Faulty new laptop

Okell

@MrPez  -  are you saying that you went back to HP to enforce your statutory consumer rights and that HP directed you to Flextronics who would attempt a repair on HP's behalf?  And that it's now been bouncing back and forth between Flextronics and the collection point for two weeks now?

This is a problem HP need to sort out with their repair partner Flextronics.  I'd suggest that you tell HP to instruct Flextronics to return it to your home address rather than the collection point they originally picked it up from.  This is HP's problem not yours.

s23(2)(a) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) says that repairs must be done "... within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer..."

If the repair took one day and they haven't been able to return it to you for two weeks because they are trying to deliver it to somewhere that they refuse to deliver to, I'd say that that is unreasonable and significantly inconvenient.

I'd suggest you make it clear to HP that if you haven't got the laptop back by a specific date (give them a week or 10 days) then you want a replacement or a full refund from them.  If they don't do that you need to decide if you want to send them a Letter Before Claim and sue them for a full refund.  (If they can't get their repair partner to return it to you and they wont replace it or refund you, I don't see what alternative you have.)

You've not spelled out how much communication you've had with HP trying to get this back.  You might feel you've already had enough of banging your head against a brick wall and want to go straight to a Letter Before Claim.  (You would still need to give them a reasonable time to put this right before actually issuing a claim)

MrPez

Yes that's right. I didn't know who flextronics were, I've been dealing solely with HP. 

I've had an awful lot of communication with HP, all fruitless, so I'm tempted to go straight with a letter before claim. Are there any examples or templates? I've not done one before. 

I can give them another week then I'm happy to go to court if that's what it takes. 

I'm fairly confident the fault was there from the start but because of the intermittent nature I ignored it until after the 30 day period (which I didn't realise was a cut off). 

MrPez

Just been looking and wondering if I should have said I live in Scotland. 

Will that have any impact on the claim process and legislation involved? 

Alderbank

The legislation involved, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, applies equally in all parts of the UK.

Here in Scotland you can bring a claim in your local Sheriff court using the Simple Procedure provided the value of the claim is less than £5,000. The Simple Procedure is similar to the English small claims procedure but is unique to Scotland. You could however bring your claim in an English court instead.

Straightforward claims like yours would probably be dealt with online by Civil Online here in Scotland or by its equivalent  MoneyClaim OnLine in England.

https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure/guide-to-simple-procedure/

MrPez

More online conversations. This time, all I wanted was an email address (or mechanism to send a Letter before Claim electronically) or postal address and the service agent refused to provide either. 

All I can think is to send to the registered office address available online.

Does that sound reasonable? 

Jumblebumble

MrPez said:

More online conversations. This time, all I wanted was an email address (or mechanism to send a Letter before Claim electronically) or postal address and the service agent refused to provide either. 

All I can think is to send to the registered office address available online.

Does that sound reasonable? 

Yes and if you can find the email address  cc the CEO of HP