Faulty laptop.... Do I have to accept a repair?

Jenni_D

Their wording isn't exactly what the legislation says, but it's close enough. It's as per what I said in my first reply.  

Mumstheword

It seems a slightly grey area,with opinions on both sides. Thank you all for your help on this, it;s much appreciated.

 When I first reported it on 6/7 they said I would have a call from their tech department that same day. I'm still waiting for that call... 
So I web chatted on 7/7 and that person gave me instructions to get it to switch on. She said I should get back in touch with them if it failed to come on again.
It did work a few times after that.
Neither of the customer service people told me a timescale I needed to contact them by, or offered to collect, or repair or refund.
Hopefully that fills in a few blanks.
I'm sure the law should protect me in this case, given that the problem they are now dealing with is the problem it had right at the start. Since it was intermittent and worked occasionally, it seems harsh that I should have to put up with that. This is in no way arguing against any points made by anyone on here.....just me grumbling out loud that I feel hard done by

Thank you all

sheramber

Once they repair it you won’t have to put up with it not working.

If it fails after the repair then you can ask for a refund.

Jenni_D

If it fails after the 6 months timeline then a) they could ask you to prove* that the fault was inherent (present at the time of delivery but not apparent), and/or b) reduce the amount of refund to account for time of ownership. The legislation allows them these rights. If it fails prior to the 6 months deadline then you can reject outright for a 100% refund.

* e.g. by way of an engineer report.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ergates said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:
if that went beyond the basics (say opening up the computer) would the fact the consumer has done so rather than handing the goods back to the trader make it a repair, the regs talk about requiring the trader to repair, although the troubleshooting could be seen as a repair even if the consumer carried out the physical action.  

I'm pretty certain that if a customer opened up a laptop case it would not only void the warranty, but would make it a lot harder to claim against the retailer.  I don't know how much legal weight it would carry but "You opened the case, you broke it" would be a fairly strong argument.

I was referring to the customer performing a repair under the instruction of the retailer, obviously if someone attempts to repair something off their own back that isn't the best idea.

Mumstheword said:

This is from their email....

"I understand you initially reported the issue on 06/07/2024 however, you failed to communicate back with us within the 30 day period for us to collect the laptop, test it and replace or refund it. Given the present time, this is already almost 4 months so you're entitled for a offer repair only."

I think they are saying the 30 day period is from delivery, rather than when you contacted them, (which is correct) and as you are now outside that period they are entitled to repair (which is also correct).

I think the easiest thing is to let them repair, I would then make as much use of the laptop as possible before the end of Dec (i.e within 6 months of delivery) to ensure the laptop is fault free. If it is then that's great obviously, if further faults arise then you'd have that final right to reject but ideally want to exercise it within the 6 months of delivery to avoid the deduction for use/burden of proof issue.

Ergates

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Ergates said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:
if that went beyond the basics (say opening up the computer) would the fact the consumer has done so rather than handing the goods back to the trader make it a repair, the regs talk about requiring the trader to repair, although the troubleshooting could be seen as a repair even if the consumer carried out the physical action.  

I'm pretty certain that if a customer opened up a laptop case it would not only void the warranty, but would make it a lot harder to claim against the retailer.  I don't know how much legal weight it would carry but "You opened the case, you broke it" would be a fairly strong argument.

I was referring to the customer performing a repair under the instruction of the retailer, obviously if someone attempts to repair something off their own back that isn't the best idea.

No retailer would *ever* instruct a customer to open up the case of a laptop - that way dead circuitry lies.