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.

LightFlare

Computers are funny beasts.

It seems as though the RAM is t/wasn’t the issue as the problem remains 

You say it worked fine for a month and then started having issues - what did your son do or install around that time that may have caused it ?

Has he tried a full system restore/install and removed any bloatware such as Norton ?

Alderbank

fwor said:

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.

I agree how exasperating it can be to fix some laptops even when on the bench in front of you let alone trying to do it remotely.

However the sellers have here replaced an essential component in the belief that that would fix the fault, but without success.

That meets the requirement of s24(5)(a) After one repair or one replacement, the goods do not conform to the contract.
CRA does not specify whose hands carry out a repair and does not specify that 'replacement' means replacement of the entire contract: if you had a full set of tyres fitted and one turned out to be defective you are entitled to replacement of that defective tyre, not replacement of the whole set.

However we don't know the full circumstances.
The seller might well have asked for the machine back for diagnosis and the buyer declined, saying he needed to keep hold of it, even if malfunctioning, for his coursework.
In that case you make an important point and I agree with you.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

fwor said:

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.

The word repair is clarified under Section 23 as: “repair” in relation to goods that do not conform to a contract, means making them conform. 

So any action really could be a repair rather than what we would colloquially deem the word to mean. 

In this instance the new RAM being provided would certainly be a repair now giving the right to reject, should they have wished to attempt a fix in their possession that should have been their first offering   

born_again

ANGELFLOWER said:

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.

How exactly was it paid to the company?

As it was not faulty when received there would be no chargeback right.
S75, is going to depend on using a CC. 

In reality this is one for the company to sort out.

LightFlare

Purely a guess that its CyberPower - has your son spoken to them again to try and resolve and has he asked for or been offered an RMA ?

OR has he just totally lost faith in it and wants shut ?

ANGELFLOWER

LightFlare said:

Purely a guess that its CyberPower - has your son spoken to them again to try and resolve and has he asked for or been offered an RMA ?

OR has he just totally lost faith in it and wants shut ?

Yes you are right about the company. As a note it is a PC not an Laptop as some people have mentioned, which is obviously inconvenient to send back for a repair and I believe Cyberpower aren't quick to do so. They sent us the RAM to repair the computer ourselves. The original RAM was definitely faulty as the tests we did came up with so many RAM errors. Since then they have offered advice on things to try to fix it, and not offered to collect it for a repair. Not sure why it seemed to be OK  for a month as my son downloaded everything he needed at the beginning. My son did tell them after the RAM replace hadn't worked that he wasn't happy and it was inconvenient and time consuming to do more tests, and they didn't seem to care and just said to do the tests. They did not offer to collect it to inspect and repair, even though my son said it should be replaced. Someone asked if we did a system restore. We had to reinstall Windows after changing the RAM, which I don't think was supposed to happen, but the PC wouldn't boot into Windows, and we were to told to reinstall Windows. I believe the RAM replace is enough to use our consumer rights, and if they don't play we should be able to do a chargeback as the goods have to be satisfactory and last a reasonable amount of time. Within 6 months we do not have to prove the cause of the fault, it is taken to have existed when the product was purchased or whatever. It isn't satisfactory since it doesn't work as expected. We have tried what they have suggested and sent them the test reports and info of the crashes from Event Viewer. We are trying one more fix they have suggested (rolling back the GPU driver) and I think then that is enough if it doesn't work. Something that was concerning, they wanted us to use DDU to remove the driver in SafeMode but the keyboard and mouse don't work in safe mode which may be a fault? Tried a wired mouse and keyboard as well as wireless. They have now told us to uninstall the GPU driver in Windows instead and install the different one, but didn't offer a fix for the mouse and keyboard issue.  I understand that things can go wrong with computers, but surely a new one shouldn't have these issues. Unfortunately we made a mistake when buying this, as I used my credit card and had it delivered to my son in his name so we can't use Section 75. I didn't realise about this rule and used my CC as my son doesn't have one and wanted the extra protection a CC gives. It seems a chargeback doesn't have this rule. Hopefully Cyberpower see sense with my sons consumer rights if we need to ask to send it back for a refund, and we won't have to try the chargeback. Thanks for everyone's replies.