Failed part on laptop after warranty expired (bought from UK)

cruhoortwunk

I bought a laptop about 16 months ago. It had a 1 year warranty with the manufacturer (asus) and the merchant(Currys). A part has failed after about 14months.
How would I go about getting Currys to pay for the repair? Under EU law, I believe that it has to remain of merchantable quality for 3 years.
Does the fact that it was bought in the UK complicate things?

keithclancy

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

I bought a laptop about 16 months ago. It had a 1 year warranty with the manufacturer (asus) and the merchant(Currys). A part has failed after about 14months.
How would I go about getting Currys to pay for the repair? Under EU law, I believe that it has to remain of merchantable quality for 3 years.
Does the fact that it was bought in the UK complicate things?

Legally .. yes it complicates things as you would have to bring it back to the place of purchase.

They are not obliged to pay for a repair or reimburse you in this way, nor are they required to pay for postage to and from the UK.

Contact Currys and ask them may be able to help you in Ireland as they are part of the Dixons Sales Group, anything they do regarding sorting your problem in Ireland would be goodwill on their part.

foggy_lad

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

I bought a laptop about 16 months ago. It had a 1 year warranty with the manufacturer (asus) and the merchant(Currys). A part has failed after about 14months.
How would I go about getting Currys to pay for the repair? Under EU law, I believe that it has to remain of merchantable quality for 3 years.
Does the fact that it was bought in the UK complicate things?

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/consumer_rights_and_cross_border_shopping_in_the_european_union.html

If you purchase goods or services from another EU Member State and they were advertised in your country, you are protected under consumer law of your home country.
If you purchased goods or services from a representative of the business in your home country, national consumer law of your home country protects you.
If you buy goods or services while you were visiting another EU Member State the laws of the country in which you bought the items apply.

VikingG

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

How would I go about getting Currys to pay for the repair? Under EU law, I believe that it has to remain of merchantable quality for 3 years.

What law is that?

Bepolite

VikingG wrote: »

What law is that?

A made up one many people seem to have latched on too.

OP - contact Curry's and ask them to repair it, as a gesture of goodwill by dropping it into an Irish Store. You may have to return it to the UK/meet part of the courier cost.

If they won't help you, initiate a claim using the Irish small claims procedure.

doubtfir3

VikingG wrote: »

What law is that?

Bepolite wrote: »

A made up one many people seem to have latched on too.

Its actually mostly correct - EU law states that a product should be of merchantable quality and that it should be free of defects for a period of two years from the date of purchase. (EU Directive 99/44/EC).

In Ireland, we adopted most of that directive, but the Sale of Goods Act in Ireland warrants that a product should be free of defects for a longer period of up to 6 years and so the two year part wasn't adopted into Irish law.

foggy_lad, I would suggest that you _may_ be slightly wrong in your post in that you mention that you are covered in your home country, but I expect that since this product was purchased in a retail store in the UK, that the OP would not be covered by the Irish Sale of Goods Act as it was not (unless I am wrong) a distance sale.

However, OP you should be covered by the EU directive so Curry's would have to repair the product for you, though as others mentioned I expect you would have to pay to get the product returned to the original place of purchase..

Having said all of that, before you started quoting regulations etc, I'd try to contact Currys, and explain your situation.. you might actually find that they are happy to try to facilitate a repair through one of their Irish stores.

Regards

slimjimmc

UK has the Limitations Act which, like our Statute of Limitations, also allows up to 6 years to seek redress.

Bepolite

doubtfir3 wrote: »

Its actually mostly correct - EU law states that a product should be of merchantable quality and that it should be free of defects for a period of two years from the date of purchase. (EU Directive 99/44/EC).

It's a crusade opf mine to but this to bed so please allow me to make some corrections to your/collective understanding.

(17) Whereas it is appropriate to limit in time the period during which the seller is liable for any lack of conformity which exists at the time of delivery of the goods; whereas Member States may also provide for a limitation on the period during which consumers can exercise their rights, provided such a period does not expire within two years from the time of delivery; whereas where, under national legislation, the time when a limitation period starts is not the time of delivery of the goods, the total duration of the limitation period provided for by national law may not be shorter than two years from the time of delivery;

So we have a limitation period.

Article 5

Time limits

1. The seller shall be held liable under Article 3 where the lack of conformity becomes apparent within two years as from delivery of the goods. If, under national legislation, the rights laid down in Article 3(2) are subject to a limitation period, that period shall not expire within a period of two years from the time of delivery.

Again a limitation period and the much vaunted two year warranty. This has always been subject to a reasonableness test and still is. In the OPs case it's unreasonable for a laptop to fail after 16 months.

Article 8

National law and minimum protection

1. The rights resulting from this Directive shall be exercised without prejudice to other rights which the consumer may invoke under the national rules governing contractual or non-contractual liability.

2. Member States may adopt or maintain in force more stringent provisions, compatible with the Treaty in the field covered by this Directive, to ensure a higher level of consumer protection.

In para 1 there is nothing to invoke, the liability is still subject to a reasonableness test and both consumer law in England and Wales, and in Ireland provides the greater level of protection allowed for in para 2.

doubtfir3 wrote: »

In Ireland, we adopted most of that directive, but the Sale of Goods Act in Ireland warrants that a product should be free of defects for a longer period of up to 6 years and so the two year part wasn't adopted into Irish law.

The Statue of Limitations Act, 1957 as amended provides that the rights given under the Sale of Goods Acts are limited to six years. This is a shield and not a sword and a company could be estopped from exercising that defence where, say, they offer a ten year guarantee.

doubtfir3 wrote: »

foggy_lad, I would suggest that you _may_ be slightly wrong in your post in that you mention that you are covered in your home country, but I expect that since this product was purchased in a retail store in the UK, that the OP would not be covered by the Irish Sale of Goods Act as it was not (unless I am wrong) a distance sale.

No but he can use the Irish SmCCP to claim against a UK based company.

doubtfir3 wrote: »

However, OP you should be covered by the EU directive so Curry's would have to repair the product for you, though as others mentioned I expect you would have to pay to get the product returned to the original place of purchase..

No one is covered by the directive, they don't have binding effect against private parties, only the national law is.

doubtfir3 wrote: »

Having said all of that, before you started quoting regulations etc, I'd try to contact Currys, and explain your situation.. you might actually find that they are happy to try to facilitate a repair through one of their Irish stores.

Regards

This last part is correct, however I've really found DSG particularly competent or co-operative at the best of times. I suspect they will fall back on the 'you didn't by the gold super warranty you only get a year' bollocks they normally do. That said take it step by step.

Varik

Is this part that failed the battery?

cruhoortwunk

Varik wrote: »

Is this part that failed the battery?

No, I know they count as consumable. It's an internal SSD cache drive (Sandisk i100) soldered onto the motherboard

cruhoortwunk

So I was on to Currys, and they won't cover the cost of the repair.
I'm a bit confused by all the laws and EU directives etc. What is the best step to take next?
Irish small claims court?

whiterebel

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

So I was on to Currys, and they won't cover the cost of the repair.
I'm a bit confused by all the laws and EU directives etc. What is the best step to take next?
Irish small claims court?

Contact the European consumer organisation in Dublin: http://www.eccireland.ie

Bepolite

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

So I was on to Currys, and they won't cover the cost of the repair.
I'm a bit confused by all the laws and EU directives etc. What is the best step to take next?
Irish small claims court?

Yes, Irish SmCC decisions are enforceable EU wide.

Sam Mac

Hope you get sorted ASAP OP. I'm currently dealing with them myself over a faulty PC. They sent it for repair, came back with the same issue. Repair took 4 weeks!!

Going to demand a refund on Monday if they try to give me any guff, which (I assume) they will.

Yes, Its a two year warranty under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The issue is that its up to you to show that a failure of the part after 12 months is because the part was faulty (not because of misuse). In the case of an internal part I would not see any problem with this. To note, the onus to make good the product is on the shop, not on the manufacturer.
Shops play down this legislation because they want to sell additional warranty protection and of course in the UK the authorities do not want to highlight any EU legislation.
There is also an EU service for solving consumer problems linked to cross border purchases with offices in each country. I don't know if you should contact the UK one or the Irish one. This is the link to the UK one.
http://www.ukecc.net/

slimjimmc

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes, Its a two year warranty under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The issue is that its up to you to show that a failure of the part after 12 months is because the part was faulty (not because of misuse). In the case of an internal part I would not see any problem with this. To note, the onus to make good the product is on the shop, not on the manufacturer.
Shops play down this legislation because they want to sell additional warranty protection and of course in the UK the authorities do not want to highlight any EU legislation.
There is also an EU service for solving consumer problems linked to cross border purchases with offices in each country. I don't know if you should contact the UK one or the Irish one. This is the link to the UK one.
http://www.ukecc.net/

I don't see any reference to a 2 year warranty in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, perhaps you mean the EU Directive on Consumer Rights.

EU directives only oblige member states to implement local laws that achieve agreed objectives. The member state is responsible for the content of these local laws. So, while every member state provides the same minimum consumer rights your total rights varies from state to state.
Ultimately it's UK legislation in force not EU so they've really nothing to hide, but yeah certain interests tend to put a different spin on it.

cruhoortwunk

I pushed back on them regarding the cost of the repairs, and they called me to say they will cover the cost if the problem is determined to be caused by hardware/manufacturing fault.
So I'll take them up on that. Cheers for the tips folks and I will let you know how it ends up

cruhoortwunk

Jut an update on this:
I arranged for Currys to pickup the laptop. The plan was that I would pay €60 for them to assess it and if it was deemed to be a manufacturers warranty, they would refund that me. If not, I would be on the hook for that and any other costs associated with the repair.
They made a booboo at first and said I could return it to a Dublin store, even though it was bought up North. I went to the Dublin store and they wouldn't take it. So called them back and as a gesture of goodwill they waived the €60 fee.
They picked it up last Friday and had it back to me first thing this morning. The Knowhow fellas even waited outside for about 40mins trying to get in contact with me. The delivery docket said they had replaced not only the faulty SSD, but also the screen, not sure why. But I now have fully working laptop in pristine condition.
So bit thumbs up to Currys on this. It was out of warranty, so fair play.

Sam Mac

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

Jut an update on this:
I arranged for Currys to pickup the laptop. The plan was that I would pay €60 for them to assess it and if it was deemed to be a manufacturers warranty, they would refund that me. If not, I would be on the hook for that and any other costs associated with the repair.
They made a booboo at first and said I could return it to a Dublin store, even though it was bought up North. I went to the Dublin store and they wouldn't take it. So called them back and as a gesture of goodwill they waived the €60 fee.
They picked it up last Friday and had it back to me first thing this morning. The Knowhow fellas even waited outside for about 40mins trying to get in contact with me. The delivery docket said they had replaced not only the faulty SSD, but also the screen, not sure why. But I now have fully working laptop in pristine condition.
So bit thumbs up to Currys on this. It was out of warranty, so fair play.

Glad you got sorted OP. I personally would never buy from Currys again after my issues with them but thats for another day.