My Faulty Laptop Has
Gone Missing.
By Joanne Phipps
Bought a Toshiba laptop in June 1999 and took out five years extra cover on it.
December 13th 2000 - laptop needed simple repair (modem cable door hinge broken). Contacted "Mastercare" (Dixon's own repair centre) to arrange collection. Collected as arranged (no problem so far!). Incidently this was my first claim against my extra cover and I was only half a year into it.
Ten days later laptop returned to my home via Securicor. Straight away opened it up to use....didn't work.....smashed screen.....presumably thanks to Securicor!!!!!
Arranged for it to be collected on 28th December 2000 from local Dixon's store where originally purchased. Finally collected on 4th January 2001 (after three arrangements made for its collection were unfulfilled!). This was the last time I saw my laptop.
Six weeks later after me making tons of calls no-one could tell me what was happening to my laptop or where it was. During those six weeks I was lied to (in an attempt to appease me), kept on the telephone "on hold" for ages, verbally abused, promised return phone calls to let me know of my laptop's progress (these calls were never returned), messages were put on my record for the workshop to contact me a.s.a.p. (heard nothing) etc etc.
After six weeks my extra cover contract stated that I could claim a new laptop. On the sixth week I contacted them (February 14th!). I was pushed from "pillar to post" and received very little help. Finally somebody took down my details.
Three weeks after that I finally received "compensation" on Tuesday 6th March 2001. That was only after I had threatened legal action and had spoken to the Trading Standards local offices!
My compensation was £1,299.00 of vouchers to replace my laptop (original laptop had cost me £1,599.00 and was only one and a half years old prior to it being collected for repair to its screen on 4th Jan 2001) and separate vouchers for £360.00 to enable me to take out new extra cover on my new laptop. Originally I had paid £499.00 for five years cover.
Outcome:
Had to buy another laptop from Dixons as vouchers no good anywhere else. Bought extra cover again with the £360.00 worth of vouchers but that only gave me 3 years worth of extra cover.
Therefore, I lost out by £300.00 on the original cost of my laptop plus I now only have three years extra cover on my laptop despite the fact that originally I had paid out for five years and had only "used" half a years worth. The extra cover cost me £499.00, I got back £360.00 thus I lost £160.00 on that all for one claim which was originally to repair the hinge on a modem cable door!!!!!!!!!! As for the laptop coming back from that repair with a smashed screen and therefore in a worst state then when it left my home I feel that Securicor, who should be insured for breakages, should through Dixons compensate me for my losses as if they hadn't broken the laptop it would never have gone back to "Mastercare" for repairs and "Mastercare" would never have "lost" it!
To this day no-one can tell me where my original laptop is and although I have a new one now from PC World I will never shop at Dixons again. I only bought my new one there because of the vouchers, had they given me the cash I would DEFINATELY have gone elsewhere and I made that quite plain in PC World when I bought my new one. The fact that I lost £300.00 on my original laptop is, according to Dixons, because it had lost value due to its age. However, in the two months that they had it between 4th Jan 2001 and until now the money that had been lost on its value during that period hadn't been (and wouldn't be according to them) taken into account....surprise surprise!!!!!!!
This afternoon I plan to write a complaints letter to the Head Office (for all that it will do). I also shall be writing to Toshiba who, according to their Web page, are interested to learn of any of their authorised dealers letting down customers with their products. I feel sure that Toshiba will be interested to learn that the £1,299.00 of vouchers meant that I could NOT afford to purchase another Toshiba laptop, instead I had to go for a cheaper make so Toshiba lost out - they won't like that!
Although my new laptop has better specification then the one that "Mastercare" lost, I still feel that the way it has all been handled, and without so much as an apology, it merits me complaining and seeing what happens. I will let you know.