Am I entitled to a full refund?

Anoni58

Hi all. Quick question really, I purchased a computer, had standard 1 year warranty. Had problems within the first year and reported it to the retailers technician department. (Never went in for repairs, per their choice). Seemed to advise me on a temporary fix. 

Still having the same issues, and is now completely broken and is now out of warranty, kind of felt they had fobbed me off. 

Because the retailer doesn’t have a repairs center for computers, and the manufacturer said return to the retailer for a refund replacement, I’ve been offered a partial refund from the retailer. 

I kind of feel that because this was reported within the warranty initially, they were aware there was an existing issue, the issue remains the same. That I should be entitled to refund or replacement. 

I’m being charged for use of the laptop for 13 months. 

They did say if I wanted to challenge this I can take it to court. I felt that was extreme as I haven’t even challenged this with the retailer yet. Unless it’s a scaremongering tactic. I know I’m out of warranty now, but it’s only by a handful of weeks. Not considerable months or years. 

Where do I stand? Am I within my right to ask them for a full refund or should I just take the loss and accept a partial refund for returning it and leaving me with no computer and out of pocket? 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

Warranty is separate from consumer rights so if rejecting for a refund they can deduct for use after 6 months from delivery.

How much was the laptop, how much are they offering and who was the retailer? 

Anoni58

I see, it’s all really confusing. Thank you. 

The computer was £600 and they’re offering just over £400. The retailer is Argos. 

I don’t particularly want to fight a battle that isn’t there, I just feel as they were already aware of the issues it seems a little off. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Anoni58 said:

I see, it’s all really confusing. Thank you. 

The computer was £600 and they’re offering just over £400. The retailer is Argos. 

I don’t particularly want to fight a battle that isn’t there, I just feel as they were already aware of the issues it seems a little off. 

So they are putting the lifespan at a little over 3 years, some may say that's reasonable as technology moves along pretty quick, personally I'd hope for a little longer than that for £600. Argos aren't famed for their great customer service but instead seem to very much stick to their policy, you aren't entitled to the full £600 but if you have the energy could push for a bit more than the £400 offered. If you did talking to general customer services is probably not going to achieve much, more of an old fashioned letter to head office type of thing, main point here is arguing that the laptop should last longer than the 3 years their calculation puts it at. 

If you need to replace the laptop might be worth a post on the Tech board 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/techie-stuff

to see if anyone can recommend a better retailer than Argos  

Anoni58

Thank you! I purchased the computer from them around 13 months ago. But reached out to them a few months ago. I would like to say that although no device is guaranteed no issues and no flaw, they only advised a temporary solution which just involved deleting and reinstalling drivers from Google. 

It seemed to temporarily fix the issue and have now had a diagnosis of a hardware issue. 

Would feel that experiencing problems within its first year of life is a little concerning! 

HillStreetBlues

You would be looking at a year old reconditioned computer, I think £400 would be top end of the scale.
What you need to find out is it it worth a battle, is it a cheap fix? if so you might end up quids in.

Is it a desktop or a laptop? as easier to fix the former.
You could take it to a local computer shop, or if you want give details of the issue someone might be able to point to the likely issue.

Anoni58

It’s a laptop, Acer. I’ve had a diagnosis from them to say it has a hardware issue and an issue with the motherboard. Not quite technical savvy so my explanations aren’t the best. The report has been sent to Argos themselves which they then offered the partial refund. 

The laptop was purchased on special offer also, so albeit I paid £600 it was originally much more RRP, so  it is of a high specification and I’ve tried to find like for like or as close to, within this region and it’s proving ineffective. 

HillStreetBlues

Anoni58 said:

It’s a laptop, Acer. I’ve had a diagnosis from them to say it has a hardware issue and an issue with the motherboard. Not quite technical savvy so my explanations aren’t the best. The report has been sent to Argos themselves which they then offered the partial refund. 

The laptop was purchased on special offer also, so albeit I paid £600 it was originally much more RRP, so  it is of a high specification and I’ve tried to find like for like or as close to, within this region and it’s proving ineffective. 

You could try to argue that the issue should have been dealt with under warranty as the problem reported using that period was never fixed. What would youi have been entitled too if  within the 12 months? 

Anoni58

The associate from Argos stated in the correspondence up to 12 months they would offered a full refund. But as it’s not, under a “pro rata” I have to now pay them for the use of the laptop upon the return of it. 

It’s merely weeks after the warranty has expired. 

I cannot make definite assumptions but I did make clear in my report to the technicians whilst in warranty I was concerned about such issues, but was “reassured” it would be down to something simple as a system update corrupting or not working as it should. 

I believed this. The solution offered to Google then download the drivers did temporarily fix the problem, I do admit, but I mean temporarily, for around an hour. 

I then did this resolution multiple times over the time
span from first report to last week, baring in mind Christmas & New Years for a small delay. 

I do genuinely feel that also the technician said he isn’t fully trained, he was aware there was a bigger issue going on that just what he suggested of a system update. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

HillStreetBlues said:

You would be looking at a year old reconditioned computer, I think £400 would be top end of the scale.

Deduction is for use rather than replacement value  

Anoni58 said:

I then did this resolution multiple times over the time
span from first report to last week, baring in mind Christmas & New Years for a small delay. 

Hard to say with the warranty as it will be bound by it's own terms but sadly consumer rights is based upon the point at which you formally reject the goods, the retailer gets one go at a repair and then you can reject. 

Even if you have some correspondence to show you asked for a refund within 12 months it's only 6 months under consumer rights for a full refund and it's not possible to blur the rights and warranty into to one to favour your position if you see what I mean  

If you can show the terms of the warranty was breached that is something that can be acted upon but whether it will be fruitful would depend upon the exact terms and exactly what happened in relation to those terms. 

HillStreetBlues

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

HillStreetBlues said:

You would be looking at a year old reconditioned computer, I think £400 would be top end of the scale.

Deduction is for use rather than replacement value  

I don't disagree, but you need a benchmark for a price, so a current price of a 1 year used old computer will give an indication of what a years worth of use is.