false advertising-faulty goods?

Bought a laptop off a known UK online laptop supplier 7 months ago - advertised as 'scratch on outer case' so I knew it was not perfect but I am not concerned about aesthetics. Since then I have had two major technical difficulties the online supplier in the UK has taken 4-6 weeks each time to repair. Called manufacturer (ACER) and gave them serial no. - It transpires the machine has had a long history of technical problems before I bought it.

Is it false advertising to sell as 'scratch on outer case' only? Perphaps naive but I really thought I was getting a machine which had been damaged in distribution or something...not a Dud.
They are offering a partial refund ie Cost of the machine minus 33% for usage to date (which is really annoying given that for 2-3 months of my 6 months ownership the machine has been in their Repair centre)

What can I do - if anything?

Was it sold as a refurbished/returned machine? What were the terms & conditions governing the sale? I'm guessing that it might have been a site with "direct" in the name?

Re: Laptops Online (Direct) - false advertising-faulty goods?

Yes, the machine was bought 'direct' ....from a known online supplier.
There absolutely was no reference to refurbished/reconditioned machine - and if you view their web-site now they refer to the fact that many of their 'open box' machines have cosmetic damage (which I accepted).
Would love to fight this one - imagine it will be an impossible task - anybody out there have any success?

Do you have a link to the actual ad ?

EU introduces small claims system?

No, I do not have the original ad.

The machine I bought was simply described as open box - scratch on outercase - Although i dont have a copy of that so cant prove anything.
I think I am wasting my time pursuing this - although it really annoys me to let it go.
I guess I could ask them for details of the ad they used to sell it to me?

Very hard to claim false advertising when you don't have the advertising.

did you get any email confirmation when you ordered the goods that detailed the fault?