Waiting for replacement for 2 months, small claims court?

sickofwaiting

I returned a faulty laptop to an online retailer 2 months ago and still haven't received a replacement/repaired laptop. It doesn't look like Ill be getting it back any time soon either.

I rang the national consumer agency but they said there was no set time on how long a retailer has to provide a replacement/repair, just that it had to be a 'reasonable' amount of time. I do not think 2 months+ of waiting is reasonable. Even more so as it seems there is no end in sight as the retailer isn't able to give me any updates on when to expect it.

Am I entitled to ask for a refund at this stage? Should I take a SCC case if they don't agree to a refund?

foggy_lad

write to the retailer asking them to return your laptop "Fixed" or offer you another form of redress (replacement or refund)

sickofwaiting

foggy_lad wrote: »

write to the retailer asking them to return your laptop "Fixed" or offer you another form of redress (replacement or refund)

Should I offer them a time frame? As in I have no interest in being strung along for several more months waiting for this to be fixed.

I'm thinking one month is more than reasonable considering they've already had it for two months.

jor el

tell them to reply within 7 days, with their offer of either a replacement or refund (if not your own one fixed).

the_syco

sickofwaiting wrote: »

faulty laptop

What was wrong with it? And yes, it does matter.

sickofwaiting

It crashed about a month after it was bought and required a re-install of windows - as windows wouldn't even boot up. This process then continued to happen every 3 to 4 weeks - unrecoverable crash requiring reformat. Eventually I said enough is enough after the last crash where when I went to reinstall windows it couldn't even find the boot device. I had it about 5 months at this stage.

the_syco

sickofwaiting wrote: »

It crashed about a month after it was bought and required a re-install of windows - as windows wouldn't even boot up. This process then continued to happen every 3 to 4 weeks - unrecoverable crash requiring reformat. Eventually I said enough is enough after the last crash where when I went to reinstall windows it couldn't even find the boot device. I had it about 5 months at this stage.

Aye, sounds like a faulty HDD. Give them a reasonable amount of time (two weeks) to fix the problem, or give you a replacement PC. If the company doesn't do this, it looks a lot better for you when you goto the SCC, as you gave them a chance, and the fault seemed to be a HW component, as opposed to user damage.

jpb1974

A faulty HDD replacement is a job that should take about 1 day at the most.

If they're attempting to recover data from a faulty HDD then it would be a bit more, but still only maybe an extra day or so.

I'd say 'fair enough' if there's a backlog of repairs... but it doesn't sound like the retailer is doing a lot on the communications front.

I think 2 months is plenty long to have waited.

dudara

As other posters have said, give them a clearly defined timeframe to resolve the issue (be considerate, 5-10 working days). Let them know that if it isn't resolved within this timeframe, that you will be initiating proceedings in the Small Claims Court.