Comet extended warranty and oncall service

[SOAS1961]

Hi. When I bought my laptop I purchased the extended 3 year warranty which is something I normally never do. A few weeks back it 'died' on me and wouldn't start so took it to Comet who to be fair were helpful and polite.

 

I've now received a letter from Oncall Service who carryout the repairs for Comet to say they've replaced the hard drive but need to reinstall the operating system and to send the recovery disks. If I don't have any then I can purchase a set from the manufacturer, have the computer returned as it is or buy the MS Windows 7 Home Premium for £149.99.

 

I phoned Comet and all they said was 'Why didn't you make a copy of the operating system when you bought the machine. Everyone knows you should do that'. I said that I certainly didn't know and that no-one at Comet advised me to do so when I bought the Laptop. Also Toshiba don't supply recovery disks - see the following :-

Toshiba (from mid-2007) no longer supply recovery disks with new laptops. They do provide a hidden recovery partition called the HDD Recovery Utility. This is accessed by pressing and holding the 0 (zero) key on the keyboard and then pressing the computer's power switch. This process is described in How to use the Toshiba HDD Recovery Utility .

You can order Toshiba Recovery disks from

You can subsequently use the Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator (supplied with Vista Toshibas) to create recovery disks. Toshiba also have a Toshiba Product Recovery Forum .

 

Bit of advice required please. I know the insurance covered the hardware and not software but seeing as it was their hardware that failed and had to be replaced thereby losing the software surely that should be covered by the insurance as it wasn't the software that failed?

 

Any thoughts or ideas please?

[rebel11]

Hi So

 

There is a Comet Rep on this site that can look into the matter for you.

[SOAS1961]

Hi thanks for that but how do I find him on here please?

[Guest Comet Response]

Hi. When I bought my laptop I purchased the extended 3 year warranty which is something I normally never do. A few weeks back it 'died' on me and wouldn't start so took it to Comet who to be fair were helpful and polite.

 

I've now received a letter from Oncall Service who carryout the repairs for Comet to say they've replaced the hard drive but need to reinstall the operating system and to send the recovery disks. If I don't have any then I can purchase a set from the manufacturer, have the computer returned as it is or buy the MS Windows 7 Home Premium for £149.99.

 

I phoned Comet and all they said was 'Why didn't you make a copy of the operating system when you bought the machine. Everyone knows you should do that'. I said that I certainly didn't know and that no-one at Comet advised me to do so when I bought the Laptop. Also Toshiba don't supply recovery disks - see the following :-

Toshiba (from mid-2007) no longer supply recovery disks with new laptops. They do provide a hidden recovery partition called the HDD Recovery Utility. This is accessed by pressing and holding the 0 (zero) key on the keyboard and then pressing the computer's power switch. This process is described in How to use the Toshiba HDD Recovery Utility .

You can order Toshiba Recovery disks from

You can subsequently use the Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator (supplied with Vista Toshibas) to create recovery disks. Toshiba also have a Toshiba Product Recovery Forum .

 

Bit of advice required please. I know the insurance covered the hardware and not software but seeing as it was their hardware that failed and had to be replaced thereby losing the software surely that should be covered by the insurance as it wasn't the software that failed?

 

Any thoughts or ideas please?

 

Hi SOAS1961

 

I was concerned to learn of the problems you have experienced with your recent laptop repair. The software with the laptop comes preloaded and on start up it recommends and advises the user to back up the software, incase a fault occurs in the future and reboot is required. Unfortunately, when a fault occurs, we would assume that the customer has followed the instructions as recommended to avoid losing relevant software and files. As you have been advised, the extra care service plans we offer do only cover for hardware faults,

 

So that I can look into this issue for you, I would request that you e-mail me with your details (name, address and job number) on the link provided below.

 

http://comet.custhelp.com/app/ask/

 

So that I can link your e-mail to your above post, please also quote the reference number "143012"

 

Thanks

 

 

Chris from Comet.

[SOAS1961]

Thanks Chris. E-mail has now been sent and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future

[Yorky2008]

the extra care service plans we offer do only cover for hardware faults,

 

 

If they replaced the HD doesnt that suggest it as faulty? NOt the software?

 

SOAS - Usually there is a MS sticker under the laptop with your OS licence number on it. When i have had laptops rebuilt before the repairer has their own disks and just inputs the licence number which proves you had a valid copy before. Ask them to do that.

 

Yorky

[SOAS1961]

Ah Yorky. Good suggestion but slight problem with that. In their wisdom they put the sticker on the bottom of the laptop and these days its not protected by plastic so if you do as the name of the product suggest and use it on your lap it eventually wears away the licence number!!! I suggest that eveeryone checks their laptop and covers the sticker with some sellotape or perhaps clear nail varnish to avoid the same thing happening to them.

Glad you're on same wavelength as me though and that as it was the HD that was faulty thereby rendering the software useless they should replace the software.