Lapteck repair broke my laptop, now what?

wesker

Hey guys,

I handed in my laptop to lapteck over a month and ten days ago. I have an Acer laptop and the fan died in it, so I decided to leave it into these guys across the road from my house. Seemed simple enough, just a fan replacement right? Wrong.

After a week they said that they had opened up the laptop and replaced the fan, but the monitor didn't work anymore, which was strange because it worked before I handed it into them.

After another 4 weeks of "we don't know whats wrong with it", they have finally said that they cannot repair it and that they will give me a replacement laptop.

I am wondering what are my rights here, if I have any at all. The laptop that they are trying to give me has a smaller screen and a less powerful processor. (They are giving me a P4 1.8Ghz, I had a AMD Turion 64 ML 1.8Ghz.. from what I have read, they should have never put a p4 into a laptop in the first place.)

[rant]
Overall I am really stupefied by their service, they told me that they would ring me back numerous times and only did once. They have asked for my number multiple times and keep on forgetting it. It took them 4 weeks to figure out that they did not know what was wrong with the laptop's monitor, I knew within 5 minutes of googling what could have been the problem. (http://www.daileyint.com/hmdpc/lcd.htm). Which is far better than "We don't know".

Also a friend advised me of not using them as a repair service after they took apart his external harddrive and gave it back to him in pieces. I regret not taking his advice. I warn you now to stay away from this place.
[/rant]

So I am now stuck in this position, and I am not willing to do them a favor by accepting a lesser laptop. Not to mention the 5 weeks of wasted time.

Any advice to what I can do here would be appreciated.

biko

You should look into their Terms & Conditions. What warranty do they give if botched job etc?

wesker

Hi, they don't have terms and conditions on their website.

biko

I agree, don't accept a lesser laptop (that might be a trade in or something they have previously "repaired"). Ask for a same value laptop and maybe check your rights on http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories

wesker

Thanks for the link!

Hmm, well your rights are slightly different when you are buying a service. Its a bit grayer. But basically it is up to them to put things right by repairing or replacing the service.

So in fairness to them they are replacing the laptop, however it will need to be an equal/better laptop.

I first bought the thing for around €1,400, and when I deal with computers, I get very specific. I use every piece of the hardware from the 6-1 card reader, to the infrared to the s-video output. I bought that laptop for very specific reasons, even the make of the processor was a factor when I bought it.

So yeah, the one that they are offering would be a downgrade. So I wont accept it.

axer

wesker wrote: »

So yeah, the one that they are offering would be a downgrade. So I wont accept it.

Then be prepared to take it to the small claims court - make sure you have all your documentation. You should also make sure you are corresponding with them via letter so that you can keep records even though they live across the road from you.

wesker

Well as always that would be the last route to take, but there is no documentation, at all. They never quoted or gave me an invoice. Although I will see tomorrow what the story is, I never said that I would accept the downgrade, but they did say that they will get back to me. So I plan on stating that they need to give me a laptop of the same quality.

In any case, if there was a decision to be made to go to the small claims I probably wouldn't (mainly because there is zero documentation with these guys and it would be my word against theirs) however I would consider ringing up Joe Duffy about it. :P

LiamD

How old is the laptop? The laptop they broke probably wasn't worth 1400, it will have depreciated.

wesker

Hey LiamD, I know the laptop will have been depreciated, im not asking for a brand new €1,400 laptop, just one with the same components.

In an update, the guys over at Lapteck have noticed this thread and rang me this morning to discuss a replacement laptop. They say that they will examine my laptop and find me a suitable replacement before the end of next week.

So ill let you know how it goes. Thanks for the replies.

wesker

Well, I am just back from lapteck and they guys sorted me out with a new laptop. Which I have to say is a substantial upgrade from my last laptop (twice the amount of ram/hard drive and a intel duo, also has vista.. but that will soon taken off ).

So fair play to them.