Any consumer law buffs around?

Alexrose1uk

Alexrose1uk

Alexrose1uk

Soldato
Joined
26 Apr 2004
Posts
9,542
Location
Milton Keynes
Im trying to find the exact clauses that entitle you to a refund, bar some withheld for time where a product was used.

Without going into gory details about how abysmal the service has been and the sheer state of the TS department, I bought a laptop about 2 months ago; the repair/replacement part system has been an absolute joke not to mention I was lied to.

The company has attempted to send out replacement parts to correct the fault (the replacement parts themselves were faulty), so it was sent back for repair only to be returned still not working (!!). I have had the laptop for about 8-9 weeks, and it has been faulty for the last 6, in unusable condition.

They have therefore been given the option to repair the laptop as required by SOGA, and this has also passed beyond 'reasonable expected time' for the repair. The laptop is no longer part of thier catalog and sold by them, nor do they have another comparable machine for sale at the same price; so the replacement part of the SOGA is also invalid (not to mention you could consider the faulty parts they sent as attempt at replacement).

I am now trying to obtain a refund on the item, as frankly I've had enough and would rather take my custom elsewhere, however they're trying to refuse, trying to, basically, get me to send it back for repair as many times as it takes, frankly Im pretty sure there is legislation that makes this illegal, and a refund must be offered as the other clauses of the various SOG Acts have been fulfilled.

Any help appreciated; I have more than had enough! If anyone can provide the exact parts of consumer legislation which may help me it'd be massively appreciated, as the law documents I've found are obviously not in laymans, and go back and forward like a yoyo! I also have the finance company investigating, however if I can take this forward without them it would be preferable.
 
Last edited:
Im already looking at that route, unfortunately my hours aren't always friendly (like right now) so Im not sure when Im going to be able to go to the local right now.
 
Problem would be working out where to send such a letter; Alienwares Europe technical base is in Ireland, there TS is apparently located in Poland etc

Unfortunately they seem to assume that they can follow company lines and deny a refund, even though this isnt legally acceptable.
 
Unfortunately not, was BNPL Finance, however I do have the finance company investigating for me already (hopefully they took it reasonably seriously, as was an assistant manager who emailed me back to let me know they were investigating). If I am not contacted tomorrow as promised; then I will be updating them to inform them that AW are refusing the refund, despite DSR/SOGA and refusing to talk about it beyond a repair (not suitable any longer).

Still, what an absolute a**e...I honestly loved the machine, but the service when I part has died...well its been beyond a joke, Im hoping I dont have to escalate it to the Small Claims Court, but after all of it, Im well prepared to go that far.
 
Thanks Nitefly, SOGA is already in my portfolio unfortunately trying to read the various acts to provide the direct clauses can be a nightmare, will take a look into UTCCR 1999 as well :)

Distinctly poor that Im having to jump through so many hoops really, it really does put the company in a poor light on its opinion/contempt of the consumer!
 
Wow, Von, you have accumulated and labelled pretty much every section of the SOGA I was looking at, and provided annotations to help my family make it easier to read while I talk to them about why I may have to go to Small Claims, and also to try and use in leverage with AW. Very much appreciated; if you use paypal please drop me a PM with your paypal addy and I will be happy to make a 'pint' contribution so you can have one/two on me :)


As to whether I have fulfilled my part of the SOGA, here is a more descriptive history of what has happened to me; as supplied to the finance company by email so they could investigate, I think given your notes I have done my best to comply with requirements (Alienware have also obviously since tried to deny the refund)! For a machine with a 12 month warranty, I think any repairs stretching to a month and a half could be considered unreasonable, the machine was purchased for general use; including work, not just for gaming, and have been without the machine since July.

The laptop purchased under the finance agreement worked fine for approximately 2 1/2 weeks before developing a hardware fault and becoming unusable. I have since been without a machine for the last 6 weeks, and have explored every avenue possible under the supply and sales of good act 2002.

Initially, I sought to obtain replacement parts under warranty through Alienware, on Friday 24th July. It was agreed over the phone to be a hardware fault; however due to the late hour (approximately 11pm UK time), it would not be possible to process the parts order til the following day and that I would be called back approximately midday to process the goods order. This phone call never materialised; and I called Alienware back mid afternoon on the Saturday to organise the parts order, in the process being told that human error had occured and no return note call left on my account, for which the Technical Support Advisor [henceforth abbreviated as TSA] apologised.

The parts order was then processed, and a desposit of several hundred pounds taken, and I was told the parts would be despatched on the Monday following (27th July) for arrival later in the week. Needless to say the package never materialised; and in trying to contact Alienware support to try and obtain a tracking number for the parcel, I was given multiple stories on missing tracking numbers and despatch dates.

Over the next 2-3 weeks I contacted Alienware in the region of 20+ times to try and discern the location of the parts; and was both bounced from colleague to colleague (I have spoken to at least 10 different TSA), deliberately delayed, promised return calls and emails which never materialised, and directly lied to on whether the package had been despatched, having it confirmed by official email from Miroslav at Technical Support that the parts had been despatched on 26/8/09. I was also told varied stories regarding the stocking levels of the parts; however Alienware refused to provide a temporary replacement part until correct parts were available; despite holding a multi-hundred pound desposit on the parts they so far had been unable to provide, and the suggested temporary solution part being much much cheaper.

Due to the length of time it was taking (approximately a month after initial report of the fault), and the associated appalling service, I sent an official complaint through to Alienware about the situation; requesting a replacement machine, proper update on the replacement parts and a temporary solution, or a refund; and despite not recieving any return correspondence, the required parts actually arrived several days later.
Tellingly the parts had been despatched approximately a day after the complaint was sent, according to the invoice, furthermore the invoice also indicated that the latest date the parts should have arrived was approximately a week earlier! As previously mentioned, this whole section of the process took about a month.

The replacement parts were then swapped into the machine, but unfortunately themselves turned out to be faulty; so the machine was still not in a useable state. I was unhappy over this turn out, especially considering the diabolical customer service up to this point, but considering the situation and requirements under S+SOGA2002, Alienware were contacted, and we agreed to send the machine back to base for a repair, thus as far as my understanding goes fulfilling all available possibilities on my part under the 2002 Act as best as was possible.

The repair process took approximately two weeks, however upon return of the machine, the laptop is STILL non-functional, with no display to the screen, or to an external monitor; which renders it unsuitable for use. The machine has been out of operation for approximately 6 weeks of the 8-9 in which I have possessed it, and now feel my only option is a refund, any further work on the machine would only extend the time span taken, especially with the lack of replacement parts; exceeding the provision under the Sales of Good Act that repairs must be completed within a reasonable length of time. Alienware have been contacted by phone over this refund request; however have not come back to me about a refund as yet.

Replacement of the machine is not an option as the model I purchased has been dropped from Alienware's sales catalog, and they are also once again out of the parts I would require to repair the machine, and are apparently not getting any more in stock; the only comparable model; The M17x with upgraded parts; is distinctly more expensive, and thus would not constitute a fair replacement or expectation on Alienware's part.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Again Vonhelmet, I really do owe you a drink so please do drop me your paypal addy so I can send you a pint on me.

After being threatened with SOGA and small claims court, as the M17 is discontinued, it looks like they've taken the 'initiative' (read: quick offer something before we earn another CCJ) to offer me a replacement M17x. The M17x is much more expensive in the UK, but due to differences is cost; this will be confirmed with them tomorrow, I should be getting a faster, more expensive machine, in a rather trite attempt at apology before being taken to court.

Good for me as Dell have just released the GDDR5 mobility 4870s (the ASUS 4870s were DDR3), thanks to better build quality and design, I may not be getting a refund as yet, but I may be getting a substantially more expensive, faster machine.

After 6 weeks Im just happy the stress is over!!!
 
Finally! Im really hoping this will turn out well *optimism strikes back!* but the last few weeks have added so much uncessary time wasting and stress I'd still argue it was fair compensation!

That said because I upgrade my machine myself, I'll have a X9100, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 640GB WD 7200RPM RAID0, 4870X2 (mobile, so knock about 20% off), 1920x1200 laptop...yeah its not I7, but thats still hella fast...plus I can build my family a Q9000, 4GB RAM, 160GB HDD machine on top if I can find a cheap, DDR3 barebone :)

The other good thing is the M17x is MXM3...so if I can obtain 5870 mobile parts.... :D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom