S.75 company asking for a fee

Alderbank

Does the inspection report you have from Lenovo make it clear that the cause of failure is definitely an internal fault in the battery and was not caused by faulty charging circuitry in the laptop, and in turn the fault has not damaged any circuitry in the laptop?

That seems to be what Currys are trying to discover.

Canon_Dad

visidigi said:

BCanon_Dad said:

Good afternoon,

I have recently begun a claim using S.75 with Currys due to a laptop battery developing a serious fault. The inbuilt software and via tech support remote logging in both show reports that state the battery is faulty.

Today I have received an email from Currys stating that I need to pay £75 to have the laptop inspected.

Is this right? Can they charge an inspection fee? 
What is wrong with them using the reports already generated?

It feels like they are trying to put me off claiming. (They won't)

I submitted the claim to both Currys and Creation finance as they are the in-store credit provider. I also cc'd Lenovo into the claim emails.

The battery report shows the fault beginning prior to the 12 month warranty expiring. The claim is within 14 months of the purchase date. The finance was paid off within the period prior to interest being added, the latter I believe makes no difference as the protection is still there due to using in-store credit.

Thank you for any pointers. 

If the logs show it started during the 12 month warranty what was lenovo's response when asking if it was covered under warranty?

I haven't claimed under warranty only S.75 as it was beyond the 12 months when I discovered the fault after ruling out user error etc when powering off.

The technician from Lenovo said he had just dealt with another one with a battery issues and agreed that it was a fault battery and should have lasted much longer.

MyRealNameToo

Canon_Dad said:

Good afternoon,

I have recently begun a claim using S.75 with Currys due to a laptop battery developing a serious fault. The inbuilt software and via tech support remote logging in both show reports that state the battery is faulty.

Today I have received an email from Currys stating that I need to pay £75 to have the laptop inspected.

Is this right? Can they charge an inspection fee? 
What is wrong with them using the reports already generated?

It feels like they are trying to put me off claiming. (They won't)

I submitted the claim to both Currys and Creation finance as they are the in-store credit provider. I also cc'd Lenovo into the claim emails.

The battery report shows the fault beginning prior to the 12 month warranty expiring. The claim is within 14 months of the purchase date. The finance was paid off within the period prior to interest being added, the latter I believe makes no difference as the protection is still there due to using in-store credit.

Thank you for any pointers. 

Why have you made things messy with sending a S75 claim to the retailer? 

S75 only applies to a lender offering credit under the Consumer Credit Acts; Curry's isnt a lender, they arent your lender and shouldn't have been involved. 

You need to unpick the ball of string you have created... is Curry's had a laugh at you for sending them a S75 and are just dealing with it as a CRA claim or has Creation instructed them to inspect the device? 

Creation almost certainly will want a written report on the device, they'd normally just ask you to provide one but could in principle suggest that Curry's or someone else does it. As the device is over 6 months old its your job to prove it was faulty when you bought it and its neither caused by user-misuse nor is it a reasonable lifespan. Such a report would typically be paid for by you and then added to the cost of your claim if the report supports you and the claim is upheld. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

born_again said:

Yes they can.
For S75 you would need a independent 3rd party report.

When did you buy computer, when did problem start?

Did you contact currys before starting a S75 with Creation?

Part is bold is noteworthy OP, you don’t need Currys to inspect it, a local computer repair should suffice.

born_again

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

born_again said:

Yes they can.
For S75 you would need a independent 3rd party report.

When did you buy computer, when did problem start?

Did you contact currys before starting a S75 with Creation?

Part is bold is noteworthy OP, you don’t need Currys to inspect it, a local computer repair should suffice.

TBH. OP has messed up. Should have gone to currys 1st, before starting S75. 

Has creation told OP to take it to currys?

Always gets me when manufactures says there is a fault, yet will do nothing to solve the problem, even when out of warranty. Knowing that it is their issue... In this case a faulty battery, they have identified, so why not simply replace the battery. 
What has happened to good customer service 🤷‍♀️

MyRealNameToo

born_again said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

born_again said:

Yes they can.
For S75 you would need a independent 3rd party report.

When did you buy computer, when did problem start?

Did you contact currys before starting a S75 with Creation?

Part is bold is noteworthy OP, you don’t need Currys to inspect it, a local computer repair should suffice.

TBH. OP has messed up. Should have gone to currys 1st, before starting S75. 

Has creation told OP to take it to currys?

Always gets me when manufactures says there is a fault, yet will do nothing to solve the problem, even when out of warranty. Knowing that it is their issue... In this case a faulty battery, they have identified, so why not simply replace the battery. 
What has happened to good customer service 🤷‍♀️

You're not their customer so it can't be "customer service", you bought from another firm rather than direct from them. 

It all comes down to commercial arrangements, I can agree to indemnify the retailer for problem products but then the retailer has to pay me more for them. Alternatively the retailer can decide they want to own the customer and retain the liability the CRA puts on to them in which case I sell my products to them for a lot less. I'm not then going to give away stuff when the retailer hasn't paid me to do so. 

Okell

@Canon_Dad

Unfortunately you seem to have made this more difficult for yourself by taking the wrong approach - or so it seems from your confusing account of what's happened.  

At the outset you had two choices: either to go to Lenovo under warranty, or to go to Curry's under the Consumer Rights Act.

You seem to have gone to Lenovo first who - rather confusingly according to your account - seem to have accepted that the battery manifested signs of being faulty before the warranty expired, but still refused your warranty claim.  Have you challenged them on this decision to refuse your claim?

As regards Currys, because the fault manifested itself more than 6 months after purchase, the legal burden is on you to show the battery was faulty when you bought the laptop.  People are usually advised to provide this proof by getting an independent expert report saying the item in question was inherently faulty when purchased.

Only if the retailer (in this case Currys) refuses your claim should you go down the s75 route, and you do this initially by claiming against the finance provider (I assume Creation) and that doesn't involve either the retailer or manufacturer as far as you are concerned.    [Edit:  If you told Currys you were making a s75 claim against them it's quite possible they haven't a clue what you are talking about!]

But having said all that, I'm not sure from your account why Currys haven't accepted the report you have from Lenovo.  Have you actually got a written report from Lenovo unequivocally stating that the battery was inherently faulty when they put it in the laptop?

sheramber

The battery report shows the fault beginning prior to the 12 month warranty expiring. The claim is within 14 months of the purchase date

That doesn’t state the fault was inherent.