Dell 90 day warranty is this legal?

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pennypincher

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I've touched on this in a previous thread but here goes I went to try and buy a laptop today.I was told by dell that the particular system I was trying to buy was a 90 day warranty only...I raised the question that 1 year warranties were standard on most electrical goods...were they telling me that 90 day's was all I could expect from a Dell laptop...they said no if it was a manufacturing defect they would be liable...my question is how do I prove this...Do I really have to pay an extra 54 euro to get a 1 year warranty which is standard on all other goods!!!!Anyone else have a machine fail after 90 days and get covered for repairs?
 
I suspect if it came down to it their 90 warranty would be struck down by the courts. I suspect that a judge would think that a computer would last way beyond 90 days.
 
Afraid so, in bold below as they state it is a 90 days warranty, a reasonable period would be 1 year but what you save may save Dell the cost of a repair........

[broken link removed]

SALE OF GOODS AND SUPPLY OF SERVICES ACT, 1980

Implied warranty for spare parts and servicing.12.—(1) In a contract for the sale of goods there is an implied warranty that spare parts and an adequate after sale service will be made available by the seller in such circumstances as are stated in an offer, description or advertisement by the seller on behalf of the manufacturer or on his own behalf and for such period as is so stated or, if no period is so stated, for a reasonable period.
(2) The Minister may, after such consultation with such interested parties as he thinks proper, by order define, in relation to any class of goods described in the order, what shall be a reasonable period for the purpose of subsection (1).
(3) Notwithstanding section 55 (1) of the Act of 1893 (inserted by section 22 of this Act) any term of a contract exempting from all or any of the provisions of this section shall be void.
 

I believe there may be some element of confusion here. The "Collect & Return 90 day Service only", offered by Dell is not a warranty! It is an addition to the standard warranty where they agree to pay the costs of collecting the unit from you and repairing it without question for the first 90 days - the payment of €54 extends this period to one year - this does not and can not affect your statutory rights under Irish law where all electrical goods are warranteed for a "reasonable period". It's similar to buying an extended warranty from an electrical retailer when you buy your washing machine or hoover etc.
 
As already mentioned, Dell cannot negate your statutory rights. If the goods are not fit for purpose etc. they cannot limit claims to 90 days.
 


I'm confused. Where are the statutory rights in conflict with this? Where does its say that the 90 days are not resonable. Where does it say this 90 days is only for "pay the costs of collecting the unit" and not the repair itself?
 
aircobra19 said:
I'm confused. Where are the statutory rights in conflict with this? Where does its say that the 90 days are not resonable. Where does it say this 90 days is only for "pay the costs of collecting the unit" and not the repair itself?
Click to expand...

I'm confused by your post - the text you quoted is from the Statute Books and so is the definition of the Statutory Rights.
 
efm said:
I'm confused by your post - the text you quoted is from the Statute Books and so is the definition of the Statutory Rights.
Click to expand...

Let me ask it a different way.

Where is the 90day warranty in conflict with the Statutory Rights? Doesn't seem to be based on whats been quoted so far.

Where does it say on the Dell site that there is 90day on the cost of returning it, and a 1yr on warranty on the unit itself?
 

Ah right, sorry - you're correct it's not, but the OP was under the impression that Dell was only warrantying for 90 days and if anything broke after 90 days then tough!

Also, my post was unclear when I stated that Dell "pay the costs of collecting the unit" I should have added "as well the cost of repairing the unit".

My understanding is if you buy a Dell laptop with the standard 90 Collect and Return Dell warranty Dell agrees, for 90 days after purchase, to collect, fix and return the laptop to you without cost if there is a problem with the laptop - this includes help for technical issues with software and "protection against failure". After the 90 days Dell are still obliged to fix any physical / mechanical deficiency with the laptop but it is your responsibility to deliver it to and collect it from Dell and software is not covered.
 
Always wondered about this. Where are you getting the breakdown on Dell support? From Dell it says..


I take the later to mean that their intent is not to cover repairs outside of the 90days. I assume unless you make a song and dance about it. I can't find anywhere on Dell where it says the 90 is for collect and return only and theres repairs without collect and return are covered for the rest of the year. I have noticed that products like the 1501 laptop have 90day on the main Dell store but 1yr on the Dell outlet.
 
I rang them before placing order to be sure and they said after 90 days the warranty expired.I mentioned it had to be fit for purpose etc and they said Dell wouldn't be able to do it if it wasn't legal.They also said that to keep the prices so low they had to remove the cost of warranty and leave it to the customer to pay etc.So I had to pay the extra 54 Euro as I wanted to be sure I had at least a years warranty...
 
Probably makes more sense to buy the next model up or on the outlet where a 1yr is standard.
 
I didnt bother upgrading to the full years warranty, I had a battery fail on me exactly 1 year and 4 days after purchasing it and thought I would chance my arm and was surprised that they said even thought the product was out of warranty (not sure if they were reffering to the 3 month or 1 year warranty) they would replace the battery. Sure enought a new battery arrived yesterday. ONE SATISIFIED CUSTOMER !!
 
The following is taken from Dells T's&C's:

Statutory Rights, Warranties, Repairs, Replacements & Provision of Services
All Customers:
8.1 Dell will fulfill its legal obligations to repair &/or replace Products. These obligations are dependent upon proper use of Products & do not cover any parts of Products which have been modified or repaired without Dell's prior written consent. Dell may ask third party Software licensors to fulfill Dell's and/or licensor's legal obligations relating to the supply of that licensor's software.

AND

8.14 Dell will repair, or in the event that repair does not occur, replace Product which is defective within a reasonable period & with reasonable care & skill. This may only be varied to the extent reasonably agreed with Consumer.

There is a difference between a "Dell Service Offering" and the statutory rights under Irish law - they are not the same thing
 
Does it actually mention in any consumer act the one year warranty, I've only ever came across the "fit for the puroses intended" as far as I know most retailers have a one year guarantee but don't know if it is mandatory-also are consumers on the continent better protected with two and three year warranties eg. Aldi, Pixmania
 
Guys you all really are going to town on this one . let me clear it up for you as I work for them .
First your rights are still there. 90 day collect and return warrenties are only offered on entry level systems. Your system is fully covered for 90 days and within that time it will be repaired free of charge if anything went wrong with it HOWEVER, if some thing happens after that 90 days Dell will only repair it free of charge if you can prove that the problem was factory inherent ie it was there went it left the factory. And, if it occurs after 3 months of no problems then in Dells eyes its not a factory inherent problem . Also, the warrenties dont cover software only hardware. If you want a warrenty for software you have to buy Presto cover.
 
Well you can see what confusion it causes because they don't make it clear on the website. The same products get 1yr on the outlet.
 
I know . When you're buying on line you have to click on "Learn more" tab which is just above each section hardrive, warrenty etc in order to find out exactly what your getting.
 
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