Very.co.uk - Product faulty.

HannahCF

Can anyone help me please as I am having a right mare with Very.co.uk.

In December 2016, I purchased an Acer laptop for my son. All was well and he was loving it, then in March 2017 the hinge on the laptop went a bit funny, a couple days after spotting the hinge, the cover had snapped off and you cant close the lid. Now if you try to close the lid, or even open it properly, the plastic casing around the screen will start to crack and snap off. It doesnt snap off completely but its not snapped in place like it should be.

I contacted Very as soon as I seen it and they said I needed to get in touch with Acer as they said it was a manufacturers fault. So I did and they said it is not covered under warranty and if I wanted it to get fixed then I need to pay £50 to post and for them to check then more for them to fix it. I declined and said I am not paying for a fault that has developed within 3 months of purchasing. They said to go back and speak to the retailer.

So I went back to Very who said that I would receive a phone call from their specialist team. 2 weeks went, I received no calls so I spoke to them and they said there was nothing they could do. I said as your my retailer and I purchased it from you and its still under warranty etc, and its quite clearly faulty - then it is down to them. They said again that someone would call me back so i waited and received nothing.

After that I gave up, I had a lot going on with my kids, personal issues, moving house etc, and here I am now trying to get Very to take responsibility. Twice I have been fobbed off with them saying they will get someone to call me and no one ever does. I have made a complaint on resolver but no one is answering and I have a couple more days before I can take it further but I am so annoyed and stressed by this. I took the laptop on a buy now pay later scheme they have, I paid about £30 towards it and there is £150+ outstanding. I know I am still covered by the Sales of Goods Act but no one seems to be interested in 1. taking responsibility and 2. Helping me get the problem sorted.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do next please? As I really dont want to pay £150+ for something that I cant even open, never mind turn on and actually use.
Thanks in advance

Le_Kirk

HannahCF wrote: »

I know I am still covered by the Sales of Goods Act but no one seems to be interested in 1. taking responsibility and 2. Helping me get the problem sorted.

If you bought it in 2016, it would be covered by the Consumer Rights Act not Sale of Gods but that actually gives you more rights rather than fewer. You are correct to continue to pursue Very.

wealdroam

How to Complain.

HannahCF

Thanks guys - Very got back to me with this.

Thank you for emailing us,
We are sorry to hear your item has developed a fault and lifting up.
We have looked into your query and we do see that our warranty does not cover any cosmetic parts of an item, meaning this will not be covered under warranty.
We do apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

So they are admitting to a fault but wont take responsibility. Any ideas on what I can do next?

Thanks

DoaM

Dear Very,
Are you being deliberately obtuse, are are you simply stupid? I don't care about what your warranty says - I'm claiming in respects of my statutory rights afforded to me by The Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Blah blah blah

HannahCF

Thanks for your reply. They wrote back with this:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your Acer Aspire ES 15 Intel Celeron (KTRWP28).
Upon checking you account we do confirm that a fault has been confirmed but the fault was confirmed as cosmetic or accidental damage which is not covered by the Supplier Warranty, and you are right we are obliged to repair the item however only if it is a manufacturing fault and in this case your fault was not caused by the manufacturer.
We apologise for the delay.

It's not from accidental damage - the only thing the hinges are used for is to open and close the lid. It hasnt been dropped or anything like that - a quick google search shows that its a common problem. Feeling so annoyed and deflated - they just wont accept responsibility at all

DoaM

and you are right we are obliged to repair the item however only if it is a manufacturing fault and in this case your fault was not caused by the manufacturer

How can they say that? They've not seen the laptop; at best they've only seen photos.

You may need to commission an engineer to look at it and for it to report that (on the balance of probabilities) the fault was inherent in nature (e.g. poor design, faulty materials). The reasonable cost of such a report must be refunded by the seller (assuming it supports your claim).

How did you pay? Very credit? Credit card? If either of these:

Dear Very,
Last chance for you to deal with this properly per your obligations under the CRA 2015. Otherwise my next step will be to raise a Section 75 claim against the credit provider. blah blah blah

HannahCF

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I got it on very credit on a buy now pay later, so far iv paid about £30 towards it then when i seen the dodgy hinges I stopped paying and have been battling with them ever since.

How would I go about raising a section 75 claim? I have not heard of that.

Thanks again x

Le_Kirk

Section 75 claim is when you use a credit card as S75 makes the credit card provider jointly liable but since you paid on a credit arrangement, S75 won't cover you.

DoaM

Le_Kirk wrote: »

Section 75 claim is when you use a credit card as S75 makes the credit card provider jointly liable but since you paid on a credit arrangement, S75 won't cover you.

Are you sure? It's the Consumer Credit Act 1974, not the Consumer Credit Card Act 1974.

Section 75 applies to (almost) any finance/credit arrangement that is directly attributable to the purchase, where there is a direct consumer-seller-finance provider arrangement. BNPL is indeed covered by S75.

DoaM

HannahCF wrote: »

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I got it on very credit on a buy now pay later, so far iv paid about £30 towards it then when i seen the dodgy hinges I stopped paying and have been battling with them ever since.

How would I go about raising a section 75 claim? I have not heard of that.

Thanks again x

Stopping payments was a bad idea ... this could affect your credit rating as the credit provider could note defaults on your file.

Check the MSE Consumer articles - there's one on Section 75.