Laptop sent back from repair prematurely

JustAddWater

As far back as October 16th I opened a support request with medion as my laptop was overheating and does not recognise the battery. I bought this laptop last year and is within the 3 year warranty. I spoke to medion and they said they cant obviously fix this over the phone so it needs to go for repair

I sent the laptop off through DPD around halloween week and towards the mid/end of november, I had heard absolutely nothing from them. I never even so much as heard they received my laptop

I logged into the medion support page, I would have assumed having all my details, in the 21st century, that even simple auto generated emails with status changes would be sent to me, keeping me informed. This was my biggest mistake! ... It seems that medion looked at my laptop and considered a new heatsink to not be included as it was "shows damages which have obviously been caused by inappropriate treatment" which I can safely say is not true (anyhow, this is not my issue)

medion added an invoice for me to accept and approve or reject for repair to be carried out. So, I tried on 2 laptops and I also tried using chrome, safari, FF etc and even tried standard adobe and foxit.... Nothing would open the PDF invoice. Adobe complained about the PDF being corrupt.... Great, now I needed support for the support!

I emailed medion anyway, and told them the situation. 3 days later, I got a reply stating that I need software in order to be able to open PDF files. This was after i clearly outlined the situation, even attaching a screenshot of adobe complaining about the corruption. I replied stating that, yes, I have adobe reader but no, I still can't open the PDF and 2 days later I was advised that they'd look into it and they'd arrange to have a fixed copy sent to me

Honestly, I don't agree to the charges but before disputing the charges I wanted to first see how much they were talking about and wanted to see what work was being done. Cant argue about an invoice I haven't seen!!!

So again, nothing from medion whatsoever for 10 days, not a peep, no invoice, no update, nothing... I sent them a very stern email on sunday outlining their blatant disregard for customers. The support itself was fine, but the complete lack of any kind of update, caused severe delays to me in getting my laptop back and was completely unacceptable. My laptop has been away since halloween and I have not even seen an invoice yet!!

So, no response to this as yet. I logged in today to see if I could see the invoice on an off chance it might have been fixed and guess what, it's working now. I thought, €60 for a replacement heatsink, it could be worse. Medion also state that it's £45 handling fee if you reject their invoice, so either way I would have to pay something

Today, almost 2 months after sending the laptop for repair, is the first day I have seen an invoice, and medion dont know that I have seen it yet

Here's the biggest kicker, on the invoice, it says no response by 10.12.12 is assumed to be a rejection and the laptop will be returned without repair with an invoice for the handling charge (£45)

Today, I get home and DPD left me a note to say my parcel (laptop) is in their depot at the red cow, for me to collect

To say I am :mad: furious with medion is an understatement!! I'm going to send them another email tomorrow once I have my laptop

Should I have to pay £45 handling fee? They never asked me or billed me for this yet.... What steps could I take now with them? Anyone been in a similar situation? I am going to demand they take it back and for all the cockups and hoops I went through, they should fix it for free. It's still under warranty first of all, and secondly, when someone says they can't see an invoice and is having trouble, maybe that is why they didnt respond to the invoice on time?!

It beggars belief that they'd do this, I have already told them how simple communication could have prevented all of this and had me and my laptop reunited happily, a long time ago. It really is basic, easy, support centre stuff that they really should not be getting wrong. Because of their complete incompetence, I now wont have this laptop repaired for christmas and all i'm going to get is "I'm sorry sir. It might happen again"

sorry for the rant and thanks for any advice!

Procrastastudy

Where was this purchased?

mathepac

LIDL/ALDI I'd guess.

Procrastastudy

mathepac wrote: »

LIDL/ALDI I'd guess.

That was my thoughts. Always, always, always go back to the retailer - thats who you have a contract with. The exception is if they've gone bust.

foggy_lad

Op the shop you bought the laptop from are legally obliged to sort it out for you. They can ask you to go through some other repair line or company but if you insist on dealing with them they must deal with you and organise any repairs etc.

JustAddWater

Yup it was aldi but from past experience, if its faulty, they're usually grand with a refund but I don't want a refund, I want my laptop working.

Ill forget I ever went to medion and head to aldi later!

Cork24

Under Irish law you gave a six year warrant on ur device tell them to send the laptop back, got into where I got it and state your case with them if no joy fill a court case with the small claims court

RoboRat

Under Irish law you gave a six year warrant on ur device tell them to send the laptop back, got into where I got it and state your case with them if no joy fill a court case with the small claims court

Is this a new special Irish law that nobody else has ever hear about?

OP, you don't have a 6 year warranty, you have what is referred to a reasonable life span on a product. This is generally adjudicated in the small claims court if consumer and retailer cant come to an agreement. It basically takes into account the purpose of the product and how long it should last in an average environment.. if you use it more than normal then it will obviously wear quicker.

You do however have a 3 year guarantee from the manufacturer so I would go back to Aldi, explain the situation but before you do so, you should back up all files as they may offer a replacement and they are within their rights to do so. If this isn't a runner and the damage was definitely not cause by you, then I would apply to the small claims court.

Cork24

RoboRat wrote: »

Is this a new special Irish law that nobody else has ever hear about?

OP, you don't have a 6 year warranty, you have what is referred to a reasonable life span on a product. This is generally adjudicated in the small claims court if consumer and retailer cant come to an agreement. It basically takes into account the purpose of the product and how long it should last in an average environment.. if you use it more than normal then it will obviously wear quicker.

You do however have a 3 year guarantee from the manufacturer so I would go back to Aldi, explain the situation but before you do so, you should back up all files as they may offer a replacement and they are within their rights to do so. If this isn't a runner and the damage was definitely not cause by you, then I would apply to the small claims court.

Across the European Union the minimum timeframe of protection afforded by your statutory rights is 2 years. In Ireland as the statute of limitations is 6 years it means you have the right to take a complaint against the retailer to the small claims court for example, within 6 years of purchase. Your consumer rights do diminish with time so that must be taken into account. In addition you have to take into account the expected life span of the product in question. Also, you do not have these rights if you damage or break something yourself.

RoboRat

Across the European Union the minimum timeframe of protection afforded by your statutory rights is 2 years. In Ireland as the statute of limitations is 6 years it means you have the right to take a complaint against the retailer to the small claims court for example, within 6 years of purchase. Your consumer rights do diminish with time so that must be taken into account. In addition you have to take into account the expected life span of the product in question. Also, you do not have these rights if you damage or break something yourself.

Having the right to take a complaint is not a warranty though.

It goes to the SCC and they make a judgement based on a case by case basis. You might win, you might not, you might only get partial compensation, so to say that you have a warranty for 6 years is incorrect.

The product must be of merchantable quality - that is what the SOGAS act is about. If someone buys a washing machine for example and is using it 4 times a day, every day and it breaks after 3 years, it doesn't mean the washing machine wasn't of merchantable quality much the same as if someone buys a laptop and has it on 24/7 downloading (I am not saying that the OP did this). Its all relative to the product versus use so SOGAS doesn't constitute a 6 year warranty.

Procrastastudy

Warranty, Guarantee, Statue of Limitations are all different and have legally defined meaning that aren't necessarily what the man on the street thinks they are. I'm afraid it's not correct to say that someone has a six, or even two year warranty on products due to legislation.

Cork24

Over in the PS3 Small claims Court Thread..

some people had their PS3 for 3 years others 5 etc etc, all took the shops to the SCC and won their case,

they didn't get the full amount back but enough so they could go and buy a PS3 without having the hand over 400 euros for it,

RoboRat

I'm afraid it's not correct to say that someone has a six, or even two year warranty on products due to legislation.

Exactly. Its all relative to the purpose and use of the product hence why it is dealt with on a case by case basis with the SCC. The key is reasonable timeframe, if you feel that the product didn't last a reasonable timeframe then go to the SCC but you have to be reasonable and understand that products don't last forever and will at some point fail.

some people had their PS3 for 3 years others 5 etc etc, all took the shops to the SCC and won their case,

They obviously had a good case or there was a known fault with the PS3 or they were just adjudged to be of lesser quality. It doesn't really matter though, just because you take a case doesn't mean you will win it so therefore it is not a 6 year warranty. It just means that you if you feel its not merchantable and it fails within a reasonable timeframe, you have the right to take it to the SCC and see if they agree.

Procrastastudy

5 years isn't uncommon for electrical items. However if Sony could show the thing had been on permanently for say, three years, they would have lost. Conversely if the customer could show it was hardly used they may suceed after 5 years and 364 days.

Theoretically they could succeed after a longer period as the SoL is only a defence - if it's not raised then its not raised.

Cork24

Also this time frame of six year will freeze if you buy 2 years warranty with a shop. Once your two year warranty is finished your six year time limit on goods wil come into effect, also with the EU law stating that eu citizens have a 2 year warranty on goods if you buy a two year warranty in a store..

As far as I'm aware that is added onto your 2 year EU warrant so your getting 4 years

Procrastastudy

Cork24 wrote: »

Also this time frame of six year will freeze if you buy 2 years warranty with a shop. Once your two year warranty is finished your six year time limit on goods wil come into effect, also with the EU law stating that eu citizens have a 2 year warranty on goods if you buy a two year warranty in a store..

As far as I'm aware that is added onto your 2 year EU warrant so your getting 4 years

I have tried to be polite but you couldn't be more mistaken about much of what you're saying. It's been discussed at length both here and in the Legal discussions forum. I suggest you do a search.

Have a look at the statute book. You need to read the Statute of Limitations (IIRC it's 1957), the Sale of Goods and supply of services act, and SI 11 of 2003 - again IIRC but it will be obvious which one it is.

foggy_lad

Cork24 wrote: »

Also this time frame of six year will freeze if you buy 2 years warranty with a shop. Once your two year warranty is finished your six year time limit on goods wil come into effect, also with the EU law stating that eu citizens have a 2 year warranty on goods if you buy a two year warranty in a store..

As far as I'm aware that is added onto your 2 year EU warrant so your getting 4 years

The statute of limitations covers the contract between retailer and consumer which starts when the item is purchased not when a manufacturer or bought warranty or guarantee ends.

RoboRat

Also this time frame of six year will freeze if you buy 2 years warranty with a shop. Once your two year warranty is finished your six year time limit on goods wil come into effect, also with the EU law stating that eu citizens have a 2 year warranty on goods if you buy a two year warranty in a store..

As far as I'm aware that is added onto your 2 year EU warrant so your getting 4 years

Sweet mother of Jesus... I am actually completely dumbfounded by this, its actually comical!

foggy_lad

RoboRat wrote: »

Sweet mother of Jesus... I am actually completely dumbfounded by this, its actually comical!

It is better to educate people who are unaware of their rights rather then to ridicule them.

RoboRat

It is better to educate people who are unaware of their rights rather then to ridicule them.

Read the thread, I have tried but to no avail.