Q I bought my son a laptop as a Chanukah present and it was broken and wouldn’t switch on when we took it out of the box. I took it back to the shop and the manager said he wanted to take it in for testing and to fix it rather than giving me a refund or replacement computer. Can he do that?
AIt depends on how long ago you bought the computer. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if you take the item back to the shop you bought it from within 30 days, you are entitled to a immediate full refund if that is what you want. If you take it back between 30 days and six months you are entitled to a full refund only if the item cannot be fixed or replaced. The legislation then says you have up to six years to ask for a partial refund if you believe the goods have not lasted “a reasonable length of time”. It sounds like you bought the computer over a month ago, which is why the retailer wants the opportunity to fix or replace it. But either way, the law means your son will end up with a working laptop.
You don’t say how you paid for the laptop, but if you used your credit card you could enlist your bank’s help under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act (or the Chargeback scheme for a debit card), which makes it jointly liable with the retailer if things go wrong.
