We've all tried different drivers, updates, and yet we all have the same problem. I got in contact with HP who wanted to replace the card. Yet on the forums they say they've had the replacement card and it made no improvement. I didn't want to part with the machine for 2 weeks when I rely on it for work.

So I kept holding out the issue was big enough for them to resolve it. I kept tweeting HP asking if a solution was coming. Forum users said hold out for Windows 10. And when that came last week... it only made things worse.

I complained to HP through 3 mediums and spoke to Intel who make the wifi card. After much persevering I spoke to their customer relations team today. They accused the internet of making stuff up, that their forums weren't manned by them (even though they're on their site and I was contacted by them that way), and there's no known issues with it. Once they worked out I had got it from PC World they didn't want to know - even though it's their product.

At the same time as my complaints with HP I'd spoken to PC World. Who said they wouldn't deal with my issue without speaking to technical support. So I called them tonight. And they didn't seem very helpful.

My issues I spoke to them about was the wifi issue and the fact within 4 months my aluminium keys were wearing away. It is not looking like a premium product of nearly £1,000. They told me they'd take it away, but I won't get a temporary machine as I don't have a plan with them (despite my warranty, and the law saying I shouldn't be inconvenienced). He then told me he was only technical support so wouldn't be able to advise on those issues, and I might be better off going in store and arguing. Finally, he told me the keyboard and wear of case which looks awful was cosmetic so that wouldn't be resolved as it wasn't faulty.

This seems so poor for the price I paid. I shouldn't have gone with HP, their customer service has been awful, and I could have got an Apple Macbook for the money which I know has better customer service. But I needed the laptop for work, otherwise I'd have returned it from Day 1.

The saving grace is I got it with a Sainsbury's Credit Card less than 6 months ago so I could in theory go down that route to get a refund. I feel the fact PC World won't rectify all of the issues encountered puts me in good stead to have a good face-to-face discussion about it. I would rather a refund, but I won't settle for anything less than a new replacement.

Your thoughts?

MarkBargain

Re. the WiFi, have you tried an external adapter to see if that works better? (I know you shouldn't have to). I use a TP-LINK TL-WN822N with my laptop when in the garden so it picks up WiFi.

Re. the keys, are they wearing to the point you cannot read the letters? If so, definitely not fit for purpose!

Hintza

On a side note my router is in the loft to minimise any nonsense with walls etc affecting wifi. That is also where the master socket for the phone line was pit when we built the house.

Jmoo

Yes as it's aluminium all of the silver is coming off so it's becoming black marks on top so you can't see the letters.

I did buy USB adapters (so out of pocket again) but I found the USB slot was loose and it didn't take much for them to disconnect every time the laptop moved as it would go with me between home and work. Going to flag that with them too.

HP support rang me again today but it was someone with such a strong Indian accent I had to tell them I couldn't proceed with the call, she didn't understand me and vice versa

Interesting point about router in loft - I could try that but wouldn't help the issues out and about in cafes etc.

MarkBargain

It sounds to me like it isn't fit for purpose, especially given you spent nearly a grand on it! I would argue you want your money back under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

I won't buy HP home computers after both mine and my sister's developed major faults after just over a year, plus they show up worst on http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

dacouch

I had a HP laptop once, I would never buy one again, badly made and a number of inherent problems.

CoolHotCold

In regards to the device itself, the SoGA does state that you should not be significantly inconvenienced. But I wouldn't call being without a laptop a significant inconvenience for a week to 10 days, using it for work doesn't really apply as it doesn't fall under consumer reasons and you should have a business plan where you do X in case of Y happens (such as theft or loss of use of machine) to minimise your downtime.

For the keys themselves, it is debatable, if it's wear and tear. The lettering can wear away due to abrasion, natural oil reside on fingertips, misuse, amount of use etc etc.

While it may not be what you want to hear, you're not entitled to a refund or replacement under consumer regulations.

What make and model?

chickendipperbabe

Most if not all of HP's current laptops are manufactured by a cheap Chinese company called Hannstar. They're not exactly know for quality, Dell use them also.

I can see Currys/HP's point with regards to the wear and tear on they keyboard.

As for WiFi lots of different factors can affect performance. At home we have our super hub plus a wireless access point (connected via Ethernet in a different part of the house) on different channels. We had loads of issues with Wifi connections being weak and dropping out, we went through a few different routers and nothing worked, even expensive high gain usb adapters for the desktops. In the end we started using powerline adapters which have been rock solid, obviously not ideal for use with a laptop. Although this my decrease range, try using 5Ghz if you haven't already tried it. It could be that you're living in a wifi congested area.

Jmoo

As I said, I've purchased USB adapters, tried three routers, and wifi extenders. I've had issues out and about connecting to hotspots, and at friends houses. I will be taking the ten invoices I have for numerous wifi equipment.

There's only one other neighbour with internet - their wifi is not anywhere near my channels.

If I'd known a £1,000 laptop losing the metallic paint on the keys within 4-5 months was deemed acceptable I'd not have bothered.

Fosterdog

It is very frustrating when these things happen.

Have you tried a factory reset? This sounds like a software issue which 99% of the time isn't covered by any warranty or SoGA. If it was a hardware fault a wifi adapter would have fixed the issue.

You can take invoices for whatever you but but they didn't make you go out and buy all these different things, if it had been taken back on day one when you first noticed the fault you would have had a brand new one or a full refund. You chose to keep it this long and test multiple components yourself, you can't now retrospectively charge them for that nor can you demand a new one/refund (you can ask but I can almost guarantee you won't get it, you also won't get a loan laptop)

As for the keys wearing off, it would depend why they have worn. If it just from one hour a day use with clean hands it is not acceptable at all, if it is 13 hours a day use constant typing you can expect signs of wear quite soon. The same if you use any sort of hand cream, sanitizer, strong soap not fully washed off as that would be a chemical reaction. The same if you have rough/ calloused hands as that would cause friction to the paint.

Jmoo

Wish I'd not purchased it then. I'm starting to think I'd rather stick it on eBay and lose a significant amount as a result.

I wouldn't have thought they can be as judgemental as yourself - as it's less than 6 months they'd have to prove it wasn't wear and tear as opposed the other way around.

They might not have made me buy all the accessories, but HP had argued it might be my set up. Given so many have complained about it you'd assume there was some responsibility for HP to address it, but obviously not. In hindsight I'd have sent it back straight away if I knew otherwise.

HP have already advised a factory reset which was not beneficial even without any software on it.