Faulty Dell monitor... advice?

[Mayhem]

So... an issue here possibly regarding consumer rights and the so forth...

In 2007 I bought a 24" monitor from Dell, worked fine until last year when the power button broke on it. It was replaced and you'd think that the replacement would at least work okay. Well it did until recently, when the power button on that one broke also. I've phoned Dell up about this and because the monitor is out of warrenty (it's just over 3 years since I bought the original one and it DOESN'T reset because of the replacement) they refuse to replace or repair it and basically told me to go buy a new monitor. So basically I'm stuck with a 400 quid paperweight at the moment (it's stuck in the off position naturally) that hasn't had that much use overall, hardly abused or thrashed.

So what are my options? Obviously I couldn't shout at the guy on the phone because he's just spieling what he's been told to say and wasn't going to budge, even when I mentioned things such as not fit for purpose and general consumer rights. Personally I feel I've got far from 400 quids worth out of the monitor and am feeling a might pissed off currently...

[briareos_kerensky]

I think that the repair itself has a 1 year warranty attached to it, I would skip the phone and aim high e-mails, or even the support forum.
BTW, how much have they asked to repair the faulty button?

[Mayhem]

It wasn't a repair, someone came and delivered a replacement monitor and took the old one away. Dell don't do repairs, they merely replace reported faulty equipment at the customer level. They probably repair and refurbish at the back end mind you, but that isn't a customer option (yes, I asked). So asking them to repair it isn't something I could do.

[egparadigm]

You should be covered for six years, regardless of what their policy is, under the Sales of Goods Act:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html

By the sounds of your anecdotal evidence, you should have a strong case that the monitor is not of sufficient quality and does not, therefore, conform to contract.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Why not ask a local TV repairman to repair it and it might not be too expensive job.

[Mayhem]

Yeah, I mentioned that Mono, and he didn't shift; as I expected he was just reading from a script as how to respond, which is why I didn't get ranty at him. It's the line he's told to say rather than his own opinion. I am planning on speaking to the local trading standards guy. If the monitor was say 100 quid I might not bother, but given I paid four times that for it and barely got a lot of use out of it...

Why not ask a local TV repairman to repair it and it might not be too expensive job.

Also considered that, dunno how hard it would be to take the monitor apart. There is a repair guy in the nearby village we have had look at a couple of electrical bits in the past...

[Strolls]

The "upto 6 years" on the Sales Of Goods Act is variable - it depends what a typical consumer would consider "reasonable", and whether the product was actually "defective" at the time of sale. Having said that, it's definitely worth a try - there's a form letter about the Xbox 360 that's posted on AVforums that you can base your letter on; you threaten small claims court action and see if they fold.

I have had two customers who have had computers fixed by sending letters based on that, but both were only 13 months old. One from Dell, the other from Staples, I think, and in both cases they first attempts to get the problem fixed (phoning support / visiting the store) were met with responses of "naw, it's outside warranty, tough luck, mate". The Dell laptop had been very expensive new, and after the guy sent the letter he had a response within 2 days, and they then sent a bloke to his house to replace the graphics card.

After 3 years it's a bit more open to debate, but I think it only costs you 10% of the value to open the claim with small claims court, so you haven't got that much to loose. I think you can have the other party's expenses awarded against you, but that happens only very rarely, so they'll often settle rather than send an employee or a solicitor, or they don't turn up, in which case you win by default.

I have to admit that I bottled on pursuing a claim against Apple to small claims - the fault developed within 3 years, but I didn't learn about Sale Of Goods Act until the machine was 4 years old. Feelings on a legal forum were "who would think it unreasonable for a PC to fail within 4 years?" and since the PowerMac cost me £1400 or more, I wasn't prepared to risk the cost of the claim.

[Mayhem]

I should note and re-iterate here... it's just over three years since I bought the FIRST monitor... the replacement I have is only ten months old (since August 2009). That's my main irk, it's lasted less time than the original one! But according to Dell, they only take warranty from the original purchase date, not when I received any replacements.

[Strolls]

I did notice that, but I'm not sure how this would affect your claim under SoGA. I think they would argue that the time from the original purchase was long enough to meet reasonable consumer expectations, you would argue that it has failed within 10 months of them supplying it, so that they gave you a replacement that "obviously suffering from a manufacturing defect".

This factor does obviously make things more complicated, so you might get better advice trying a specialist forum like uk.legal, uk.legal.moderated or moneysavingexpert.

I suspect that the end result will be that you have to try a nasty letter and see if they back down. You need to mention the SoGA in your letter and the "upto 6 years" thing - see all the form letters posted all over the web (example). I don't know how much you paid for the monitor, but if they fob you off it's probably worth pursing to small claims court - they'll probably settle when they get the summons. DISCLAIMER: I have no legal qualifications, and this is just a guess.

[Mayhem]

I've had a stinking cold this week otherwise I would have spoken to my local trading standards guy and/or looked more into pursuing a claim. The monitor cost me 400 quid originally, and even then that was on discount. Thanks for the suggestions, I will look into them as well...