LITTLEWOODS ONLINE:Laptop broke after just 3months!!

[LoopyLou22]

Hi All,

Advice really appreciated upon this:-

In August 2007 I bought a laptop from LW. By November it was broken!! (Something to do with the Harddrive being corrupt) Anyhow, rang LW who palmed me off from pillar to post before finally telling me that I could send it back, BUT, needed to speak to aftercare sales.

Rang aftercare sales only to be told NO, they won't refund but would fix. Naturally I didn't want this, they said that was what they would do end of bla bla!! Rang manufacturer, they would repair but, would not take back?!!

Stuck paying for a £600 laptop, ended up with over £100 in charges after initial refusal on my part to pay + paying for their useless insurance!!!

Can I do anything??? Be extremely grateful for any help or advice,

Many thanks for reading,

Jen

[dx100uk]

right i'll start guessing.

so this lappy was via a catalogue?

and you refused to pay because it went wrong outside of their initial returned period?

if they are late payment charges then the usual proceess of reclaiming them applies.

 

you speak of insurance... what insurance, if this is PPI then thats nothing to do with the lappy issue.

 

puzzled???????????

 

 

and a corrupted HDD would not normally be a return to manu anyway,

 

 

dx

 

 

see the faq's on the home page.

[LoopyLou22]

Hi DX,

 

Thanks for the reply

 

Sorry for confusion, got a bit muddled with writing!

Ok, the insurance is the extra care insurance that apparently covers all stuff I get from them. Yep, its a catalogue and I ordered the lappy online.

 

I've been with the catalogue comp for, umm, must be 8+years and have been a good payer etc etc

 

I started paying for the lappy on receipt of it in the August 2007. But, when it broke and I informed them it had broke I said I would not pay because I wanted to return. At this point I had had the lappy barely 3months.

 

I dunno about why I had to send back to manu, the lappy itself when I have turned on at the time basically referred to the HD being corrupt so thats what I told the Cat peeps yet they said to return to manu. I was told I could return by one person but, everybody thereafter said I couldn't return and I couldn't get any money I had paid back!

 

Best regards,

 

Jen

[LoopyLou22]

Bump,

 

Can anyone advise please? Would really appreciate some input,

 

thanks

 

Jen

[Bookworm]

Well, they lied to you and you should have stuck to your guns. Your contract is with l/woods, not the manufacturer, and it was up to l/woods to get it fixed. Where is the laptop now? Did you get it fixed or not, it is unclear from your post?

 

If the charges to which you refer are from refusing to pay/late payments, then you should reclaim them from them, see the FAQs and step-by-step in the bank charges section and follow as for credit card charges.

 

After 3 months of you using the laptop, it would be fair to say that you had accepted the laptop and they were therefore entitled to say they would fix it instead of taking it back.

 

It's difficult to know what to advise you as you only give us bits of the story.

 

So, tell us this:

Do you still have the laptop?

Did it get fixed?

Did you have to pay anything for it to get fixed?

Where is the laptop now?

Did you pay for it in full in the end?

 

Once we have the full story, we can advise better.

[LoopyLou22]

Hi Bookworm,

 

Sorry for confusion

 

Yep, I still have the laptop,

 

It hasn't been fixed,

 

Not paid out to get it fixed,

 

Laptop is at home relegated to the cupboard!

 

Not finished paying for it, have accrued over £100 in charges due to my refusal to pay

 

I did try and try with LW - not hard enough I realise But didn't know what more to do at the time

 

many thanks for input,

 

Jen

[Sol]

I know that if you had bought it outright you could claim a refund under the Sales of Goods Act, however, I'm not sure under credit. I would assume you'd still be able to return it and cancel the contract, in fact I'm almost sure you can.

[Bookworm]

Ok then that's simple enough.

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I purchased item [cat no] from you on [date]. The hard-drive failed on [date]. On contacting you, you repeatedly fobbed me off by saying I couldn't return it, that I had to contact the manufacturer etc...

 

I have now been made aware of my statutory rights under SOGA 1979 (as amended) and know that my contract is in fact with YOU, the retailer, and that it is YOUR responsability to repair, replace or refund this faulty laptop. Furthermore, as the laptop failed long before 6 months from purchase had passed, the item was deemed inherently faulty and the burden of proof lies with you should you wish to dispute this.

 

With this in mind, I expect you to arrange collection of the laptop and sending it off for repair at no cost to myself. Failing that, I will accept a replacement or refund.

 

Yours etc...

 

That's for the laptop part.

 

For the charges, let's be clear: You have actually made your position weaker by refusing to pay for the goods in full and unfortunately probably damaged your credit rating in so doing as the catalogue would have registered your refusal to pay with the CRAs. No matter, what's done is done. I don't know how much you still owe on the laptop, but I would suggest that you write a separate letter for the refunds of the charges and offer that the repayment be made against your account to go towards the payment of the laptop. If you read around the forum, you will find how to reclaim the charges and template letters, that's fairly straightforward. ;-)

 

Let us know what happens.

[LoopyLou22]

Hi Sol and Bookworm and thanks for the replies,

 

Many thanks for your help I will get the letter sent today and I'll send a separate letter over the charges. To tell you the truth, I really wish I'd found this site at the time as it would have helped immensely. Important thing is I've found it now and will certainly be, 'spreading the word' at how good it is

 

Many thanks again,

 

Jen

[LoopyLou22]

Will keep this thread updated

 

Jen

[Freakin' Out]

See my thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/retailers-high-street-line/179063-littlewoods-direct.html#post1960743 on Littlewoods Home shopping to find out the problem I had but in the end this is how I dealt with it

 

Send letters of complaint to these people outlining your problem and the ways you have tried to resolve it. Send all the letters recorded delivery

 

Mr Alistair McGeorge (Chief Executive Officer)

Mrs Susan Murray (Managing Director)

Mr Alan White (Financial Director)

Customer Services Manager

 

The first three named above were sent to

 

Littlewoods Shop Direct - Skyways house - Estuary Commerce Park - Speke Road - Speke - Liverpool - L70 1AB

 

The customer services one was sent to the normal address which is the Innovations Centre (address can be found online) and was only sent to them to let them know that I meant business.

Edited February 4, 2009 by Freakin' Out
to add a link to my post

[gilesdawe]

If you get any results from Littlewoods can you post a follow up here?

[Freakin' Out]

sorry - reply deleted as I thought you were referring to me - apologies