Refurbished PC brought from retailer

JohnD1957

Help, I purchased a PC from an online retailer Dec 2019, delivered Jan 2020. It lasted 3 months before going back to the manufacturer ( retailer arranged) required new motherboard. July 2020 the PC developed the same fault back to Manufacturer for new motherboard. May 2021 same issue motherboard blown back to manufacturer. All fixes done on manufacturer warranty. This time Manufacturer says I should get a refund from the Retailer as can not guarantee a new board will last.
The retailer says no! a refurbished PC according to the manufacturer should last 1 year. (£649.99 worth of PC). I have phone manufacturer so it is on record, seems retailer should refund me and the manufacturer will give retailer a credit note.  I sent a which proforma 2015 consumer letter to the retailer but they still refuse my claim. 3 times for same repair 3 new motherboards, I could push the manufacturer to fit a fourth motherboard, but I don't think it will last which is what the manufacturer has said.
Am I being reasonable in expecting a PC to last longer than 15 months without being repaired 3 times.
I have asked the retailer to confirm they are not interested in refunding as the which letter says wait 14 days.  On receipt of that do I now go to the ombudsman. I haven't ever had a problem like this so would be interested in views on my problem. I don't feel I am being unreasonable. I even told the retailer to phone the manufacturer with the  RMA number so they can confirm what the manufacturer is saying.
What should I do? what are my rights, I think I am covered by the 2015 consumer act. 

JamoLew

I would be getting someone who knows what they are doing to have a look at it.

No way should 3 motherboards blow in that amount of time

unholyangel

Why is the mobo failing? How did you pay for it? 

JohnD1957

Credit card. This was a Christmas present for son. Yes the motherboard has blown three times its a all in one PC so is standard as brought. The unit is still with the manufacturers repair shop who are saying it might well blow again if the board is replaced? somewhat reliable !!!! I've just come off the phone with the manufacturer about being refurbished. They are saying the serial number has 24 months warranty as they had previously informed me. I have replied if they told me back in May 2020 it didn't have a 24 month warranty  I would of return it when the second board blew under consumer rights!

JohnD1957

JamoLew said:

I would be getting someone who knows what they are doing to have a look at it.

No way should 3 motherboards blow in that amount of time

It is the manufacturers own repair shop that are fixing this as it is under warranty. It is an all in one type PC ie special motherboard, graphics card etc MSI trident 3. like a playstation sized PC.

unholyangel

JohnD1957 said:

Credit card. This was a Christmas present for son. Yes the motherboard has blown three times its a all in one PC so is standard as brought. The unit is still with the manufacturers repair shop who are saying it might well blow again if the board is replaced? somewhat reliable !!!! I've just come off the phone with the manufacturer about being refurbished. They are saying the serial number has 24 months warranty as they had previously informed me. I have replied if they told me back in May 2020 it didn't have a 24 month warranty  I would of return it when the second board blew under consumer rights!

Yes, but why did the motherboard fail three times? 

If it's after 6 months, there no assumption the lack of conformity was inherent. This means it existed at time of sale but wasn't necessarily apparent at the time (ie being wired incorrectly, poor quality components etc). 

You may possibly be within 6 months, depending on exact delivery date and date you reported the most recent failure. 

You could try a s75 claim with your card issuer though.  You'll have the same rights with them as you would the retailer. 

JohnD1957

unholyangel said:

JohnD1957 said:

Credit card. This was a Christmas present for son. Yes the motherboard has blown three times its a all in one PC so is standard as brought. The unit is still with the manufacturers repair shop who are saying it might well blow again if the board is replaced? somewhat reliable !!!! I've just come off the phone with the manufacturer about being refurbished. They are saying the serial number has 24 months warranty as they had previously informed me. I have replied if they told me back in May 2020 it didn't have a 24 month warranty  I would of return it when the second board blew under consumer rights!

Yes, but why did the motherboard fail three times? 

If it's after 6 months, there no assumption the lack of conformity was inherent. This means it existed at time of sale but wasn't necessarily apparent at the time (ie being wired incorrectly, poor quality components etc). 

You may possibly be within 6 months, depending on exact delivery date and date you reported the most recent failure. 

You could try a s75 claim with your card issuer though.  You'll have the same rights with them as you would the retailer. 

The first failure was actually end of March 2020 3 months after purchase, it took over a month to sort out invoice etc from the retailer required by MSI to fix, the retailer had to contact MSI to explain I’d purchased from them etc. I got the PC back in May 2020. Definitely under 6 months from purchase. 

JJ_Egan

Motherboard failure x 3 something is shorting or blowing it .

JohnD1957

JJ_Egan said:

Motherboard failure x 3 something is shorting or blowing it .

Well it is the manufacturer that is fitting the new motherboards! To me it’s a flaw in design of the motherboards or pc. It’s not even used on stressful games. Unbelievable the retailer says MSI only allow a year on refurb. PCs. How can you say a £650 pc should only last a year!!!! Crazy. 

Carrot007

JJ_Egan said:

Motherboard failure x 3 something is shorting or blowing it .

The number one cause of death in "mini pcs" or "aios" is death by overheating. This is either due to bad design or user error.

I had a few nec's blow the PSU for this reason many years ago. And they are in no way what people would currently call mini! I just rehoused them in the smallest mini tower case I could find since I got them cheap (about the same size though a little wider as optical drive not mounted sideways).

Did I have a  pointy for OP opr was I just musing? Who knows. Oh yes, Are you sure the the machine is kept well ventalated and not covered by anything and on a reasonable surface? Worth a thought?

JohnD1957

Carrot007 said:

JJ_Egan said:

Motherboard failure x 3 something is shorting or blowing it .

The number one cause of death in "mini pcs" or "aios" is death by overheating. This is either due to bad design or user error.

I had a few nec's blow the PSU for this reason many years ago. And they are in no way what people would currently call mini! I just rehoused them in the smallest mini tower case I could find since I got them cheap (about the same size though a little wider as optical drive not mounted sideways).

Did I have a  pointy for OP opr was I just musing? Who knows. Oh yes, Are you sure the the machine is kept well ventalated and not covered by anything and on a reasonable surface? Worth a thought?

Yes the pc is on their provided stand and is on a desk with free flowing air movement. More than likely is a heat related issue but that’s not we are misusing simply a design issue. I have checked around and there are a lot of cases of these trident pc breaking in the same way. 

I think I will go omsbudman route and try to find some words that the original motherboard contains inferior parts installed on purchase. Being a refurb. It could simply be the pc was returned with this motherboard fault, the board was replaced by manufacturer and sold on through the retail company. My experiences are a repeat. Just not sure how to word if anyone has any ideas? I’d be grateful