The Computer World shop

March last year I purchased a Hard Drive from The Computer World =
(Time)store
in Cambridge.
It failed a month ago and I went to the shop three weeks ago to get it
replaced.
They said that they had no similar drives in stock but would look into =
it.
Today I visited the shop and they said that they no longer supplied that
type of drive and were adamant that I would have to send it to the
manufacture for repair.
The three sales assistants rather ganged up on me over this .
I felt vaguely that this was not correct but left it at that.
I contacted the manufacturer of the drive (Seagate ) via their website =
and
got the following response,
"The component you identified was sold as a system component. Please =
contact
your place of purchase for service"
I did not buy it as part of a system but as a boxed hard drive.
Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks

grahamk wrote:


March last year I purchased a Hard Drive from The Computer World (Time)store
in Cambridge.

There-in lies your problem.

It failed a month ago and I went to the shop three weeks ago to get it
replaced.

As is your legal right.

They said that they had no similar drives in stock but would look into it.
Today I visited the shop and they said that they no longer supplied that
type of drive and were adamant that I would have to send it to the
manufacture for repair.

This is wrong. They have an obligation to replace or refund (assuming
repairing a hard drive is not economical).

The three sales assistants rather ganged up on me over this .

Try contacting the store manager or head office and firmly - but politely -
outline your legal rights. If no luck, contact your local Trading Standards
office.

I felt vaguely that this was not correct but left it at that.

They are wrong (see above).

I contacted the manufacturer of the drive (Seagate ) via their website and
got the following response,
"The component you identified was sold as a system component. Please contact
your place of purchase for service"
I did not buy it as part of a system but as a boxed hard drive.

You shouldn't have to be fiddling with Seagate's system. The retailer is
liable.

--
Now playing: Atlantic 252 Tribute [160kbps]

grahamk wrote:


March last year I purchased a Hard Drive from The Computer World (Time)store
in Cambridge.
It failed a month ago and I went to the shop three weeks ago to get it
replaced.
They said that they had no similar drives in stock but would look into it.
Today I visited the shop and they said that they no longer supplied that
type of drive and were adamant that I would have to send it to the
manufacture for repair.

Crap. Your contract is with them, not Seagate, although in the case of
HDs the manufacturers usually swap drives without much messing about and
can be quicker than going through the retailer (but see below).

The three sales assistants

Who probably know less about consumer law and rights than they do about
computers ;-)

rather ganged up on me over this .

I'd ask them if they'd expect a Ford dealer to tell them to take their
car back to Dagenham for repair 'coz they no longer stock that model.

I felt vaguely that this was not correct but left it at that.
I contacted the manufacturer of the drive (Seagate ) via their website and
got the following response,
"The component you identified was sold as a system component. Please contact
your place of purchase for service"
I did not buy it as part of a system but as a boxed hard drive.

By "boxed" do you mean in a plain brown box, like PC World sell them
(they also sell retail pack versions)? I suspect that, in order to get a
good price, they buy a large quantity "for use in new systems" then pack
some in boxes and sell them separately. The problem here, as you've
discovered, is that when they buy them for system building the terms of
the manufacturers warranty is different so Seagate, in this case, will
only accept the HD back under warranty from Time.

Any advice would be welcome.

Go back and tell them that, under the Sale of Goods Act, your cantract
is with them and since the HD is within the warranty period (which must
be at least 12 months, possibly longer) it is for them to
repair/replace. Get advice from the CAB if you need independant support.

Do Seagate have a UK office? It might be worth checking the warranty
terms with them as they may not be too happy about them re-selling HDs
bought to be sold as part of systems. A long shot, but you never know.

Thanks

Nick J. wrote:

Try contacting the store manager or head office and firmly - but politely -
outline your legal rights. If no luck, contact your local Trading Standards
office.


I'm not sure TS would be interested. AFAIK they are only concerned with
companies who break the law in the original sale. This would be more the
area of CAB (and the Small Claims Court) would it not?

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 19:14:25 +0000, Parish wrote:

grahamk wrote:


March last year I purchased a Hard Drive from The Computer World (Time)store
in Cambridge.
It failed a month ago and I went to the shop three weeks ago to get it
replaced.
They said that they had no similar drives in stock but would look into it.
Today I visited the shop and they said that they no longer supplied that
type of drive and were adamant that I would have to send it to the
manufacture for repair.

Crap. Your contract is with them, not Seagate, although in the case of
HDs the manufacturers usually swap drives without much messing about and
can be quicker than going through the retailer (but see below).

Whilst you're perfectly correct it may be better dealing direct with
the manufacturer if it's under guarantee. All Computer World will do
is send it to them to fix.

Last year a laptop of mine broke under guarantee. I could have sent it
back to the vendor but just sent it straight to Sony who fixed it
within a week...... Introducing a middle man means even more
opportunity for it to balls up!

HTH
--

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø
Please reply to the group
Replies to this address will bounce!
ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

Cheeky wrote:

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 19:14:25 +0000, Parish wrote:

grahamk wrote:


March last year I purchased a Hard Drive from The Computer World (Time)store
in Cambridge.
It failed a month ago and I went to the shop three weeks ago to get it
replaced.
They said that they had no similar drives in stock but would look into it.
Today I visited the shop and they said that they no longer supplied that
type of drive and were adamant that I would have to send it to the
manufacture for repair.

Crap. Your contract is with them, not Seagate, although in the case of
HDs the manufacturers usually swap drives without much messing about and
can be quicker than going through the retailer (but see below).

Whilst you're perfectly correct it may be better dealing direct with
the manufacturer if it's under guarantee. All Computer World will do
is send it to them to fix.


You too are correct. However, the OP has already tried to make a
warranty claim with Seagate but they say he must take it back to the
retailer because, as far a Seagate are concerned, it was sold as part of
a system so he has no choice but to get Computer World to deal with it.

As an aside, I bought a brand new (i.e. still sealed in it's anti-stat
bag) Seagate disk on eBay and entered the serial number on Seagate's
website to check how much, if any, warranty was left on it. I got the
same message as the OP so, if this dies, I'll have to bin it since I
didn't buy it from a retailer.

Last year a laptop of mine broke under guarantee. I could have sent it
back to the vendor but just sent it straight to Sony who fixed it
within a week...... Introducing a middle man means even more
opportunity for it to balls up!

HTH
--

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø
Please reply to the group
Replies to this address will bounce!
ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 18:47:08 -0000, "grahamk"
wrote:



March last year I purchased a Hard Drive from The Computer World (Time)store
in Cambridge.
It failed a month ago and I went to the shop three weeks ago to get it
replaced.
They said that they had no similar drives in stock but would look into it.
Today I visited the shop and they said that they no longer supplied that
type of drive and were adamant that I would have to send it to the
manufacture for repair.
The three sales assistants rather ganged up on me over this .
I felt vaguely that this was not correct but left it at that.
I contacted the manufacturer of the drive (Seagate ) via their website and
got the following response,
"The component you identified was sold as a system component. Please contact
your place of purchase for service"
I did not buy it as part of a system but as a boxed hard drive.
Any advice would be welcome.

After 13 March 2003 the SoGA was amended so that for an intem under 6
months old the burden of proof of a defect is not longer required by
the buyer. The SoGA also states that the contract is between you and
the seller which means in essense "its their fsking problem to sort
out".

Have a word with your local trading standards they will give you the
full sp on it. Its worth writing down as they read it out. I've just
had to go through this as the guy at the local Dixons said the SoGA
didn't come into force until 31 March 2003 so had to explain to him
what the difference between the SoGA and an amendment to it were :-)

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 19:19:54 +0000, Parish wrote:

Nick J. wrote:

Try contacting the store manager or head office and firmly - but politely -
outline your legal rights. If no luck, contact your local Trading Standards
office.


I'm not sure TS would be interested. AFAIK they are only concerned with
companies who break the law in the original sale. This would be more the
area of CAB (and the Small Claims Court) would it not?

No Trading Standards are the first point of call for this. They are
interested in the standard of company practice, consumer wise, not
just their sales.

Bagpuss wrote:

I've just
had to go through this as the guy at the local Dixons said the SoGA
didn't come into force until 31 March 2003 so had to explain to him
what the difference between the SoGA and an amendment to it were :-)

You should bill Dixons for training their staff :-)

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 08:52:39 +0000, Parish wrote:

Bagpuss wrote:

I've just
had to go through this as the guy at the local Dixons said the SoGA
didn't come into force until 31 March 2003 so had to explain to him
what the difference between the SoGA and an amendment to it were :-)

You should bill Dixons for training their staff :-)

heh, I think a bill hook would be more informative :-)