Warranty on laptops?

Glazun

All laptops sold within the EU have a minimum 2 year warranty, correct? Shouldn't this also include batteries?

My battery broke within 11 months, just abruptly stopped working. Laptop wouldn't power up with battery inserted. I requested an RMA and got sent a replacement, same issue occured. I had to send my laptop in again, after 4 weeks later I was informed the battery was faulty and needed to pay 150 for a replacement, aswell as 86e postage as the battery was now out of it's 1 year warranty.

The retailer claims this is what the Manufacturer is demanding, and it's out of their hands. But surely my contract is between myself and the retailer, and they're liable for the charges?

I was never once informed there could be charges involved, otherwise I could've gone to a local shop and fixed it for a fraction.

Tow

Your contract is with the retailer, they will have to pay the manufacturer.

Glazun

Tow wrote: »

Your contract is with the retailer, they will have to pay the manufacturer.

So, they cannot charge me because it's within the two-year warranty period? I just want to make sure before I start a small-claims case against them. Nearly seven weeks since I sent my laptop off now is horribly service.

counterlock

There is no warranty on the battery as it's a consumable item. Manufacturers will generally cover them for 6 months as good will. This is included in the documentation under exclusions of the warranty

Antigone05

treat it like the batteries in your remote control. they will not last forever

Glazun

That is what I was afraid of.

So even if you have one battery replaced through an RMA and the replacement fails, you're not entitled to anything? This seems open to abuse, I mean if I was running a company and RMA's came in 1month before warranty end I could just send broken batteries.

I'm just dismayed because I've already spent 60e sending it in for repair, not realising I would be charged a further 240e to get it back! I wouldn't mind if it was a fast service, but I waited 4weeks to find out, and it'll be the end of the month before I can afford to pay the new fees.

I don't think I will ever buy a laptop online again, far too much hassle.

Glazun

Antigone05 wrote: »

treat it like the batteries in your remote control. they will not last forever

Ordinarily I wouldn't send in a laptop in because of battiers but this wasn't normal wear-and-tear, both failed instantly. Second one on arrival.. just happened to arrive at the end of my first year.

counterlock

Glazun wrote: »

Ordinarily I wouldn't send in a laptop in because of battiers but this wasn't normal wear-and-tear, both failed instantly. Second one on arrival.. just happened to arrive at the end of my first year.

From experience, replaced parts will have some warranty - even the battery. You should get in touch with the manufacturer directly to discuss it with them.

foggy_lad

counterlock wrote: »

There is no warranty on the battery as it's a consumable item. Manufacturers will generally cover them for 6 months as good will. This is included in the documentation under exclusions of the warranty

There is no manufacturer warranty but the consumer has statutory rights which state that the product must be fit for purpose and reasonably durable.

OP that 2 year warranty was not taken on board by Ireland as our "sale of goods act" already gives up to 6 years protection.

Hoboo

Get a Macbook.

counterlock

foggy_lad wrote: »

There is no manufacturer warranty but the consumer has statutory rights which state that the product must be fit for purpose and reasonably durable.

OP that 2 year warranty was not taken on board by Ireland as our "sale of goods act" already gives up to 6 years protection.

All this is determined by the judge should it go to court, it's at his discretion as to what is a reasonable amount of time for the item in question. The 6 years does not apply every single item sold.

Glazun

Yea, 6 years seems excessive!

I have written to the manufacturer, the CSR guy has emailed the RMA people to find out the correct price. I've also requested the retailer send a proper invoice and proof of repair from the manufacturer. A simple email telling me to pay money and giving me account details seems really informal.

Ive actually missed the 10day deadline, but I assume they can't just scrap my laptop.

counterlock

Glazun wrote: »

Yea, 6 years seems excessive!

I have written to the manufacturer, the CSR guy has emailed the RMA people to find out the correct price. I've also requested the retailer send a proper invoice and proof of repair from the manufacturer. A simple email telling me to pay money and giving me account details seems really informal.

Ive actually missed the 10day deadline, but I assume they can't just scrap my laptop.

Who is the repair agent? 10 days is extremely short!

Glazun

counterlock wrote: »

Who is the repair agent? 10 days is extremely short!

Komplett authorized the RMA, although Komplett's RMA department sent it to ASUS for repair, so I'm unaware if it's Komplett or Asus who have the 10day period.

keithclancy

Hoboo wrote: »

Get a Macbook.

Hows that going to fix anything ?

I've had just as many Powerbook and Macbook batteries fails as on Dell/HP/IBM Notebooks.

Apple treat the battery as a consumable item just like all the others.

Glazun

keithclancy wrote: »

Hows that going to fix anything ?

I've had just as many Powerbook and Macbook batteries fails as on Dell/HP/IBM Notebooks.

Apple treat the battery as a consumable item just like all the others.

Not to mention some Macbooks having built in non-removable batteries..

But, I am curious did any of your batteries fail in such a manner that your laptop wouldn't boot unless the battery was removed? I never encountered this issue before, so I assumed it was a motherboard issue.

keithclancy

Glazun wrote: »

Not to mention some Macbooks having built in non-removable batteries..

But, I am curious did any of your batteries fail in such a manner that your laptop wouldn't boot unless the battery was removed? I never encountered this issue before, so I assumed it was a motherboard issue.

Yup, had a HP Pavilion that did that, only happened after it completely went dead though. You had to remove the battery, leave it out for a few seconds and then replace it. Then it would boot up fine.

Same thing with a Macbook Pro, the universal fix for macs is to Reset the PRAM

Glazun

keithclancy wrote: »

Yup, had a HP Pavilion that did that, only happened after it completely went dead though. You had to remove the battery, leave it out for a few seconds and then replace it. Then it would boot up fine.

Same thing with a Macbook Pro, the universal fix for macs is to Reset the PRAM

eah it'd boot once I removed the battery but once I put it back the laptop would power down. Then I'd have to remove battery and wait a while before booting. I'm just dismayed because they replaced it with a battery that also failed. Then it ran out of warranty, system just seems open to abuse is all.

It's stupid of me really. Shouldn't have bought from komplett.ie again. Last time I got a RAZR mouse, it broke so I sent it in, they sent back the same mouse. I resent it and they never sent it back or gave a refund. Despute went on for a few months. I shouldve raised a small claims court but I gave up. In the end they claimed a refund was made but I never recieved anything.

Fast forward 2years and I made the poor judgement of buying a laptop. Did not expect this must kerfuffle over it, at the very least they could send back the device for free and let me find my own battery. I'm sure I could source one for less than 140, I'm also confused about the 90e postage, it cost me 30 to send it to them twice, and a month is really long for repairs.

At this stage I just want the battery replaced for free or the laptop returned for free. I mean why pay 140e if the replacement breaks instantly, like the last one did.

Maybe I'm wrong but I definitely think I've a case to bring to the small claims court here.

keithclancy

Glazun wrote: »

eah it'd boot once I removed the battery but once I put it back the laptop would power down. Then I'd have to remove battery and wait a while before booting. I'm just dismayed because they replaced it with a battery that also failed. Then it ran out of warranty, system just seems open to abuse is all.

It's stupid of me really. Shouldn't have bought from komplett.ie again. Last time I got a RAZR mouse, it broke so I sent it in, they sent back the same mouse. I resent it and they never sent it back or gave a refund. Despute went on for a few months. I shouldve raised a small claims court but I gave up. In the end they claimed a refund was made but I never recieved anything.

Fast forward 2years and I made the poor judgement of buying a laptop. Did not expect this must kerfuffle over it, at the very least they could send back the device for free and let me find my own battery. I'm sure I could source one for less than 140, I'm also confused about the 90e postage, it cost me 30 to send it to them twice, and a month is really long for repairs.

At this stage I just want the battery replaced for free or the laptop returned for free. I mean why pay 140e if the replacement breaks instantly, like the last one did.

Maybe I'm wrong but I definitely think I've a case to bring to the small claims court here.

I think your 100% in the right.
A battery lose the ability to hold a charge over time, but for it to completely fail I'd expect a replacement.

counterlock

keithclancy wrote: »

I think your 100% in the right.
A battery lose the ability to hold a charge over time, but for it to completely fail I'd expect a replacement.

I would tend to agree too, given the fact that it was replaced initially there should be at least some warranty on it.

Glazun

Received some feedback from the manufacturer on the matter, it transpires that the original battery replacement was by a third-party repair center. As such the new battery is void from warranty cover.

This is hardly my fault though surely? I've given the retailer until Friday before filing in small-claims court. Are there any consumer groups like Comreg for this type of case? So far I've come to a standstill, the Customer Service Rep's are waiting to hear from the RMA department's manager, since the 12th of March now.

Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I think a company should be bending over backwards for any repairs that take more than a month to rectify, especially if it's a second time repair.

the_syco

Glazun wrote: »

Received some feedback from the manufacturer on the matter, it transpires that the original battery replacement was by a third-party repair center. As such the new battery is void from warranty cover.

Is the retailer the 3rd party repair center?

Glazun

the_syco wrote: »

Is the retailer the 3rd party repair center?

I haven't heard back from them on that yet, I'm assuming so. They've an internal RMA department. Currently I'm waiting on someone in Customer Services to get in contact with the RMA Department manager.

Glazun

Well, now the retailer got back to me after a week to inform me they did not use a third-party battery, confirming they replaced it themselves voiding the manufacturers warranty. At 8 weeks waiting, I think I need to proceed with a small claims case, just need to wait until the weekend before I can get a postal-cheque.

foggy_lad

Glazun wrote: »

Well, now the retailer got back to me after a week to inform me they did not use a third-party battery, confirming they replaced it themselves voiding the manufacturers warranty. At 8 weeks waiting, I think I need to proceed with a small claims case, just need to wait until the weekend before I can get a postal-cheque.

If they voided the warranty then they must put things back as they were which will require a replacement laptop. They must also cover all your costs in sending the laptop back on both occasions.

Looks like they are plssing you about waiting to see how far you will go and how much they can weasle out of you for spurious charges.

Sort out your small claim immediately is my advice. It can be done online or drop into your local courthouse where the staff should explain the process to you.

Glazun

Finally applied today, think I gave them more than enough warning. Seems like every rep I talk to doesn't have enough rights to see all the details of my case. Either way, it's been 9 weeks now, that's a long time to be without a laptop.

Hopefully the small claims case resolves the issue, strangely instead of a response the retailer sent me a warning letter saying I had 30days to pay or my laptop would be destroyed.

I was also offered a refund if I returned my laptop, at which point I had to remind the retailer I already sent in my laptop in February.

JimsAlterEgo

Glazun wrote: »

I was also offered a refund if I returned my laptop, at which point I had to remind the retailer I already sent in my laptop in February.

if you refused a refund that may go against you in SCC. Have your story cast iron before you go in if they fight the claim.

Glazun

if you refused a refund that may go against you in SCC. Have your story cast iron before you go in if they fight the claim.

For the refund I would have had to send in my laptop to the retailer. I had to remind them that they already had my laptop, to which they sent a letter saying I had 30days to pay or my laptop would be scraped.

I lodged a claim for the repairs + postage that they're charging me for the laptop.

Looking back through my correspondance, its all over the place. One rep spent three weeks saying he was waiting on information from the RMA department, then I was moved to another rep entirely, who started offering refunds, etc not knowing the case.

I might draw up a timeline with all the emails and tangents as new characters appear.

vicwatson

I suppose a 3 year old Dell laptop is out of warranty even though it's used for internet use ONLY for about 2 hours per day, nothing on it no photos, videos etc etc, the hard drive is virtually clean as all it was used for was browsing for at most 2 hours per day.

The motherboard is gone in it, had it checked out and it needs a new motherboard.

Ridiculous

foggy_lad

vicwatson wrote: »

I suppose a 3 year old Dell laptop is out of warranty even though it's used for internet use ONLY for about 2 hours per day, nothing on it no photos, videos etc etc, the hard drive is virtually clean as all it was used for was browsing for at most 2 hours per day.

The motherboard is gone in it, had it checked out and it needs a new motherboard.

Ridiculous

It should last longer than that! if it was something small like the keyboard or touchpad which failed you could see that might happen after three years but main componemts should last the lifetime of the product which could reasonable be expected to last 5-6 years.

vicwatson

foggy_lad wrote: »

It should last longer than that! if it was something small like the keyboard or touchpad which failed you could see that might happen after three years but main componemts should last the lifetime of the product which could reasonable be expected to last 5-6 years.

Is it worth taking this up with Dell or where should I go with this? I thought 3 years was a bit crap for a laptop that had so little use and for such a majot component to go.

EDIT - INFACT it's not 3 years old until 19th April - I just checked

foggy_lad

vicwatson wrote: »

Is it worth taking this up with Dell or where should I go with this? I thought 3 years was a bit crap for a laptop that had so little use and for such a majot component to go.

EDIT - INFACT it's not 3 years old until 19th April - I just checked

THe only people obliged to deal with you over your statutory rights is the retailer, if that is Dell I suggest you write to them instead of dealing with this over the phone. Even if it is a shop a letter is a very good way to let them know you are serious and also spells out the current situation and what you expect from them.

Your reason for seeking redress is that the parts(motherboard) has not lasted a reasonable time because it is not reasonably durable.

vicwatson

foggy_lad wrote: »

THe only people obliged to deal with you over your statutory rights is the retailer, if that is Dell I suggest you write to them instead of dealing with this over the phone. Even if it is a shop a letter is a very good way to let them know you are serious and also spells out the current situation and what you expect from them.

Cheers, I bought it online from Dell.

Where do I start? Which Dell do I write to, are they still in ireland?

Is there a european warranty that I can rely on?

The laptop went but infact about January but between getting it looked at and the jigs and reels we've done nothing about getting it sorted, it's not mine it's the in laws but they haven't a clue about computers. I have them set up with an old one for the moment.

foggy_lad

vicwatson wrote: »

Cheers, I bought it online from Dell.

Where do I start? Which Dell do I write to, are they still in ireland?

Is there a european warranty that I can rely on?

The laptop went but infact about January but between getting it looked at and the jigs and reels we've done nothing about getting it sorted, it's not mine it's the in laws but they haven't a clue about computers. I have them set up with an old one for the moment.

The in-laws will have to initiate the first contact and that should be to Dell's Irish offices, there may be someone in Cherrywood still. What you rely on is the sale of goods act and your statutory rights which give more protection than any warranty from Dell

Glazun

This page may help, its the technical support form for Dell.

http://www.dell.com/support/incidents/ie/en/iedhs1/email/tagchange?c=ie&l=en&s=dhs

Laptops should have some form of blackbox that counts how many hours a laptops been on. It'd be handy if warranty covered parts until they were used for X amount of time.

Still if it's a common fault with this laptop they may replace it, have you googled the model number to find others with the same complaint?

foggy_lad

Glazun wrote: »

This page may help, its the technical support form for Dell.

http://www.dell.com/support/incidents/ie/en/iedhs1/email/tagchange?c=ie&l=en&s=dhs

Laptops should have some form of blackbox that counts how many hours a laptops been on. It'd be handy if warranty covered parts until they were used for X amount of time.

Still if it's a common fault with this laptop they may replace it, have you googled the model number to find others with the same complaint?

Email with Dell is like using the phone, you never get anywhere and each email goes to a different person who is a sales person trying to sell you insurance and warranty and a new laptop/pc. They don't know anything about customers statutory rights!

vicwatson

Glazun wrote: »

This page may help, its the technical support form for Dell.

http://www.dell.com/support/incidents/ie/en/iedhs1/email/tagchange?c=ie&l=en&s=dhs

Laptops should have some form of blackbox that counts how many hours a laptops been on. It'd be handy if warranty covered parts until they were used for X amount of time.

Still if it's a common fault with this laptop they may replace it, have you googled the model number to find others with the same complaint?

Thanks, no but I will do now.

Glazun

You wanted postal address?

Dell Products
c/o Cherrywood Science & Technology Park
Dublin 18

Is down on their page anyway, for technical support queries.

JimsAlterEgo

Glazun wrote: »

if you refused a refund that may go against you in SCC. Have your story cast iron before you go in if they fight the claim.

For the refund I would have had to send in my laptop to the retailer. I had to remind them that they already had my laptop, to which they sent a letter saying I had 30days to pay or my laptop would be scraped.

I lodged a claim for the repairs + postage that they're charging me for the laptop.

Looking back through my correspondance, its all over the place. One rep spent three weeks saying he was waiting on information from the RMA department, then I was moved to another rep entirely, who started offering refunds, etc not knowing the case.

I might draw up a timeline with all the emails and tangents as new characters appear.

if their approach was "we offered a refund your honour". Judge "did they and you refused. next case please".

Am just advising you to be careful if you pursue.

foggy_lad

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

if their approach was "we offered a refund your honour". Judge "did they and you refused. next case please".

Am just advising you to be careful if you pursue.

The Shop offered a refund in one communication on condition that OP returned the laptop to them,

When OP replied that the shop already had the laptop the shop replied with a threat to dispose of the laptop if the repair bills went unpaid!

Glazun

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

if their approach was "we offered a refund your honour". Judge "did they and you refused. next case please".

Am just advising you to be careful if you pursue.

Hm, I hadn't thought of that. There's very little I can do, however I've arranged to pay the manufacturer directly if the retailer is correct and I am wrong.

I just find it abysmal that after so many weeks they haven't been able to send me an invoice, the best I've gotten is that the issue was raised with management. That was 4 weeks ago now.

If the case fails I'll be dismayed.

Glazun

Now the manufacturer has gone mad!

"The repair center will test the new battery after it has been replaced. If it turns out that there is a problem with motherboard, they will also repair that."

So they don't even know a replacement battery will resolve the issue. This just seems ridiculous, surely you would do a full check on the issue before sending a bill?

I just updated retailer on the issue recommending they get in contact with manufacturer. Overall the level of incompetence I seem to be facing is staggering..

Glazun

Case resolved, they finally checked the motherboard for issues and discovered it was the fault, as such it was all covered by warranty. Laptop returns in two weeks or so.

Only took 13weeks of waiting!