Returning a laptop that's not as described

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

That's a big old can of worms! 

The EU guidance says

Before purchasing audio/video and recording equipment, the consumer would normally be able to test the image or sound quality;

Trying on a garment in a shop would not involve the removal of the manufacturer's tags;

The consumer would not normally be able to practically test household appliances, such as kitchen appliances, the actual use of which unavoidably leaves traces;

The consumer would not be able configure software on a computer; hence reasonable costs for any resetting of such equipment would also constitute diminished value.

In principle, the consumer should be able to open the packaging to access the goods if similar goods are normally displayed in shops in unpacked condition. Hence damage caused to the packaging by merely opening it is not cause for compensation. However, any protective films applied to the item should only be removed where strictly necessary to test it.

The bolding is theirs, not mine. 

With a laptop if it can be reset to factory settings and any protective films are in place I can't see opening the box is unreasonable.

It's been many years since I purchased a laptop but I'm pretty sure last time the laptop box was the shipping box and if the retailer was happy to let the courier throw the box around I can't see it holds much value (purchased direct from the manufacture as well so probably easier for them to have a new box to swap over for little cost).

I guess from a practical viewpoint, if the laptop looks perfect and the box is relatively tidy how much time is a warehouse worker going to spend on it? If there are signs of use I'd guess they'd examine closer. 

Regarding as you would in a shop, years ago display models were common, retailer might have even taken specific items out of a box to show you how it works. It does seem somewhat unhelpful to make a comparison to an environment that distance shopping has caused to decline so significantly. 

If they knocked a few £ off for OP handling it that might be better than keeping a laptop OP doesn't want (whilst noting the technically suggestion above about disabling the iGPU which might solve OP's issue), if they go heavy on a reduction then it's a case of complain, letter before action, small claims depending upon how much effort, time and money OP wants to risk. 

Very difficult one really but at least with Currys you can complain higher up in an attempt to bypass the script CS have to stick to. 

HillStreetBlues

MattMattMattUK said:

HillStreetBlues said:

If bought on-line there would be nothing wrong with opening the box, how else would someone expect to examine it. The fact Currys might have to sell returned item as open box (and get less money for it) isn't your problem and should get full refund.
What you can't do is install your own programs and return under the 14 days change of mind.

That is not how it works. Lunatic can clarify the specifics far better than I can.

The trouble is someone hears it can't be returned, then suddenly it's passed around as fact.
It's being able to return as item as new.

MattMattMattUK

HillStreetBlues said:

MattMattMattUK said:

HillStreetBlues said:

If bought on-line there would be nothing wrong with opening the box, how else would someone expect to examine it. The fact Currys might have to sell returned item as open box (and get less money for it) isn't your problem and should get full refund.
What you can't do is install your own programs and return under the 14 days change of mind.

That is not how it works. Lunatic can clarify the specifics far better than I can.

The trouble is someone hears it can't be returned, then suddenly it's passed around as fact.
It's being able to return as item as new.

That is not what you wrote though, you wrote that they should get a full refund, which is unlikely to be the case based on their posts.

HillStreetBlues

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

That's a big old can of worms! 

The EU guidance says

Before purchasing audio/video and recording equipment, the consumer would normally be able to test the image or sound quality;

Trying on a garment in a shop would not involve the removal of the manufacturer's tags;

The consumer would not normally be able to practically test household appliances, such as kitchen appliances, the actual use of which unavoidably leaves traces;

The consumer would not be able configure software on a computer; hence reasonable costs for any resetting of such equipment would also constitute diminished value.

In principle, the consumer should be able to open the packaging to access the goods if similar goods are normally displayed in shops in unpacked condition. Hence damage caused to the packaging by merely opening it is not cause for compensation. However, any protective films applied to the item should only be removed where strictly necessary to test it.

The bolding is theirs, not mine. 

With a laptop if it can be reset to factory settings and any protective films are in place I can't see opening the box is unreasonable.

It's been many years since I purchased a laptop but I'm pretty sure last time the laptop box was the shipping box and if the retailer was happy to let the courier throw the box around I can't see it holds much value (purchased direct from the manufacture as well so probably easier for them to have a new box to swap over for little cost).

I guess from a practical viewpoint, if the laptop looks perfect and the box is relatively tidy how much time is a warehouse worker going to spend on it? If there are signs of use I'd guess they'd examine closer. 

Regarding as you would in a shop, years ago display models were common, retailer might have even taken specific items out of a box to show you how it works. It does seem somewhat unhelpful to make a comparison to an environment that distance shopping has caused to decline so significantly. 

If they knocked a few £ off for OP handling it that might be better than keeping a laptop OP doesn't want (whilst noting the technically suggestion above about disabling the iGPU which might solve OP's issue), if they go heavy on a reduction then it's a case of complain, letter before action, small claims depending upon how much effort, time and money OP wants to risk. 

Very difficult one really but at least with Currys you can complain higher up in an attempt to bypass the script CS have to stick to. 

(my Bold)
Which I agree on (and stated)

If you wasn't allowed to open the box, that whole line would be redundant as you could never get that far.
The fact it's stated you can't configure software shows the limit of  what examination  can be done. (Notice it's states configure not use).

HillStreetBlues

MattMattMattUK said:

HillStreetBlues said:

MattMattMattUK said:

HillStreetBlues said:

If bought on-line there would be nothing wrong with opening the box, how else would someone expect to examine it. The fact Currys might have to sell returned item as open box (and get less money for it) isn't your problem and should get full refund.
What you can't do is install your own programs and return under the 14 days change of mind.

That is not how it works. Lunatic can clarify the specifics far better than I can.

The trouble is someone hears it can't be returned, then suddenly it's passed around as fact.
It's being able to return as item as new.

That is not what you wrote though, you wrote that they should get a full refund, which is unlikely to be the case based on their posts.

But it is what I wrote, you even quoted it.

RefluentBeans

OP when did you buy it? If outside of the 14 day period discussed here, the points around reducing the refund are academic, and you’ll be relying on the CRA and the product being faulty, which is a harder claim to prove. If within 14 days, cancel, now. It may be an uphill battle to get a refund from Curry’s if you cancel, but if your outside of those 14 days I’d say it’s going to be impossible. 

I’m afraid that most computer equipment will take up some RAM as it reserves some memory to maintain the system and allow for the system to run smoothly. In the same way your phone has 256GB capacity but you might only be able to use 200GB as your storage space with the OS taking up the rest. 

If you need 16GB of memory then I would go for a 32GB system. For most day to day stuff 16GB is fine. But you may want to get advice from either in store or on a computer focussed forum. And as a word of warning, if you can return this to Curry’s I would give them a wide birth - at least two posts a week in this forum from Curry’s customers. 

prowla

It pains me to support Currys, but the spec is correct.

The system has indeed got the specified 16 GB physical memory.

Note that memory is specified in GB (gigabytes), not "gb" (meaningless - there is no such thing) and not "Gb" (gigabits); the terms are not interchangeable.

It also has a supplementary graphics card which some applications (eg. gaming) may make use of.

You may note that it has a 1TB SSD drive, but some of that is taken up by the operating system and some more by the swap space, so you're not getting all of it as usable space (oh, and BTW, GB/TB in storage expresses multiples of 1000, as opposed to 1024 for memory - there are reasons for this!).

You'll also find that the OS itself will use memory, including the running processes and their in-memory program space, plus cacheing.

So the machine spec is correct but you will not find any documentation saying that all 16GB of RAM is available to the end-user.

You might rationalise it by thinking that your issue is akin to buying a car in the UK with a top-speed of 140 mph and then complaining that you can't drive it that fast on the road: you have a spec and the real-world practicality.