Laptop Motherboard dead out of warranty

safetymanager

Hi, can anyone advise please? I bought a laptop in Harvey Norman's, Cork in December 2009. It developed a problem in January/February 2011 and I returned it to the store only to be told it was our of warranty and not their problem. I took it to have it repaired and was told that the Motherboard was dead/gone and that it was only fit for the bin. I accepted this at the time but have done a bit of research and apparently this is a common manufacturing fault which was not caused by me. Do I have rights as surely the laptop should be expected to last more than one year !!

slimjimmc

safetymanager wrote: »

Hi, can anyone advise please? I bought a laptop in Harvey Norman's, Cork in December 2010. It developed a problem in January/February 2011 and I returned it to the store only to be told it was our of warranty and not their problem. I took it to have it repaired and was told that the Motherboard was dead/gone and that it was only fit for the bin. I accepted this at the time but have done a bit of research and apparently this is a common manufacturing fault which was not caused by me. Do I have rights as surely the laptop should be expected to last more than one year !!

Out of warranty after a couple of months or you bought in Dec 2009?

Sale of Goods and Services Act supersedes all or any warranties - items must be of merchantable quality, be fit for purpose and be reasonably durable for the purpose it was purchased for. Just because the manufacturer's warranty has expired doesn't mean the retailer can abandon any duty to you.

State your complaint in writing to HN (keep copy for self) . State that failure after such a short time is not reasonable, the laptop is not durable enough, that you've been badly inconvenienced, etc. Tell want you expect them to do - repair, replace or refund (realistically you shouldn't expect anything other than a repair). You need to give them a reasonable chance to resolve the issue so tell them you require satisfactory redress within e.g. 10 business days otherwise you'll pursue through the Small Claims Court.

The SCC only costs €15 and the claim can be lodged online but you should only go there after you and the vendor have failed to come to an amicable resolution.


PS I wouldn't say that you accepted anything.

safetymanager

Thanks Slimjimmc for the reply. I have fixed the date of purchase in my original post which was as you spotted December 2009 which means it was out of warranty in December 2010. I'll follow your advice and I'll let you know here what happens next.

mdebets

In principle, I would agree with slimjimmc.
There are however two questions, that might sway it.
Did you get the laptop repaired in the end?
Did you get the laptop repaired by a different shop (not HN)?

If you answer yes to both questions, you would probably loose your case, as you haven't given HN the chance to fix the problem.

jor el

If the laptop was opened by a non-approved repair agent, then all bets are off. If you accepted that it was "fit for the bin" and followed through by dumping it, then you've got nothing left to get repaired.

Do you still have the laptop?

foxinsox

safetymanager wrote: »

I accepted this at the time but have done a bit of research and apparently this is a common manufacturing fault which was not caused by me.

I returned a laptop to the shop where I originally bought it about 3 or 4 years after I bought it with a "motherboard" failure/problem.

After me insisting that it should last and that it was a known problem with the particular model laptop I bought. When I googled my laptop model all I found was problem after problem.

The manufacturer rep refused to talk to me on the phone while I was actually in the store one day. That really got me even more adamant that they should sort it out.

Anyway in the end the store sorted it out via the manufacturer. I wasn't going to let it go. Especially the fact that it was a known manufacturer fault!

The only thing is that you have brought it somewhere else for repair, but in saying that the original shop HN told you they couldn't help you.

I'd write them a letter (register post) with all details and keep at it until they repair or replace it.

Best of luck.

safetymanager

Thank you for all the replies. I still have the laptop. I took it to a repairer who told me the motherboard was gone and that I should bin it. So, having read the replies I rang Harvey Norman yesterday, asked to speak to someone in the relevant department, told him the story and he has agreed to send it back to the manufacturer for repair. I'm dropping it in tomorrow so fingers crossed that it all turns out ok in the end. I will let you all know how it goes.

I need to buy an american fridge and a new flat screen tv so if this goes well I might be tempted to shop at Harvey Norman again !!!!!

foggy_lad

safetymanager wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies. I still have the laptop. I took it to a repairer who told me the motherboard was gone and that I should bin it. So, having read the replies I rang Harvey Norman yesterday, asked to speak to someone in the relevant department, told him the story and he has agreed to send it back to the manufacturer for repair. I'm dropping it in tomorrow so fingers crossed that it all turns out ok in the end. I will let you all know how it goes.

I need to buy an american fridge and a new flat screen tv so if this goes well I might be tempted to shop at Harvey Norman again !!!!!

You would really go shopping there again after they walked all over your statutory rights?

safetymanager

Maybe I should have asked for a manager on my original visit with the laptop instead of taking the word of a possibly untrained counter assistant. I'll see how this goes and I'll take if from there. Maybe I'll give them the benefit of the doubt if they come up trumps on this !!

safetymanager

Got a call from HN this morning, my laptop will be repaired by the manufacturer, I will get another call next week keeping me informed. The guy dealing with it is not at all happy that I had been told it was no longer their problem, maybe the member of staff who told me that just didn't know that is not how to handle a customer with a problem. Maybe some staff training on the subject might help avoid this in the future. I am really happy with the service I am getting now and hopefully HN will have learned a lesson regarding keeping their staff trained in customer service.

I've bought so many items there over the years and have never had a problem before so I'm glad to be able to continue to do this in the future.

Thanks for all the replies. I have to find another Forum now as I'm having a problem with an insurance company !!!!!

seagull

How much did you pay for the diagnosis of a fried motherboard, and are HN going to reimburse you for that?

safetymanager

I paid thirty euro but I'm waiting on the diagnosis from the Manufacturer as HN think the hard drive is dead and not the motherboard. If this is the case then I will be going back to the repairer asking him for a refund for giving me wrong information. I was on the verge of doing as he said and throwing the laptop in the bin, good job I didn't go ahead and do that !!! I'll post here when I find out more.

safetymanager

Hi all, just a quick update. I have been contacted by HN as a courtesy to keep me informed of any developements, twice last week. HP are repairing the laptop under warranty but I still don't know what the problem is so haven't been on to the repairer yet. Am well impressed with the computer repair person in HN, he is on the ball and extremely helpful.

safetymanager

Got a call from HN on Friday telling me the laptop was ready for collection. I got a full report on what had been done to it. Here goes:

• System Board replacement
• Hard Drive replacement
• Power Board replacement
• Bios Upgrade
• System reconfiguration

Niall, the person I dealt with in HN was amazingly helpful and I had the laptop back within five working days of it being sent away for repair. I am really impressed with the after sales service now considering the bad start we got off to. Well done to Niall and thanks for all the help.

jor el

Seems like they replaced most of it, so practically a new laptop at this stage.

You'll have no comeback with the first repairer as his diagnosis of broken motherboard was right. That could have been masking the problems with the other parts, and unless he took time to investigate, he wouldn't have found them.

It could also be that HP just replaced everything to be safe, and that some of those components may have still been working.

safetymanager

It certainly is like a new laptop. As you say, I won't be going back to the repairer who told me to bin it as he was probably right in one way or another. I am just happy now to have the laptop back and working properly.