Small Claims Court

allroundgoodguy

My son (1st year uni, graphics-heavy course) bought a high-spec Asus laptop from Currys in Dec 2024 for £1,400. In Feb 2026 (14 months later) the screen failed completely – external monitor only.

Currys' only offer was to send it away with no timescale, which wasn't workable as he had imminent end-of-year project deadlines. I had a reputable repair centre inspect it – they produced a full written report confirming motherboard failure and were unable to source a replacement part.

After ~10 days of back-and-forth with Currys getting nowhere, we bought a replacement from John Lewis (£1,700) as he couldn't wait any longer. Currys then took a further 17 days to respond, offering only £75 toward sending it away for repair – rejected. A second identical offer came ~17 days after that.

I'm claiming under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 – not of satisfactory quality, not fit for purpose, and not durable enough for £1,400 after only 14 months. I'm also relying on Currys' unreasonable response times as grounds for the refund rather than repair.

Deducting ~£150 (approx. 10%) for use before claiming the balance.

Small claims is drafted and ready. About to send a Letter Before Action.

Specifically looking for:

• Confirmation the LBA is the right next step
• Any sense check on the legal basis or deduction approach
• Happy to share my draft claim text for review

Keep_pedalling

You never gave them the opportunity to repair it so I think you are going to struggle here,

Isthisforreal99

Talk about jumping the gun.

Only you that was unreasonable OP.

allroundgoodguy

Thanks, I think I've explained why I could not wait so long for repair but I appreciate what you are pointing out.
EDIT actually they did not offer a repair, only an inspection for £75., refundable though if proven.

lincroft1710

10% deduction for 14 months use is far too low. Despite the personal circumstances, Currys should have been given the opportunity to repair

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81923830#Comment_81923830

They cannot repair until they have inspected, you refused that so you have effectively terminated their ability to do anything so you have not right or the refund you have demanded. As I presume the laptop is still in your possession you could now give them the opportunity to fix it and see what happens, they may be able to fix it, they might not if the part is not available and then it would fall back to a partial refund. They probably use 4 or 5 years for the useful life of a laptop so you will be looking at a 20% or 25% deduction, not 10%.

You need to be reasonable or you will get nothing, trying to claim in court using the CRA but not having followed it and not been reasonable you will struggle to get anything other than a straight rejection.

pinkshoes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81923830#Comment_81923830

Firstly the 10% is too low. A laptop would not last 14 years. Deduct about 25%.

Secondly, as it was over 6 months old you provided the independent report saying it was inherently faulty. That was correct. It was then up to Currys to repair, replace or give a partial refund. Do you have it in writing that they refused these options even after the independent report and insisted you to pay £75 for their report? If that's correct then yes the LBA is the right route here.

Make it clear you provided them with an independent report as required under consumer rights act.

A_Geordie

I sympathise with the OP, I am one step away from issuing legal proceedings against Currys for similar circumstances albeit my faulty goods are within the first 6 months.

Just to point out a few mistakes other posters have made:

• Currys do not have the right to decide whether the consumer gets a repair, replacement or refund, it's the consumer that has that right to decide and it is worded this way in the CRA. Only if one option is disproportionate to the other can Currys object to one of those options and it is up to Currys to prove/explain why. Merely stating that one method is disproportionate to the other is not an acceptable reason.

• The OP has produced a report to support the claim. Currys can either choose to accept that report and agree to carryout a repair/replacement or offer a refund but what they cannot do, is insist or require the consumer to pay Curry's inspection of the laptop. I note that the £75 appears to be worded as a contribution and does not suggest that this is a fixed amount. In that case the position appears to be that Currys does not accept the OP's report and is expecting the OP to agree to have it inspected at the OP's own cost and expense.

• Just because Currys offer a repair and the OP refuses, does not automatically mean the OP is at fault. The CRA clearly states that a repair should be carried out so long as there is no significant inconvenience to the consumer. Failing to give any timeframe as to how long it might take to be inspected or repaired is not reasonable. That could be weeks or months. Currys could have at least suggested that they could make initial contact with the manufacturer/repair company to find out how long the process might take and then inform the OP who can then consider whether that timeframe is considered reasonable or not and if it creates any significant inconvenience.

I think the OP has reasonable grounds to send an LBA and then follow up with legal proceedings. At least by then the OP won't be dealing with useless low level staff. I do think the OP needs to make sure the LBA and the subsequent particulars of claim are worded in a way to indicate that Currys is being the difficult one here e.g. requiring the OP to pay for their own inspection when he already has obtained his own independent report.

Currys are (in my opinion) the equivalent of Sports Direct in the consumer tech space.

allroundgoodguy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81923881#Comment_81923881

Thanks for highlighting. I got the 10% from the fact it's only 14 months, clearly it's not linear depreciation with a 4 or 5 year old laptop would have more than 40 or 50% depreciation.
I am going to let Currys come back.
They don't have the report yet, so that is going to be in my latest response.The Computer Repair place tried to find a motherboard and I would have just bought that and not bothered Currys despite the cost because of the urgency but they could not find one from anyone reputable hence why I bought a replacement.
I very much appreciate the advice.

allroundgoodguy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81923918#Comment_81923918

Thanks very much, it does more match what I've seen. And best of luck with your claim.
My £75 phrase could have been better, they stated I would have to pay that for their report but would refund if found to be manufacturing fault. The timescales are key, massive inconvenience, it could have been months. I've been given very little option but buy a new laptop it was too urgent. They said they' reply within 5 days, fair enough, it took 17 days. So they are hardly likely to repair it quickly. John Lewis promised a 7 day turnround for warranty so I bought from them.

SiliconChip

"John Lewis promised a 7 day turnround for warranty so I bought from them."

Good luck with that if you need to use it, it took significantly longer than that when I had a warranty repair done on a laptop that I bough from JL and it was only resolved by making an executive level complaint. And that was a few years ago, their customer service has got worse since then based on what we see on here.

Your expectation of a 10% reduction for 14 months use is totally unreasonable and might well annoy the court when making a claim. First year depreciation on a laptop would be at least 20% and possibly more, and a 5 year old machine would be worth at most 10% of it's original price.