Computer repair warranty on fitted part

zett

In November 2015 my hard drive failed on my computer.

I took it to a specialist repairer and had the hard drive replaced (with a larger capacity Seagate drive).

Today the hard drive has started to make the hard disk screech of doom so I called the company, explained the symptoms and they agreed that the hard drive was failing and would need replacement.

I then asked them whether it was covered under warranty. They stated that the repair was only warranted for 6 months and they quoted a similar figure to the one I paid in November for the replacement of the hard disk drive.

After doing some research, I found that Seagate offer a 3 year warranty on their hard drives (for OEM and consumers). I called the company back and explained this and that as I had bought the drive from them as part of the repair that I expected a replacement drive of the same type to be provided free of charge. I explained that I was happy to be reasonable and that I would meet a reasonable cost for the actual fitting of the hard drive.

The response I received was noncommittal, along the lines of "I'm only the repair guy, I'll have to speak to the business owner".

In preparation for ongoing discussions with them, I just wanted to ask the forum whether my position is reasonable and backed up by consumer law?

Does the fact that the repairer states that the repair is warranted for 6 months override my warranty on the actual replacement part itself?

Am I, in fact, able to ask for a replacement completely free of charge including the fitting?

Your help appreciated.

naedanger

zett wrote: »

In November 2015 my hard drive failed on my computer.

I took it to a specialist repairer and had the hard drive replaced (with a larger capacity Seagate drive).

Today the hard drive has started to make the hard disk screech of doom so I called the company, explained the symptoms and they agreed that the hard drive was failing and would need replacement.

I then asked them whether it was covered under warranty. They stated that the repair was only warranted for 6 months and they quoted a similar figure to the one I paid in November for the replacement of the hard disk drive.

After doing some research, I found that Seagate offer a 3 year warranty on their hard drives (for OEM and consumers). I called the company back and explained this and that as I had bought the drive from them as part of the repair that I expected a replacement drive of the same type to be provided free of charge. I explained that I was happy to be reasonable and that I would meet a reasonable cost for the actual fitting of the hard drive.

The response I received was noncommittal, along the lines of "I'm only the repair guy, I'll have to speak to the business owner".

In preparation for ongoing discussions with them, I just wanted to ask the forum whether my position is reasonable and backed up by consumer law?

Does the fact that the repairer states that the repair is warranted for 6 months override my warranty on the actual replacement part itself?

Am I, in fact, able to ask for a replacement completely free of charge including the fitting?

Your help appreciated.

I suspect (but do not know for certain) you will need to first seek the warranty repair from the manufacturer, since that is what you were promised at the point you bought the item. (Furthermore I think you will be bound by any conditions in that warranty e.g. you may be required to return the drive to the manufacturer.) Only if the manufacturer refuses or fails to honour their warranty do I think you have any claim against the retailer (and then only because the goods failed to conform to what was promised i.e. a 3 year manufacturer's warranty was not honoured).

Obviously independently of the manufacturer's warranty you have your normal statutory rights against the retailer. But if you went down that route then the onus would be on you proving, on the balance of probability, the item was faulty when you bought it (which I don't think will be easy given the nature of the part).

zett

Thanks naedanger.

I'm very prepared to be corrected, but I thought the golden rule was that as my contract is with the retailer for the provision of the labour and the sale of the component (in this case, the hard drive).

As such, I thought that it would be the responsibility of the retailer to handle the replacement under warranty of the goods that had been sold to me. However, the retailer did not explicitly offer the 3 year warranty either verbally or in writing and this is one of my questions - can the retailers own 6 month warranty on the repair override the 3 year warranty on the component used during the repair?...

wealdroam

zett wrote: »

I'm very prepared to be corrected, but I thought the golden rule was that as my contract is with the retailer for the provision of the labour and the sale of the component (in this case, the hard drive).

As such, I thought that it would be the responsibility of the retailer to handle the replacement under warranty of the goods that had been sold to me. However, the retailer did not explicitly offer the 3 year warranty either verbally or in writing and this is one of my questions - can the retailers own 6 month warranty on the repair override the 3 year warranty on the component used during the repair?...

A manufacturer's warranty is in addition to your statutory rights and as such can include conditions. One condition might be that you return the failed product to the manufacturer at your expense. Another might be that your return the product to the selling dealer for them to handle the warranty issues with the manufacturer.

You need to read your warranty documentation to find out what's what.

As Naedanger has pointed out, you can always pursue your statutory rights with the repair guy.

No, the repairer's six month guarantee does not override the manufacturer's warranty, and neither does it override your statutory rights - which are that you have upto six years to seek a remedy from the repairman.

This document may help: Seagate Limited Warranty

vuvuzela

Hopefully the very first thing you did after noticing this was (if you haven't already got one) do a back up of all data on the drive.

takman

You should backup your data and send the faulty Hard Drive back to the manufacturer to claim on the warranty. You can then easily fit it yourself, it is very simple!.