Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks - Consumer Rights

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Would it be unreasonable in anyones opinion to claim for costs in th e small claims court (i.e cost of submitting claim plus 1 days loss of earnings for attending ?)

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Here's a good one:-

Lodged my claim with the small calims court online today.
Emailed soundstore to inform them of the lodged claim, telling them the 10 days notice I gave them had expired.
Got phone call from soundstore 30 mins after sending them the email saying there had been a mix up in communication and HP had approved replacing the laptop and I could drop in tomorrow for a new unit.

Now just got to figure out how get all the important stuff off my laptop and onto an external hd before I wipe it for return.

Must remember to cancel the small claim too (once I get the unit replaced).

Maybe soundstore/hp had already agreed between them to replace the unit and it was just a coincidence of the claim being lodged and me informing them so today.

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Well, your persistence seems to be paying off. I suspected they wouldn't want the hassle of court, publicity etc ...

Hopefully the new unit is better than the old one. Check that the guarantee is as for a new item, just in case !!

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Wexfordman said:

Now just got to figure out how get all the important stuff off my laptop and onto an external hd before I wipe it for return.

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If you are getting an identical model with an identical hard disk then the easiest thing would be to either just put the old HD in the new laptop or else clone this to the new HD and then wipe the original. I posted some detailed info in the IT forum about cloning techniques that might be of use to you. The retailer really should facilitate (but not necessarily assist) you in doing this cloning if necessary.

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Only problem wiht cloning, is my laptop is XP, and the new/replacement is probably/hopefully going to be vista.

Another point, we are probably going to get into a debate on the spec of the replacment laptop, and it is unlikely that I will get an exact match of spec (some things on new laptop may be higher other things not), so should my aim be towards replacement value (i.e I purchased origional for 1149 euros, and that should be the benchmark) or spec ? I would prefer not to get another HP for example, so hopefully will be able to go for a different brand.

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Wexfordman said:

Only problem wiht cloning, is my laptop is XP, and the new/replacement is probably/hopefully going to be vista.

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But you would be cloning the OS as well so you should be able to boot the new laptop in XP as if nothing had happened. This will most likely only work if the two machines are identical. Maybe it's not a runner though since you say that...

we are probably going to get into a debate on the spec of the replacment laptop, and it is unlikely that I will get an exact match of spec

Click to expand...

so should my aim be towards replacement value (i.e I purchased origional for 1149 euros, and that should be the benchmark) or spec ?

Click to expand...

Shouldn't the original purchase price get you a higher spec today so the two are not conflicting goals?

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

I agree, if the purchase price is the benchmark, then I should be able to get an equal if not better spec. However, the retailer may just want to offer me similar spec, which may be fair enough, but you know how these things can get into an argument along the lines of 6 of 1 v half a dozen of the other.

So do I insist with the retailer on matching purchase price ?

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

get yourself an external 2.5" usb case, for about €15, like this one:
[broken link removed]
(There are ide and sata ones, so check out first)


then just copy over the files, and then format the old drive.

The shop might even have one of these.

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Formatting the drive is not sufficient to remove traces of personal data. See the IT forum for tips on secure erasure of hard disks.

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Well, went down to the shop yesterday, and swapped the laptop. Was told I could go for a laoptop based on the oprigional purchase price of the one I bought a year ago. Choice was a bit limited though when trying to match spec (I needed inbuilt webcam etc), so I ended up going for another HP!!!

Hope I have more luck this time round. THanks for all the advice etc, must remember to cancel the small claims court submission I made.
Wexfordman

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Within a year, the soundcard broke twice, wifi broke and the power button broke...?

Are you sure you're treating the laptop properly?

I've worked in PC repair and (I'm sorry but) the problems you're having are totally abnormal for HP laptops.

You definitely treat your laptop with kid gloves? Are you ever rough with it?

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Power button is a known issue with HP pavilion laptops.
Sound problem was a problem with internal speakers, which developed six weeks after purchase, and exact same problem recurred again 10 months after first repair.
Wireless problem also developed 10 months after first repair.

Bad laptop, known issues, bad repair process, I dont know and I dont care, a laptop should nto develop this number of faults within this period of time.

I hope you are right, and it is not normal for hp laptops, but I can point to refereneces of other people on the net who have had similar faults as my own, and this was detailed in the letter I sent to retailer and HP.

Any yes, I treat my laptop with Kid gloves, I have a lot of electronics in my own home, a laptop also for work use, and the faults were not a result of misuse, there is no damage to the laptop.
Plain and simple, this was a result of crap workmanship at manufacter or possibly poor repair process when it went back for repair initially.
Wexfordman

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

Whole problem sounds nearly as bad as our Inspiron.

Re: Consumer Rights-Laptop stops working properly after 6 weeks

I also had a problem with Soundstore(Wilton branch), that was speedily resolved once they got the mail from the small claims court.

It was for a lcd tv where pixels burnt out 14 months after purchase. They tried to fob me off by saying "out of warranty and therefore not our problem". Knowing a small bit about consumers rights and that a warranty was only complimentary to your statutory rights, I just went to the local Small Claims officer and told him that imho 14 mts of viewing for a €1200 tv was not good enough. Eventually got a credit note, for the full amount, for the store. Got a Sony lcd and €100 back in replacement for the original LG one.

For anyone else out there who may need to bring Soundstore to the small claims, their reg name(which you will need) is Trannio Investments Ltd., University Business Park, Cork.

Thinking of "investing" in an lcd myself in the near future, although it wont be from soundstore methinks. What brand was it that had the probs with the dead pixels ?
Wexfordman

Wexfordman said:

Thinking of "investing" in an lcd myself in the near future, although it wont be from soundstore methinks. What brand was it that had the probs with the dead pixels ?
Wexfordman

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I reckon he said it was a LG.. ('Life's Good'... at least that's what it seemed to stand for in Australia when I was there.)

Very pedantic here Wexfordman but you mentioned that Soundstore had no email address, yet you emailed them about the small claims court?

I'm glad to hear your problem has been sorted...

My Dell Inspiron 6000 freezes occasionally and has to be turned off by holding the power button down for ten seconds, seems to be something to do with the wifi thingy, I didn't even bother to complain or ring technical support, just put up with it.... at least it is a very occasional problem.

EDIT. Actually when I got my laptop there was no printed manual and no software CD's... I rang them and asked... had to cause trouble to get the CDs, never got a printed manual, it's a file on the computer... this is stupid as if I have a problem how do I look up the solution in the manual (as happened when if first froze, had to take the battery out, when it was back on I read the manual and found out about the power button thing).. as regards the software it is available on a hidden partition (which reduces my available hard drive space by 4GB or so, this is unsatisfactory as what happens if the hard drive is damaged?, the customer is in big trouble is what..)

Cheers
Joe

On the email address thing, I ended up phoning the blackpool branch and askeing for th email adreess of the branch manager. It was this email address I used.


My laptop also has no CD's, and the OS is installed on a seperate partition of the HD. Seems common practice now.
Did'nt notice the LG in the previous post :-(

Wexfordman said:

Thinking of "investing" in an lcd myself in the near future, although it wont be from soundstore methinks. What brand was it that had the probs with the dead pixels ?
Wexfordman

Click to expand...

Yeah it was an LG, 32" as well. However, when we got the Sony(latest model, Bravia engine etc.) I was actualy quiet disapointed with the quality of the picture. It didnt seem to be as clear as the LG one!
To be fair to the manager at Soundstore, once he knew I wasnt going to fobbed off with their "not under waranty" line, he was helpful enough and it did come to a happy ending...