Stockton lad's lucky break

Nov 1 2009 By Sunday Sun

DAD David Wright and his son Connor, 14, have a brand-new laptop thanks to your consumer champion.

David had told me how his first laptop from office supplies company Staples developed a fault.

David, of Stockton, said: "It was still under warranty so I did not expect any problems.

"The laptop was sent back to the manufacturers, Fujitsu, in Germany.

"Then it was returned with the fault not repaired.

"They said it was because liquid had got into the machine but I am sure it didn’t happen when it was in our possession."

David also complained about delays on Staples’ part in getting to grips with the dispute.

Spokeswoman Juliet Passam admitted there were delays.

She said: "The customer returned it to the store but there were delays as he did not have the software to enable the diagnostics to be carried out before it was sent for repair.

"Once this was sorted out by our store staff it was sent off to Fujitsu’s repair centre.

"They assessed the machine and found the damage presented was caused by liquid being spilt on the machine and this is not covered under the terms of the warranty as it is classed as customer-induced damage.

"The store spoke to the customer who advised that nothing had been spilt on the machine."

And there it might have ended but for a gesture of goodwill from Staples. Not only did they cover the cost of getting the laptop back from Germany but there was more good news.

Juliette added: "I have spoken to the district manager of the Stockton store this morning and he has agreed in the circumstances to supply Mr Wright with a replacement like-for-like specification machine."