Shoutbox

Last yeat (18 January 2004) i baught a computer from Tesco Barhill, in Cambridge, UK. It was a Time PC Bundle. However, a few months later i started experiencing problems. Every now and then, for now reason Windows would free for about two minutes, then come back again with a lowere colour quality and a message saying my Display Card/Driver has failed and that i must restart my PC to restore functionalilty. After doing so Windows asks if you want to report the problem to microsoft, once that is done they give possible resolutions to the problem. The only real one they give is to decreaces display hardware acceleration, however if i do this to the next lower level then icons and buttons on my screen arent displayed, so i have to have it at full acceleration.

Anyway, after a calls to the Time Customer Service people, i waas told to install drivers from the Drivers CD supplied with the PC, however this did not resolve the issue. I then called them again, and was told to run the restore CD (Restore PC to factory settings) which also did not help. Well to shorten this long story, i ended up using the restore CD twice. after the second Time didn't work, i called again and was told to install drivers from the web. However one of the drivers the CS agent said i should install, i called be and spoke to the same man again, he then said to try another driver which also didnt work. Called him back again and he arranged to have the PC taken in for repairs. On 12 January 2005 my PC was returned to me after being "repaired". We also got a receipt when it was returned to us saying the replaced the Motherboard and CPU.

Two weeks later the problem happened again. Once again we called Time and was once again told to use the Restore CD, i fefused as i'd done it a number of times before and it didnt help. The CS agent then hung up on us. We called back and we answered by a different CS agent, after giving our account info we were told he couldnt help us as our warranty had expired. We told him that the PC was with them three weeks ago, while still under warranty to have this problem repaired. He kept insisting that he couldnt help us unless we baught a new 1year contract for £160. 

Well basically, what i want to ask is, legaly aren't they liable to repair this problem as it was with them for repairs and and back to us while still under warranty and the problem resurfaced? The replaced the motherboard and CPU which a the core parts of the PC so shouldn't they have extened the warranty even it was only for a few additional months as they had replaced parts in it?

Please help, If you would like to see the receipt we got from them please PM me.

RileyM

I don't think they are liable to fix it if the warranty is expired, but you could try to argue that their 'repairs' made the problem(s) worse and that COULD force them to do the repairs.

It's always a good idea to get more than a 1 year warranty on parts (it's strange that most computer companies only offer a 1 year warranty by default when most CPUs, motherboards and video cards come with a 3 year warranty by default when you buy them on their own.)

They are not fully liable to repair it. In most cases, assuming the failure of the product originally surfaced within the original warranty period, most manufacturers will extend your warranty, however, this is not required by law and it is up to the company if they wish to do so.

you could probably take them to the small claims court and i guess you could win.

However, the cost would be quite high, and unless you know a laywer (which i guess you dont, otherwise i wouldnt be posting in this thread ) not worth it.

Try writing into the watchdog who deals with this issue (not sure of the name)

also, why didnt they replace the graphics card, update the drivers for your graphics card from the internet

quote:

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Originally posted by ajd
They are not fully liable to repair it. In most cases, assuming the failure of the product originally surfaced within the original warranty period, most manufacturers will extend your warranty, however, this is not required by law and it is up to the company if they wish to do so.

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Yes, like i said the problem originally surfaced long before the warranty expired

quote:

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Originally posted by saralk
you could probably take them to the small claims court and i guess you could win.

However, the cost would be quite high, and unless you know a laywer (which i guess you dont, otherwise i wouldnt be posting in this thread ) not worth it.

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Just having a lawyer doesn't mean you'll win even if there is no legal reason to win

saralk's watchdog suggestion is a good idea.

You experienced your problem and got it "fixed" in your original warranty period. When the problem comes back within 2 weeks, even when using the restore CD and/or updated drivers, then that proves the problem wasn't fixed. The hardest part is that you need to have prove on when problems started and when/what was fixed etc.

I've worked on a computer shop for a half year and anwsering CS calls was part of it aswell. Hanging up on a customer is one of the worst things you can do, i know my ex-boss would wanna kill me if i did that . If we had you as customer and your problem kept on exsisting after a full recovery and proper driver updates we would have taken it in, fixed and tested at no cost (if in warranty) and you get two months extra fix warranty + manufacture warranty on the replaced parts (most of the time a year).

So when you would have called back in 3 weeks after it was fixed we would have taken it in at once, test everything and make sure we fix it this time, even when your normal warranty is over, because you would have had the fix warranty, free of charge. If we can't fix it or problems come back every time, we would have replaced your PC with a new one of the same model or the model that comes closest to it. A happy customer is priority number one, because the customer is the person paying your loan .

if you are in the UK, read this http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Your+Rights+When+S...g+a+PC/default.htm

Well, since they didn't fix it.. and said they did, they will have to fix it Depends on your law

and isn't the small claims court supposed to be mostly pro se?

Thanks guys for all you help. I had no luck with Time Computers so turned to Tesco (the shop where i bought the computer). They said to bring them all the paper work from the computer and itemised bill to show all the times we phone the Customer Service centre. We did that and were then told to return the computer tot them and they wil give i FULL refund. And so yesterday we returned it to them and got the refund. We've also order two new Dell computers, one to replace the returned one and one another one for the house, which shiuld get here in a week.

Thanks again to the MessengerPlus! Forum community

RileyM