Memory compatibility consumer rights

steviec

Not sure if this is the best board to be asking but I'm a bit lost as to what to do right now.
I bought some memory in Maplin a couple of weeks ago. PC2100 512Mb. Brand is 'Integral Memory'. Brought it home and it didn't work in my motherboard(an MSI K7N2G), which is meant to be compatible with PC2100 RAM and I have other modules that work fine. Basically I turn it on and just get a series of beeps and no response from the PC.
So I bring the RAM back to Maplin who tell me I have to leave it in to be tested. I do that and return on the day they say only to find out it hasn't been done and they give me another date, and this continues for nearly 2 weeks when on my fifth visit to the shop they'd finally checked it up and told me it was fine so they didn't have to give me a refund but as a 'goodwill gesture' they replaced it with another module of identical ram. Which had the same identical problem.
I bring it back, they tell me its not their problem if it's not compatible with my motherboard, and blame it on the mobo. Now my motherboard has never given me any trouble and has worked with other sticks of PC2100 before but just to clarify things I walked round the corner to Peats, who sold me the motherboard and who's staff actually deal properly with customers unlike Maplin.
According to Peats, they are legally obliged to refund RAM which isn't compatible with the customer's computer, regardless of if it passes their own tests. But Maplin refuse to do anything for me.
So what I want to know is where do I stand? Surely, as a consumer, when you buy two things that are both advertised as conforming to a certain standard which means they should be compatible with eachother, then discover they're not compatible, you must have some sort of rights even if neither is faulty as a standalone product?
Any advice?

spongebob

what CAS setting ?

steviec

Ok all the settings are on auto, RAM timings are 'By SPD' and CAS Latency says 2.0
I don't know too much about these settings but I've followed various suggestions on tech guy support forums without any luck.
Right now I am just so annoyed by the way the staff in Maplins treated me and I'm past the point where I wanna stay up all night flashing my BIOS and trying various settings without any luck, God knows I've spent enough time doing that, I just want my money back.

tonky

Hi.
Very annoying from a store like Maplin!.
The beeps you get from the PC - is it 2 space 3? I had a lot of compatibality problems with 2100 memory in a couple of PC's lately. Peats are a bit more expensive, but come with the comfort of knowing they will usually sort out a genuine problem and you will not receive a line of bull**** from a rote trained sales assistant as seems to have happened in your case.
Cheers
E.

Nitrox

I doubt very much that they have to refund you just because the ram does not work in your pc. If it is found to be in a working condition it is really up to you as a consumer to make sure the stuff you buy will actually work with your pc.
This is not always very easy, but that is no excuse to come after you have bought it and claim your money back because you made a mistake.

If buying pc parts in Dublin i would not go to Peats or Maplin at all, instead go to places like Marx computers or IT Dirrect!!

Felix Unger

The goods have to be fit for the purpose they are being sold and of merchantible quality, if it says 2100 on the package but won't work in a major brand mobo like MSI, I'd say it's not suitable for the purpose for which it is being sold, check out http://www.consumerassociation.ie/rights.html, if you don't get any joy with quoting this (or showing a printed copy) then pop up to O'Connell Street where there's an office for the European Consumer Centre ( http://www.ecic.ie" ) where you might be able to take the matter further.


From the Consumer Association website: "
Goods should be fit for their normal purpose, so don't be fobbed off with the excuse that you have not used the product properly. If the product you purchase does not do the job it is normally used to do, it is not fit for its purpose.

"

steviec

In reply to the person saying it's up to the customer to make sure the RAM works in their computer, how am I supposed to do that? Ask for a lend so I can test the memory in my computer? Carry my computer into town so they can make sure?
When I have a top of the range motherboard from one of the main manufacturers which says it is PC2100 compatible, and I've tried other PC2100 modules in it without any problems, I think it's fair for me to buy PC2100 RAM in a shop and expect it to be compatible, and if it isn't then to take that as being a problem with the RAM they sold me, rather than my problem.
And I think that point is backed up when I can go online and ask people on major international technical forums, who all tell me that the memory maplin sell is 'very hit and miss'. That doesn't sound like it's of merchantable quality to me.
BTW the memory in Peats is actually cheaper than Maplin(Maplin was 106 euro and Peats, far as I remember, was 98), their service is a million times better and I would always shop in Peats before Maplin, I was forced to buy in Maplin this time though because Peats had none in stock and weren't going to for a while. I've never had a problem with Peats after many many purchases, never really seen the need to try other places and I've never heard of Marx Computers or IT Direct...
I've e-mailed both Maplin(their UK customer services address since I couldn't find any Irish contact) and the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs about it, hopefully I'll get an answer.

Capt'n Midnight

I take it you have tried the RAM on it's own so the timing is not dependent on previous memory..

But that's the problem with buying from box-shifters - great for things like books and CD's ...

Check with consumer afairs about "goodwill gesture" - they may be interested - especially since you are not allowed to be palmed off with "credit notes" for a refund. Again the key words are merchantable quality" and the one about in relation to the price paid for it.
ie. if it was an absolute steal and it worked in any 2100 MB then maybe - but since they are more expensive than another local supplier it should be better memory so you have a right to expect it to work as well or better ....

Since they tested the RAM and found it to be OK, they can't say anything about your handling of the goods. especially since your other memory works...

steviec

Oh for the people that asked I get one single beep lasting 1-2 seconds, gap for a couple of seconds, another beep of same length, gap, and so on. I've tried every setting possible and flashed the BIOS with the latest one and everything. Sometimes, rarely, I get no beeps at all, the PC makes all the sounds of drives and everything as though it's booting, but there's nothing on screen plus it doesn't respond to me pressing the power button so I have to plug it out.
The PC does actually start-up sometimes when I use it in conjunction with my other RAM, it doesn't seem to depend on how my BIOS is set-up, but I have turned my PC on and had it work a couple of times. Once you reboot, even if you change absolutely nothing, it never successfully starts second time.
When I try the RAM on it's own I have no such success though.
At this stage, after the treatment I've received from Maplin's staff, what the problem actually is is irrelevent to me, the fact is that there's a problem and I just want to get my money back.

The Brigadier

Just to clairify the position on this from a consumer affairs POV..

If you buy something it has to be fit for the purpose intended. Maplin do NOT have to ensure it works with your motherboard.
There are many issues with memory and motherboards..

Only if you have asked them if it will work with YOUR motherboard and they have said it will...Are you entitled to bring it back..
Because then you have them on the goods not fit for the purpose intended chestnut...If they try the memory in another machine and it works, it's not faulty(and unfortunatly is then YOUR problem)

If in the case where you have bought the memory without asking them if it will work with YOUR motherboard and it is found to be incompatible you have NO legal right to a refund....

Once they make you aware of this they may as a good will gesture offer you a credit note, exchange or whatever they want, as this is acting beyond your legal entitlement...

On the flip side of this coin, most retailers (and I would always act in this way) would offer you a full refund if the product was resellable. This is a goodwill gesture and not part of your legal entitlement...

elexes

dont they have a "if u return the item within x ammount of days we will take it back without any hassel "

cant believe they wont take it back . ive seen them take stuff back for me without probloms . try going in all nice as pie . or better yet send in your gf/sister all nice and innocent that dosnt have a clue about computers and get her to say

i bought this for my brother for a b.day present but i found out it wont work on his computer can i have a refund

im telling you its worked on me and other members of staff and tho we dont have to for whatever reason because she looks gud its a done deal ... might work u never know and by the sounds of things ur screwed anyways so u might as well try it . theres a nice big guy kinda bald head with glasses hes nice talk to him

steviec

Yea they have a fourteen day money back guarantee thing, it's written directly under my purchase on the receipt "Goods may be exchanged within 14 days with proof of purchase". However when I asked about that they say it doesn't apply to RAM only other products. There's signs all over the shop about it but they do say it doesn't apply to RAM in the small print so guess I can't say anything there, even if there's no small print excluding RAM from this on the receipt.
I have used that 14 day thing in Maplins before tho - I bought a coolermaster fan there but when I discovered it sounded like a jumbo jet I took it back, if they had refused to refund me in that case I wouldn't have really had a problem since it wasn't faulty. It was actually that guy you mentioned who changed it for me. I haven't spoken to him about the RAM.
From consumer's association of Ireland:
"Retailer's response - It's your fault. The product wasn't made for that purpose

Goods should be fit for their normal purpose, so don't be fobbed off with the excuse that you have not used the product properly. If the product you purchase does not do the job it is normally used to do, it is not fit for its purpose. "
And directly from the sale of goods act:
"Goods are of merchantable quality if they are as fit for the purpose or purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly bought and as durable as it is reasonable to expect having regard to any description applied to them, the price (if relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances"

Isn't running in any given PC2100 compatible motherboard the job that PC2100 RAM is normally used to do? Particularly a common motherboard from a top manufacturer like MSI.
The sale of goods act wording is perhaps a little outdated when it comes to covering computer components and it's wording could mean pretty much anything when it says 'purpose it's commonly bought for'. But to me, the purpose it's commonly bought for isn't to run in the testbed motherboard in Maplin's store room, nor is it bought to theoretically comply with PC2100 standards under testing conditions. It's commonly bought to work with the customer's specific PC2100 compatible motherboard, whatever brand that might be. And if it isn't then it's not of merchantable quality.

I've tried being nice, I was extremely patient when they repeatedly delayed me, coming in four different times when their technician was meant to be there to test the RAM only to find he wasn't every time. I was also willing to accept their 'goodwill gesture' of replacement RAM but that didn't work either. So going in and letting them know I've been in contact with the director of consumer affairs and I've e-mailed Maplin's headquarters and telling them the goods aren't of merchantable quality under the sale of goods act might get me further than asking nicely did...

steviec

Ok I was back in Maplin today and basically, I said small claim court and he said here's your money. So thats that sorted. If they've tested it in their lab like they said they have and it's as perfect as they say it is then they can just resell it anyway so that's the end of it.
Just out of interest, I'm friends with the security guard there and I was chatting to him about it today and he was saying he's seen similar things happen with many customers in the past. Customer satisfaction obviously isn't high on their list of priorities.
Moral: When in doubt, just keep complaining until they give in!