PowerCity - new laptop, stops working

ITFarmer

Hi All,

I purchased a laptop computer from PowerCity.

The computer was used very little.

About two months after purchase date the laptop stops working - won't boot up into Windows 8.

I go back to the PowerCity shop to see if they can help me. After a number of times calling into the shop they suggest to send the laptop for repair.

I get in contact with PowerCity to find out what is happening and they tell me it will cost me €157 to repair the laptop or €97 to get the laptop returned un-repaired.

The repair centre (Toshiba, UK) state that the Operating System is damaged.

PowerCity believe I do not have the right to a free repair, refund or replacement.

I genuinely did not the cause the fault.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Tippex

ITFarmer wrote: »

Hi All,

I purchased a laptop computer from PowerCity.

The computer was used very little.

About two months after purchase date the laptop stops working - won't boot up into Windows 8.

I go back to the PowerCity shop to see if they can help me. After a number of times calling into the shop they suggest to send the laptop for repair.

I get in contact with PowerCity to find out what is happening and they tell me it will cost me €157 to repair the laptop or €97 to get the laptop returned un-repaired.

The repair centre (Toshiba, UK) state that the Operating System is damaged.

PowerCity believe I do not have the right to a free repair, refund or replacement.

I genuinely did not the cause the fault.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I may be wrong on this one but I would believe that any warranty would be for the hardware of the laptop only and not the OS. However I would totally argue the fact of the €97 fee to get it back that's scandalous.

Big C

Typical power city after sales service (non service),

allthedoyles

Try to repair yourself - by switching on and continuously hitting F8 until you reach black menu screen .

Then follow on-screen instructions

Bepolite

allthedoyles wrote: »

Try to repair yourself - by switching on and continuously hitting F8 until you reach black menu screen .

Then follow on-screen instructions

I'm not sure if his arms are long enough.

There's not much you can do unfortunately. It's unlikely Toshiba are lying and sans dishonesty it's probable that they can (just about) justify the repair cost. Pretty poor service all around in not getting you to go through trouble shooting in the first instance.

foggy_lad

Bepolite wrote: »

I'm not sure if his arms are long enough.

There's not much you can do unfortunately. It's unlikely Toshiba are lying and sans dishonesty it's probable that they can (just about) justify the repair cost. Pretty poor service all around in not getting you to go through trouble shooting in the first instance.

Many of the cowboy repair centres used by the likes of acer toshiba etc will state customer damage or other obscure nonsense to get extra money from the customer because they get paid so little for warranty repairs.

Any reputable repair centre would reinstall the operating system and return the laptop free.

JimsAlterEgo

assuming the laptop came with windows 8, then surely its not fit for purpose and they need to repair the OS.

worded

Will Toshiba uk not guide you through a reinstall of win 8 ?
Ask them to help u just start the process

Kensington

Ask them for an itemised breakdown of the €97 charge, and how exactly they felt entitled to levy you that charge without first advising you and second demanding you must now pay for it before they will return the laptop.

MarkR

Were you advised about possible charges beforehand? If it was a software problem that could have been resolved by reinstalling the operating system, then I can see why the repair centre would be charging for doing it.

Did you call Toshiba to trouble shoot the problem before you sent it in?

Bepolite

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

assuming the laptop came with windows 8, then surely its not fit for purpose and they need to repair the OS.

A car comes with tyres, if you drive over a bed of nails you can expect the person who sold you the car to be responsible. Unfortunately people do cause software issues, usually without even knowing they're doing it.

worded wrote: »

Will Toshiba uk not guide you through a reinstall of win 8 ?
Ask them to help u just start the process

You're the second person that hasn't twigged he's already sent it to Toshiba and the laptop is now in the UK. Am I missing something?

Kensington wrote: »

Ask them for an itemised breakdown of the €97 charge, and how exactly they felt entitled to levy you that charge without first advising you and second demanding you must now pay for it before they will return the laptop.

They're going to be easily able to justify €97 on courier costs and an inspection charge. While I agree it's terrible service I'm not sure there is much the OP can do.

ITFarmer

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

A lot of insightful and varying opinions.

It opens up the debate as to who is responsible for a software fault in a home computer.

How do you separate a genuine software fault from a user generated software fault?

Bepolite

ITFarmer wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

A lot of insightful and varying opinions.

It opens up the debate as to who is responsible for a software fault in a home computer.

How do you separate a genuine software fault from a user generated software fault?

No one is liable for 'genuine software faults' it would create an environment where no one could ever release software. You agree to this when you agree to any EULA (End User License Agreement).

You also have the issue of deciding what is a genuine fault - is it because two applications interacted with each other, is that genuine? Is it because you got a virus? There are very few scenarios that I would lay the fault at the door of the manufacturer.

All this said, anyone with half a brain cell should have told you to wipe the machine and start fresh, or at least told you to go through troubleshooting. While I'm sure you were perfectly polite and the agent you dealt with a Muppet it does illustrate why a bit of give and take is sometimes needed in exercising ones consumer rights.

My only advice is to write to Powercity and explaining the situation and hoping someone thinks the same as I that you got bad service. Posting on their Facebook if they have one is always a good move too.

skinny90

I agree with the above...typically this can happen from the user side from installing software or mistakenly deleting an important file.unless it's a hdd error it could be repaired free of cost
As for the charge I'd investigate that.id love to know there legal stance for not keeping the laptop should you refuse to pay the 97 quid
What software had you installed did you or a friend install any software ?

ITFarmer

Just to let everyone know how the story ended:

I went to the small claims court.

Power City and I came to an agreement to go 50 : 50. That is, just for the cost of returning the un-repaired laptop. The cost of getting the un-repaired laptop returned was €97. Hence I paid 50% of the cost and Power City paid the other 50%.

When I got the laptop back I just installed a new operating system (Ubuntu) and the laptop is working grand now.

No Pants

I'd consider software support to be actually fixing the software issue and reinstalling the entire operating system as hardware support.

petes

No Pants wrote: »

I'd consider software support to be actually fixing the software issue and reinstalling the entire operating system as hardware support.

I wouldn't. The OS is software. Re-installing it is re-installing software. Nothing wrong with the hardware in this instance.

No Pants

petes wrote: »

I wouldn't. The OS is software. Re-installing it is re-installing software. Nothing wrong with the hardware in this instance.

Reinstalling the OS can be the first stage in software support and most PC manufacturers will insist on it being done where possible.

I would not consider putting in a CD and running it as software support.