Advice on laptop refund

michty_me · 17 May 2020 at 21:56

jpaul said:
The 28day warranty, and the fact it was refurbished, limits the liability of the seller though, too; it was cheaper and you don't expect the same lifespan.

once it is outside of the warranty period they may not pay for postage to return the product for repair, although they should pay for parts(&labor I'm not sure?),
that's the basis I've bought refurbed products from panasonic ebay store;
The refurbed aspects means it has lost some of the normal 2..5 year manufacturer obligation, and you'd expect a significant depreciation if they have to refund you.

15% sounds a good deal , for a refurbed product, but I'm surprised you've been tolerant of waiting 3 months for the repair/decision to be made, and haven't demanded resolution sooner, you've been able to live w/o it I guess.

I had been keeping in touch with them and the main response was due to covid-19 things have slowed down.
I did ask for an extension for my warranty once it was repaired due to not having seen the laptop in months but I received no response until this morning.
True, I've managed with out it due to using a playstation for the time being.
Regardless, I shall see what they come away with tomorrow.

MagicBoy · 17 May 2020 at 21:59

As said above, if you get nowhere fast, if you paid on credit card or finance you can contact them for additional leverage.

michty_me · 20 May 2020 at 13:56

Well, 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 so I lost nearly 5% in the end compared to the 15% I was told they could offer.

MagicBoy · 20 May 2020 at 14:00

Chalk that up as a win then.

michty_me · 20 May 2020 at 14:06

MagicBoy said:
Chalk that up as a win then.

Just relieved more than anything. They had been ignoring my emails and general contact so was expecting to have a fight on my hands. Now to find a new laptop with a decent warranty!

Energize · 22 May 2020 at 17:39

Very shoddy company if they aren't offering a full refund. Yes they might be a bit out of pocket, but that is the cost of doing business and is why people pay what they do for products, a warranty for which they expect repair or replacement or a refund if that isn't possible.

The customer shouldn't have to lose out because the retailer are to inept to carry out a repair.

mrbell1984 said:
You are wanting a full refund for a product you have had for 11 months? If only all my products developed a fault that couldn't be fixed I would have had 30 years free worth of products. nice.

How does that logic work? The replacement product wouldn't have an extra year on top of the original.

michty_me · 22 May 2020 at 18:11

Energize said:
Very shoddy company if they aren't offering a full refund. Yes they might be a bit out of pocket, but that is the cost of doing business and is why people pay what they do for products, a warranty for which they expect repair or replacement or a refund if that isn't possible.

The customer shouldn't have to lose out because the retailer are to inept to carry out a repair.

How does that logic work? The replacement product wouldn't have an extra year on top of the original.

Well on the citizens advice website it does state after 6 months they only have to return a percentage of a refund is an option. They've probably sold it on for a higher price.

Energize · 22 May 2020 at 21:31

michty_me said:
Well on the citizens advice website it does state after 6 months they only have to return a percentage of a refund is an option. They've probably sold it on for a higher price.

Still shoddy regardless of the law. Some components like RAM for example can significantly increase in price over time leaving the customer worse off than when they first bought the product even if they get a full refund!

Surveyor · 22 May 2020 at 22:03

Energize said:
Still shoddy regardless of the law. Some components like RAM for example can significantly increase in price over time leaving the customer worse off than when they first bought the product even if they get a full refund!

What's shoddy about a company operating within the law?

And some components, RAM for example, can significantly decrease in price over time leaving the customer better off than when they first bought the product even if they only get a partial refund.

Energize · 22 May 2020 at 22:16

Surveyor said:
What's shoddy about a company operating within the law?

You think that causing the customer a big inconvenience and potentially leaving them out of pocket isn't shoddy practice? You think that as long as conduct is legal that somehow makes it acceptable?

michty_me · 22 May 2020 at 22:24

Yes, it's not the best but thankful I only lost £40. It could have been worse I guess.

Surveyor · 22 May 2020 at 22:28

Energize said:
You think that causing the customer a big inconvenience and potentially leaving them out of pocket isn't shoddy practice? You think that as long as conduct is legal that somehow makes it acceptable?

It's perfectly acceptable for a business to operate within the law and doing so isn't shoddy practice. Businesses have rights as do consumers.

There are businesses who go beyond what the law requires and consumers are free to choose to give them their business.

Energize · 23 May 2020 at 04:18

Surveyor said:
It's perfectly acceptable for a business to operate within the law and doing so isn't shoddy practice. Businesses have rights as do consumers.

There are businesses who go beyond what the law requires and consumers are free to choose to give them their business.

Businesses may be within their legal rights to be shoddy, but it's shoddy and unacceptable!

If a business is leaving customers in a worse state than they were in before they did business with them and isn't able to meet the basic societal expectations of good customer service such as a like-for-like replacement or a full refund, it's a business that customers should avoid.

Surveyor · 23 May 2020 at 11:40

Energize said:
Businesses may be within their legal rights to be shoddy, but it's shoddy and unacceptable!

You're reacting like this company is the odd one out with it's "shoddy" practices. Many companies will only offer a partial refund if they can't repair or replace at a reasonable cost including, I believe, the one whose forum you're posting on.

Energize said:
If a business is leaving customers in a worse state than they were in before they did business with them and isn't able to meet the basic societal expectations of good customer service such as a like-for-like replacement or a full refund, it's a business that customers should avoid.

The OP had use of the laptop for 6/7 months for, apparently, £40. I'm a little bemused at the amount though. Originally the reduction was going to be 15% and £50, the end result was 5% and £40.

Anyway, I said consumers could choose who they give their business to so on that, at least, we're in agreement.

jpaul · 23 May 2020 at 11:47

he doesn't seem to appreciate it was refurbed too ... think he got a dam good deal on the refund.

michty_me · 23 May 2020 at 12:04

Surveyor said:
The OP had use of the laptop for 6/7 months for, apparently, £40. I'm a little bemused at the amount though. Originally the reduction was going to be 15% and £50, the end result was 5% and £40.

Yeah the numbers didn't add up as their was no mention of the eBay code.
That was my mistake. Without the eBay code I should have lost £149 roughly.

Anyway, it's done and dusted now so thanks for the info earlier before it got filled with discussions.

Energize · 23 May 2020 at 15:53

Surveyor said:
You're reacting like this company is the odd one out with it's "shoddy" practices. Many companies will only offer a partial refund if they can't repair or replace at a reasonable cost including, I believe, the one whose forum you're posting on.

It is fairly unusual in my experience, but to be fair there are loads of bad businesses out there so my experiences may be not be representative.

However I bought an £1,100 laptop from OCUK and a while after the purchase it developed a fault with the SATA controller and they couldn't replace it so I was given a full refund so I would refute your statement.

I also bought a refurb from laptops direct which also failed and again, full refund.

Surveyor · 23 May 2020 at 19:54

Energize said:
It is fairly unusual in my experience, but to be fair there are loads of bad businesses out there so my experiences may be not be representative.

However I bought an £1,100 laptop from OCUK and a while after the purchase it developed a fault with the SATA controller and they couldn't replace it so I was given a full refund so I would refute your statement.

I also bought a refurb from laptops direct which also failed and again, full refund.

From the OcUK shop site:

Overclockers UK Returns

If the manufacturer is unable to return the items within 28 days, we will give you the option of a refund. Depending on the age of the items, the refund may include a deduction for the length of time you have used them (known as rescission).

Partial refunds:

MyBrainz said:
I didnt do too badly with the RX 480 though, i got lucky with warranty and caught the 3 year warranty window just 2 weeks of it ending, Sapphire didnt repair or replace within 28 days and OcUK obviously had no 480's in stock so i had a choice of around £110 refund or an RX 580 as a replacement. I was already on a Vega 56 at the time so i took the RX 580 and quickly sold it on the bay

I agree with you though, the partial refund sucks like they expect it to only last so long anyway whereas i have a HD 7950 that still works well and i bought that in Jan 2012

darael said:
Posting because I also had problems with exactly the same motherboard. Like you, it just wouldn't turn on in the end. I sent it back to OcUK and they returned to Asus for repair. At which time I then opted for a partial refund and used this to upgrade.

You can read my little adventure here: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/black-screen-sometimes-when-posting.18783535/

Energize · 24 May 2020 at 18:33

The key word there is "option", and it's important to note that practice and policy are two different things, they may have that in their policy but they still gave me a full refund.

Those quotes show that they chose a partial refund over a superior replacement product or a repair, it wasn't forced on them. I'd say offering a superior replacement is pretty good service.

In the OP's case the manufacturer couldn't repair the product and didn't offer a replacement product they forced a partial refund on him.

michty_me · 24 May 2020 at 18:53

Energize said:
The key word there is "option", and it's important to note that practice and policy are two different things, they may have that in their policy but they still gave me a full refund.

Those quotes show that they chose a partial refund over a superior replacement product or a repair, it wasn't forced on them. I'd say offering a superior replacement is pretty good service.

In the OP's case the manufacturer couldn't repair the product and didn't offer a replacement product they forced a partial refund on him.

When I first sent the laptop in for repair they asked what the desired outcome was. I stated a repair but if this was unachievable, I would consider paying extra for an upgraded unit but this was never offered.