Need some help/advice from people in the UK.

Really at my wits end here and dont know what to do.

To cut a (Very) long story short on 29th May Dell agreed to replace my xps M1710 laptop following a series of problems that they seemingly couldnt fix - I was told this would take 5-10 days.

12 days later I called as I hadnt heard anything, was told it would be with me in 2-3 days.

2-3 days later i called and was told they didnt know why it hasnt come yet.

I then called every day or so untill I finally managed to speak to a manager who advised me the manager of the person who agreed the swap would call me back (A guy called Raafik).

He called me back and told me there was a delay on parts and I should have the laptop for 2nd July (Think this was around June 20th). He also gave me an address to write to complain (Head office in bracknell), which I did and havent had a reply to.

I have now called technical support again today (and was asked what happened when i switched the machine on.. lol) and they told me i need to speak to customer care on monday...

So its now 44 days and I dont know what to do.. Do I have any rights here? Is there anyone who can help me? Anyone in bracknell got a baseball bat and mind inflicting some corporate violence... ?

 

Hi,
It really depends on what you want to do.
Do you want to wait until Dell finally get their act together and send the replacement, could be tomorrow, could be next month.
If you really must have that XPS then that's your only option.

If you think you have had it with waiting then you are entitled to a refund as Dell could not supply a working machine within a reasonable time.
Quite how to go about getting the refund is another matter.
I would write to Dell again (signed for delivery) stating that "time is of the essence" for a replacement/refund giving them 7 days to comply and pointing out that after this time you will be starting proceedings in the small claims court to retrieve your initial outlay plus costs.

It seems you have nothing to lose.
Good luck.

 

Hi mate,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I would, to be perfectly blunt, never like to own anything Dell make ever again, and would love to have my money back.

The problem I guess is that the computer is around two years old, so I didnt think I would really be entitled to a refund of my money?

This isnt the first problem I have had with Dell, the posts are gone now but I did post here the first time I had problems (when they took the machine in to repair it despite my on-site warranty, subsequently lost it, then took a month to make me a replacement - should have known better and asked for my money back then). also had the video card replaced twice and the power adapter replaced once..

 

OK,
I should have paid closer attention to the model number.
In your shoes, I would keep on calmly pestering Dell until I got the replacement whilst making a mental note to myself that I was gonna ebay it straight away to hopefully get a good portion of the money back and to be free from Dell forever, never to return, Amen.

 

Under the Sale of Goods Act, you're entitled to a refund (from the retailer) if something isn't of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. This is something of a grey area - but, especially given previous problems - you could argue that the laptop should (esp given price) not have given you so many problems in the first two years.

However, legal action's never especially quick. It's *possible* that Dell will pay up sharp-ish when they see a summons from the small claims court, but they may not do this, either due to wanting to fight this in court, or incompetence. Mentioning the Sale of Goods Act to retailers sometimes motivates them to act - though tbh I would suspect that many Dell call centre staff won't even know what this is.

The tl;dr version is - speak to a local Trading Standards or Citizen's Advice Bureau. They should be able to advise you on what your rights are and what you can do - and perhaps even to contact Dell on your behalf.

 

That's good advice from Jon M, I'd also like to add that the 12 months warranty is a manufacturers guarantee and is in addition to your statutory rights. The sale of goods act now states that the retailer is responsible for the product lasting a reasonable amount of time,depending on what it is and how much it cost. How long a period that would be considered reasonable would be for a court judge to decide but up to 6 years wouldn't be out of the question.
See below:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html