Problem with laptop can anyone help please?

[David Rogers]

Might be worth fighting this angle. (A bit thin on the ground legally, but maybe give them a headache.)

As you paid for, yet did not officially accept the ‘warranty’, you were clearly never in reciept of the warranty as it stood. Therefore as a bare minimum they took money for a service they did not provide and you want your £95 back.

ps. What’s wrong with it?

I personally stay well clear of fixing laptops (too many fiddly bits), but it could be a simple / cheap fix for the right person.

[Andy Gorman]

Also, make sure you complain in person when they have a shop full of customers. (Assuming you got it from a shop.) Be very loud to make sure the assistant can hear you. It’s amazing what being a pain in the arse can achieve. If you got it online, there are websites where customers can post reviews of products. Let others know.

I’d be interested in who the retailer was. Are we allowed to name and shame dodgy retailers on here?

Oh, and a punch in the manager’s face will help you to feel better.

[Hugh Potter]

i knew you’d come up wth the punch in the face option, Andy !! i wish,

unfortunately, to my knowledge, the retailer is an online store, ‘ll name and shame if i get nowhere. i’m awaiting a call now, but don’t hold out much hope of getting it, they’re based in huddersfield, so not much chance of going and causing a stink !

Dave,
I’ll question that when i speak to them, if i hear nowt i’ll put it a little stronger in writing, the laptop had a few screen issues of late, aswell as i think a software issue which would cause it to suddenly just shut down, no warning, but they were livable with, a splash of hot coffee compounded my probs ! but as i say, regardless of whether the warranty would cover a fluid spill (of which there’s no evidence internally anyways), it’s highlighted the warranty problem.

after the spill, i immediately shut down the fast way, and removed battery, leaving the laptop to dry upside down for a couple of days, now the screen won’t light up everytime (screen was flickery at times anyways) and the hdd won’t load, hdd is fine, i’m using it as a slave as we speak, it’s just a right pita having to share a laptop and having to swap drives to move work i need to somewhere i can access when slaved (long story).

it comes apart ok, i’ve had most of it out and back together again, but i just don’t know what to change !

[Adam McGuire]

Attach some model information about your laptop and I’ll ask in work. I might be able to help as one of my sites is managed (or rather not managed) by Fujitsu. Replace the "j" with "sh" and you get what I think of the company as a whole. Can’t promise anything though I’m afraid.

Adam

[Hugh Potter]

thank you adam, its a fujitsu amilo 1420m i think, 15" widescreen, 512 ram, 60 gig hdd, centrino 1.6ghz, 801g wireless etc etc etc,

i ust be honest, the laptop gets dragged around everywhere, is hardly ever switched off, and has done me very well to date, it’s just the company / retailer i’m not happy with !

[Adam McGuire]

One quick question…..did the coffee contain sugar?

A quick test…..if you’ve dismantled the laptop, disconnect the keyboard and try to boot it up with all it’s devices apart for the keyboard.

Adam

[Hugh Potter]

yep ! a pal suggested i leave it a few days for all capacitors etc to discharge, then rinse it all out with tepid water 😮 reckons he did it with his own, twice ! i’ll try the keyboard idea though,

[Phill Fenton]

Very frustrating for you Hugh. Especially having paid for an extended warranty only to find they aren’t honouring it. I hope you get justice 😀

[Hugh Potter]

cheers phil, as i said, i doubt a spill would be covered by the warranty, as i’ve never been sent it, i dont know what it actually covers ! that said, it’s just been to bits again, and there’s no sign of a spill, well, not any more !
but i dont hold out much hope for them fixing it anyways.

Adam,
disconned keyboard and mouse, no change, stripped down further this time, as far as mother board (access both sides), and found some more evidence of sticky stuff in a couple of places, mainly under bits i couldnt get to last time ! will try and get some pcb cleaner and a toothbrush in there to clean it thoroughly and then try again, if that dont work it’s likely the motherboard,

the hdd is fine, i’ve proven that. sure the screen was ok for the most part, can only assume motherboard is shorting out somewhere, just where though, that board is amazing ! tiny compared to the pcb’s ionce worked with !

have put it all back together for now, there are so many screws in this thing it’s unreal ! i’m sure they could better protect keyboards on laptops with a rubber seal tween top plate and all the electronics underneath, seems stupid not too.

[Richard Urquhart]

hugh i hope you get them to stand by the warranty but i think they may have a way of getting out of it if they can see you have got in to the lap top
its must of have one of those stickers which pulls off when you need to get to that last screw
any way i hope it get sorted

would it be an idea to get a cheap desktop just to stop you losing work??

[Peter Normington]

I personally would never buy an extended warranty. but if I did, I would read the small print, a contract is legally binding, if you have signed the said contract, there is little you can do, especially if the company can point to the small print, to avoid paying out. Especially the bit about coffee spills!!
Peter

[Shane Drew]

Hugh. I agree that your claim that you didn’t get the paperwork etc is basically dishonest, but you are wasting your time pursuing warranty. I owned a computer warranty center for a few years (Amstrads biggest warranty Centre in Oz) Every warranty has a clause that will void the claim if it has been opened. And, as you say, the coffee spill with void it too.

They will use this against you once they see it, then bill you for the inspection to cover their labour costs.

Sugar in the coffee will cause more damage than black coffee too. This will be the giveaway when they open it.

I am not familiar with the model, but most Plasma and LCD screens here are powered by a plastic membrane that, once it cracks, needs to be replaced. They don’t repair them usually. The screens themselves are also replacement items for the most part. Had you noticed missing pixels in the leadup to it losing the screen?

Personally, I’d be looking at the insurance angle. A coffee spill will be a valid claim on a laptop computer. Tell them the screen died as a result.

From experience, the’ll probably just replace it.

Hope that helps.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Peter Normington:

I personally would never buy an extended warranty. but if I did, I would read the small print, a contract is legally binding, if you have signed the said contract, there is little you can do, especially if the company can point to the small print, to avoid paying out. Especially the bit about coffee spills!!
Peter

i agree Pete, but, since i never received any paperwork,nor was i told to expect any paperwork, how am i able to check it, this was the first time i’d ever bought an extended warranty, i did it deliberatly so my cutter and computer both had 3yr worry free use,

Shane, the screen was not so much an issue, once in a while, if the table was knocked, the screen would flicker slightly, otherwise it was perfect,

the issue in my mind, is not how it was damaged, it is the fact that they have screwed me out of £110 for a warranty they never provided, i never expected them to do it for nowt, and i know by opening it i’ve voided it, though, the only proof i’ve opened it is here and on a couple of screws, personally though, i doubt they could justifiably deny me the need to get at my work / hard drive. otherwise you’d never know i’d been in there, but like i say, if i’d had legitimate cause to claim, i would be unable to due to their incompetence. if they were not so far aay, i would park outside their offices with the biggest sign i could make, telling the world what a bunch of tossers they really are. in fact, the drive would be worth it just to confront the faceless cow who’s supposed to be a manager and who hasn’t returned my calls, again.

[Shane Drew]

yeah mate I know what you say. Thats the down side of buying online.

On the extended warranty tho, I’d encourage anyone buying a portable unit to take the extra cover. They are very reliable for the most part, but if they fail out of warranty, often it is cheaper to bin it and buy a new one.

I know a new Toshiba screen as a replaceement part is almost the same price as an entire notebook.

Is insurance not an option?

Do you have a consumer ombudsman there. They can work wonders some times.

Isn’t the onus on them to prove they sent the documentation? A solicitors letter may be in order… but could be good money after bad 😕

[Hugh Potter]

i have complained and taken advice from trading standards, which guess are our ombudsmen, they simply said it’s bad customer service and there’s very little i can do, if anything,

as a member of the federation of small businesses, i called their legal helpline, they said pretty much the same, all i could do is buy a new one, or repair the broken one, and seue them for the costs, but it would entirely depend on the judges opinion at a small claims court, i dont think the fsa legal cover extends to this issue, as it isnt classified as a ‘legal’ problem. despite the fact they’ve taken my money for a service not supplied.

like you say, i could spend god money after bad, money i simply do not have to spare.

seems i’m screwed, unless i can find another broken one on ebay or somewhere and hope it’s got the bits i need. they do come up for sale, but not often.

[David-Foster-]

Well if you get your £95 back your a 1/3rd of the way to getting a cheap desktop replacement. It will serve you well, a backup permanently in the office, while you are out with your laptop. Your whole Business is carried around within a flimsy laptop. You can get a Dell for £299 or even £399 for another laptop.
House Insurance accidental damage cover it?

[Jayne Marsh]

I would do as David and Shane have said and see if I could claim for a new laptop on my house insurance. It may not settle the extended warranty issue but it would enable you to keep working which is the biggest issue at present.

[Hugh Potter]

i’m gonna look into the accidental cover on our house insurance sshortly, the mrs is aay for a couple of days now so i’ll have to wait and see when she returns.

[David-Foster-]

Has she taken her laptop with her? 😀 😀

edit: obviously not or else you wouldnt be here! You could be working from the local library though, ringing your customers to come into your office, ‘at the library’ 😀

[Hugh Potter]

quote David-Foster-:

Has she taken her laptop with her? 😀 😀

edit: obviously not or else you wouldnt be here! You could be working from the local library though, ringing your customers to come into your office, ‘at the library’ 😀

lol, thankfully she left it for me !

[Silvio Alves]

Hi Hugh,

Are you a member of "Which?", the consumer magazine, as they have a great legal department, and they would possibly help you out?

They may ask you to join there membership to legal. Check out their site:-

http://www.which.net/aboutus/products/l … ode=J3AR04

There legal services cover consumer law.

Regards

Silvio

[Hugh Potter]

thanks mate, i’ll have a look at that later, it’s clear the retailer isnt gonna budge on this, so for now i’m concentrating on getting the laptop sorted, it’s currently in about 40 bits !