Laptop fault and Comets methods of dealing with it

[Thinwhiteduke]

Bought an Acer Laptop from Comet on York Rd on 03 Jan this year, yesterday keys 'M' 'I' 'J' 'K' decoded not to work.

Well, I say not work, 'M' will not work one minute then type of 'M's with no notice, and the 'I,J,K' characters work until they are used in conjunction with the Caps lock , at which point they dont want to know.

Anyway, I digress.

Returned Laptop to Comet today who have decided to send away for repair with MINIMUM 21 day turn around - the unhelpful staff member on the front desk offered no more than a few grunts and practically accused my of pouring something over the keyboard and stated they'll only send it off once and 'see how it goes'.

I wouldnt mind but our lass uses that Laptop for work and we are now stuck without one for atleast 3 weeks.

My point being, if this Laptop comes back and still has this fault, am I entitled to a refund/ new replacement given the fact I gave them chance to rectify the defect? Comet themselves would not give me a straight answer. Will not buy anything from the lot again, thats for sure.

[MrFrost]

Usual Comet/Currys/Pc World service. I despair at them!

Don't buy from any of those chains again, and if you have any issues, afterwards with your laptop, give me a shout!

[BillyStubbsTears]

That sounds like the usual story. These high street firms like to show the nice face of caring capitalism: \"Buy from us and we'll sort out all your problems for you...\"

The reality is that behind the shop front, they are terrorised by the obsessive bean-counters whose only concern is separating you from your cash and incurring the lowest possible expense in so doing. So there's sweet FA in it for them to look after you when the over-priced box goes wrong.

In the big scheme of things, you're much better off buying on-line at the lowest possible price, from a firm that is upfront and honest about the fact that you are on your tod if owt goes wrong.

[Thinwhiteduke]

Usual Comet/Currys/Pc World service. I despair at them!

Don't buy from any of those chains again, and if you have any issues, afterwards with your laptop, give me a shout!

I'll bear it in mind Frosty. Cheers.

Ive got a sneaky suspicion it needs a new keyboard (which is shocking after 2 months).......but Im dubious that it will get replaced. Other than that Ive been more than hppy with the Acer - though I have heard some horror stories about their Customer service as well

Reading this link...

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/returning-damaged-or-faulty-goods/

Particularly:

\"In the first instance and if considered appropriate, the seller must offer to at least repair the goods. They must do this within reasonable time, at no additional cost to you and without causing any significant inconvenience. If any inconvenience is caused you should be given a replacement item on a ‘like for like’ basis (and not simply the cheapest and most basic model). Many consumer complaints relate to the length of time the item is away being repaired – and although you must allow reasonable time for repair, the law does not say what ‘reasonable time’ is. It very much depends on the item itself and the nature of the problem. For most things, shops would usually allow you to exchange the item or give you your money back straight away. However, if the damage is minor and can be repaired easily, then the shop can insist on this as a first option, although this will not stop you from taking it back if the repair is unsatisfactory or there is something else wrong with it.

If a repair is impossible or unfeasible, you must then be offered a replacement. Due to the emphasis on proportionality in this legislation, you must give the seller reasonable time to repair or replace before demanding your money back and you should be aware that any refund given may well take account of any use you have had of the goods since you took possession of them. If you do not want the seller to repair or replace, or they have told you they are unable to, you can then request they reduce the purchase price to an appropriate amount, although this does not affect your ability to take return the item if something else goes wrong\"

Then Id say thats reasonable ground to request a replcament / refund if my Laptop returns no better than it left?

[MrFrost]

A new keyboard will cost them all of £3!

[RobTheRover]

The Sale of Goods act actually protects you for a lot longer then even manufacturers warrantys state.  The key term is \"reasonable\" - how long would you reasonably expect a digital camera to last, for instance?  My pal had a Canon Powershot which stopped working after about 3 years.  He took it back and the store tried to fob him off.  As soon as he mentioned the Sale of Goods act, and that a well looked after (it looked brand new) camera should last more than 3 years they offered him a replacement.

The law is on your side.  See http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html for a quick summary.

[Thinwhiteduke]

Usual Comet/Currys/Pc World service. I despair at them!

Don't buy from any of those chains again, and if you have any issues, afterwards with your laptop, give me a shout!

Frosty Ive PM'd you.

In essence, Comet have rang me today stating Acer have told them that the fault is due to liquid damage - now I know for a fact that nothing was spilt on the Laptop, and even in store it was witnessed there was no evidence of a spill / liquid on the machine.

Acer want £70.oo to do 'whats necessary' to rectify the problem (though they are very reluctant to tell me exactly what that is).

Fact is, I'll never ever set foot into Comet again once I collect the damn thing.

[MrFrost]

PM sent mate.

[inSODwetrust]

Bought an Acer Laptop from Comet on York Rd on 03 Jan this year, yesterday keys 'M' 'I' 'J' 'K' decoded not to work.

Well, I say not work, 'M' will not work one minute then type of 'M's with no notice, and the 'I,J,K' characters work until they are used in conjunction with the Caps lock , at which point they dont want to know.

Anyway, I digress.

Returned Laptop to Comet today who have decided to send away for repair with MINIMUM 21 day turn around - the unhelpful staff member on the front desk offered no more than a few grunts and practically accused my of pouring something over the keyboard and stated they'll only send it off once and 'see how it goes'.

I wouldnt mind but our lass uses that Laptop for work and we are now stuck without one for atleast 3 weeks.

My point being, if this Laptop comes back and still has this fault, am I entitled to a refund/ new replacement given the fact I gave them chance to rectify the defect? Comet themselves would not give me a straight answer. Will not buy anything from the lot again, thats for sure.

See what you mean about the 'I' not working

[Viking Don]

Has it got a separate number pad? Only asking because if it hasn't it could be that those keys are an embedded numpad (many laptops have these and they usually use the keys in that area of the keyboard). Only way to check is to go into the BIOS and have a look at keyboard layout, and disable the embedded numpad feature. I've got a laptop like that and it once somehow enabled that feature and cost me days of frustration trying to sort it out before I found it in BIOS and disabled it.

If it is a keyboard fault I wouldn't pay £70 for them to fix it though, can probably be done for a fraction of that.