Legal Rights when a computer being returned via warranty was lost?

kineticmix

Hi there,

Looking for some consumer advice, I had purchased a computer from a UK company which I then had to return because of a fault which was within there warranty period.

The computer was returned using a UK Courier company, which then turned out to loose the computer.

The computer company then had to wait for confirmation from the Courier company that they did indeed loose the computer before they could do an insurance claim.

Now my computer has been lost as well as all my photographs of my child for the last 8 years, as well as lot of confidential information etc. This whole process of getting to this stage has taken 1 month, the computer was used by me to complete my job from home. Since return of the computer I have had to travel into the office every day to use a computer in there to complete my work.

The computer company said they would replace the computer to the exact same when it was purchased, but I did not want a replacement I just wanted a full refund as I was disgusted with how I was treated by them and because of the time taken to actually get to this point.

From a consumer legal point of view, where do I actually stand with this company?

They state they cannot offer me a refund and only a replacement but I believe this is only adhering to there internal polices and not legal from a consumer point of view.

Can anyone help with this issue? I am thinking about going to small claims court to sort this out? But really do not know where I stand with this?

dj1471

Original thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72937172#Comment_72937172

dj1471

You returned the computer under warranty so your rights are laid out in the warranty; what does it say?

They've offered you a replacement computer, that is likely all they're required to do under the warranty and is sufficient in law (you're back in the same position you were before the fault occurred). Even if they were to offer you a refund it would be reduced based on the use you've had of the computer (as would any insurance payout they receive, not that that's relevant).

As has been pointed out, you should have backed-up your data before returning the computer and securely erased it from the computer if you wanted it kept private. The company have no responsibility for either issue.

You can complain about their service and may receive a goodwill gesture. A court is not going to award you a full refund, they might award you reasonable costs incurred in dealing with the issue (phone calls etc).

kineticmix

dj1471 thank you for your reply.

Since this computer was used by myself to allow me to fulfill my job and to be able to work from home.

Could I seek compensation for the last month when I have had to drive into my office, 60 mile round trip as well as pay city center parking fees for each of those days. This would not have had to happen if my computer did not have to be returned and then lost?

unholyangel

kineticmix wrote: »

dj1471 thank you for your reply.

Since this computer was used by myself to allow me to fulfill my job and to be able to work from home.

Could I seek compensation for the last month when I have had to drive into my office, 60 mile round trip as well as pay city center parking fees for each of those days. This would not have had to happen if my computer did not have to be returned and then lost?

Their warranty will undoubtedly exclude loss of this type. People often think the "need it for business" argument gives them more rights/makes it more important - it doesnt. It gives you less rights (much less - you're only treated with kid gloves if you're a consumer).

Warranties sometimes exclude warranty cover when used for business purposes. But I've yet to see one that doesn't exclude losses arising from business use.

agrinnall

One lesson to learn from this, apart from the need for multiple backups, is not to mix work and personal stuff on the same computer. If you'd kept them separate then if it was the work computer that had gone wrong you'd still have your photos (and you could temporarily have worked on your personal computer using the daily backups you'd have taken from the other machine), if it was the personal computer then you could happily have carried on working while the repair was carried out.

neilmcl

kineticmix wrote: »

dj1471 thank you for your reply.

Since this computer was used by myself to allow me to fulfill my job and to be able to work from home.

Could I seek compensation for the last month when I have had to drive into my office, 60 mile round trip as well as pay city center parking fees for each of those days. This would not have had to happen if my computer did not have to be returned and then lost?

In a word, no.

SuperHan

All of the above.


You're probably only entitled to a replacement under the terms of the warranty (and your consumer rights won't get you any more than that).


A valuable lesson learned in backing up data. Even if it had got there in one piece, I would have expected a computer to come back with all the data removed anyway (they often do a factory reset to make sure all the drivers etc are working without any other software interferences, and I wouldn't count on anything else).


If you are so reliant on your laptop for work (and if it is really that costs for you to get to the office when need be), I'd suggest investing in a backup laptop - even just a second hand one or a cheap netbook type laptop - to stand in in the case of failure/loss/theft.

pmduk

kineticmix wrote: »

Now my computer has been lost as well as all my photographs of my child

You will have been advised at all stages of learning to use a computer to back up, back up and back up. It's a very hard way to learn the lesson, is there any chance they could be backed up on the cloud to Google, Dropbox or the like?

bris

You used it for " your job" so are not treated as a consumer.


But even as a consumer they are still entitled to repair or replace the computer as long as you have had it longer than 30 days.


You photos and any other personal information is not relevant as you need to back up regularly to save them in the event of a failure.


Warranties are sometimes, well most times, void for business use so you better not mention this fact.

[Deleted User]

kineticmix wrote: »

Since this computer was used by myself to allow me to fulfill my job and to be able to work from home.

Could I seek compensation ?

In truth the fact that you had this computer for business use (without declaring it as such in advance) will mean that it would be very unwise to mention this as a reason for "compensation"

So the answer is no.