Refund problem

A

antgoo

Member
I wanted a high-spec machine for music
I ordered an Optimus 17 inch with 24GB, striped raid array, SSD
Since I had heard about the fan noise issues, I asked before I bought, and was told that all new ones have a BIOS fix
the PC arrived, and the fan alternates between completely off, and sounding like a full speed hairdryer. I would never be able to do anything with this crazy noise
I called as soon as the phone lines opened the day after it arrived, they said they'd send out the BIOS update on a pendrive
I spent 2 days installing my personal software (music stuff with sample libraries takes so long)
1 week later they called and said the BIOS update is no longer approved, and I could either return it for a refund or tolerate it, I chose to return it.
The RMA came through, and it was collected yesterday.
Then an email came through today, saying:

"Please be aware that there will be a £36 processing fee that will be applied and any software that has been activated will not be refunded either."

This is outrageous, hopefully this will be corrected tomorrow with an apology
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
From the terms and conditions here https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/terms/
5 Cancellation and Returns
5.6 Where the order is for Custom Built / Made to Order goods and the order has commenced the building stage a charge of £36 including VAT will apply in the event of cancellation, and be deducted from any refund due.
Click to expand...
So this was agreed to by you when you accepted the T&C's I'm afraid.
When items are custom built a charge is allowable if the item is returned afaik
 
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Boozad

Boozad

Prolific Poster
Rakk said:
When items are custom built a charge is allowable if the item is returned afaik
Click to expand...

I paid a £36 fee for cancelling my Ivy Bridge order before it had been dispatched. It's completely understandable as they've spent the time building and testing the machine. I think that fee is only waived if you cancel before the rig is built.

Also, with regards to activated software, PCS aren't going to refund for an activated copy of Windows as it's now completely useless to them. But, having said that, if you write down the serial number you may be able to activate that copy on another machine by downloading an ISO copy of the exact same version of Windows and mount it to a bootable DVD or USB stick. Seeing as it's OEM you'd have to call Microsoft to get to try and get it activated (it's now tied to the motherboard in the laptop) and explain to them what happened. They may not help you in which case the licence would be lost, but it's worth a go.
 
K

Karnor00

Bright Spark
Personally I don't think the £36 charge should apply in this case.

The customer said that he checked with PCS before ordering whether the BIOS fix would be applied and was told by PCS that it would be. The laptop arrives and the BIOS fix isn't applied. PCS are ultimately unable to send him the BIOS fix he was originally promised.

So if my understanding is correct, I would see this as PCS being at fault and not the customer because the laptop delivered wasn't to the promised specification (which included the BIOS fix).

However, my assumption would be that the email Antgoo received was probably an automatically generated email which will hopefully be sorted out.
 
A

antgoo

Member
Thanks for the info guys, but those things would apply only if I had changed my mind about a purchase
T&Cs often conflict with law, or can be confusing, and the law states that something being custom-made does not mean that a full refund is not due if it is not supplied as specified. The options I was offered were "accept PC not made to my spec, or return for refund"

I was happy with the machine's performance - but not the noise, but I had specified before purchase that I would not buy it if it had the fan noise that people mentioned in the reviews. I was told this was no longer a problem, so you can see I have not changed my mind, the product has not been supplied as specified. It is a shame they built it, and a shame I lost 2 days to installing software I then had to remove, wasting my own activation instances in the process, but none of that is my fault, the machine was not as specified - the fan noise was unacceptable, and the promised revised BIOS was not supplied.
 
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A

antgoo

Member
Karnor00 said:
Personally I don't think the £36 charge should apply in this case.

The customer said that he checked with PCS before ordering whether the BIOS fix would be applied and was told by PCS that it would be. The laptop arrives and the BIOS fix isn't applied. PCS are ultimately unable to send him the BIOS fix he was originally promised.

So if my understanding is correct, I would see this as PCS being at fault and not the customer because the laptop delivered wasn't to the promised specification (which included the BIOS fix).

However, my assumption would be that the email Antgoo received was probably an automatically generated email which will hopefully be sorted out.
Click to expand...

yeah, I hope it was just an auto-email, this whole thing has lost so much of my time, and it was such a lovely spec machine too
 
U

Unhumanje

Member
I'm going through some PC specialist nonsense myself, I was told 'The fan issue has affected some issues, and a BIOS update is currently coming out very shortly.' Over two months ago. Whole thread is here.
 
A

antgoo

Member
Unhumanje said:
I'm going through some PC specialist nonsense myself, I was told 'The fan issue has affected some issues, and a BIOS update is currently coming out very shortly.' Over two months ago. Whole thread is here.
Click to expand...

They told me that the BIOS update had been rejected by the motherboard manufacturer, so it was being withdrawn, and pendrives with the original BIOS on were being sent to customers who already had the fan-quietening BIOS update already.
They were not allowed to send me the quieter-fan-BIOS
 
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