I was given a small laptop computer last Christmas and from the start it mis-behaved. It was taken back for repair twice and upon its return developed the same fault within minutes! We have a four year cover plan on the thing and when I phoned them today they gave me a phone number to call to obtain a recovery disc that would cost me £30 so that they could tell me what the fault was when I had installed it. It did not come with a recovery disc and has never worked well and for more than an hour ever. I am in a really bad mood now and would kill it if it were not dead already. I am usually a very placid rat but today I feel like biting someone! I am off to see the shop that sold it to us in the morning and think that I will stage a sit-in until I get a new replacement that actually works! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I wonder if they supply blood pressure tablets too. I just felt that I should share this with all of my forum pals.

Go for the jugular Petra If they won't change it, hang around the counter yelling about the poor service so no one else buys their goods
Bev.

Watch the Welsh news tomorrow! Actually watch Dragon's Eye tomorrow because Mr. Rat is on that. He will be the one with the white hair and beard who looks a bit like a panda!

We used to have a cat like that - we would take it to the vet to get vaccinated for one thing and it would end up getting something else. It got so thin that once the stuff in the needle flew out the other side of its neck! We had to put it to bed with hot water bottles and stuff. We called it 'that cat' and eventually it died. Maybe your laptop just needs a hot water bottle...

What on earth is Dragon's Eye???
Bev.

Is it the kids programme? Through the dragons eye? I think we watched that at school instead of living and growing. the song went - north and south, east and west, the quest, so save the life of pelemar or something..........through the dragons eye, and fly!!

Take your lunch, a folding chair and a book, it works a treat

Excellent idea Skylark. I don't think that the hot water bottle will do any good at all as it is dead and set hard, again! Dragon's Eye is not a children's programme but a current affairs thing on BBC Wales at 8.30 tomorrow, I think. If I survive the trip back to the shop with my laptop I'll watch it.

Well I did almost that! I went to my choir practice, that finished at eleven.twenty, and then drove the twenty minutes to the store. I have just returned home! I asked at the desk for somebody to complain to, with a nice smile of course, and they invited me to call the help lins from the store. I sat at a desk and spoke to one "helper" after another, a total of six in all, and got passed from pillar to post. I told the last two in my best stage lecturing voice, that I was in ++++++'s store in Bangor, sitting beneath a sign that read "We will fix or replace.......We will get an engineer to you within two working days" and than added, even more loudly that it wasn't happening! I was there for almost two hours on their phone! Eventually they agreed to a repair. I hope that I will not write a follow-up to GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. I even told one ,when he refused to put me through to his team leader that he was about to be sworn at by a quaker! Oh dear! I am usually such a calm person.

It is now April 20th. I have a laptop that I cannot use, a worthless guarantee from Curry's and no help from anyone. So much for their "We will repair or replace within three working days!" I am really fed up with Curry's guarantee and the techno guys who seem totally unable to help. I cannot afford to throw away £600 that the laptop and guarantee cost. They will not even come to collect the thing and take it for repair a third time. I am realy hopping mad with the situation and am up against a massive brick wall. Any ideas please anyone?

Have you tried phoning Watchdog or Trading Standards?

Solicitor's letter ?
Then small claims court ?

Surely if its never worked its not fit for purpose and you could demand your money back and buy a Dell.

have you been to your Consumer Protection Officer - I am sure your council has at least one. Ask them to deal with it for you.
It sounds scandalous but typical of Currys, Dixons, Dell and others from what I have heard. Oh yes, I think PC World is part of the Dixons/Curry group. You can't expect too much from a company whose boss man once said his customers are fools, can you?

I'm sorry that doesn't sound sympathetic, apologies.... but unfortunately I think you will have to hassle them, but do use Consumer Protection to help, or the Press.
Get someone to type out the facts and hand out leaflets at the entrance to the store. Good Luck

"Not fit for purpose" is a useful phrase. If it hasn't ever worked for more than an hour at a time then it is clearly not fit for purpose. You don't need to buy a guarantee to expect your laptop to work. Don't take any rubbish about not fixing it a third time, if they had actually fixed the problem then they wouldn't need to collect it again.

Your council, the press, a solicitor, the small claims court, Watchdog and the citizen's advice bureau all seem like good places to try.

I have just had them on the phone again and they tell me now that there is no record of it having been back to them for repair!!! Twice they had it. I am going to phone the carriers to find the record from them. Thanks for the suggestions folks.
I like the idea of handing out leaflets at the store. That at least made me smile.

Petra - try this link

Trading Standards at Gwynedd

they might be able to help you work out what to do next

I spoke to them again a few minutes ago and mentioned trading standards, solicitors and a programme that we have in Wales called The Ferret, and surprise surprise they have found the repair jobs and are going to sort it now. Perhaps there is a dog after all. Thanks for all the help.

I'm glad you've stuck to your guns here, its a sad inditement on certain stores but if you stick to it you normally come out on top. I managed to get the plumbing paid for in my bathroom due to supplier's lack of quality control over WC pans. Its amazing how much power you can have when you say I've got a writ in my hand that is ready to send but I'd rather settle this out of court, and the CEO of the company is on the other end of the phone.

Petra, I've just read this thread.

I hope it all works out OK now.

One additional weapon in the locker for if it doesn't:

The parent company that owns the shop you bought the machine from may well be a quoted company. In which case it will (almost certainly) have a website, and part of that website will be called "Investor Relations" - which will be dedicated to telling real and potential shareholders what a warm and cuddly company it is. The Investor Relations section of most websites has a form for investors to ask questions of the company. And it's remarkable how quickly they respond to such questions. Especially if the question you ask is on the lines of "What are you going to do about the following complaint..." followed by a detailed description of what you have suffered.

Also one can do this on the corporate website of the manufacturer. Equally effectively.

Ha! Good one KatyJay.