Ebuyer partial refund issue

vikingguy666

Long story short, I have a laptop that came out of its 2 year warranty. It broke after a year which I was able to get fixed on warranty via the manufacturer, and the same issue happened again just after 2, so no warranty fix.

My first contact with ebuyer was, not their problem, its out of warranty 

Then I said its a consumer rights issue. A laptop is expected to last alot longer than 2 years, maybe it'll be dated but my parents have a pc that's 10+ years old and works, so 2 years for 2 faults is a little naff 

I then had to prove it wasn't myself who broke it, so after several months of back and forth I get the evidence from a 3rd party, it's arranged to be picked up, they agree it's not my fault and then I receive a partial refund from them.

Now I know that because its after 6 months they can do that, and it is 2 years lated. But I basicly got half, less so after the report I had to pay for, the laptop was around £700 and I got a little over £350 which doesn't even get a replacement 


Is this me expecting too much or should I be getting more from them on this ? 

( currently I am waiting to hear back on their complaint procedure and if they use ADR at all and then will go from there with help from citizens advice )

It has taken me almost 3 months to get to this point with ebuyer.

eskbanker

Personally I wouldn't say that it's unreasonable to view a two-year-old laptop as being worth just over half of its original purchase price, but can you find any of your model selling for more than that at that age?

ArbitraryRandom

A laptop is not a PC... if nothing else, batteries have a limited life. 

A quick google suggests (including some accountancy sites re depreciation) 3-5 years is a reasonable estimate, 

You are, of course, entitled to challenge this... but you would need to find some independent authority you could point to (HMRC, the manufacturer, Which? etc) to say that the estimate was unreasonably low. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

eskbanker said:

Personally I wouldn't say that it's unreasonable to view a two-year-old laptop as being worth just over half of its original purchase price, but can you find any of your model selling for more than that at that age?

Too lazy to find it but there's guidance on Business Companion specifically stating the regs stipulate the deduction is for use and the current market value shouldn't be used as a figure. 

Bearing in mind OP has presumably paid someone to inspect it £350 is a little low IMHO, if I paid £700 for a laptop I'd be expecting the higher end of that 5 years plus the cost of the inspection.

OP these companies always offer as little as possible, you have to keep on them to squeeze a bit more out of them. 

eskbanker

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

eskbanker said:

Personally I wouldn't say that it's unreasonable to view a two-year-old laptop as being worth just over half of its original purchase price, but can you find any of your model selling for more than that at that age?

Too lazy to find it but there's guidance on Business Companion specifically stating the regs stipulate the deduction is for use and the current market value shouldn't be used as a figure. 

Bearing in mind OP has presumably paid someone to inspect it £350 is a little low IMHO, if I paid £700 for a laptop I'd be expecting the higher end of that 5 years plus the cost of the inspection.

OP these companies always offer as little as possible, you have to keep on them to squeeze a bit more out of them. 

Yes, there could be scope for negotiation and the inspection report ought to be reimbursed over and above the actual valuation, but OP's expectation appeared to be enough to fund a replacement, which is ambitious unless they accept that the replacement for a two year old laptop should be another two year old laptop rather than a new one!

vikingguy666

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

eskbanker said:

Personally I wouldn't say that it's unreasonable to view a two-year-old laptop as being worth just over half of its original purchase price, but can you find any of your model selling for more than that at that age?

Too lazy to find it but there's guidance on Business Companion specifically stating the regs stipulate the deduction is for use and the current market value shouldn't be used as a figure. 

Bearing in mind OP has presumably paid someone to inspect it £350 is a little low IMHO, if I paid £700 for a laptop I'd be expecting the higher end of that 5 years plus the cost of the inspection.

OP these companies always offer as little as possible, you have to keep on them to squeeze a bit more out of them. 

As far as I am aware the same laptop, or same name with a few updated specs, is still a similar price tag.

They outright said the cost of the inspection was on me, which I understand its up to me to prove I'm not at fault, but there's literally no other way to do so without paying someone, I also had to find someone who would do it exactly as they asked :

"Details specific to the item (serial numbers etc so we can identify the product).

Full details of the suspected fault.

Full explanation and evidence to show why the suspected fault is due to the manufacturer and not to over use.

Full details of all tests carried out on the item.

Reasoning behind the final conclusion."

First one wasn't good enough apparently so I had to go back and try again 

It does feel like I'm being challenged every step

eskbanker

vikingguy666 said:

As far as I am aware the same laptop, or same name with a few updated specs, is still a similar price tag.

But that's presumably the price of a new one, rather than one that's been used for over two years?

born_again

vikingguy666 said:

As far as I am aware the same laptop, or same name with a few updated specs, is still a similar price tag.

So it is not the same laptop then if spec has changed.

Remember you have had 2 years use of of the laptop, so you cant expect to get a new model as replacement. 

All you can do is see if they will up the £350 offer. Maybe asking that you will replace with the newer model, will help sweeten the deal for them.
But if you look on ebay, then odds on the model you have now will be no where near £350 to buy 2nd hand.

pushpull

vikingguy666 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

eskbanker said:

Personally I wouldn't say that it's unreasonable to view a two-year-old laptop as being worth just over half of its original purchase price, but can you find any of your model selling for more than that at that age?

Too lazy to find it but there's guidance on Business Companion specifically stating the regs stipulate the deduction is for use and the current market value shouldn't be used as a figure. 

Bearing in mind OP has presumably paid someone to inspect it £350 is a little low IMHO, if I paid £700 for a laptop I'd be expecting the higher end of that 5 years plus the cost of the inspection.

OP these companies always offer as little as possible, you have to keep on them to squeeze a bit more out of them. 

As far as I am aware the same laptop, or same name with a few updated specs, is still a similar price tag.

They outright said the cost of the inspection was on me, which I understand its up to me to prove I'm not at fault, but there's literally no other way to do so without paying someone, I also had to find someone who would do it exactly as they asked :

"Details specific to the item (serial numbers etc so we can identify the product).

Full details of the suspected fault.

Full explanation and evidence to show why the suspected fault is due to the manufacturer and not to over use.

Full details of all tests carried out on the item.

Reasoning behind the final conclusion."

First one wasn't good enough apparently so I had to go back and try again 

It does feel like I'm being challenged every step

eBuyer are well known for doing things exactly as per your legal rights and nothing more, which is one of the reasons why I've always avoided them.

It turn out that what most retailers offer in terms of return processes is considerably better than those provided by legislation.

vikingguy666

born_again said:

vikingguy666 said:

As far as I am aware the same laptop, or same name with a few updated specs, is still a similar price tag.

So it is not the same laptop then if spec has changed.

Remember you have had 2 years use of of the laptop, so you cant expect to get a new model as replacement. 

All you can do is see if they will up the £350 offer. Maybe asking that you will replace with the newer model, will help sweeten the deal for them.
But if you look on ebay, then odds on the model you have now will be no where near £350 to buy 2nd hand.

I did mention I would be buying a replacement, so I'd happily take a higher amount locked in store credit if that was any use, but got no reply to that part

True I have had 2 years use, minus the 2 break downs, but I cant see how that justifies a 50% mark down, more so when you cant buy anything for that, I was hoping for at least a good 450-500.

The only other thing I've been advised on is to ask other companies what their normal procedure is for " partial refunds " but I don't see anyone getting back to me on that if I haven't bought from them 

Jumblebumble

pushpull said:

vikingguy666 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

eskbanker said:

Personally I wouldn't say that it's unreasonable to view a two-year-old laptop as being worth just over half of its original purchase price, but can you find any of your model selling for more than that at that age?

Too lazy to find it but there's guidance on Business Companion specifically stating the regs stipulate the deduction is for use and the current market value shouldn't be used as a figure. 

Bearing in mind OP has presumably paid someone to inspect it £350 is a little low IMHO, if I paid £700 for a laptop I'd be expecting the higher end of that 5 years plus the cost of the inspection.

OP these companies always offer as little as possible, you have to keep on them to squeeze a bit more out of them. 

As far as I am aware the same laptop, or same name with a few updated specs, is still a similar price tag.

They outright said the cost of the inspection was on me, which I understand its up to me to prove I'm not at fault, but there's literally no other way to do so without paying someone, I also had to find someone who would do it exactly as they asked :

"Details specific to the item (serial numbers etc so we can identify the product).

Full details of the suspected fault.

Full explanation and evidence to show why the suspected fault is due to the manufacturer and not to over use.

Full details of all tests carried out on the item.

Reasoning behind the final conclusion."

First one wasn't good enough apparently so I had to go back and try again 

It does feel like I'm being challenged every step

eBuyer are well known for doing things exactly as per your legal rights and nothing more, which is one of the reasons why I've always avoided them.

It turn out that what most retailers offer in terms of return processes is considerably better than those provided by legislation.

I agree
How does anyone prove that a laptop has or has not  been overused (whatever that means?)
( I could understand a company moaning about  domestic  washing machine being used in a large guest house but a laptop?)
We wont buy from them either as that will happily take money for next business day delivery put the item in the hands of Yodel and then when Yodel lost it said we had to wait until Yodel had gone to  look for it.