B2B Sale Of Goods Act query and huge problem

[The JGG]

Quick story. Could turn into war and peace though lol.

I buy and sell refurbished laptops and desktops from my supplier.
There are 2 problems, I am currently dealing with.

1 pc, purchased in sept last year, developed a fault. I diagnosed the fault as a faulty motherboard. Now with this pc being a slimline machine, I could not simply swap the board over, so had to return the pc to my suppliers warranty company.

The warranty company are refusing to warranty this pc, due to their warranty sticker not being in place on the desktop.
The warranty companies t&c's are

Terms and Conditions of our 12 Month Return to Base Warranty (RTB) for Refurbished Notebook & Desktop Computers

RTB definition: - Computer to be returned to PABS premises (as per address given) at user/ owners expense. All labour, parts and return of computer to user / owner in the UK mainland at PABS expense. Return to user / owner shipment outside of the UK mainland will incur additional costs, the costs of which will be dependent on return country and quoted for upon request.

PA Business Systems Ltd (PABS) warrants PABS refurbished notebook & desktop computers against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of purchase (6 months for notebook batteries) and return shipment in the United Kingdom (UK Mainland) only.

The computer serial number together with a copy of the sales receipt / invoice showing the purchase date are required as mandatory proof for registration - which should be completed before logging any calls.

In the event of failure of any parts, due to defect in materials or workmanship occurring within the warranty period, PABS will, at its discretion, repair or replace the product with the same or better specification (not worse) product at no charge for parts or labour.

This warranty does not apply if the PABS refurbished notebook or desktop computer has been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse or negligence.

We will not warrant or bear any responsibility for 3rd party equipment. The warranty covers PABS refurbished notebook & desktop computers registered with PABS and no warranties will apply after 12 months from the date of purchase

PABS are not responsible for any data loss or damages resulting from any breach of warranty or any legal theory including lost profit, downtime, goodwill, damage to equipment or property, use or inability to use the product or any other incidental or consequential damages incurred from purchase.

The sole remedy to the owner shall be repair or replacement. The remedies set forth are exclusive and in lieu of all other expressed or implied warranties. PABS will aim to test and repair/replace the unit at PABS discretion within 48 hours of PABS receiving the unit.

If returns received back at our factory are not in the original packaging then PABS will not be liable for any damage caused in transit due to the incorrect packaging used.


If this (point 1 above) is the case, then you will be invoiced £25 for the supply of suitable return repackaging materials as well as any cost for parts replaced due to said damage.


Warranty is void if computer has had its serial number label tampered with, altered, defaced or removed.

If no fault(s) are found with your computer you will be billed, at our discretion, for labour and carriage.

PABS will not warrant any 3rd party equipment and if such equipment is deemed to be the cause of the problem with your computer you will be charged the minimum amount of £95 + vat.

Any 3rd party hardware must he removed from the computer prior to its return, as PABS will not be held responsible for these items.

Missing items on your returned computer must he reported within 48 hours of receipt --please email xxxxxxx with RAN (Returns Authorisation Number) & delivery consignment number.

PABS reserve the right to re install your computer without notice and will not be held liable for any personal data lost. It is recommended you back up any such personal data before returning your computer.

PABS reserve the right to offer a replacement computer of same or better (not worse) specification and age should PABS deem your original computer uneconomical for repair or because parts are unavailable.

More to come very shortly.

 

[The JGG]

However my suppliers terms and conditions are
Returns
In the event that you have a faulty item to return, please contact your account contact with the
following information:

Product description, Fault description, Serial Number, Date of purchase

We will then issue a Returns Number which is valid for 7 days from date of issue.

If we are notified about the faulty goods within 7 days of purchase date we will collect and replace the items at our expense.

If the goods are outside the 7 day period the items will need to be returned to us whereupon we will repair or replace the items.

I have been researching SOGA for over a week now, and have found out that even if a normal client removes this warranty sticker, then I am still liable for having the pc repaired. I mention this in a email to the warranty company, and have a reply of "If a customer removes the label then the warranty is void. This should be expressed extensively to your customers. So they do not breach our terms and conditions and in turn leave your company responsible for any repairs, that may need to be carried out on the unit." Which as far as I am aware is against SOGA.

Onto problem no 2.
I suffered a major robbery of my workshop back in Jan. 15 laptops were stolen from my premises. Insurance company refused to pay out, claiming I was under insured. Therefore I have had to purchase replacement laptops for my clients, which as I am sure you can understand has cost me a small fortune.

One of these laptops came back into me, in June, as it was not powering up completely. I diagnosed this as a DC Jack replacement. These are something which I do not do, and know from calls from my supplier that they are not covered under warranty. I therefore arranged the repair of this dc jack with one of my repair companies. They repaired the jack, and after testing find that the motherboard has developed a fault. They passed it over to their senior technician with over 30 years experience, and he could not find the fault on the board. Therefore claimed the board ber, and is unrepairable.

I then sent this machine back to my suppliers warranty co, under warranty, and again they are refusing to warranty this machine, " Due to the nature of the fault and the unauthorised repair my company has carried out. The fault on the unit is a faulty dc/power port".

I arranged to have the laptop returned to me, in order for me to send it to a independent company for their perusal, to see exactly what the fault is, and am told, it appeared to be a dc fault, but upon further inspection they find the actual motherboard to be faulty, and again can not locate the fault on the board.

I then send a formal complaint to my suppliers stating that under s14 of soga the units are unfit for purpose. I request that both units be repaired under the warranty.

The full email is listed below.

As you are aware I have 2 computers which I have sent off to PABS under warranty.
One is a HP Slimline, where I diagnosed the motherboard at faulty. The 2nd is a Samsung laptop, which I diagnosed as a DC fault.

I arranged to have these sent off to PABS under warranty. Since then I have received email, stating that due to a warranty sticker being removed from the HP the warranty is invalid.

Also the Samsung laptop's warranty is also invalid, due to the nature of the repair, and the fact that I sent it off to my repairers.

Re the Samsung Notebook and the dc jack fault. I know from a conversation I have had with yourself, that this would not be covered by a warranty.

I decided to pay for this myself as a gesture of faith with my client. I therefore I arranged a repair of this with my laptop repairers. They initially agreed with my diagnosis of the dc socket being at fault. They then replaced the DC jack, and then found that there was other problems also. After extensive testing they could not trace the fault on the motherboard. They then diagnosed the motherboard as requiring a replacement.

After sending this laptop off to your warranty company PA Business Systems. I receive a reply stating that the notebook has been void of warranty. Due to the nature of the fault and the unauthorised repair my company has carried out. The fault on the unit is a faulty dc/power port. As my repairers had tried to replace the dc socket I have apparently voided the warranty on the unit.

PABS's diagnosis differed from my repairers. PABS claim that the fault is with the DC jack and or repair. I have arranged for the laptop to be collected and delivered back to myself, in order for me to send it to another company for a independent report; to ascertain which diagnosis is correct.

Apparently again according to Joshua Dixon, in a email received from P A Business Systems, " All of our products must be repaired by our qualified engineers, to stop any damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse or negligence. Which would in turn void the warranty." This means for example that if a screen should need replacing, I as my clients supplier would have to return the laptop direct to PABS in order for them to effect the repair. This condition is outrageous!. I am fully qualified to effect a repair such as this. At no point in PABS terms and conditions does it state that I can not send any computer away for repair to another company. Nor does it state that I can not effect any repair myself.

Re the HP Slimline, this I diagnosed as a faulty motherboard, and again arranged a repair with PABS. I then receive a email off PABS stating that this computer is void of it's warranty for not having the warranty label on the unit.

The terms and conditions of PABS warranty, states the following.

Warranty is void if computer has had its serial number label tampered with, altered, defaced or removed

According to what I have learnt, if a client removes any warranty sticker, then according to the sale of goods act any warranty would still apply. Therefore the comment made by Pabs stating

" If a customer removes the label then the warranty is void. This should be expressed extensively to your customers. So they do not breach our terms and conditions and in turn leave your company responsible for any repairs, that may need to be carried out on the unit." This is forbidden and against the Sale of Goods Act. All terms and conditions are in addition to the rights implied by the Sale Of Goods Act. They are not in place of, and all terms and conditions can not alter a customers rights under SOGA.

The Sale of Goods Act states that, buyers are afforded various protections under contract law when purchasing goods. When purchased goods whether online, or by telephone my contract is with my supplier i.e. Elf who are the seller. It is the seller, in this case Elf Ltd with whom I have a contract that I am looking for recompense, not PA Business Systems, whom are a 3rd party.

 

[The JGG]

The Sale of Goods Act applies to all contracts for the sale of goods. S.14 applies when goods are sold in the course of a business. Also when goods are sold in the course of a business the provisions of the Sale Of Goods Act are reinforced with the protection offered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which prohibits their exclusion.

These protections are in the form of statutory implied terms. This means that the Sale Of Goods Act will put these terms into all contracts for the sale of goods no matter what the parties themselves have agreed to in the terms and conditions of sale.

A contract is for the sale of goods provided it is a contract to transfer ownership of goods (as oppose to a hire agreement) and the goods are exchanged for money. If a seller breaches one of these implied terms, I as the buyer are entitled to a remedy. The remedy will depend upon what type of term has been breached.

In business sales the exclusion of liability is subject to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Elf could however in the instance of a business to business sale exclude liability but only if it is reasonable for you to do so. The burden of proof lies on the seller to prove the term was reasonable.

The test of reasonableness is set out in s.11 which provides that the term must have been a fair and reasonable one to be included having regard to the circumstances which were, or ought reasonably to have been, known to or in the contemplation of the parties when the contract was made. Regard is also to be had the requirements set out in sch 2 of the Act:

S11 Sch 2 Part (c) states that the customer knows or ought reasonably to have known of the existence and the extent of the term (having regard, among other things, to any custom of the trade and any previous course of dealing between the parties);
(d) where the term excludes or restricts any relevant liability if some condition was not complied with, whether it was reasonable at the time of the contract to expect that compliance with that condition would be practicable;

At no time during our contract, i.e. at the time of the sale, am I informed of the terms and conditions implied by the warranty company. The only time I am made aware of these terms, is during the point of a warranty claim. Again this is in breach of the Sale Of Goods Act.

Therefore the terms and conditions implied do not apply to the sale. All terms and conditions should be mentioned at the time of the sale.

PA Business Systems state in their terms and conditions the following

iii. PABS will not warrant any 3rd party equipment, and if such equipment is deemed to be the cause of the problem with your net book, you will be charged at the minimum amount of £95.00 +vat.

iv. Any 3rd party hardware must be removed from notebook prior to its return as PABS will not be held responsible for these items. This warranty does not apply if the pabs refurbished notebook or desktop computer has been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse r negligence.

3rd part equipment in my eyes, are things like web cams, usb flash drives, printers etc. It does not state in their warranty exactly what constitutes 3rd party equipment. It can certainly not mean a repair by qualified technicians, of a DC jack.

3rd party hardware again in my eyes are things like memory,web cams, external drives etc. Again there is no indication as to what is classed as 3rd party hardware.

Your own terms and conditions state the following.

Returns
In the event that you have a faulty item to return, please contact your account contact with the
following information:

Product description, Fault description, Serial Number, Date of purchase

We will then issue a Returns Number which is valid for 7 days from date of issue.

If we are notified about the faulty goods within 7 days of purchase date we will collect and replace the items at our expense.

If the goods are outside the 7 day period the items will need to be returned to us whereupon we will repair or replace the items.

At no point do your own terms state that a warranty sticker should be in place at all times, nor that I can not have a unit repaired by another company.

It is also mentioned that RTB definition, that computers must be returned to ELF if outside of the 7 day period. The return fees have to be at my own expense.

I wish to draw your attention to the return of goods following cancellation Office OF Fair Trading Distance Selling Regulations (Regulation 17) 3.57

If the goods are faulty or do not comply with the contract, you (the supplier) will have to pay for their return whatever the circumstances.

As such, the cost of bearing the return lies with yourselves. I therefore expect that you will fulfil your contractual and statutory obligation to refund my full costs including postage"

What I wish to happen.

That both computers, the Samsung Laptop, and the HP Desktop to be collected at your own cost.

The Samsung Laptop to have its replacement motherboard supplied and fitted under warranty; or in the case of a complete motherboard failure, in which case a repair or replacement can not be met, then a replacement laptop, to the equal of better specification to be delivered to myself.

The HP Slimline Computers to have either a replacement motherboard, failing that a replacement computer, to the equal or better specification to be delivered direct to my client.

For all monies paid out in the course of these repairs to be refunded in full. This includes the initial repair on the Samsung laptop, the courier fees, to and from my repairers. Courier fees to PA Business Systems. Courier fees back to myself. Courier fees of the HP Slimline to PA Business Systems. Courier fees back to my client. The cost of the independent report, and courier fees therein involved. A total of these fees, together with a full invoice will be given upon request.

I hereby give you 7 days from today’s date in order for you to effect the above. Failing that, you leave me with no option than to start legal proceedings against ELF, and if required PA Business Systems as a co-defendant.

 

[The JGG]

[FONT=&quot]Any soldered repair to any electrical component immediately renders the warranty invalid, this is the case for any electrical item from any manufacturer and I am surprised that you are even questioning the fact.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Unfortunately we are unable to help with either of these two products as the warranty labels have been removed.[/FONT]

My reply back was

Good Morning Nick,

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your email, pertaining to my formal complaint. However you have failed to answer the points raised therein.

Basically the points raised, and still to be answered are the following.
You claim that under the terms of refurbishment contract between DSG Group and PA Business Systems all units MUST have a warranty label stating that the unit contains used parts and that the warranty is void if the label is removed. Your own terms and conditions do not state that warranty stickers must be on the units. My contract is with you the DSG Group, whom are my supplier, not PA Business Systems. Therefore the above statement does not apply. Your terms and conditions do not state that a warranty sticker must be present at all times. Under these circumstances PA Business Systems terms and conditions do not apply to these faulty computers.

My warranty is with your company the DSG group, for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. Both of these items are not of satisfactory quality.

In addition to the warranties provided by Elf, I am also given protection by the Sale of Goods Act, The two are basically the same thing so for the purposes of simplicity I will refer to them as warranties.

There is no legal obligation for you as my suppliers to provide a warranty (although once you have, it is legally binding).
Warranties are basically a commitment to repair or replace defective parts within a specified time frame – usually 12 months for small electrical items.

The important point about warranties is that they should never seek to replace or take precedence over my statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act, and even after my warranty has run out, I will still be protected by these rights which can run for up to 6 years after purchase.

In the absence of any warranty the retailer is automatically liable for any faults which develop within the first 6 months. (Which the Samsung Laptop has). European regulations have now confirmed that warranties are legally binding contractual obligations between the manufacturer, or retailer and the consumer for the time frame indicated.

The Sale of Goods Act states that, buyers are afforded various protections under contract law when purchasing goods. When purchased goods whether online, or by telephone my contract is with my supplier i.e. Elf who are the seller. It is the seller, in this case Elf Ltd with whom I have a contract that I am looking for recompense, not PA Business Systems, whom are a 3rd party.

The Sale of Goods Act applies to all contracts for the sale of goods. S.14 applies when goods are sold in the course of a business. Also when goods are sold in the course of a business the provisions of the Sale Of Goods Act are reinforced with the protection offered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 which prohibits their exclusion.

Under the Sale of Goods Act, it clearly states that if a client should remove any warranty label, I am personally liable for the repair of the computer. Therefore your comment regarding the removal of a warranty sticker voids any warranty is against the sale of goods act. All terms and conditions are in additional to the rights implied. They are not in place of and can not be alter a customers conditions under the sale of goods act.

The Sale of Goods Act Section11 Sch 2 Part (c) states that the customer knows or ought reasonably to have known of the existence and the extent of the term (having regard, among other things, to any custom of the trade and any previous course of dealing between the parties);

(d) where the term excludes or restricts any relevant liability if some condition was not complied with, whether it was reasonable at the time of the contract to expect that compliance with that condition would be practicable;

At no time during our contract, i.e. at the time of the sale, am I informed of the terms and conditions implied by the warranty company. The only time I am made aware of these terms, is during the point of a warranty claim. Again this is in breach of the Sale Of Goods Act.

Therefore the terms and conditions implied do not apply to the sale. All terms and conditions should be mentioned at the time of the sale.

Re the Samsung Laptop.

After sending this laptop off to your warranty company PA Business Systems. I receive a reply stating that the notebook has been void of warranty. Due to the nature of the fault and the unauthorised repair my company has carried out. I initially diagnosed the fault as a faulty DC Jack.

I know from speaking with Nicoli that this would not be classed as a warranty issue, hence why I sent it off to my repairers. Now your telling me that I should of sent it off to PA Business Systems, who could of repaired it at an untold amount. Which I have no doubt would be far in excess of what my repairers would of charged me.

In a email received from Joshua Dixon I am told that the fault on the unit is a faulty dc/power port. And as my repairers had tried to replace the dc socket I have apparently voided the warranty on the unit.

PABS's diagnosis differed from my repairers. PABS claim that the fault is with the DC jack and or repair. I have arranged for the laptop to be sent to a independent company for a technicians report. This report will be sent to you once received.

Apparently again according to Joshua Dixon, in a email received from P A Business Systems, "All of our products must be repaired by our qualified engineers, to stop any damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse or negligence. Which would in turn void the warranty."

This means for example that if a screen should need replacing, I as my clients supplier would have to return the laptop direct to PABS in order for them to effect the repair. This condition is outrageous!. I am fully qualified to effect a repair such as this. At no point in PABS terms and conditions does it state that I can not send any computer away for repair to another company for any repair. Nor does it state that I can not effect any repair myself.

PA Business Systems state in their terms and conditions the following

iii. PABS will not warrant any 3rd party equipment, and if such equipment is deemed to be the cause of the problem with your net book, you will be charged at the minimum amount of £95.00 +vat.

iv. Any 3rd party hardware must be removed from notebook prior to its return as PABS will not be held responsible for these items. This warranty does not apply if the pabs refurbished notebook or desktop computer has been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse or negligence.

3rd part equipment in my eyes, are things like web cams, usb flash drives, printers etc. It does not state in their warranty exactly what constitutes 3rd party equipment. It can certainly not mean a repair by qualified technicians, of a DC jack. It was after the replacement of the DC jack that it was found that there was a fault with the motherboard.

3rd party hardware again in my eyes are things like memory, web cams, external drives etc. Again there is no indication as to what is classed as 3rd party hardware.

Therefore I find your comments of all units must have a warranty label, and PA Business Systems procedures have no place in the reply of this complaint.

Nor do the two products not have warranty labels. Only the HP Slimline has no warranty label for what ever reason. The Samsung does have a label, however this is now smudged. I am unsure if the serial number can be read. So according to your comments, if the serial number could no longer be read, you would class that as voided of warranty also?

Your terms and conditions state that if the goods are outside of the 7 day period the items will need to be returned to you at my own expense. Again this is contrary to the sale of goods act which states that it is the seller’s (retailer’s) responsibility to ensure the goods are repaired or replaced at no cost, minimum inconvenience and within reasonable time.

As such, the cost of bearing the return lies with yourselves. I therefore expect that you will fulfil your contractual and statutory obligation to refund my full costs including postage.

Again I will reiterate what I wish to happen.

That both computers, the Samsung Laptop, and the HP Desktop to be collected at your own cost.

The Samsung Laptop to have its replacement motherboard supplied and fitted under warranty; or in the case of a complete motherboard failure, in which case a repair or replacement can not be met, then a replacement laptop, to the equal of better specification to be delivered to myself.

The HP Slimline Computers to have either a replacement motherboard, failing that a replacement computer, to the equal or better specification to be delivered direct to my client.

For all monies paid out in the course of these repairs to be refunded in full. This includes the initial repair on the Samsung laptop, the courier fees, to and from my repairers. Courier fees to PA Business Systems. Courier fees back to myself. Courier fees of the HP Slimline to PA Business Systems. Courier fees back to my client. The cost of the independent report, and courier fees therein involved. A total of these fees, together with a full invoice will be given upon request.



[/FONT]

 

[The JGG]

[FONT=&quot]I hereby give you 7 days from today's date in order for you to effect the above

In your reply, if you would like to end it with your final response, if I am not satisfied with the contents. failing that, you leave me with no option than to start legal proceedings against ELF, and if required PA Business Systems as a co-defendant.

[/FONT] I receive a reply off their Managing Director stating

[FONT=&quot]Nicoli has forwarded your email to me. Under the terms of the refurbishment contract between DSG Group and PA Business Systems all units MUST have a warranty label stating the unit contains used parts and that the warranty is void if the label removed. This is to prevent resellers selling the items as new and affecting DSG Groups sales. PA Business Systems will not repair any items if the label has been removed or tampered with.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]PA Business System use SAP to log all products from receipt, through testing and repair and finally to packing and despatch. It is impossible for an item to pass from repair through to packing without a PA warranty label as each units label is scanned and this is how the box label is produced. In addition when we process an order we test and inspect the item and log the serial number from the PA label. In 10 years of selling PA refurb products we have never found an item without a warranty sticker.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]To which I have just received a final reply off the suppliers stating

Nigel,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]DSG Group are PC World / Dixons, not Elf Ltd.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We sell products from 100's of sources, not just PA Business Systems.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As per our terms and conditions we sell all our products with a bought out warranty but do offer a 30 day DOA period. Some products carry additional manufacturers warranty, ie notebooks from PA Business and the warranty contract is with them.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Sale of Goods Act does not apply, we are not a retailer. As you are fully aware we are a Trade Only Wholesaler of Refurbished and Excess computer Equipment, we do not sell retail.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You have purchased aprox 20 notebooks / PCs with PA warranty over the past 2 years and are completely familiar with the PA warranty proceedure.(I have had to return only 2 items to the warranty company over the past 2 years, which are these 2, hence why I would not be completely familiar with the PA warranty procecure). I am very dissapointed that we are having to have this discussion as you know the warranty label states that warranty is void if removed.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No manufacturer will provide warranty cover for a removed serial number, it is the method of tracking the units origins. More so with refurbished products as it is illegal to sell them as new and imperitive that the label must be on the unit.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You are also fully aware that performing a board level repair on a an electrical item invalidates any warranty, this is the case for any product.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Regards,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nick Knight [/FONT]

Am I correct in my thoughts, that my contract is with Elf, now known to be DSG group. That I have to abide by their t&c's. I have no contract as such with their warranty company.

I am completely unsure as to where to turn to now, and would appreciate some input.

Many thanks for any help that can be given.

 

[KateCB]

Wow - I think that is the longest query I have EVER read on UKBF!

Although I am NOT a solicitor, and someone will no doubt be along shortly to answer this if they can, it appears that this is a B2B sale, therefore the Sale of Goods act doesn't apply as DSG have pointed out, as the Sale of Goods Act covers B2C sales.

I don't understand why anyone would remove a warranty sticker, I am sorry to say but I think that everyone knows that these stickers void warranties if removed, and there is no need to so, and as all theses types of contract reply on the warranty sticker being present, and indeed the one you have quotes does, then it would seem sensible to agree that they do not have an obligation to repair/reinstate etc as this particular clause has been breached by whoever removed the warranty sticker.

If it was YOUR customer who removed it, then this is what you say to them, they have voided the warranty and there is nothing you can do - hopefully YOUR T&C's state that warranty is void if sticker removed?

The laptop again appears at first reading (there is a lot to read, I may have missed something) to be straightforward - warranty is void is unauthorised repairs carried out....if you attempted to repair it, it is unauthorised, therefore.....

I do feel for you, and I hope a legal person can find a way out for you, IMHO as a business owner though, the T&C's seem to be watertight and breaches have been by you or your customers.

I hope you get it sorted out.

 

[The JGG]

Thanks for your reply Kate. My apologies in the length of the post, but I had to get all the details in for it all to make sense, if that makes sense lol.

It is a B2B issue, even if soga does not apply, then I would of thought that the UTTCR does, ie unfair terms.

I have no understanding of why anyone would remove a sticker either, but in this case, it has been removed.

Re the laptop, my argument is, that my contract is with Elf, aka DSG, and not with PABS. PABS are not my supplier so to speak, they are the supplier of Elf.

My T&C's do state that warranty stickers if removed void the warranty, however my client who is also a business is adamant that I am responsible for this, and has threatened to blacken my name in my area (trust me, she would too!). I have worked long and hard to gain the good reputation I have, and am not going to lose it over this incident.

Re the laptop, the t&c's do not state that I can not get the item repaired elsewhere. They claim that what ever the issue is, I have to go through them to have it repaired, even something as trivial as a screen replacement. Now I know for a fact that their cost would be drastically more expensive than mine. It is in a email that I am told that everything has to be done by them. I realise now that I should of sent the unit off to them for the dc jack, but as this would not of been classed as a warranty issue it would of been chargeable which as a gesture of faith I paid for. If I could purchase a new mobo for the laptop I would. But I cannot find one. I can find a mobo for the hp, but the cost is £196 inc vat, and only has a 3 month warranty. My client has had the machine for close to 9 months now, and utterly refuses to pay anything. I may have to give her a pro rata refund considering the cost she paid, and length of time she has had it.

Thanks for the thoughts and wishes. I have drastically changed my t&c's. in order that something like this, should never happen ever again.

 

[KateCB]

What motherboard do you need for the Desktop? My husband sells motherboards, memory, processors, fans etc......may be abe to help you out at a lot less than £196? Drop me a pm with the details and I will pass it on.......

Can't help with the laptop one, he doens't do those, but actually.....he knows a man who may be able to....so if you want , send those details too and I'll ask if he can help?

Hopefully a legal eagle will pop in soon and clarify where you stand otherwise!

 

[The JGG]

Thanks Kate. PM sent.