Consumer guarantees repair for 3.5 year old Surface Pro (5th Gen)

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Consumer guarantees repair for 3.5 year old Surface Pro (5th Gen)

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761 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#2746586 19-Jul-2021 12:54

Delphinus:

How do you diagnose the issue further when there are no error messages or faults showing?

You ask an IT repair expert to give you a half page letter explaining what they have looked at, and (hopefully) confirming that it is caused by hardware failure, and not as a result of poor maintnance (etc).

That letter would be good evidence to support a disputes tribunal claim. From what you've said I think you should have a good claim.

sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#2746587 19-Jul-2021 12:55

Delphinus:

Got a copy of the report from the repair agent for Noel Leeming.

Diagnosed to find Main Board faulty, replacement unit can be supplied.

Lets try disputes and see what happens!

Oh - perfect!!

dan

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#2746649 19-Jul-2021 14:37

i would 100% take them to the despite tribunal, surfaces are notorious for their high failure rates.

elpenguino

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#2746754 19-Jul-2021 16:51

Yep. And these megacorps will do everything they can to shirk their responsibilities when they make a duff product.

In my case I've got two Xbox controllers that have cr*pped out after not much use.

So stick it to the man for all of us. May all your judgements be favourable.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Oblivian

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#2746758 19-Jul-2021 17:05

So happens I just pulled one apart out of necessity. It wasn't fun

The screen shattered as soon as the tool got near it and is under a heap of tension so easily done. But those stupid black sticky glue tape all around fix fast. And fusing the batteries to the back case means you can't strip em out without danger.

At least in this model the SSD was slot in and not fused anymore. That was a dumb idea.

Delphinus

611 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#2746805 19-Jul-2021 19:49

elpenguino:

So stick it to the man for all of us. May all your judgements be favourable.

Filed today. Looking forward to the process. Exciting!

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Delphinus

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Ultimate Geek
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#2751400 28-Jul-2021 17:03

Happy days. Full refund of $1501 back to our account (no vouchers) for the original purchase price of surface tablet + pen + keyboard cover.

I filed the dispute and put Noel Leeming head office address. Got a call from the local branch yesterday (about a week later) saying head office has been in touch and how would I like to resolve this dispute. I asked for a full refund of tablet + accessories (as they were useless without it). They asked if we wanted to try the latest surface, but I declined saying I don't trust the quality. They offered a voucher but said would prefer $$.

Popped into the store today and it's been refunded back onto our card. No need to go to court.

Information provided to disputes tribunal:

Copy of their report saying MainBoard faulty
Original invoice
Screenshot of Consumer website saying laptop life expectancy is 5 years.
Examples of the fault across Microsoft forums, reddit etc demonstrating it's common and that Microsoft are replacing them under warranty
Link to Surface Pro update history showing Microsoft are still providing updates.

Well worth the $45 filing fee. Pity they were less accommodating the first two times I tried to get it sorted under CGA (at the time they said Microsoft had declined it saying 3 years was acceptable for a Surface), but super happy with the outcome now.

Would I buy from Noel Leeming again? Yes I think so.

Would I buy a Surface? No.

dan

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#2751401 28-Jul-2021 17:05

good job mate.

MurrayM

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#2751692 29-Jul-2021 10:46

Delphinus:

Screenshot of Consumer website saying laptop life expectancy is 5 years.

I tried looking on the Consumer website for their interpretation of a reasonable lifetime for various goods, but couldn't find it. Could you give me a link to that page?

dan

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#2751697 29-Jul-2021 10:53

MurrayM:

Delphinus:

Screenshot of Consumer website saying laptop life expectancy is 5 years.

I tried looking on the Consumer website for their interpretation of a reasonable lifetime for various goods, but couldn't find it. Could you give me a link to that page?

this page here.

https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/appliance-life-expectancy

MurrayM

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#2751705 29-Jul-2021 11:09

dan:

this page here.

https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/appliance-life-expectancy

Thanks!

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1101

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#2751725 29-Jul-2021 11:46

"at the time they said Microsoft had declined it saying 3 years was acceptable for a Surface"
Thats a shocker .
If thats what MS believe, then MS should be forced to tell that to prospective buyers

Perhaps the CGA should be changed so manufacturers have to state their expected/acceptable life of THEIR goods . Do that & things will soon change

networkn

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#2751729 29-Jul-2021 11:49

1101:

Perhaps the CGA should be changed so manufacturers have to state their expected/acceptable life of THEIR goods . Do that & things will soon change

LOL no it wouldn't :)

johny99

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#2767931 28-Aug-2021 09:17

MurrayM:
dan:

this page here.

https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/appliance-life-expectancy

Thanks!

Consumer.org.Nz are a private company that should not be confused with the government entity the commerce commission, anything consumer put out is simply an opinion.

Lias

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#2767976 28-Aug-2021 10:52

johny99:

Consumer.org.Nz are a private company that should not be confused with the government entity the commerce commission, anything consumer put out is simply an opinion.

While you are correct that what Consumer put out is opinion rather than law, Consumer NZ is not a private company, it's a non profit incorporated society, that for many years was government funded until the Ministry of Consumer Affairs was created (now part of MBIE). MBIE still works with and funds some aspects of Consumer NZs work. There is no legal definition of things like product life expectancy, the law is intentionally vague, however as far as opinion goes, there simply isn't any better source in NZ than Consumer NZ.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

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