Your statutory rights give you six years from the date of purchase to make a claim (five years Scotland) and are in addition to any warranty that came with the laptop. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 is fundamental and says that goods including laptops must be:
- Of Satisfactory Quality
This includes fitness for purpose, life expectancy, and finish taking into account the price paid and the type and age of the laptop. For example, a cheap second-hand Netbook might be expected to have a shorter life expectancy than a brand new £2000 Apple Powerbook. - As Described
The laptop needs to correspond to the description provided. For example, if the description states that the laptop can play DVDs when it can’t then your rights have been breached and you can get a refund.
How to get your laptop fixed for free
This depends upon when you bought the laptop. If you have just got it then you could reasonably expect your money back or a replacement rather than a repair. If the laptop was bought less than six months ago it is assumed to have been faulty when it was delivered and the shop has to prove otherwise. However, when it is more than six months since you made the purchase then you have to prove that your laptop is actually faulty and the retailer may ask for an engineers report. In practice, this is only likely to happen once the warranty has expired.
When the warranty has expired it seems to be normal practice for retailers to simply shrug their shoulders and say they cannot do anything. There is no mention of your statutory rights! In these circumstances you need to stand firm and state that the laptop is not of satisfactory quality and you are making a claim for a repair under the Sale of Goods Act and this is nothing to do with the warranty. At this stage, you will probably be talking to the manager or head office. They are likely to ask for an engineers report to prove that the item is faulty, which is reasonably and to be expected. All you need to do is find a local reputable computer repair shop and ask them for a report. Don’t worry they should reimburse you for this. If the laptop is found to be faulty then the retailer should agree to a repair. If they cannot repair the laptop they can offer a replacement or a cash refund taking into account your usage.
If they don’t agree to repair your laptop and it is less than five years since purchase then you will have to take them to the Small Claims Court. This is easier and cheaper than you may think and can be done online.
It is worth noting that when your laptop is being repaired you should not be significantly inconvenienced and depending on your circumstances you may be able to make a case for a loan laptop.
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Hello I only had my ASUS Laptop 5 weeks when the touch screen stopped working now ASUS can’t seem to fix it and are offering me a reconditioned laptop I won’t accept that I want 100% of my money back so I can go out and buy another one am i entitled to insist on that.
Hi,
I was wndering if I could have some help please! I bought a Mac Air Laptop sept 2014, and the other night it has come up with a message saying that SMC message – I rang Apple and they said it is a hardware issue. THey are saying it is out of warranty, but these laptops shouldn’t be breaking in just over a year, as where I work have them and we have no problems with them and they are older than my daughters. Any advice would be appreciated so that I can go to Apple to get them to fix FOC would be great!
Thanks
I bought a Dell laptop on 11/5/16 with Windows 10 O/System. The shop offered to download documents from my old laptop which had crashed, and also installed email and broadband connections, but some of the programmes on the computer did not work. I took it back to the shop on Tuesday morning with the intention of getting my money back within the 14 say cooling off period. The shop refused a refund because they said there was nothing wrong with the computer that could not be fixed, and in any case the 14 day rule did not apply to computers which had been set up by them. Their engineer spent some time yesterday afternoon supposedly sorting out the programmes, but the email programme crashed again this morning. It is only 8 days old!!! Please advise.
HELP NEEDED!
I have a laptop bought from tesco in Sept ’15. Recently it had a hard drive failure and I panicked and took to local shop to retrieve files/music/photos. They saved most not all but had to replace hard drive.
I have spoken to tesco and they won’t reimburse me for the cost of repair. They also said my warranty is invalid now.
What are my rights here in claiming possible monies back for repair or even getting a refund?
My daughter purchased an Asus laptop and in 10months it’s been sent back for replaced main board 4 separate times this time they offered me a swap analysis which completed this morning they have offered us a replacement of the exact same model back but refurbished. Personally I’m not happy because they have stated the warranty will transfer to this other model which is 14days left my daughter doesn’t want the exact same back of fear the same thing will happen again she has lost all her school work 4times can someone advise please
I had my laptop repaired in July and the same fault again in November but the shop where I had it repaired has told me the guarantee is only for 3 months and I will have to pay again. I have taken it from thst shop and will take it somewhere else as he refuses to move on this 3 month guarantee. He system he is not wrong I am
Hi I was wondering if you could help with this issue I have. I am getting no help , except for to get the Acer laptop ( cloudbook 11) repaired myself, at my cost.
The laptop is only 2-4 weeks old , and from the start it has had what appears to be a faulty screen. I have tried to set it up to use but the screen is not clear, seems fuzzy from day one.
The company buymobiles.net is most unhelpful. They collected it via courier, all packaged correctly with the receipt and a letter but returned it all ( letter, receipt and envelope as well as laptop) still faulty, unfixed and the screen seems worse. It was returned with box by courier.
No one wants to take responsibility and suggest it may be best that i repair it, as they say it is not down to them.
I am literally furious and need help…….so upset…..
Many thanks
Hi i bought an acer laptop from argos about 10weeks ago had been having lots of problems with sound and comp freezing i sent it to acer for repair have just had ot bac they said they put in new speakers but still doing same thing sound is making a roaring sound and some times it freezez .
I bought a asus notebook 18 months ago for my daughter for university. It has stopped working. I took it to local computer shop who said it’s not worth fixing. It’s hardly been used. I have sent 2 emails to asus and called both times as they say they will get back after 48 hours. Nobody gets back. Just been told they have rejected my complaint and I must write to head office. After reading what you have said that it’s not fit for purpose do I take it back to Argos where I bought it as they always pass the buck and say you have to complain to asus or are argos responsible to deal with this I have the receipt? I’m more than happy to go through small claims court if fobbed off again as I feel this is not on to break down after 18 months and the man at asus said it should last longer than 18 months when I asked him do you feel it should still work after 18 months. I look forward to your reply. With kind regards Jackie milton
I bought a MacBook Pro from Apple in August 2018, now in less than 18 months the display has developed a fault, I took it to an apple store, and they told me it would cost £650 to repair, I feel this is less than satisfactory for a computer that cost £2500 to develop a fault after such a short time, am I within my rights to demand they fix it free of charge?? Thanks
Bought a laptop from PC world a week ago and its faulty. They’ve admitted that its faulty and have offered a refund or replacement. Problem is that they wont retrieve my data from it unless I pay them £90. Can they do this? It’s their fault that the data needs to be retrieved.
hello,
I am writing to you because I have problem with MSI customer service who is declain to repair or exchange faulty laptop. I bought laptop in Novebmer 2017 and after 1.5 years of using it I put complain to msi that it does not work correctly. MSI was connecting to my laptop online and do several repairs. However it did not work. When I repeat claim I heard that laptop is out of warrante and they cannot do anyting. I went through Customer rights 2015 and explained msi that they have to repair it if it is manufacture fault. They admit that this is manufacture fault and they repaired it. However it was not repaired at all or it was not repaired at all (supposedly motherboard and battery were replaced) becaue after 6 months exactly the same problem with laptop came back. Approximatelly 2 weaks ago I sent llaptop to msi 4th time and once again msi says that laptop is out of warrante. But this time msi does not accept explanation that this is still the same issue (which appeared to be from the beginning) with laptop and they want charge me for repair. And they offered me a 20% discount for repair. Unfortunatelly they do not tell me what is exactly wrong now with laptop, which part is damaged and how it is possible that this part was damaged. They only sent me an email to say “take it ar leave it”. I mean choose repair or they will send it back. From the beginning I have issue with this laptop and from begining I have problems with msi will for solve this issue in right way. I am really strugle and I am looking for help and support with guidance of next steps. Please advice me how can I solve this issue as msi is just repeating email saying “out of warrante”.
I need help please.
I bought my laptop 4 months ago.l in Currys PC W. After that period Laptos stopped working. I went back to curys, they tool laptop and it is now 3 weeks when I’m waiting for it. I’ve got only manufacture guarantee so Curry’s don’t taking responsibility of how long that may take to repair- how long they can keep my laptop under guarantee as that may take months and they are not keen ro help. Please help me