Chargeback on faulty PC

ANGELFLOWER

My son purchased a PC in September for Uni with his student loan. He is doing Graphic design so it has a graphics card to run the Adobe apps he needs. It worked OK for about a month then started crashing. Contacted the merchant who said to run some tests, which told us the RAM was faulty. The merchant sent out new RAM which we installed. We then had to reinstall Windows as it wouldn't just work after installing the new RAM. Computer still crashes. They asked us to run the tests again which showed no errors, but we have crash reports in Windows Events. They then told us to update the graphics card driver which hasn't solved the issue. They have now told us to use DDU in Safe Mode to uninstall the driver and install an older driver. The keyboard and mouse don't work in Safe Mode. Tried another mouse and keyboard and same issue. Windows is up to date. This computer was a build from a company that also sells through Argos and Very, but we bought it direct. It is a complete headache as my son needs it for his studies and it isn't stable. Wondering about a chargeback. Do I have to keep letting them try and tell us how to fix it, or can I start a chargeback? Thanks for reading.

fwor

Here's a link to one of the many online guides to the Consumer Rights Act:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

What other options you have (such as Section 75 or a chargeback) will depend on how you paid, and are covered in that article too, via a link to this guide:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/section-75-of-the-consumer-credit-act-aZCUb9i8Kwfa

ANGELFLOWER

Is it better to use the Consumer Rights Act, or a chargeback in this case? We want a full refund and don't want to have to pay to return it. Will the merchant have to cooperate if I want to return using my consumer rights? We have tried to repair it and it so far hasn't been successful, and it is an inconvenience as my son can't do his work at home. The Uni computer dept is closed over Christmas so he won't be able to go into Uni to do work then which he has been doing as he can't do it at home. Maybe I should try with the merchant first and if they refuse go through my credit card?

Alderbank

The purchaser, your son (not you!) has important consumer rights.

They include, once the seller has had one unsuccessful attempt to fix the machine, the right to reject the laptop for a full refund.
He should tell them that he is not interested in any further attempts to repair it and he will return the machine for a full refund under his rights in s24(5) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

fwor

Alderbank said:

once the seller has had one unsuccessful attempt to fix the machine, the right to reject the laptop for a full refund.

But you need to be careful here. The seller could argue that they have had no opportunities to fix the machine so far. They have (so far) advised the buyer on things they can do to diagnose the problem, but it seems reasonable to argue that they (the seller) would need to have the laptop with them to be able to attempt a repair.

It does seem (to me) to be reasonable that the seller should at least have the option to attempt a fix with the laptop in their possession. I know from personal experience what it can be like trying to diagnose a computer problem remotely.