HP laptop unfixable after 14 months. Curry’s offer 50% refund

kaggi

visidigi said:

kaggi said:

I’m absolutely fine with paying something for the usage but my issue now is they can’t find what’s wrong with it so it’s sitting with their engineers and they don’t know what to do.  They keep saying if it’s the battery that’s a consumable so if it is the battery they’ll return it not working.  But it’s an enclosed battery so if the battery is broken, the machine is broken as far as I can tell. 

 They don’t know when someone will know what’s happening so I’ve no laptop, no idea of the resolution so I can’t buy another in case they do find what is wrong and fix it,  there’s just nobody who seems able to help or give me a timescale of when someone will tell me what’s going on.  So, if I’m in limbo with no idea of when they will update me I think taking back some control and starting the section 75 is the best option.  

I’ve had a look and a refurbished one would be around £400 but mine was pristine so I’m not sure if another would have been as well looked after.  

A battery is a consumable on a laptop, even if its internal and requires a cover and connection to be decoupled for it to be swapped.

So if they do prove its a battery issue then it wouldn't be covered. If its the motherboard/charging port and there is no obvious damage then they should cover it.

From the information available online an HP battery should last between 2 and 4 years so 14 months on a pristine, well looked after laptop isn’t of satisfactory quality.  So I’ve sent them a letter requesting a refund under the consumer rights act and they have 14 days to reply.  If they don’t reply within that time I’ll start a section 75.  

visidigi

kaggi said:

visidigi said:

kaggi said:

I’m absolutely fine with paying something for the usage but my issue now is they can’t find what’s wrong with it so it’s sitting with their engineers and they don’t know what to do.  They keep saying if it’s the battery that’s a consumable so if it is the battery they’ll return it not working.  But it’s an enclosed battery so if the battery is broken, the machine is broken as far as I can tell. 

 They don’t know when someone will know what’s happening so I’ve no laptop, no idea of the resolution so I can’t buy another in case they do find what is wrong and fix it,  there’s just nobody who seems able to help or give me a timescale of when someone will tell me what’s going on.  So, if I’m in limbo with no idea of when they will update me I think taking back some control and starting the section 75 is the best option.  

I’ve had a look and a refurbished one would be around £400 but mine was pristine so I’m not sure if another would have been as well looked after.  

A battery is a consumable on a laptop, even if its internal and requires a cover and connection to be decoupled for it to be swapped.

So if they do prove its a battery issue then it wouldn't be covered. If its the motherboard/charging port and there is no obvious damage then they should cover it.

From the information available online an HP battery should last between 2 and 4 years so 14 months on a pristine, well looked after laptop isn’t of satisfactory quality.  So I’ve sent them a letter requesting a refund under the consumer rights act and they have 14 days to reply.  If they don’t reply within that time I’ll start a section 75.  

The UK warranty details whats covered.

https://www.hp.com/uk-en/privacy/limited_warranty.html and read the section on batteries.

Its covered by the warranty, but not beyond this - the capacity of a battery is not guaranteed and will drop over time due to the nature of it. I don't doubt you might get good will from HP for the battery given its age, but I guess your position comes down to the fact they dont know whats wrong with it.

Is the fault purely the battery won't charge? Or will it charge and not hold charge? Can you be a bit more explicit about the problem being experienced?

What does the HP Diagnostics tools tell you?

Battery charging failures is likely to fall into four possible areas:

Battery Itself has failed - sudden drop in capacity, rapid discharging.
Charging point and or charger itself has failed (generally happens when cable is caught when plugged in)
Motherboard circuit failure
Water damage.

Batteries don't usually completely fail by themselves though

macman

zoob said:

Jono111 said:

Get a quote from HP to repair it, the ones we get done at work cost just under £300 for most faults. That way you can accept the partial refund and get it fixed at no cost to yourself 

I would assume the laptop becomes currys property when they give partial refund 

Of course, because in turn they'll be seeking a refund of the wholesale price from HP.

kaggi

visidigi said:

kaggi said:

visidigi said:

kaggi said:

I’m absolutely fine with paying something for the usage but my issue now is they can’t find what’s wrong with it so it’s sitting with their engineers and they don’t know what to do.  They keep saying if it’s the battery that’s a consumable so if it is the battery they’ll return it not working.  But it’s an enclosed battery so if the battery is broken, the machine is broken as far as I can tell. 

 They don’t know when someone will know what’s happening so I’ve no laptop, no idea of the resolution so I can’t buy another in case they do find what is wrong and fix it,  there’s just nobody who seems able to help or give me a timescale of when someone will tell me what’s going on.  So, if I’m in limbo with no idea of when they will update me I think taking back some control and starting the section 75 is the best option.  

I’ve had a look and a refurbished one would be around £400 but mine was pristine so I’m not sure if another would have been as well looked after.  

A battery is a consumable on a laptop, even if its internal and requires a cover and connection to be decoupled for it to be swapped.

So if they do prove its a battery issue then it wouldn't be covered. If its the motherboard/charging port and there is no obvious damage then they should cover it.

From the information available online an HP battery should last between 2 and 4 years so 14 months on a pristine, well looked after laptop isn’t of satisfactory quality.  So I’ve sent them a letter requesting a refund under the consumer rights act and they have 14 days to reply.  If they don’t reply within that time I’ll start a section 75.  

The UK warranty details whats covered.

https://www.hp.com/uk-en/privacy/limited_warranty.html and read the section on batteries.

Its covered by the warranty, but not beyond this - the capacity of a battery is not guaranteed and will drop over time due to the nature of it. I don't doubt you might get good will from HP for the battery given its age, but I guess your position comes down to the fact they dont know whats wrong with it.

Is the fault purely the battery won't charge? Or will it charge and not hold charge? Can you be a bit more explicit about the problem being experienced?

What does the HP Diagnostics tools tell you?

Battery charging failures is likely to fall into four possible areas:

Battery Itself has failed - sudden drop in capacity, rapid discharging.
Charging point and or charger itself has failed (generally happens when cable is caught when plugged in)
Motherboard circuit failure
Water damage.

Batteries don't usually completely fail by themselves though

The diagnostic tool showed the battery was 100% until 19th October and as of the 20th it dropped to about 30% and then kept dropping steadily from then until it was about 7% and not charging when I returned it.  The battery status is showing as replace. 

I have a work HP laptop and the chargers are interchangeable so the charger doesn’t seem to be the issue.  

visidigi

kaggi said:

visidigi said:

kaggi said:

visidigi said:

kaggi said:

I’m absolutely fine with paying something for the usage but my issue now is they can’t find what’s wrong with it so it’s sitting with their engineers and they don’t know what to do.  They keep saying if it’s the battery that’s a consumable so if it is the battery they’ll return it not working.  But it’s an enclosed battery so if the battery is broken, the machine is broken as far as I can tell. 

 They don’t know when someone will know what’s happening so I’ve no laptop, no idea of the resolution so I can’t buy another in case they do find what is wrong and fix it,  there’s just nobody who seems able to help or give me a timescale of when someone will tell me what’s going on.  So, if I’m in limbo with no idea of when they will update me I think taking back some control and starting the section 75 is the best option.  

I’ve had a look and a refurbished one would be around £400 but mine was pristine so I’m not sure if another would have been as well looked after.  

A battery is a consumable on a laptop, even if its internal and requires a cover and connection to be decoupled for it to be swapped.

So if they do prove its a battery issue then it wouldn't be covered. If its the motherboard/charging port and there is no obvious damage then they should cover it.

From the information available online an HP battery should last between 2 and 4 years so 14 months on a pristine, well looked after laptop isn’t of satisfactory quality.  So I’ve sent them a letter requesting a refund under the consumer rights act and they have 14 days to reply.  If they don’t reply within that time I’ll start a section 75.  

The UK warranty details whats covered.

https://www.hp.com/uk-en/privacy/limited_warranty.html and read the section on batteries.

Its covered by the warranty, but not beyond this - the capacity of a battery is not guaranteed and will drop over time due to the nature of it. I don't doubt you might get good will from HP for the battery given its age, but I guess your position comes down to the fact they dont know whats wrong with it.

Is the fault purely the battery won't charge? Or will it charge and not hold charge? Can you be a bit more explicit about the problem being experienced?

What does the HP Diagnostics tools tell you?

Battery charging failures is likely to fall into four possible areas:

Battery Itself has failed - sudden drop in capacity, rapid discharging.
Charging point and or charger itself has failed (generally happens when cable is caught when plugged in)
Motherboard circuit failure
Water damage.

Batteries don't usually completely fail by themselves though

The diagnostic tool showed the battery was 100% until 19th October and as of the 20th it dropped to about 30% and then kept dropping steadily from then until it was about 7% and not charging when I returned it.  The battery status is showing as replace. 

I have a work HP laptop and the chargers are interchangeable so the charger doesn’t seem to be the issue.  

Okay so that sounds like some of the cells have given up - indeed I would expect HP to offer some goodwill on this (I just don't think currys will necessarily (rightly or wrongly).

If it still used from 7% and charged back up to 7% would indicate batttery-only issue - surprised Currys cant do a in-lab battery swap to see if it addresses the problem.

kaggi

Curry’s have said they’re returning it unfixed with a letter so section 75 it is then as they just don’t seem to be remotely bothered. 14 months isn’t okay when my old ASUS laptop lasted 10 years.  

Undervalued

kaggi said:

Curry’s have said they’re returning it unfixed with a letter so section 75 it is then as they just don’t seem to be remotely bothered. 14 months isn’t okay when my old ASUS laptop lasted 10 years.  

I sympathise but I don't think you have a right to a full refund via s75. I suspect Curry's will fight if you go down that route.

As stated earlier in this thread (and excluding any warranty right you may have with HP) your right is to a partial refund. Yes, there is an argument that Curry's offer is too low but I don't see an entitlement to a full refund.

kaggi

Undervalued said:

kaggi said:

Curry’s have said they’re returning it unfixed with a letter so section 75 it is then as they just don’t seem to be remotely bothered. 14 months isn’t okay when my old ASUS laptop lasted 10 years.  

I sympathise but I don't think you have a right to a full refund via s75. I suspect Curry's will fight if you go down that route.

As stated earlier in this thread (and excluding any warranty right you may have with HP) your right is to a partial refund. Yes, there is an argument that Curry's offer is too low but I don't see an entitlement to a full refund.

I completely agree but they’ve now withdrawn that offer and are returning it unfixed with a letter, so I have paid £690 (£630 for the laptop and £60 for them not to fix it) for something that has lasted 18 months.  I agree I should pay something for the usage and I’m happy to do that but they are being unbelievably unhelpful so I have submitted a claim via the resolver app and if they don’t respond to that I will go down section 75.  

cymruchris

kaggi said:

Undervalued said:

kaggi said:

Curry’s have said they’re returning it unfixed with a letter so section 75 it is then as they just don’t seem to be remotely bothered. 14 months isn’t okay when my old ASUS laptop lasted 10 years.  

I sympathise but I don't think you have a right to a full refund via s75. I suspect Curry's will fight if you go down that route.

As stated earlier in this thread (and excluding any warranty right you may have with HP) your right is to a partial refund. Yes, there is an argument that Curry's offer is too low but I don't see an entitlement to a full refund.

I completely agree but they’ve now withdrawn that offer and are returning it unfixed with a letter, so I have paid £690 (£630 for the laptop and £60 for them not to fix it) for something that has lasted 18 months.  I agree I should pay something for the usage and I’m happy to do that but they are being unbelievably unhelpful so I have submitted a claim via the resolver app and if they don’t respond to that I will go down section 75.  

Do update us as to progress - I also have the view that a bit of renegotiation would have been better than demanding an outright refund and threatening S75. No doubt they'll have a team that deal with claims that reach this stage, so will be interesting as to how they respond. I fully agree that their offer was below where it should have been, but hope you haven't cut off your nose to spite your face as the old saying goes. Fingers crossed it'll go your way. 

born_again

You need to get a local independent to look at it & give you a report. (will be able to claim back for S75) but odds on they will say the issue is the plug/socket from the charger that goes into to laptop.