Laptop's motherboard has blown after only 7 months, and no longer under warranty

[KJFletcher]

I bought a new Dell XPS laptop in February 2008, costing me around £650.

In October, the motherboard blew up, and they came and replaced the part.

On Monday, the motherboard blew up again. I rang Dell, and they told me the part was only under warranty for 3 months, and that as my year warranty had expired, I would have to pay £350 to have my laptop repaired.

Is this acceptable? Should the new part not have a longer warranty than 3 months? The repair man told me that the motherboard blowing was a known fault caused by the video card.

Thanks,

Katie

[Chutzpah]

Hi Katie,

I'm going to assume that you bought this directly from Dell? If so, it's not acceptable at all in my book - the original laptop would be covered for at least two years under EU regulations. Link to the legislation:

SCADPlus: Sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees

And the important text:

The seller is liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists when the goods are delivered to the consumer and which becomes apparent within a period of two years

Of course, you are also protected by the Sales of Goods Act, which has even longer periods of protection (see here for some information). It's quite obvious that a laptop is expected to last more than a year (I'm typing this from a Dell laptop I bought just two months ago, I very much hope that it lasts at least six years like my last one!!)

You need to speak to someone higher up - having dealt with Dell I appreciate that they have what I can only politely refer to as foreign call centres, and therefore many of their employees will just be working off of a script.

[Chutzpah]

Katie,

I should mention that there may be other legal aspects to this, as it's more than six months old you may need to prove that the goods were faulty (although obviously if you can it will be their duty to pay to have it repaired). I'm sure that someone more qualified than me can clarify.

[frdjns74]

My husband repairs and builds pcs for a living and we know for a fact that all motherboards have at least a years warranty some even offer a lifetime warranty, and we have had to do insurance letters and checks for dell pcs over the years and that is the first time I have heard of a 3 month warranty, I think they are just scamming you, always ask for a supervisor, or if not ask for complaints department, as some people can just try to pass the buck!

[Devon2811]

We have nothing but problems with DEll and their customer support( joke, I think!!) We have been advised 6 times now( 3 motherboards, 2 opitcal drives 1 palm rest)bought July 08.Latest opical drive and palm rest on the replacement May09 (You might contact their parts provider GTronics or Getronics ), thats how many replacement parts we've had!! that the warranty is from the date of repair!! you can take that with a pinch of salt, it is DELL afterall saying it!!

[neonSource]

My deepest sympathies for your problems. I have been involved in IT for some years and the first thing i was told by my new, more experienced colleagues when i first began working in this area was to never ever have anything to do with dell. They may put a glossy sheen on the public image and adverts but behind this they are borderline fraudsters who are infamous for not honouring agreements or contracts, passing off poor quality inferior parts on customers who may not be experienced enough to know the difference and having disgraceful customer service. Googling will likely give you more complaints than adverts or alternatively read tech journalist Jeff Jarvis' blog entry on buzzmachine.

If the motherboard, which is the primary component of a computer was to 'blow up' i would demand no more than a complete brand new machine as there is significant potential for a 'blowing up' motherboard to seriously damage (damage that may not be immediately apparent) any or all other components especially in a laptop where everything is packed in.

The 3 month warranty sounds like an outright lie to me. I know of no manufacturer that does not offer a minmum 1 year warranty. All this is irrelevant however as the law excepts a product to last a decent length of time. As it is over 6 months since purchase the burden of proof has passed to the consumer and it is recommended that you gain an independent expert to verify that the failure was a fault and was not caused by misuse. Always cummicate with the company via letters sent recorded post and be prepared to take them to small claims over it. Companies like this only get away with it because people can't be bothered to take them to court.