Dead laptop - options?

[DDY]

Exploding laptops seems to be a common occurrence these days.

My much loved Dell Vostro 1400 :


Could I get Dell to repair this machine without charge even though it's passed the 1 year warranty period? I've only had it for 15 months, a short life, am I covered under the Sale of Goods act?

The laptop is also insured by Endsleigh but I'm unfamiliar with the insurance process. From what I understand, the laptop needs to be valued and I'll be given a replacement based on that, however I'm concerned about the possibility of being given a new laptop with an inferior spec.

What should I do?

[mac124]

I seriously doubt Dell will honour the warranty 3 months after its run out, 3 days and you might have argued the point, any idea of how many hours use it has had? Could try yes its 15 months old but i have only used it a few hours a week??

[Champman99]

The Sale of Goods act means you have to proove the product was defective at the moment it left the factory, that it was very likely to feel within the protected 6 year period.

Unless its a very well documented fault that almost everyone experiences, you are out of luck,

At least thats how I understood it. Could always try.

[DDY]

Unfortunately, it turns out my insurance policy doesn't include manufacture defects, I won't be able to prove otherwise so I guess I'm £600 down... Sigh, guess I should have took out extended warranty, oh well, lesson learned, won't be making that mistake again!

Or I could chuck the machine down some stairs or leave it out in the rain, claim for accidental damage

Anyway, managed to bag a Dell outlet Latitude E6400, C2D 2.7GHz, 4GB, Quadro 160M, 3 year warranty for only £600

[filbert]

I'd get on to Dell and say your not happy, I had a cheap tv from ebuyer, only had 12 month warranty, went faulty after 15 months so I contacted ebuyer said I don't think it should have gone faulty so soon, they collected it, repaired it, and delivered back all for free.

[alsenior]

give dell a ring i would expect a laptop to last around 3 years. warranty is one thing but the sales of goods act states that good should be able to last a reasonable amount of time. 15 months for a laptop is unreasonable. if the rep tries to fob you of just escalate the call to a supervisor

[DDY]

Update.

I got in touch with Dell wast week who (I think) agreed to repair my Vostro for free, however they decided to arrange a collection without even asking when I'd be free! Dell called me earlier; "Citylink will be over on Tuesday to pick up your machine, don't include batteries, cables charges, etc, kthxbye", well, words to that effect anyway.

In other news, my brand new Dell Outlet Latitude E6400 has arrived, pretty neat looking machine, a bargain for little cosmetic damage it has suffered.

[mightymouse]

you are lucky. i guess it goes to show no lost in asking. at least now you can recoup some of the money paid for the newer laptop hehe

[DDY]

Update!

Got my Vostro back this morning in working condition , the motherboard was replaced and because I wiped the HDD the OS was re-installed too.

All without costing me a penny!

I have to say, great service on Dells part. I expected some resistance while requesting a repair since its warranty had expired but that was not the case at all, after only two emails a repair job was underway .

From my experience I can offer this bit of advice; if your machine dies after the warranty period for no good reason, invoke the SoGA!

[mac124]

Result, nice one mate.