Is this stealing?

[WittiestUsernameEver]

Keeping this a little vague (because I need to know if I should follow this up)

If you handed your laptop
(but not charger) to a Repair Company to fix, and they sent it away for you under warranty to the manufacturer and the device was declared beyond economic repair. Manufacturer send out an equivalent laptop that is the same spec or higher, but different model. Repair Company sets up the new laptop for you and hands the new device to you without the charger. (Both devices use the same rated charger)

Would you expect Repair Company to give you the replacement charger that was in the box? Or is it okay for Repair Company to keep the new charger for their own as you still have your original charger that works perfectly with your new laptop?

I agree with the OP, whether she is the customer or works in the shop.

I don't need to read anyone else's posts.

Even when you discover that the OP works for the repair shop? So she never lost a charger?

The point still stands. The repair shop doesn't own the charger.

How are you not getting this?

Why would you want two identical chargers? We have a drawer full of them. I think they were doing you a favour.

The charger is YOURS. There is no way the repair shop should be keeping it. YOU paid for the original laptop, the warranty is yours, therefore all goods replaced under the warranty are yours. There is no other way of looking at it that is correct.

This.
I'm not sure why a shop would open a brand new sealed box to take the charger and then give the customer the rest.
If you had a charger at home and bought a brand new laptop you'd expect a charger in it, wouldn't you? Regardless of what you had at home. The laptop was bust to the degree that it could not be repaired. Under the warranty the customer gets a whole new unit inclusive of charger.
Surely it's just an insurance? If your car got written off and you got a new one you wouldn't expect them to take off your tyres and say your old ones are fine.

It’s not theft because the company haven’t dishonestly appropriated the property from you, you’ve given it them as part of the repair. It’s a civil dispute, not a Police matter.

It’s not theft. There was no dishonest appropriation. It’s a civil dispute.

therefore all goods replaced under the warranty are yours

Ignoring the fact that she works for the shop, the charger wasn't replaced under the warranty, the original owner still has that. If the owner had handed it in with the laptop you'd be correct, but it wasnt. The owner hasn't lost anything.

Op I agree with you. The customer should be given everything in the box.

The customer may have bought a new charger to see if that was the issue before taking the laptop to be repaired. So why would they then hand over the recently bought charger? It would possibly go missing.

To then have the new laptop box opened & included charger removed would be out of order.

I would want the new laptop package sent to my home address. This would negate the issue of the shop opening it and helping themselves to a nice new charger for their own benefit.

Yes it was replaced under warranty. It has nothing to do with whether the buyer still has the original charger or not. EVERYTHING was replaced under warranty, per the terms of her warranty. The ENTIRE REPLACEMENT GOODS belong to the original purchaser. How do you not get that?! Jesus wept.

To me it would just depend what the T&Cs say.

Some repair/replacements exclude peripheral items and normally state the hardware is supplied without it.

If there was nothing stating this then it would be reasonable for them to give it.

Some people, myself included, wouldn't want another charger if they had a perfectly working one at home. If people aren't routinely complaining about it then I'd say it's not an issue

No it isn't theft.
You didn't hand in your old charger so why should you get a replacement? If they gave you a new charger you would be better off than you were before. You have been put in exactly the same position as when this began.
You may want to rethink your priorities about your sense of entitlement and the real problems that many people face

Why should the repair shop get it?!

Why should the owner get it?

The owner took a laptop in under warranty not a laptop, peripherals and charger.

The laptop singularly was the item returned under warranty and was replaced under warranty. It is nothing what so ever to do with the customer what the transaction is between the manufacturer and the shop as part of the warranty scheme (agreed contract, between the shop and the manufacturer).

Most manufacturers under these circumstances will send a complete box out as they do not carry Individual replacement units and most manufacturers will expect things like the charger will be used for further warranty claims by the repair centre.

The owner of the laptop only sent a single laptop and received a single laptop as part of the warranty agreement. I suggest you prove where in the warranty it states that the owner will receive freebies or extras. 😂

I would expect the charger. I tend to do things directly with the manufactor and everytime something was replaced it came with the cables/chargers etc... Under warranty, I once sent off my Dell laptop that needed a repair, they sent me a new one with charger. When my Nintendo DS broke and was sent off, was also replaced with charger. When my Skullcandy headphones broke, they were replaced with all the cables. When my Ipod touch broke, it was replaced with the charger. So yes, I would expect the charger with the laptop.

there's no agreed contract .
Had the customer filled out exactly the same form (it's an online form anyone in the world access) then the complete package with charger would have been sent to customer instead of the shop and the customer would have received the charger. But because it got sent to the shop, the shop decided to steal keep the charger that was sent.

Fine.

I just don't believe that you or anyone wouldn't question it or would like this if it happened to you. Like if they said, "Oh hello Mrs Customer. yes, here's your brand new sealed laptop replaced under warranty. Now, we're just going to open it up and take this lovely new charger out, so we can sell it in our shop to other customers... Thanks!"

But most people seem to think this is absolutely fine. 🤷‍♀️

It looks like theft to me, though possibly from the manufacturer rather than the customer. The manufacturer has sent a unit with the “extra” charger for the customer. That they didn’t have to do so and that the customer isn’t entitled to the extra charger under the warranty is neither here nor there. The manufacturer have done it anyway. The repair company isn’t entitled to intercept it and take it for their own - they have no claim to it.

As above, the repair shop is selling chargers they never paid for, neither the customer or the manufacturer have a reason to finance the repair shop's stock!

The transaction is between the customer and the manufacturer, the latter have decided that it's cheaper to replace the whole unit as they won't be set up for removing chargers, packaging them individually and so on, so if you get in touch with them directly they's send you the complete pack. At no point are they giving free chargers to the repair shop!
And by using the shop, the customer is actually recieving less than what the manufacturer has decided to give people having issues with their product

I have to repeat it for the sake of it: If the original laptop is ‘unfixable’, there are possible scenarios where the customer’s original charger may be part of the problem, may have been affected by the problem, may have caused a problem and I think the new charger is therefore meant to go to the customer to cover all possibilities. I don’t know what brand computer is involved here, but an apple macbook ownbrand charger and cable is worth over 100 these days so if it were this, I doubt the company is just giving them to the repair store for free, more likely they are meant for the customer.

If the OP knows for sure there's no agreement between the manufacturer and repair shop that they shouldn't be keeping the charger, then she should approach the manufacturer with her concerns, if she's worried the shop is stealing from customers. It's impossible for any of us to know what agreement exists between the manufacturer and the shop owner.

It wouldn't imagine it would be that unusual for a manufacturer of a tech product to just replace the damaged part and not look to make the customer in a better position than they were originally. After all, their business model isn't exactly based on ensuring the longevity of a product, but wanting to sell consumers a new upgraded piece of kit every few years.

I agree with you OP.... they shouldn't be doing this.

Because this is AIBU and Mumsnet, posters are being obtuse, thinking you are the customer, and want to put you in your place by saying that this is all perfectly normal conduct.

It isn't.

Opening the box is wrong.
Taking the customers new charger is wrong.

Thank you!

You've said that twice now. Unless you're the repair shop how are you so sure?