Dell Nightmare

GarIT

slimjimmc wrote: »

Actually the SCC has been dealing with business disputes since 2009, so that avenue could be very much available.

The laptops gone now anyway, they collected it this morning.

Procrastastudy

No reason not to give it a whirl if you're not happy when its back - at least you've got it repaired which was what I was worried about

I still think 15 months is pushing it on a laptop but as I said others disagree...

I also said I'd shut up... oh well.

foggy_lad

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

No reason not to give it a whirl if you're not happy when its back - at least you've got it repaired which was what I was worried about

I still think 15 months is pushing it on a laptop but as I said others disagree...

I also said I'd shut up... oh well.

Seriously do you work for dell in any capacity? You seem to be suggesting it is not worth pursuing any case when a laptop is at least 15 months old because that is more than the reasonable lifespan of the laptop. You seem to think the reasonable lifespan of any product is dictated by the manufacturer warranty and can be dictated by the industry.

Procrastastudy

Foggy - I realise there is always the temptation to over compensate in these forums but you are taking my comments out of context. At no point have I said don't try take it the SmCC.

Can you give me a couple of cases that would back up any of the claims you have made? Can you produce any guideline time frames on what is reasonable?

We don't know if the OP uses the Laptop everyday for 16 hours or turns it on once a week to check his e-mail. The use of the product would be taken into consideration.

Giving absolute advice when you don't know the outcome - especailly when it involves a court is a bad idea. You yourself personally have managed to confuse a european directive that a) doesn't apply to Ireland b) would limit the persons statuatory rights from six to two years if it did.

In my second post I pointed out that we all knew that warranty periods where only an indication of what the manufacturer deems reasonable - if you wish to argue with me and point out where I am wrong I welcome it - please do limit yourself to where I'm wrong though, not simply disagreeing with you.

foggy_lad

You think "15 months for a laptop is pushing it" as far as reasonable lifetime goes despite you stating yourself that you don't know anything about how the laptop was used but most laptops will last for closer to 4-6 years and even longer when used well throughout their lifetime.

Take a washing machine for an example and the reasonable life is around 3-6 years depending on usage price paid etc so a top of the range machine may only last 3 years when only used twice a week while a €250 one used twice most days may well last for 5 years. If the cheaper machine broke after 3 years i would think it was time for it to be breaking down but i would expect the other machine to last longer without serious issue.

how long would you think the reasonable lifetime of a €500 television should be? another 15 months or would you expect it to last longer?

Here is a thread about a laptop that was 3.5 years old which was fixed by apple of all companies.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056068862&page=3

ejmaztec

There's an awful lot of flannel in this thread, and I think the world and his dog knows that 15 months is an extremely unrealistic lifespan for a laptop, or probably 90% of other consumer items for that matter.

Procrastastudy

I'm not sure why you would cite apple - they are generally know for their service - these days at least. To be fair they can afford it. I also don't see any reference to it going to court - I also see at least one person stating that replacing certain components after 18 months seems reasonable. Knowing a bit about computers a GFX card would not be such a componant to be fair.

Incidently someone there has pointed out the statute of limitations and explained it - as seems have to happen ever few thread here. Again an example of a misconception "90% of people and their dogs" seem to have.

GarIT if you do decide to go to the SmCC do let us know how it turns out. It would be better to get a gauge rather then relying on people just pulling stuff out of the ether and saying its copper bottomed. Isn't it a monty python sketch where they do into the woods looking for the "people that say" or something.

I would expect about 3-4 years out of a €500 TV - thats a fairly cheap model with no moving parts. Probably less out of a washing machine due to its mechanical nature and less still on a laptop given the nature at which technology moves on.

I wouldn't be betting €200 or so on the SmCC finding in my favour after 15 months thats for sure - which is several people have asked the OP to do giving almost absolute assurances that he would win. Your opinion is different and I respect that - at no point have I quoted you out of context reversing your meaning in an attempt to win the argument.

Please do bear in mind I am aware of cases where people have been sucessful after 5 years. Not everyone is as lucky though.

EDIT: Ah found it - I am very dubious that a registar in the SmCC would make a comment outside of an offical judgement. I don't doubt for one second though that the presure of a SmCC paperwork arriving at the office would perhaps influance them in a certain direction. Please bear in mind though the OP was already told by Dell that they'd be happy to go to court.

kippy

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

I would expect about 3-4 years out of a €500 TV - thats a fairly cheap model with no moving parts. Probably less out of a washing machine due to its mechanical nature and less still on a laptop given the nature at which technology moves on.

The nature at which technology moves on has or should have nothing to do with the expectancy of the hardware within that laptop lasting more than a very poor 15 months.......
Indeed, the life expectancy of a washing machine should be far more than 4-5 years (and generally is), indeed the very fact that the machine is mechanical is irrelevant.
Your expectations of 3-4 years out of a €500 are also very low to be honest.
*The logic you are using is completely flawed, being honest.

The OP would be able to get something through the SMCC however there are a few slight complications here. He should, in my opinion, continue to chase Dell to get this resolved to his satisfaction as 15 months, in my opinion is, nowhere near long enough to expect from equipment such as that.

GarIT

I got the laptop back after they said they would replace the motherboard. The report on it said "Heatsink Cleaned" which is not a replacement motherboard like they said. I went to see how the laptop was anyway and when I took it out of the box the bottom pannel of the laptop fell off, they forgot to put the screws back in. Also none of the lights on the laptop work.

So I rang Dell to complain and this time when they were looking for details they asked for the name of the company it was originally registered to. I told them it wasn't, they said it was so I got the original reciept and read off the name and address on the reciept. The person on the phone said, our computers say the laptop was purchased by a business called... and then he reads off the first line of the original shipping address. I told him thats a place not a company but he just insisted on ignoring that and moving onto the, they went through the usual process and said they would repair the the laptop again (4th time).

Straight away I rang the person that ordered the laptop, he said he ordered the laptops over the phone and nothing was mentioned about a company, and vat was paid fully. Also I have the original and only receipt. I assumed he had used his business to get the laptops because he is self employed but it turns out whoever was on the phone taking the order must have put the first line of his address into the company name section on the order form.

I rang Dell back and got onto the legal department, the guy on the phone said that he was a lawyer but he didn't know how to deal with this, that they will look into it and the head of the legal team for Dell will call me tomorrow.

So the laptops were sold to us as regular customers (even though they dont sell these laptops to the public) and it was Dell that messed up their own forms. So I'm going to persue this and go for a full refund, the laptop hasn't been working properly since 4 months after its purchase and Dell have just completely messed up every time they tried to fix it.

Procrastastudy

I'd be suprised if you will get a full refund. At best you need to get the origonal purchaser to chase this as the contract is between him and Dell.

Lets say for the sake of argument I am entirely convinced a laptop should last five years. The fact that it is now 16 months old (over 1/4 the way though its life) is going to mean the best you can hope for is damages. Best of luck eitherway but don't assume this is cut and dried That said hopefully the shodyness of the work might outrage your local registar.

GarIT

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

I'd be suprised if you will get a full refund. At best you need to get the origonal purchaser to chase this as the contract is between him and Dell.

Lets say for the sake of argument I am entirely convinced a laptop should last five years. The fact that it is now 16 months old (over 1/4 the way though its life) is going to mean the best you can hope for is damages. Best of luck eitherway but don't assume this is cut and dried

I'll try anyway.

Procrastastudy

Best of luck and let us know how it turns out.

I suggest you get the person who bought it to sign off on the paperwork so they can't pull the old 'nothing to do with us trick' even if you fill it out and pay the fee. At the very least it'll show them you're not bluffing - hopefully you'll get a replacement.