New laptop defective on arrival; Dell refuses to reset warranty once they replace it

Bungaroosh

Hello,

Just wonder if anyone can advise. I'll try to keep it simple!

I bought a laptop on Dell's UK (consumer, not business) website on 25 Nov 2016.

I received it on 29 Dec 2016.

It was defective on arrival. On first plugging it in and switching it on it gave a BIOS error, which it still does every time you switch it on, and it has a couple of other defects.

After many hours on the phone and many emails to and from their call centre in Morocco, it was agreed that the laptop will be replaced.

The next day after this, the bloke I'd been dealing with left a voicemail message saying something to the effect of: "We can only replace it if you have SuperDuperMega Warranty. As you only have SuperDuper Warranty, we will send someone to replace the screen and the motherboard, but we will not send a new replacement".

I phoned back and said I have received defective goods and I want it replacing with a new item. An onsite replacement of parts would be to my mind paying for a brand new laptop but instead receiving a refurbished one.

The different person I spoke to when I phoned back then took over the case and assured me that the laptop would be replaced ... and four days later emailed me an estimated date for the delivery of 24 Jan.

After being given this date and confirmation of a replacement, I emailed back to request that the warranty be reset to one year once I eventually receive the replacement, should it be free of defects, i.e. for the warranty to start on 24 Jan 2017 and end on 23 Jan 2018.

I received an email today refusing this request, saying that they only replaced the laptop on the basis of my having the warranty in the first place, and so no, they will not start the warranty from the date I receive the replacement.

(When I bought it on 25 November 2016, I did not expect to have to wait two months before receiving a functioning computer.)

I'm getting a bit fed up with this; if I had bought a computer from a shop that was defective from the start, I would have taken it back and requested a replacement.

I'm about to write the gist of the above in a letter via Royal Mail to Dell's UK address (not an email or a post to the Dell UK Facebook account that will be read and dealt with by someone on another continent). I'm tempted to ask that if they don't reset the warranty, would they please send information on how to return the goods and get a full refund. I paid for it on a Nationwide credit card.

I went to PC World the other day and saw the exact same model on display and had a close look and fiddle about with it and it has none of these defects. I would ideally like to have the computer if and when they send a working one (and not have to start again on the arduous research of finding a model with the right specification for my requirements) but I am annoyed that I have lost one month of a 12-month warranty while I wait for them to replace the defective item they sent me in the first place, that was broken before I'd even tried to start using it.

Sigh.

Many thanks in advance for any insights or suggestions! :beer:

CoolHotCold

Is there a price difference from what buying new now vs back in November?

As in, would it be cost neutral to return faulty laptop for refund.

Purchase same laptop with the refunded money

ARandomMiser

Can you not reject it and then reorder?

visidigi

Bungaroosh wrote: »

Hello,

Just wonder if anyone can advise. I'll try to keep it simple!

I bought a laptop on Dell's UK (consumer, not business) website on 25 Nov 2016.

I received it on 29 Dec 2016.

It was defective on arrival. On first plugging it in and switching it on it gave a BIOS error, which it still does every time you switch it on, and it has a couple of other defects.

After many hours on the phone and many emails to and from their call centre in Morocco, it was agreed that the laptop will be replaced.

The next day after this, the bloke I'd been dealing with left a voicemail message saying something to the effect of: "We can only replace it if you have SuperDuperMega Warranty. As you only have SuperDuper Warranty, we will send someone to replace the screen and the motherboard, but we will not send a new replacement".

I phoned back and said I have received defective goods and I want it replacing with a new item. An onsite replacement of parts would be to my mind paying for a brand new laptop but instead receiving a refurbished one.

The different person I spoke to when I phoned back then took over the case and assured me that the laptop would be replaced ... and four days later emailed me an estimated date for the delivery of 24 Jan.

After being given this date and confirmation of a replacement, I emailed back to request that the warranty be reset to one year once I eventually receive the replacement, should it be free of defects, i.e. for the warranty to start on 24 Jan 2017 and end on 23 Jan 2018.

I received an email today refusing this request, saying that they only replaced the laptop on the basis of my having the warranty in the first place, and so no, they will not start the warranty from the date I receive the replacement.

(When I bought it on 25 November 2016, I did not expect to have to wait two months before receiving a functioning computer.)

I'm getting a bit fed up with this; if I had bought a computer from a shop that was defective from the start, I would have taken it back and requested a replacement.

I'm about to write the gist of the above in a letter via Royal Mail to Dell's UK address (not an email or a post to the Dell UK Facebook account that will be read and dealt with by someone on another continent). I'm tempted to ask that if they don't reset the warranty, would they please send information on how to return the goods and get a full refund. I paid for it on a Nationwide credit card.

I went to PC World the other day and saw the exact same model on display and had a close look and fiddle about with it and it has none of these defects. I would ideally like to have the computer if and when they send a working one (and not have to start again on the arduous research of finding a model with the right specification for my requirements) but I am annoyed that I have lost one month of a 12-month warranty while I wait for them to replace the defective item they sent me in the first place, that was broken before I'd even tried to start using it.

Sigh.

Many thanks in advance for any insights or suggestions! :beer:

To get what you want you need to return for refund and repurchase.

Dell are not obliged to reset your warranty on your existing purchase.

Le_Kirk

It shouldn't be a warranty issue as it was not suitable for purpose when it arrived, thereby breaking the contract and should have been repaired, replaced or refunded at that point. Oh dear, they can choose to repair!!

fleshandbone

Dell are acting within the law by offering a repair.

neilmcl

fleshandbone wrote: »

Dell are acting within the law by offering a repair.

No, no, no! The laptop was DOA, the OP is entitled to reject it for a full refund should they wish.

OP, at the moment you and Dell dealing with this as a warranty claim therefore your warranty period will not be reset. The only way to get a fresh warranty is to reject the laptop and reorder a new one, as stated above.

Bungaroosh

Thanks very much to everyone for the feedback.

I originally bought it on Black Friday at quite a good price. Looking at their website today they have another sale on at the moment where the exact same model is only £8 more expensive than when I bought it, and there's an offer on a premium on-site 3 year warranty for £73 (just £2 a month).

I've just got off the phone from Dell after a phone call of 1hr 46mins and 52 seconds. Spoke to about seven different people and being sent round in circles.

A resolution to my issue would have been for them to let me pay £73 for this 3-year premium warranty, which is what is being offered on their website if I were to buy the exact same model today.

They refused. So I asked for a return and refund. They said "We can't do a return because an order has been sent to the factory to build a replacement". I said that I cannot believe that Dell constructs standard-model laptops like one would build a Rolls Royce or Lamborghini. I said the PC World shop around the corner from me has the exact same model on display and in their warehouse so I cannot believe that each time someone orders a standard spec. computer from Dell, their factory then builds it from scratch.

Anyhow I kept getting sent around and about 1 hour 20 minutes into the call I thought, "I haven't got anywhere". So when I got sent back to the technical team (who had said they can't initiate a return and refund because a replacement order was in progress"), I said, right, I want you to initiate a refund and return.

He said "We can't do that because it's outside 14 days". I said, no, I received a defective computer 14 days ago, defective on arrival, and I want to return it for a refund. He then grudgingly cancelled the replacement and initiated the return/refund process (which will probably be long drawn out).

All a bit annoying after having bought it in November!

My dilemma now:
If it were working, it would be almost the perfect balance of the spec I need versus cost (I use it for work, although I bought it from the Home section of the website as the model isn't available on the business website). I ask myself, do I order a new one from Dell as a brand new purchase via their website? On the one hand, they were dealing with the issue, but my beef had been their refusal to compromise on the warranty, given that I had received a computer that was knackered on its arrival that was over a month after I bought it. So do I buy this again from Dell or look elsewhere?

I spent almost as much time to research the initial purchase and I'm going to need a computer for work in a couple of weeks. When I bought this one in November I never thought that in mid-January I still wouldn't have all the software set up and the machine up and running! I'll have to go back to my trusty 8-year-old Samsung in the meantime!

unholyangel

Personally I'd say buy from elsewhere.

I considered a Dell when I was looking for a laptop and ended up going elsewhere because it was impossible to buy any machine from them without them pre-installing their bloatware (thats actually being kind, some of it behaves no differently to malware) - so like you said, they keep a stock of models and don't build them upon receiving an order.

Anyway, I ended up going elsewhere and managed to get a MUCH better deal - cant remember exact specs but with Dell the cpu was ranked 700th and the graphics card 400th. The one I ended up purchasing was the same price and both cpu/gpu ranked under 100th. To get the same hardware with dell I would have needed to spend £1600+ on alienware (more than double what I did spend).

Bungaroosh

unholyangel wrote: »

...
Anyway, I ended up going elsewhere and managed to get a MUCH better deal - cant remember exact specs but with Dell the cpu was ranked 700th and the graphics card 400th. The one I ended up purchasing was the same price and both cpu/gpu ranked under 100th. To get the same hardware with dell I would have needed to spend £1600+ on alienware (more than double what I did spend).

Which manufacturer?

I've just looked at HP and for the same spec. I'd be talking 33% or £400 more, and that's before any extended warranty.

Such an ordeal, finding the right laptop, as I'm sure you found on your search!

bsod

a bios error being?