2nd RMA in less than a month!

[ariadne2]

Btw, mine was also meant to be dealt with as priority, they must just be really busy at the moment.

 

[Mpatel89]

I'm in a similar situation, I study abroad and brought a Vortex IV laptop in December 2013 for university studies. Out of the box I had a row of dead pixels first RMA (just over a week), 4 months later the keyboard backlight stops working and windows hangs in shutdown but I couldn't sent it back as I was in Cyprus at Uni, so I waited till the summer holidays to RMA when I got back to the UK, that took almost 3 weeks to fix and a new motherboard (power failure). Now I am back at university and the power has just died steadily over the week so I can't charge the laptop/ use the laptop. I'm now waiting on a BIOS update which may fix the issue but not sure how, or somehow send the laptop back and request a refund or a new build. I can't keep requesting RMAs until my warranty runs out especially while in another country, while I agree PC specialist are very friendly and helpful with fixing problems the fact that problems keep arising is worrying.

 

[mantadog]

I'm in a similar situation, I study abroad and brought a Vortex IV laptop in December 2013 for university studies. Out of the box I had a row of dead pixels first RMA (just over a week), 4 months later the keyboard backlight stops working and windows hangs in shutdown but I couldn't sent it back as I was in Cyprus at Uni, so I waited till the summer holidays to RMA when I got back to the UK, that took almost 3 weeks to fix and a new motherboard (power failure). Now I am back at university and the power has just died steadily over the week so I can't charge the laptop/ use the laptop. I'm now waiting on a BIOS update which may fix the issue but not sure how, or somehow send the laptop back and request a refund or a new build. I can't keep requesting RMAs until my warranty runs out especially while in another country, while I agree PC specialist are very friendly and helpful with fixing problems the fact that problems keep arising is worrying.

Sorry to hear about your issues. However these things can happen with any electronics. PCS only assemble them into a machine, so really unless you think they are doing it incorrectly they cant be held responsible for random failures. yes you have had a couple but that is expected to happen to someone, somewhere, especially with the amount of users PCS serve.

 

[Mpatel89]

Hi thanks for the reply, I completely agree probability dictates it is bound to happen to someone somewhere and it is just unlucky to the handful of people who get a bum deal. However if the product is consistently faulty (3rd RMA for me) shouldn't they just offer to replace it or a partial refund. I mean John Lewis or Apple would just replace the product if I had the same problem with one of their products. If they are selling a product why can't they be held responsible for random failures? I thought that was what The Sale of Goods Act 1979 was made for.

I have been happy on the whole with the level of customer support up to now. However I am extremely worried that the motherboard which they replaced has caused this problem, they could replace the motherboard/battery this time round but 3-4 months down the line something else gives out graphics card/ ram then I am out of warranty and £1200 out of pocket. I would be content with a complete replacement or partial refund (as I have used the laptop). I have not stressed it in any way even though it has been built for gaming purposes. No games/ been kept on a cooling pad at home and a padded laptop bag on the move.

What would you advise? My warranty runs out this December, I am in Cyprus now and will be back over Christmas break at the earliest. I need a working laptop for study purposes, making do with an iPad for time being.

 

[keynes]

I would write a letter to raise you concerns and request an increase in the parts covered considering all the issues experienced.

 

[mantadog]

You say your warranty runs out in December, what kind of warranty do you have? it can be extended (at a cost) as long as you do it 1 month before it runs out. However if its is just the silver warranty it will have already run out.

My advice would be open communication with PCS, see what they say after explaining to them what your concerns are.

 

[Mpatel89]

You say your warranty runs out in December, what kind of warranty do you have? it can be extended (at a cost) as long as you do it 1 month before it runs out. However if its is just the silver warranty it will have already run out.
.

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) thats the one I have and I assume it is valid from the dispatch date which was 06-12-2013

 

[mantadog]

Yes it is still valid, what I should have said is you will not be able to upgrade the warranty now as it will have expired as far as the collect and return portion of it is concerned. Meaning it is no longer be upgradable as any upgrades must take place with more than 1 month of the collection portion intact.

 

[LFFPicard]

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) thats the one I have and I assume it is valid from the dispatch date which was 06-12-2013

Yes it is still valid, what I should have said is you will not be able to upgrade the warranty now as it will have expired as far as the collect and return portion of it is concerned. Meaning it is no longer be upgradable as any upgrades must take place with more than 1 month of the collection portion intact.

1 Year Collect and Return would expire 5-12-14 at midnight so there is time to upgrade it, in fact just under 2 months to upgrade it.
I did the same with mine, I upgraded mine 1 month before it expired for an extra year.

Although another option would be to raise the RMA before the warranty expires and have the collection arranged for when you return. It should still be honoured as you raised the RMA before your warranty expired, you simply are not available to have it collected at the time of raising it. So as long as you raise the RMA before 5-12-14 then you will be fine. If you do decide on this, read the T&C's thoroughly and the RMA terms, as it would have a expiration. For example RMA's are only valid for 10 working days (2weeks) if the machine is not returned by that point then the RMA is cancelled.

Also, if memory serves, any component that is replaced would automatically have a 3 month warranty on that component even if your warranty for the machine expires. So if the replaced component is faulty again within those 3 months it will be covered for a repair. (This will need clarifying, it has been a while since I actually used this against another vendor)

 

[mantadog]

1 Year Collect and Return would expire 5-12-14 at midnight so there is time to upgrade it, in fact just under 2 months to upgrade it.
I did the same with mine, I upgraded mine 1 month before it expired for an extra year.

My apologies, this is correct, I misread the dates. So yes you can upgrade the warranty. Sorry...

 

[bigbert24]

Considering this is my 3rd RMA in one and a half months I would have thought it would be of high priority. My second RMA was. PCS received my machine on 28/08/14 and I still haven't had any emailing or contact to tell me that they have even opened the box yet.
I really thought this would be their chance to try and improve my opinion of them but I was naive in assuming that.
I am really disappointed to be honest.

be sure to keep the clauses of 5.11 and 5.12 of your contract in mind when requesting a refund, timescales to which both you and more importantly PCS have signed up too and must adhere too otherwise it will become a breach of contract.. and for those who say PCS cannot accept liability for the parts they use that is nonsense, under the UK sales of goods act they have full and sole responsibility and under take that when selling "you the customer" those goods regardless off where or whom it originally originated from, remember its not Nvidia or Intel selling you the parts "Its PCS" and according to 5.13, PCS are liable for the courier costs given how you say this will have been your 3rd RMA in a month and a half, i would like to think that given how you have been treated by PCS you will not only be fully refunded and reimbursed with courier costs but also compensated for the bad service/costs/time you have entailed as result of all this.

p.s any goods bought from PCS with our without warranty actually come with a 12 month warranty anyhow see 6.1..

 

[keynes]

be sure to keep the clauses of 5.11 and 5.12 of your contract in mind when requesting a refund, timescales to which both you and more importantly PCS have signed up too and must adhere too otherwise it will become a breach of contract.. and for those who say PCS cannot accept liability for the parts they use that is nonsense, under the UK sales of goods act they have full and sole responsibility and under take that when selling "you the customer" those goods regardless off where or whom it originally originated from, remember its not Nvidia or Intel selling you the parts "Its PCS" and according to 5.13, PCS are liable for the courier costs given how you say this will have been your 3rd RMA in a month and a half, i would like to think that given how you have been treated by PCS you will not only be fully refunded and reimbursed with courier costs but also compensated for the bad service/costs/time you have entailed as result of all this.

p.s any goods bought from PCS with our without warranty actually come with a 12 month warranty anyhow see 6.1..

I don't think I have seen anyone suggesting that PCS cannot accept liability for the parts they use unless I miss something in the thread. Same with warranty, any warranty comes with at least 12 months parts which is also indicated in the configurator. Considering the problems that the OP is facing I would try to get an extension of his warranty if possible as a gesture of goodwill.

 

[bigbert24]

I don't think I have seen anyone suggesting that PCS cannot accept liability for the parts they use unless I miss something in the thread.

Perhaps not in the sense of actually saying it but there is quite a few subjective suggestions of it within this thread and more so on others..

PCS, as a rule, don't dish out refunds

I think it's still unfair to criticise them for the PSU

As for the an extension of his warranty as a gesture of goodwill, from what i've read from all this he wishes to have a refund and only a refund. i mean he was told a games package etc would be given as goodwill and to my knowledge nothing came from it, the poor guy is in his 3rd RMA within a matter of weeks and at a financial loss due to the courier costs which according to PCS own contract should be carried by them, which in essence put's PCS in breach of their very own contract and makes them liable for any costs incurred as a result of that breach, hence making the customer well within his rights to seek compensation for that.

 

[keynes]

I think that if all the faults result to be hardware failures after the 3rd RMA then he should get a refund, not sure if he already got a response from PCS but once it is done he could update us.

 

[alesma]

I have just got back from holiday and after me emailing them Friday morning asking what was happening they replied saying that my machine was being looked at on Friday morning. Why did they not email me to let me know that they had begun anything? In this case I would have thought they would up the contact. It doesn't seem like they are that bothered about customer satisfaction in my opinion.

It is now Tuesday morning which has been 2 full working days of them "looking at" my machine. This is getting ridiculous now and I will ring them when their lines open.

I feel I should be completely refunded for the machine and for both RMAs I've had to pay for as this service has been awful.

If PCS are selling components from other suppliers then they should be liable and take responsibility. Any other company that delivered faulty goods to a consumer would offer a refund. Why should I be paying £35 every time to send my machine back just because they can't diagnose the fault and they are accepting broken components from their suppliers.

 

[alesma]

5.11
If you suspect that the Goods are faulty and wish to return them you must contact us within 72 hours of discovering the fault and submit an RMA (Return Material Authorisation) request. We will examine the returned Product and if you are entitled, we will notify you of your options to either, repair, replace or refund via e-mail within a reasonable period of time. We will usually process your elected repair, replacement or refund as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day you confirm whether you opt for repair or replacement, or within 14 days of the day you opt for a refund for the defective Product.

5.12
For refunds, we will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than:

14 days after the day we receive back from you any goods supplied, or
(if earlier) 14 days after the day you provide evidence that you have returned the goods, or
if there were no goods supplied, 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract.

5.13
For any returns due to damage or suspected faults for orders delivered in the UK, we will arrange for collection at our cost within the first month after receipt or as extended by your warranty provision. Should the product be found not defective then you will be liable for the costs of collection, re-delivery, labour and new packaging if required. We do not offer a collection for orders delivered outside of the UK including the Channel Islands.

I think it is really bad that they do not offer to cover the costs after the first month even though the faults have all been down to them and their components/assembly. I've have to pay £70 so far and it has fixed absolutely nothing. I am completely disappointed by the service I've received so far and it still seems as though they don't even care about whether I am satisfied. In situations like this they should be going above and beyond to ensure that the customer is happy.
I have stressed over and over that I cannot afford to be spending time chasing RMAs as I have many other priorities that require my attention and many of them require a functioning PC but it seems that they have completely ignored this as it has still taken 2 days so far for an RMA technician to "look over" my PC.

 

[LFFPicard]

I think it is really bad that they do not offer to cover the costs after the first month even though the faults have all been down to them and their components/assembly. I've have to pay £70 so far and it has fixed absolutely nothing. I am completely disappointed by the service I've received so far and it still seems as though they don't even care about whether I am satisfied. In situations like this they should be going above and beyond to ensure that the customer is happy.
I have stressed over and over that I cannot afford to be spending time chasing RMAs as I have many other priorities that require my attention and many of them require a functioning PC but it seems that they have completely ignored this as it has still taken 2 days so far for an RMA technician to "look over" my PC.

I think you will find there is a conflict of information there. 5.13 states they will pay for collect and return within the first month. That would be consistent with the standard warranty you get with the machine: 1month collect and return, 1year parts, 1year labour.
However if you upgrade to the silver warranty like you have, then if memory serves upgrades the collect and return form 1month to 1year. so you get 1year collect and return, 1year parts, 1 year labour. So they should be covering the costs of the carrier for each RMA. If they say that is not the case then every single person who have used PCS and selected the £5 silver warranty upgrade should be entitled to a refund of their £5 as there would be no difference between the standard warranty and the £5 upgrade.

Hope that makes sense! It did in my head!

 

[mantadog]

I think you will find there is a conflict of information there. 5.13 states they will pay for collect and return within the first month. That would be consistent with the standard warranty you get with the machine: 1month collect and return, 1year parts, 1year labour.
However if you upgrade to the silver warranty like you have, then if memory serves upgrades the collect and return form 1month to 1year. so you get 1year collect and return, 1year parts, 1 year labour. So they should be covering the costs of the carrier for each RMA. If they say that is not the case then every single person who have used PCS and selected the £5 silver warranty upgrade should be entitled to a refund of their £5 as there would be no difference between the standard warranty and the £5 upgrade.

Hope that makes sense! It did in my head!

That would make sense, (I forget the details of this thread) but I suspect he doesn't have the silver warranty if he is paying for returns.

 

[alesma]

I only have the standard warranty so according to the T&C I have to cover the cost of the courier.

I guess I was naïve in thinking that I wouldn't need to upgrade but then I didn't expect to have to send my machine back this many times and still not have the problem solved.

 

[LFFPicard]

My bad, just had a look back and it was someone else in this thread with a similar issue saying they had the 3 year Silver warranty (3 Year collect and return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour).

My post may have some useful information for anyone else browsing here nonetheless

That being said, if the second RMA was for the same issue as the first (Suspected Motherboard) I would of thought the RMA would of been covered by PCS as it is a fault with the repair they carried out.