Laptop defunct after 9 months - what are my rights

Figgerty

Last Summer my 4 year old Windows 7 laptop crashed intermittently but continued to work after switching off and on. By early September 2015, I decided to buy a new one and bought an Acer in John Lewis. I set it up and because I needed time to get used to Windows 10 I decided to try it later. I was away from home a lot since then and continued to use my old laptop as it was easier to carry and was behaving well. Last week, I decided to get used to Windows 10 as I have to decide if I should download Windows 10 before the free download period ends. I switched on the Acer laptop and nothing happened apart from an Acer welcome message. I then left it alone in case the battery needed to charge and when I returned and switched it on, the same Acer message and then a dark screen.

I called John Lewis Technology support and they asked me to switch it off and then on by holding the on switch down for a count of 20. This led to a Recovery screen followed by a text only screen. I read the header to the engineer who instantly told me the hard drive was gone. I couldn't believe that it could have happened with barely any use. He told me to take it to my nearest John Lewis store. I asked if the laptop would be returned to me or my nearest Waitrose store and he said it would be returned to me and not Waitrose.

I took it in to John Lewis yesterday and was told after a couple of minutes that it was not the hard drive but something else. It would be sent away for repair and after 2 - 4 weeks I could collect it from the same store. It would not be delivered back to me. The laptop has a 3 year guarantee and I expected it to last at least that long before packing up. I was surprised that the person I spoke to did not seem concerned that a product they sold had gone wrong so quickly and with no use. I felt I was delaying his lunch or something. Is this usual for John Lewis?

I deeply regret not using it at the beginning as the fault may have shown up in the 30 day no quibble period. I don't have confidence in this laptop now and am concerned it may go wrong again as I know I did nothing to cause the problem. I did not customise it with favourite browsers or applications or anything. It sat flat on the pull out shelf of my desk and was not touched.

What are my rights under consumer law if it goes wrong again or if they are unable to repair it this time.

wealdroam

Figgerty wrote: »

Last Summer my 4 year old Windows 7 laptop crashed intermittently but continued to work after switching off and on. By early September 2015, I decided to buy a new one and bought an Acer in John Lewis. I set it up and because I needed time to get used to Windows 10 I decided to try it later. I was away from home a lot since then and continued to use my old laptop as it was easier to carry and was behaving well. Last week, I decided to get used to Windows 10 as I have to decide if I should download Windows 10 before the free download period ends. I switched on the Acer laptop and nothing happened apart from an Acer welcome message. I then left it alone in case the battery needed to charge and when I returned and switched it on, the same Acer message and then a dark screen.

I called John Lewis Technology support and they asked me to switch it off and then on by holding the on switch down for a count of 20. This led to a Recovery screen followed by a text only screen. I read the header to the engineer who instantly told me the hard drive was gone. I couldn't believe that it could have happened with barely any use. He told me to take it to my nearest John Lewis store. I asked if the laptop would be returned to me or my nearest Waitrose store and he said it would be returned to me and not Waitrose.

I took it in to John Lewis yesterday and was told after a couple of minutes that it was not the hard drive but something else. It would be sent away for repair and after 2 - 4 weeks I could collect it from the same store. It would not be delivered back to me. The laptop has a 3 year guarantee and I expected it to last at least that long before packing up. I was surprised that the person I spoke to did not seem concerned that a product they sold had gone wrong so quickly and with no use. I felt I was delaying his lunch or something. Is this usual for John Lewis?

I deeply regret not using it at the beginning as the fault may have shown up in the 30 day no quibble period. I don't have confidence in this laptop now and am concerned it may go wrong again as I know I did nothing to cause the problem. I did not customise it with favourite browsers or applications or anything. It sat flat on the pull out shelf of my desk and was not touched.

What are my rights under consumer law if it goes wrong again or if they are unable to repair it this time.

Your rights are to accept the repair that has been offered.

You have no right to a refund or a replacement if the seller chooses not to offer that.

If they cannot repair it, then a replacement or refund must be offered - their choice.

[STRIKE]If the repair isn't successful, you have the right to a refund.[/STRIKE]

If the repair isn't successful they can repeat their repair attempts as many times as they like as long as they do that within a reasonable time and without causing you a significant inconvenience.

Look at it from the seller's point of view - I wonder how many people say "but it's hardly used"?
I am not doubting you for one minute, but you need to see the other side.

p.s. if you had taken the time to read this thread, posted all of twenty-two minutes before yours, you could've saved yourself the trouble of typing your post.

[Deleted User]

Out of interest, why did you want to collect it from a Waitrose store?

Figgerty

wealdroam wrote: »

Your rights are to accept the repair that has been offered.

You have no right to a refund or a replacement if the seller chooses not to offer that.

If they cannot repair it, then a replacement or refund must be offered - their choice.

If the repair isn't successful, you have the right to a refund.

Look at it from the seller's point of view - I wonder how many people say "but it's hardly used"?
I am not doubting you for one minute, but you need to see the other side.

p.s. if you had taken the time to read this thread, posted all of twenty-two minutes before yours, you could've saved yourself the trouble of typing your post.

Thanks for replying. I looked at some threads but I was probably still typing mine when that was posted and I was also watching TV.

You have made it very clear what my position is so thank you for that. I feel embarrassed to admit why I did not use the laptop but it was because of Win10 & being very comfortable with Win7.

Figgerty

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Out of interest, why did you want to collect it from a Waitrose store?

I live 5 mins walk from one and I originally had the the laptop delivered there on Click & Collect. The JL store is at least 30 mins drive from me. I was told by online Technology Engineer that I could have it delivered to my home but not to a Waitrose store. The in store JL technician told me the only option was to return to store to collect it.

bsod

Figgerty wrote: »

This led to a Recovery screen followed by a text only screen. I read the header to the engineer who instantly told me the hard drive was gone.

Figgerty wrote: »

I took it in to John Lewis yesterday and was told after a couple of minutes that it was not the hard drive but something else..

what was the text, and the something else

agrinnall

I would call JL customer services and speak to them about getting it delivered to you rather than having to collect. You might have to pay a delivery charge but I wouldn't expect it to be a huge amount, and they might waive it anyway.

neilmcl

If it's not a hardware fault then it's sounding more like a screwed Windows 10 installation to me.

Figgerty

bsod wrote: »

what was the text, and the something else

I can't remember as it made no sense to me. It was a white screen with black text.

The store engineer did not know what the problem was but was sure that it was not the hard drive.

Figgerty

agrinnall wrote: »

I would call JL customer services and speak to them about getting it delivered to you rather than having to collect. You might have to pay a delivery charge but I wouldn't expect it to be a huge amount, and they might waive it anyway.

I don't like waiting in for deliveries so chose collect from Waitrose when I bought it. The engineer in store was very clear that I would have to collect it from the JL store.

Figgerty

neilmcl wrote: »

If it's not a hardware fault then it's sounding more like a screwed Windows 10 installation to me.

You could be right as I did not use it after setting it up. When I turned it on recently I expected to have to wait for Windows updates to install but just got the blank screen.