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[michty_me]

Morning all,

I'm looking for advice on a laptop refund.
It was purchased last year in July with a years warranty. In January/February this year, The laptop developed a fault and was returned. Since then they have had my laptop for repair and have been unable to carry this out successfully.

I have been offered a refund minus 15% due to the time that has passed. Should I not be getting a full refund if the laptop is still in the warranty time frame, A repair is not possible or cannot be provided with a suitable replacement?

I'm unsure of the legalities of this so looking for some advice.

[Ronski]

I'm fairly certain there is a time frame on getting a full refund.

Some simple googling found this https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product

Can I get a full refund? - the first six months

If you've owned the item for less than six months, the retailer must give you a full refund if an attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful.

The retailer can't make any deduction from a refund in the first six months following an unsuccessful attempt at repair or replacement.

The only exception to this is motor vehicles, where the retailer can make a deduction for fair use after the first 30 days.

It doesn't matter whether you bought your goods before or after 1 October 2015 - in the first six months from when you buy something, the onus is on the seller to prove your defective product was of satisfactory quality when you received it.

It's not for you to prove that the faulty item was not of satisfactory quality in order to get it repaired or replaced during the first six months after purchase.

Six months or more

If a defect develops after the first six months, the burden is on you to prove that the product was faulty at the time the goods were delivered to you.

In practice, this may require some form of expert report, opinion or evidence of similar problems or defects across the product range.

The retailer can also make a deduction from any refund for fair use after the first six months of ownership if an attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful.

You have up to six years to take a claim to the small claims court for faulty goods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland.

This doesn't mean that a product has to last six years - just that you have this length of time in which to make a claim if a retailer refuses to repair or replace a faulty product.

So yes they can offer you a refund less a deduction.

You may be able to negotiatie a smaller deduction, or do they have a similar value laptop you'd be happy with - they may well be happy to supply that instead of a refund.

[gt94sss2]

Assuming it was a new laptop, I would be insisting on a full refund - it sounds as if the laptop became faulty within the first 6 months (or just afterwards) - especially if they have had 3/4 months to unsuccessfully fix the issue

Did you pay by credit card at all? Also who tried to fix it, the retailer or the manufacturer?

[broadstairs]

Looks to me that you may have to prove it was within 6 months as you said it was Jan/Feb when it was returned and January is 6 months, so if it was February it was returned then they will probably argue the point. Did you get a receipt when it went for repair?

Stuart

[Ronski]

Good point by the above two - I missed that bit of the time frame  So date of purchase and date returned will be crucial, and if outside the six month window may well help to negotiate a better deal, and the fact you've been without the laptop since you returned it.

[tubaman]

I would be looking carefully at the retailers contract terms as it sounds like you may be just outside the 6 month legal window for getting a full refund. You may also have redress under the manufacturer's warranty (assuming the retailer and manufacturer are not one and the same) so it'd be worth looking at that.
 

[michty_me]

I've just looked into the date purchased which was the 19th of July 2019, The first date of contact was around 6th of February so 6 months and 17 days since purchase.
The laptop itself was a manufacturer refurbished item sold through a third party. Laptop Outlet. I can't seem to find their terms and conditions so may have to check Asus.

[Alex Atkin UK]

That complicates things as manufacturer refurbished often means the manufacturer only offer a limited warranty such as 30 day or maybe 90 days and anything more is down to the retailer offering you something as an incentive to buy from them.  Although I do notice ASUS Refurbished directly from their own site claims " They come with 1 Year Laptop Outlet Warranty (Return to Base)."

[michty_me]

That's what I thought, I guess it may be part of the issue. I do still have an email I sent to them stating there was a strange electrical type noise emitting from the laptop after about two months of ownership.
I'll maybe try get it reduced a bit further.

[tubaman]

That's what I thought, I guess it may be part of the issue. I do still have an email I sent to them stating there was a strange electrical type noise emitting from the laptop after about two months of ownership.
I'll maybe try get it reduced a bit further.

I would make them aware of this as you notified them of an issue well before the 6 month point.
 

[gt94sss2]

Did you pay by credit card? If so, it’s also worth considering a Section 75 claim.

[michty_me]

Did you pay by credit card? If so, it’s also worth considering a Section 75 claim.

I paid via paypal I believe. Perhaps I should be paying for items on my credit card more often.

I would make them aware of this as you notified them of an issue well before the 6 month point.
 

I have advised them and was wanting to send them copies of my messages to them but for whatever reason, Ebay have removed them from my message box and sent items.

[michty_me]

I've just received the refund and as it turns out they may have messed up slightly. I used a voucher code when purchasing said laptop so they didn't take that into account and took the 15% deduction from the full price laptop. It works out that I lost nearly 5% in the end compared to the 15% I was told they could only offer.

[Ronski]

Nice result, if that was an ebay code then the seller may not even be aware.

[tiffy]

Good result in the end, you were very lucky.

Wondering how things are offshore now with the current situation, travel logistics etc. ?
From memory you are in the drilling services sector ?