Feel so let down by a major store I trusted.

[Landladyissues]

In December last I thought the time had come to buy a new laptop. There is a major High Street Department store I trust, in Oxford Street. I have a shoulder impingement so can't carry, and am getting on a bit, added to which I don't know much about computers so I waited until my daughter could come with me to help choose. The ASUS laptop I chose wasn't in stock but needed to be picked up from my local associated supermarket. And I picked it up on January 2nd. My daughter set it up a few days later. It seemed fine. But I noticed that the hinge guard popped out if the screen was beyond a certain angle. In fact, when I looked at the laptop from the side, it looks as though the hinge isn't properly in line. I told daughter and she said it should be under warranty. I had a virus that hit me for 6 in February and I planned to take it back to Oxford Street hoping to exchange it, possibly for a sturdier model. But couldn't do this alone. Eventually, last week, after weekends of daughter not being available, I called the store and was told it was out of warranty - the warranty only lasted a month. I was kept an hour on the phone as the adviser kept asking me to hold as he spoke with his manager. As a 'concession' he agreed to take the laptop away for repair - but that I would have to save everything on it and he had no idea how long I'd be without a laptop. I spoke with some friends who know laptops and they said that they felt the laptop was sub-standard. But I can't really fight my corner and I can't last without a laptop. I complained but got nowhere. The laptop works so I suppose I'd just better live with it. But next time with electrical appliances, I'll use Curry's!!

Am my expectations unreasonable.

The consumer rights act is between you and the retailer, a warranty is something given to you by a manufacturer separately to your consumer rights. The retailer is the body that you report warranty claims to in the first instance as for most products there isn’t a physical shop for that brand. Eg, if you buy an LG TV, there isn’t an LG shop you can walk in to for service, so you would go back to where you purchased it from. You can however go on the LG website and ask for repair / service directly if you don’t want to go via retailer.

The retailer has a responsibility to provide a repair within the first year, or a refund within the first month for defective products. There isn’t a timeframe set out by which they have to complete that service, and as mentioned upthread it is likely the product gets sent abroad to fix so takes weeks. As long as the retailer has provided that service, whether you feel the timeframe is reasonable or not, they aren’t in breach of the consumer rights act. If you prefer a refund for the goods, you can ask for this instead. However, it’ll be partial - pro rata, so usually (product cost divided by 6 years which is how long you’re covered for, minus the length you had the product for).

I doubt Curry’s will be any better

I have bought multiple laptops from John Lewis including Asus ones, in the past and I had issues with 2 of them. One was dd2's and they gave her another laptop to use whilst hers was being repaired (she was at university).

You have Consumer Rights for 6 years in England. It’s often easier to use this than your warranty, which seems not to be worth the paper it was written on. Even if you bought a secondhand item you still have legal rights, if the item is not of satisfactory quality, unusable or not as described. In your case your rights are even stronger as your laptop is under 6 months. Citizens Advice Bureau have an online tool to help you: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/return-faulty-goods/ .

It’s worth sending a strongly worded email to their customer service department, stating how they are contravening your legal rights and detailing the rigamarole they’ve put you through. Customer advisors in the store are often unaware of this, and they’re not paid at a salary level to care.

And if you still don’t have any joy (which shouldn’t be the case) right them an open complaint letter on Twitter. You won’t get sued OP, can you imagine the PR on that? “Major retailer sues woman for openly complaining about faulty product”. It’s not worth the reputational risk or the salaries of the employees that would have to deal with it.

I am really worried about JL - I was such a faithful, trusting shopper - since 1983 when I moved to North London and discovered Brent Cross. Then I moved to Surrey but there was the cake and coffee freebies, which always drew me back - either to Bluewater or Oxford Street - but the benefits have reduced in recent years, and the tech support didn't feel like support at all. Had I known when I bought the computer that the 'real guarantee' only lasted a month, I wouldn't have bought the laptop from them. But I picked it up on 2nd January. A few weeks later I went down with the worst winter virus I've ever had. I didn't realise that there was an issue (and didn't look that carefully). I have a permanent shoulder problem - which means that for carrying larger items I rely on my daughter - also she is tech-savvy - I'm not. And she wasn't free to sort it out for me. I'm expected to download everything that's on it (where to?), take it back to JL, and wait an unknown period - at least weeks I am told - while they try to sort it out for me. It's all too much. Like I say, Curry's is only a few miles away! I feel like such a twerp!!

We bought some chairs at JL earlier this year which we then needed to return.....the palaver involved was unbelievable. Really put me off and normally I love them.

Really great advice from all you guys - no, Curry's might not be better, but they would be cheaper - and closer for me to return. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the rigmarole.

Hi there

Someone asked if they thought I was returning an unwanted product - what I great point - but no, they couldn't have - because they kept talking about repairs. When they talked about repairing a product which has a bit that seems to be broken I would have thought they realised that this wasn't an unwanted product - in fact, it is so 'wanted' - well a laptop is wanted - not one that seems to be of not great quality - that I can't really go without it. 😪

John Lewis are normally amazing at laptop warranty. My screen got water damage at 2 years (my fault) and they just gave me a brand new MacBook

In terms of downloading things to back them up that’s really not an out of order request from the shop. Any electricals data must be customer backed up. Eg do you use an external hard drive to back up or the iCloud? Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of backing up or don’t do it?!?!

John Lewis offers a standard 2-year guarantee on all computing, tablets, phones, gaming, and wearable technology, including ASUS laptops, with some models potentially offering a 3-year guarantee at no extra cost… from the site.

Should your product develop an issue, we suggest you save your data first. Then you can find a solution using our troubleshooting guide or the manufacturer’s handbook.
If you cannot find a solution, you can call our technical support team. Call tel:03301230106 0330 123 0106, 8am - 9pm weekdays, 8am - 8pm Saturdays and 10am - 6pm Sundays (call charges will depend on your telephone provider).
Have your model number, order number and date of purchase to hand when you call. You’ll find all of this information on your original receipt - this acts as your guarantee, so please make sure you keep it safe.
In some cases you may also be asked for the product’s serial number. We’ll help you find it when you call.
If we can't repair your product, we'll replace it with the same model, or a model with an equivalent specification, in a small number of cases this may be a manufacturer approved refurbished or a remanufactured unit. If no equivalent product is available, we'll either offer you the nearest equivalent specification or its selling price value refunded on a John Lewis E-gift card. The maximum refund will be the price you paid. Regardless, we'll always do our best to make sure you're satisfied with the outcome.

Our services
We will provide guarantee service through one of the following options:
If you call our technical support team, they’ll ask you to use one of the following services to send your product for repair:
Carry-in – We may ask that you return your faulty item to your nearest John Lewis branch
Collection – For certain brands, we may offer a free of charge home collection and redelivery repair service.
Mail-in – For certain brands or product types, we may send you prepaid packaging and instructions on how to properly pack and send your faulty product for repairs.Instructions may be sent to you by email or in hard copy with the packaging material. Once the service is complete, our authorised service technician will return your product to you. We’ll pay for shipping to and from your location if all packaging instructions were followed correctly.
Manufacturer - We may refer you directly to the manufacturer if the product is of a specialist nature, is linked to an account/membership scheme, or where an enhanced service is offered.

What your guarantee doesn't cover
Accidental damage – For example if your laptop, tablet or phone has been dropped, or has liquid damage. You may find that this type of damage is covered by your household contents insurance policy, or if you have purchased our additional Protect Plus coverage for your product.
Repair costs caused by external factors such as computer viruses, faulty software, fire, theft, and weather (including lightning damage).
Repair costs caused by the failure to follow the manufacturer's general care, maintenance instructions and installation guidelines.
Failure due to an incorrect or abnormal electrical supply or signal lead connection, defects in external wiring or in the electrical connection not forming part of the product covered.
Image ghosting or screen burn – These can appear on a screen that's left operating for a prolonged period with a still image.
Pixel spots – These are tiny dark or bright spots that may become visible on a screen.
Consumables such as external storage cards, games and applications.
If the product has been used commercially (personal use for business is covered).
Data loss – We do not warrant, represent or undertake that we will be able to repair or replace any product under this guarantee, without the risk to and loss of information and data stored on the device.
Cosmetic damage such as scratches, dents, corrosion or colour, where the function of the product is unaffected.
Any loss suffered as a result of not being able to use the product, or any loss over and above the purchase price of the original item.
Servicing, inspecting or cleaning of the product, and failure to follow the manufacturer's instructions and installation guidelines.
Deliberate damage or neglect of the product.
3rd party applications – Certain smart devices can run 3rd party applications, these 3rd party content providers may alter, remove or stop supporting these apps at any time, and therefore we cannot guarantee an app's availability.

Next time buy direct from Dell. When ds's laptop broke while under warranty, they sent someone to us to repair it within 2 days.

So there was no 30 day warranty - that’s just consumer law they have to comply with.

Now the 30 days have passed, you have to give them the opportunity to repair or replace the product. But key thing is that the law presumes the product was already faulty and it’s for the retailer to prove that the fault wasn’t there at the time.

If you don’t want a repair then insist on a new replacement as per your rights.

Did you take any pictures of the faulty hinge at the time you discovered the fault. If so, let them know this as it will deter them from trying to claim that the fault newly developed and was caused by your own lack of care with the product.

Also stop calling and start putting everything in writing by email to them so you can track your communications should you need to take this further.

You’ll need to act soon though, as after 6 months passes it’ll be much more difficult to get a good resolution under your consumer rights

OP, a useful site about warranties and consumer rights here from Citizen’s Advice Bureau
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/claim-using-a-warranty-or-guarantee/

I don’t have good advice op but commiserating as I too bought an asus laptop and it was broken right out of the box.

This. Mention the Consumer Rights Act. It says something like a product should last for a ‘reasonable’ period of time, regardless of warranty. No one would think 1 month is reasonable for a laptop. Martin Lewis has a great podcast about it and I think there’s a
lot of information on his website too.

you are really behind the times buying from a high street store. Curry’s would be even worse. Buy online eg Amazon or direct from the manufacturer eg direct from Dell as has been suggested.

Are you confusing their return process with the warranty? Maybe it’s a month for returning the item, which they thought you wanted to do and had missed the deadline?

the website says
2 year guarantee included

So I guess them repairing it is part of that?

John Lewis used to be great but the customer service is terrible now

The one month is where you can do a straightforward return to store and get a refund, I bought an expensive kettle recently and it was one month to return and after that it could involve a repair under the warranty.

After retiring I worked a Christmas season for John Lewis.
It broke the magic spell for me.

Grace bros would be proud.

It doesn't matter what the store's 'policy' is - a product should be fit for purpose. However, I think you should have notified the shop as soon as you noticed, even if you couldn't return it then. How would the shop know whether the damage was there when you bought it?

I bought a smart TV from John Lewis a couple of years ago. I chose them as they offered 5 year warranty. Never again. The TV has been crap and JL customer service woeful.

It's pretty bloody obvious from the information the OP has provided.

It's faulty so they need to repair or replace it. The only thing is that if was reconditioned you need to read the Ts and Cs carefully. They've offered to repair so I'd let them.