used laptop question

wheres me jumpa

a friend of mine bought a laptop from a guy who claims to be a technician. it cost 600eur. now my friend doesnt know much about i.t. so he thought it was a good deal.

and it is except for the fact that the laptop model is a piece of crap. it runs on a pentium 4 processor. the idea to put a pentium 4 processor into a laptop was a disaster. and this model went down as a huge error in the laptop world.

hes having trouble with it as it keeps shutting down due to the heat caused by the processor. so hes not happy with his purchase. hes a bit shy so i have said i will call the seller.

could anyone clarify his legal situation on this? i.e. does the seller have to take the laptop back? i believe he should have pointed out the obvious problems with this machine. but he didnt as he wasnt asked. he claims to be a technician so he would have known the problems.

tia,

jumpa

p.s. im aware that there are various cooling devices that may aid the problem but im recommending he gets a full refund and buy a new laptop.

gerrycollins

if its a private sale its up to the parties to sort it out amongst themselves but at a last ditch attempt ur friend could bring (or claim to start) a small claims court procedure against the seller but with no receipt(ill assume) u might aswell have got it out of the back of a lorry and tough stuff

seamus

Aye, in a private matter it's all about buyer beware. Unless the seller went out of his way to actually commit fraud (e.g. gives him a bag of coal instead of a laptop as promised), your friend has very little comeback.

It's a live-and-learn scenario; your mate will learn to never buy something privately if he doesn't know much about it.

The small claims court can't be used for private sales.

gerrycollins

seamus wrote:

The small claims court can't be used for private sales.

unless there is proof of the transaction ie. receipt

seamus

gerrycollins wrote:

unless there is proof of the transaction ie. receipt

I could very much be wrong, but from http://www.oasis.gov.ie/justice/small_claims_court/small_claims_court.html

To be eligible to use the procedure, you, the "consumer" must have bought goods or services (or the service) for private use from someone selling them in the course of business.

What I gather from the OP is that the seller claimed he was a computer technician, but he sold the laptop privately, not in course of business. It would be rare for a receipt to be given in a private sale, and I'm not even sure if it has any legal standing.

gerrycollins

seamus wrote:

I could very much be wrong, but from http://www.oasis.gov.ie/justice/small_claims_court/small_claims_court.html

What I gather from the OP is that the seller claimed he was a computer technician, but he sold the laptop privately, not in course of business. It would be rare for a receipt to be given in a private sale, and I'm not even sure if it has any legal standing.

oh ya chances of a receipt are probably nil to none in this case so unless we find out from OP we may never know........

BrianD

It's buyer beware! Consumer protection laws don't apply to private sales.

You could sue him but it would cost you more in the long run. There's always Judge Judy, she likes these kind of cases.

wheres me jumpa

thanks for the info guys. ill keep ye posted on any developments/judge judy airing time!

TempestSabre

The laptop either works or it doesn't. If it doesn't work he should return it. End of story.

BTW theres a load of different P4's in laptops. Some designed for mobile use and others use a deskop CPU. The ones that use desktop CPU are often called desktop replacments. Nothing wrong with them at all. Despite your claims that it was the world biggest diasaster. Some laptops are for mobile use others are aren't. However I suspect the problem is that its an old machine and its cooling vents are blocked with dust. Usually a quick blast with a can of air will clear it out.

However you shouldn't mess with the machine. Because it could also be some other fault. The seller sold a working machine. its not up to you to fix it. Return it because it not as described. ie working.

RainyDay

TempestSabre wrote:

The laptop either works or it doesn't. If it doesn't work he should return it. End of story.

...

However you shouldn't mess with the machine. Because it could also be some other fault. The seller sold a working machine. its not up to you to fix it. Return it because it not as described. ie working.

When you purchase anything (car, bike, TV, laptop) direct from an individual (as opposed to buying from a business), you have no rights of return or refund. Caveat emptor.

If the seller is a nice guy, he might give you a refund. But you have absolutely no rights to a refund in such case.