LAPTOP GUARANTEE WITH JOHN LEWIS

palmerjon

Any advice would be appreciated. I purchased an Apple MacBook Air from John Lewis website in November 2018 which has a 2 year guarantee. Earlier this year it developed a problem with the battery. It works fine when plugged in but on battery would turn off even if battery status was 50%. The guarantee doesn’t cover consumables such as the battery but I contacted John Lewis Technical Support by email in June to explain problem. I received a telephone call from an advisor two weeks later who suggested there might be other issues and said that they could collect laptop and it would be sent to their repairer in Scotland to be looked at. I was not too keen on it being sent away when I have a local Apple store nearby so I asked whether I could take it there myself and if the problem was indeed the battery then I would obviously cover the cost myself. If there was anything else causing the problem, then I would get a report from Apple about the diagnosis. This week I took the MacBook to the Genius Bar at Apple store where it was tested and the battery had actually failed as opposed to being consumed which was a surprise. I contacted John Lewis by telephone (very difficult to speak to anyone at the moment) and eventually got through to an advisor. I explained the situation and again was told that laptop could be picked up and sent to Scotland to be looked which could take up to 28 days. The laptop is essential to my granddaughter’s school work and being without it would be extremely inconvenient. I asked if I could take it to my local Apple store where the battery could be replaced within 7 days, but they refused and said they would not reimburse me if I had the work carried out there. Whilst I am aware that the retailer has the right to attempt a repair, can they insist that only their repairer can carry out the work? In my mind it would be so much easier and convenient to have it repaired locally, without any transportation fees to them and specifically by an Apple authorised technician, in a quicker turn around than they can offer. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

sheramber

 When the battery on mine failed it was out of warranty but Apple replaced the  battery free of charge.
The laptop did  have to be sent away for that to happen. the  Genius bar did not do repairs.

Aylesbury_Duck

If John Lewis offer the warranty/guarantee then they can decide the terms of the offer.  If that means sending it away, so be it.

You could pursue this under your consumer rights (as an inherent defect) but I'm not sure that would get you any further. JL would probably elect to repair it...which would entail sending it away.

palmerjon

I seem to remember reading that if sending away for repair would cause significant inconvenience it might be worth asking for money off to cover the cost of replacing battery ( under Consumer Rights Law). Does anyone have any knowledge of this?

palmerjon

Just another thought. I have gone through the terms and conditions of guarantee and it does not state that repairs can only be carried out by themselves.

KeithP

palmerjon said:

Just another thought. I have gone through the terms and conditions of guarantee and it does not state that repairs can only be carried out by themselves.

OK, get the work done and send JL the bill. Easy.

Good luck with that.

Aylesbury_Duck

palmerjon said:

Just another thought. I have gone through the terms and conditions of guarantee and it does not state that repairs can only be carried out by themselves.

Nevertheless, if it's JL's guarantee and is beyond your statutory rights, they can choose the remedy and the method of remedy unless it states otherwise.

Aylesbury_Duck

palmerjon said:

I seem to remember reading that if sending away for repair would cause significant inconvenience it might be worth asking for money off to cover the cost of replacing battery ( under Consumer Rights Law). Does anyone have any knowledge of this?

You can ask, but no, you're not entitled to any money off.  If the retailer agrees with your independent evidence of an inherent fault, they get to choose the remedy; replacement, repair or refund (tempered to account for the nearly two years of use you had from the device). In this case, I suspect the most cost-effective remedy for them is the repair.

palmerjon

KeithP said:

palmerjon said:

Just another thought. I have gone through the terms and conditions of guarantee and it does not state that repairs can only be carried out by themselves.

OK, get the work done and send JL the bill. Easy.

Good luck with that. 

Oh Dear! Just stating facts but thanks for taking time to post.

palmerjon

sheramber said:

 When the battery on mine failed it was out of warranty but Apple replaced the  battery free of charge.
The laptop did  have to be sent away for that to happen. the  Genius bar did not do repairs.

I hope you don’t mind me asking but did you purchase your laptop from Apple themselves or another retailer?

Carrot007

palmerjon said:

I seem to remember reading that if sending away for repair would cause significant inconvenience it might be worth asking for money off to cover the cost of replacing battery ( under Consumer Rights Law). Does anyone have any knowledge of this?

There is no argument that a laptop is essential for non commercial use.  Yes it maybe to you (or GD), but not in law.

My advice. Never buy apple again. They have gone down the let's continue to be expensive but provide worse stuff that is disposable. At 2 years old they want you to bin it and buy a worse more expensive version. They were good around 10/15 years ago. Not anymore. Just a status symble for the clueless. Can school work even be carried out on them? A £50 temporary laptop will do the job whilke it is being replaced. And if something is essential never expect other people(companies) to provide a backup. Have one. (I have a stack of random laptops which while not great will get the job done if needed, and at least not being apople you can get a battery (if you feel that important|) for £20/£30 on amazon (yes clones and usually not to the spec they claim, but work well).