What are my rights for a faulty laptop after 18mths

coxsey

Hi all, we bought our daughter a laptop and after 18 months it developed a fault with the screen. I have taken it back to the shop and they have confirmed that it is a faulty screen and not caused by misuse or water damage. However as it is over 12mths old have refused to replace it under warranty.

we bought it on finance through Curry’s we are still paying. What if any rights do we have? 

Thx

Aylesbury_Duck

If Currys has acknowledged an inherent fault, which it sounds like they have, then go back to them and tell them you're not interested in claiming under any warranty, and that you're claiming under your consumer rights.  They're obliged to repair, replace or refund, taking into account the 18 months use to date.

The trouble is going to be that they will perhaps deny acknowledging the fault, so you'll have to get an independent inspection done.  Any local IT tech will do.  If s/he agrees it's an inherent fault and not a result of misuse, abuse, etc. then you can claim the cost of the inspection and report from Currys as well.

Paying on finance is helpful because the finance provider is equally liable, but I'd tackle Currys directly in the first instance.

elsien

The finance is irrelevant - it’s a separate issue and you are still bound to pay it.

Your dealings with the retailer would now fall under the consumer rights act so the warranty is irrelevant. You are arguing that the laptop that you bought should last longer than 18 months before developing a fault. 

https://www.choose.co.uk/money/guide/consumer-rights-act/

RefluentBeans

Hi OP - have they taken the laptop apart yet to check for water damage? If the comments are based just on the cosmetic appearance (ie ‘well it doesn’t look like you’ve dropped it so could be a fault’ type of comment) then I don’t think that’s enough to say it’s an inherent fault and they may well decline it if they see water damage indicators have gone off in the main body of the computer. 

Either way - the next step for you would be to inform them that you want to have it considered under the consumer rights act. They may well decline to examine it and ask you to produce a report yourself though, as fault was discovered outside of 18 months. There’s some ambiguity about what this should contain - as personally I think a report saying ‘after inspecting the internals of the machine, there is no water damage and based on this I feel the fault is inherent’ is enough, whilst they may want something like ‘the component that is faulty is the <insert part> and on my experience these should last for X years but this one has failed before then and thus it is faulty’. The former is a lot easier to get than the latter. You can get them to pay the costs of this report if the fault is found to be inherent. 

Curry’s may well examine it (or use a third party to examine it if they don’t do their own repairs). I feel they should, but there’s not really a mechanism to make them examine it. Curry’s are talked about a lot on this board a lot as they aren’t the best at returns (and I would say anti-consumer in general). But they can’t refuse you your rights - just be firm and fair with them, but know they may insist on a report. That’s why I say to go in their nicely - if they can examine it themselves then it’s less of a headache for you. 

As said above, the credit is a separate agreement and you should continue to pay that, but may want to send an email every time you pay it and it’s still not sorted to say you’re paying under protest, as it may mean two teams could look at it then. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

elsien said:

The finance is irrelevant - it’s a separate issue and you are still bound to pay it.

Your dealings with the retailer would now fall under the consumer rights act so the warranty is irrelevant. You are arguing that the laptop that you bought should last longer than 18 months before developing a fault. 

https://www.choose.co.uk/money/guide/consumer-rights-act/

Actually it's very relevant  

IF over £100 OP has Section 75 cover with the option of complaining to the ombudsman. 

See here OP

https://www.currys.co.uk/complaints.html

and request a S75 claim, they may ask you to get a "report", if so take it to a local repair store for something in writing to say what the issue is. If that confirms a "fault" rather than misuse, etc Currys should cover the cost of the "report" plus repair or replace.

Whilst you have a right to those options they may not perform either in which case you can either reject for a refund minus 18 months use or seek a price reduction (perhaps the cost of repair if feasible). 

Your position should be that the goods do not conform to the contract as they are not of satisfactory quality with regards to durability. 

elsien

Poor phrasing on my part.
I was coming at it more from the angle that the OP might think they didn’t need to carry on paying the finance due to the issues. 

coxsey

Hi all,

thanks for your quick responses.

The laptop in question is a Mac Book Pro and I took it to our local Apple Store and it was they who confirmed it was a faulty screen and not caused by water damage or misuse. Unfortunately I was not
given a report and I am not aware if it was recorded by Apple. Sorry for not making it clear in my opening post..

I will approach Curry’s using the consumer rights act stating the laptop is not up to a satisfactory standard and hopefully will get somewhere with them….

Aylesbury_Duck

Ah, so you took it to an Apple store and tried to exercise the Apple warranty.

Yes, take it to Currys. I expect them to ask you to get an independent report.  They don't have the best reputation for dealing with problems, so you may have to spell out your rights and how you want to proceed.

Alderbank

What exactly is the fault with the screen?

Laptop hinges in all brands are a notorious trouble point. When they wear or get out of alignment they can damage the delicate flexible wires which run through them or cause excessive twisting forces to be applied to the screen.

You and I would say that this shows the hinges are not sufficiently durable but the manufacturers always claim it is user misuse.
MacBook Pros are not immune from this issue, if you search the Apple Support community you will find masses of complaints, diy remedies, replacement hinge suppliers, etc. relating to MacBook Pro hinges.

If you have to get a report it needs to make clear to Currys that the fault on your particular machine is intrinsic and could not have resulted from 18 months of user action.

RefluentBeans

coxsey said:

Hi all,

thanks for your quick responses.

The laptop in question is a Mac Book Pro and I took it to our local Apple Store and it was they who confirmed it was a faulty screen and not caused by water damage or misuse. Unfortunately I was not
given a report and I am not aware if it was recorded by Apple. Sorry for not making it clear in my opening post..

I will approach Curry’s using the consumer rights act stating the laptop is not up to a satisfactory standard and hopefully will get somewhere with them….

Again, did apple actually take the back off? Or was it a ‘if you bought it from us, this is what we would’ve done’ type of statement. Apple are notorious for those sort of statements when they didn’t sell you the product. Apple, on the other hand, when you have purchased something from them have more stringent views, and send it to a depot which give it a thorough check up to see if there’s anything that can be blamed on you to not fulfil their obligations. 

Apple won’t give you any report that states it’s a manufacturing defect. Instead, it’s always what what would happen if you purchased it from them. I would take anything Apple says with a huge pinch of salt, because of course Apple could do something if they wanted to - loads of other manufacturers offer to do free repairs or replacements. 

Your rights are with Currys and they may ask for an actual report.

macman

Too late to help you, but it may benefit others by pointing out that if you had bought it from JL, you would have had a 24m retailer warranty.
Your statutory rights are indeed with DSG, but unfortunately after 18m this means proving a pre-existing fault by way of an independent report. DSG will probably deny your rights under CRA 2015 and it may require you to go to an LBA and small claims process. Do a search on here and you will see similar precedents.