My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, I
wanted to know what the defnition of a 'reasonable length of time'
would be for a computer. Is this defined anywhere, or does anyone have
experience of how this has been defined in practice?

Thanks

wrote:
My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, I
wanted to know what the defnition of a 'reasonable length of time'
would be for a computer. Is this defined anywhere, or does anyone have
experience of how this has been defined in practice?

Thanks

A 'reasonable length of time' means just that, and any previous cases
on the subject would be confined to their own facts and would not be
binding in this case.

I think you have two options:

1) Speak to PC World nicely and see what they are prepared to do.

2) Go in with guns blazing and try and beat them in to submission.

If you are going for the latter option it seems to me that you may need
to find out more than just what a 'reasonable length of time' means.
For example, where have you got this from? Is this a phrase that is
used in Scottish law? Have you worked out why the PC has stopped
working - there could be a million and one reasons, and the fact that
the computer worked ok for nearly 3 years must raise the prospect that
it could be an external factor. If it is the computer is it a total
failure, or just a part that need to be renewed. Etc etc etc...

As such, I suggest that you go for option one. They may be able to
diagnose the problem for you and give you a price for the repairs.

Either way, be prepared for them to laugh hysterically at the machine
because (by their standards at least) it is so old.

wrote:

My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, I
wanted to know what the defnition of a 'reasonable length of time'
would be for a computer. Is this defined anywhere, or does anyone have
experience of how this has been defined in practice?

SoGA allows up to six years for you tor return items that are broken
due to manufacturing faults. However, 2½ years is plenty reasonable
for a computer.

It's made up of a number of components, and for most of those
components, if they fail - the whole computer fails. It's natural for
breakdowns to occur, either as a result of poor power supply, poor
ventilation, misuse or poor manufacturing. It's reasonable to assume
it's not the latter, because your dad's had the computer for so long.
You'll have an uphill struggle convincing anyone that the machine
itself is defective.

Has he checked the fuse?

wrote in message
oups.com...
My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, ....


-------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm, think carefully before doing that. The main question is a purely
practical one, namely does your father in law need any of the data on the
hard disk? If so, you might find it better to take the PC to an expert
repairer.

Without knowing what is wrong with the PC, nobody can advise you whether you
have any case under the SOGA, but my guess is 'no', as it's nearly 3 years
now. I take it he didn't get an extended warranty?

On Jan 22, 2:35 pm, "
wrote:
My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, I
wanted to know what the defnition of a 'reasonable length of time'
would be for a computer. Is this defined anywhere, or does anyone have
experience of how this has been defined in practice?

On my first (Mac) computer within the first 3 years the screen went 3
times. They replaced it without question because I had an extended
warranty/service support. They didn't even look at the screen if I
remember, they just delivered a new replacement screen - by the end I
had loudspeakers which wasn't in the original set-up.

But I had extended taken out the 3 year service support - presumably
your father did have that option.

Nick

On Jan 22, 2:35 pm, "
wrote:
My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, I
wanted to know what the defnition of a 'reasonable length of time'
would be for a computer. Is this defined anywhere, or does anyone have
experience of how this has been defined in practice?

A couple of years ago, PC World did a cheap or free diagnostic on one's
computer - they would then be able to diagnose what is wrong with it -
there might be little wrong with it - it would be a good idea to find
out what is wrong with it before making a big issue out of it.

Nick

wrote:

My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, I
wanted to know what the defnition of a 'reasonable length of time'
would be for a computer. Is this defined anywhere, or does anyone have
experience of how this has been defined in practice?

Nearly 3 years from a computer isnt bad at all.
I think they'll tell you they cannot do anything for you, though they
may give a free repair diagnosis, but they'll charge you for the parts
needed. The computer base unit is worth a maximum of £75 if in working
condition, probably less.
If you know what the fault is, it can probably be repaired easily for
£25-50ish - the cost of a PSU, new HD or motherboard.
A new base unit, with everything on it better than what you have, is
available for around £150 upwards.
Cut your losses and get a new one, or repair the old one, and dont go to
PCWorld again, unless they have a really good deal on.
Alan.
--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

Thanks all, have tried the machine with a different power supply fitted
so it's definitely not something so simple as the fuse. Have also made
a backup of the hard drive. Will go and ask nicely and see if they can
do a diagnosis for me and I should be able to change the relevant bits.

wrote:
My father in law purchased a PC from PC World for £700 in May 2004. It
is now not working (he lives in Scotland). Before I take it back, I
wanted to know what the defnition of a 'reasonable length of time'
would be for a computer. Is this defined anywhere, or does anyone have
experience of how this has been defined in practice?

It would depend entirely on the nature of the fault.

After two and a half years , a minor fault wouldn't be that unreasonable.

If the whole thing was scrap because it exploded then you'd have more
grounds for complaint


--
Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk www.ebayfaq.co.uk

In article . com,
(Gorf) wrote:

SoGA allows up to six years for you tor return items that are broken
due to manufacturing faults. However, 2½ years is plenty reasonable
for a computer.

Businesses consider computers to have no book value after 3 (or
sometimes 5) years.

I use old computers for basic tasks, but in general, a 3 year old
machine is going to need replacing because it can;t run modern
software in any case.

Given new machines costing 1/2 what that one did, I'd simply replace
it, personally.

--
Paul Cummins

**FREE** mobile phones, with FREE line rental
http://www.gstgroup.co.uk/