OK, so my daughter's laptop bust last week: the little plug socket that the power lead goes into was a bit loose, and rattly, and we thought it unsafe. So we took it to the place we got it, as it is under guarantee til December, (don't like to name the place on here, but it is a MAJOR computer chainstore.)
Well,they said 'oh it's just 'natural wear and tear, and does not come under the guarantee! It will cost about £110 to repair!' So we went to several computer repair places, and they were asking for between £100 and £125 to repair it, as this is what it costs for labour and parts apparently!!!!!
Then I thought 'hang on,' *I* had my laptop at the same time and MY plughole thingy hasn't gone wonky and rattly and mis-aligned, so I contacted the helpline again and told them this, and I said if they don't repair it under the guarantee, I was gonna take them to trading standards for not upholding the gurantee promise.
So they backed down and said they would get one of their contractors to look at it. They came and got it last Wednesday and brought it back today. The guy who brought it was an ex school mate of my hubbys, and they got chatting. And he told us that the repair took 7 minutes and the part needed cost £1.31!
THIS is what we were gonna be charged as much as £125 for! If I hadn't kicked off and threatened them with trading standards, and had gone to another computer repair company, we would have been £125 worse off in our bank account!
So the moral is fight tooth and nail to get work done under the guarantee, and threaten with trading standards if they won't do it. Also, I think someone should be questioning these PC and laptop repair people. Trying to charge £125 for a repair that cost 7 minutes and less than two quid in parts! How can they justify THAT?! I am wondering whether to take action TBH. Those kind of ridiculously over inflated charges should really be looked into!
Sorry, just needed to rant, as I find THAT kind of charge ludicrous! Why do laptop and computer repair people charge such ridiculous prices?!
Well,they said 'oh it's just 'natural wear and tear, and does not come under the guarantee! It will cost about £110 to repair!' So we went to several computer repair places, and they were asking for between £100 and £125 to repair it, as this is what it costs for labour and parts apparently!!!!!
Then I thought 'hang on,' *I* had my laptop at the same time and MY plughole thingy hasn't gone wonky and rattly and mis-aligned, so I contacted the helpline again and told them this, and I said if they don't repair it under the guarantee, I was gonna take them to trading standards for not upholding the gurantee promise.
So they backed down and said they would get one of their contractors to look at it. They came and got it last Wednesday and brought it back today. The guy who brought it was an ex school mate of my hubbys, and they got chatting. And he told us that the repair took 7 minutes and the part needed cost £1.31!
THIS is what we were gonna be charged as much as £125 for! If I hadn't kicked off and threatened them with trading standards, and had gone to another computer repair company, we would have been £125 worse off in our bank account!
So the moral is fight tooth and nail to get work done under the guarantee, and threaten with trading standards if they won't do it. Also, I think someone should be questioning these PC and laptop repair people. Trying to charge £125 for a repair that cost 7 minutes and less than two quid in parts! How can they justify THAT?! I am wondering whether to take action TBH. Those kind of ridiculously over inflated charges should really be looked into!
Sorry, just needed to rant, as I find THAT kind of charge ludicrous!
Why do laptop and computer repair people charge such ridiculous prices?!
I know that banks were giving a rollocking some time back for charging ridiculously high bank charges, and now they aren't allowed to do it. And loan companies have been done for charging overly high insurance payments for large loans.. Like when my pal tried to take a £20K loan out last year, the payment was about £200 to £220 a month - over 15 years or something! and the insurance was about £95 a month! Over a third of the ruddy monthly payment! And THEY have been called into question too now.
