Faulty Laptop - suspected scam company

cxkev

Hi,

First of all, I hope all members had a happy Christmas.

I ordered a laptop from the "cheap laptop company", it all sounded great originally, the page explains that the laptops they stock are machines that have been used by IT departments from various companies that have came to the end of their lease and are then "refurbished".

I ordered a laptop, which took weeks to deliver, much longer that originally quoted when I made the order. I contacted the company regularly by email only to be told various excuses such as "a supplier has let us down, it will be with you tomorrow" and "our tracking system is down so I can't see where your delivery is, however, it should be with you tomorrow".

Anyways, fortunately, it eventually came. It was clear from an initial inspection of the product that this had not need "refurbished" at all, data had simply been wiped from the machine, however, the machine was dirty and sticky and more importantly on starting up I get the error message "the battery is past its usable life and can not function" and won't charge. I would assume that replacing a non functioning battery would be a fundamental step in a refurbishment.

What is now even more worrying is that I have been reading their reviews on trust pilot and it seems just about every customer has issues and then further issues with returns and refunds. For example I have seen a few reviews where the customer returned the laptop recorded delivery and the company claimed not have received it so refused to refund, despite having evidence that the company did in fact receive it. I should of checked the reviews first, however their site quotes their company name as refurbished laptops direct, which is a different company, so it was difficult to unearth all these negative reviews.

I will "attempt" to return and get a refund (order was placed via PayPal).

On the reviews it says customers have had to pay postage to return the item, is this correct, should I have to incur additional costs due to faulty product?

Also..

Does anyone have any advice of how to report this company to the powers that be or to make consumers aware to stay well aware? Obviously it has a lot of negative reviews already on trust pilot, but that will require a consumer to look the company up first, and it's difficult to find due to having different comlany names on the website.

Any advice on how to go about doing either of the questions I raise will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

cxkev

WibblyGirly

You should be able to paypal claim as 'not as described'. Yes you should not have to pay return postage costs as it is a faulty item.

theonlywayisup

WibblyGirly wrote: »

You should be able to paypal claim as 'not as described'. Yes you should not have to pay return postage costs as it is a faulty item.

Paypal will allow you to open a claim for SNAD (significantly not as described) in the first 180 days of purchase. This is assuming you paid for goods and services.

Paypal require you to send the item fully tracked (viewable online) at your expense.

Paypal are offering reimbursements until 31 December which might help with the return fee. Google paypal returns on us.

Firstly you should go to the seller and see what they say.

Carrot007

Without knowing what you got and at what price it is hard to say if you have is classed as "faulty".

What you describe is the bare minimum of refurbishment, in that the old data has been removed.

I also would not expect a refurbished laptop to come with a working battery unless otherwise stated, though I would expect a discalimer on the battery to be on the page with it (or a link to a discalimer).

Does the site have a FAQ on refurbs? It would help if we could see this.

So without kniowing the site I suspect you bought from a bottom end refurber and had higher expectations. The only refurb that counts for anything is manufacturer refurbished. That sounds like what you were expecting. That costs money to do and so you pay a lot more.

But no it's not nice and they should be clearer in what you are getting. Comments on that can be made if you post the website.

motorguy

I'm assuming "the cheap laptop company" is this crowd...

http://www.cheaplaptopcompany.co.uk/

George_Michael

Carrot007 wrote: »

I also would not expect a refurbished laptop to come with a working battery unless otherwise stated,re expecting. That costs money to do and so you pay a lot more.

You wouldn't?
A working battery is one of the few things that I would expect on any refurbished laptop irrespective of the price paid as being able to run it off a battery is one of the main features of a laptop,
I wouldn't expect a new battery but I would certainly want one that held a charge for a while at least.

motorguy

From their website - "The battery is guaranteed to last for 1 hour. Batteries will be replaced if they do not meet that criteria if reported within 7 days of receipt."

I'd be contacting them and returning the battery for a replacement, not the whole laptop.

Give the laptop and screen a good clean

motorguy

George_Michael wrote: »

You wouldn't?
A working battery is one of the few things that I would expect on any refurbished laptop irrespective of the price paid as being able to run it off a battery is one of the main features of a laptop,
I wouldn't expect a new battery but I would certainly want one that held a charge for a while at least.

Yes, i'm with you on this. I'd expect it to hold charge at least.

motorguy

Having just read the reviews particularly the one that says "I have had to contact PayPal, my credit card and finally my solicitor to try to get my money back.", i'd be returning the battery only, with a view to buying one off ebay if i have to, rather than risk sending the whole thing back

shaun_from_Africa

motorguy wrote: »

i'd be returning the battery only, with a view to buying one off ebay if i have to, rather than risk sending the whole thing back

The problem with this is that it's now extremely difficult to find a courier who will knowingly accept rechargeable lithium batteries for shipment unless those batteries are installed in the equipment that they are designed for.
If the battery is faulty, it then becomes impossible to find someone to deliver it.


Provided that the OP opens a paypal SNAD and follows their instructions, they shouldn't have too much of a problem getting a full refund.

Carrot007

George_Michael wrote: »

You wouldn't?
A working battery is one of the few things that I would expect on any refurbished laptop irrespective of the price paid as being able to run it off a battery is one of the main features of a laptop,
I wouldn't expect a new battery but I would certainly want one that held a charge for a while at least.

No I would not. I have seen many sites selling refurb laptops with a disclaimer saying expect nothing from the battery.

Would I want a new battery? Yes. Would I expect it. No.

Depends on the cost obviously as a new battery will up the cost.