Consumeractive
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Should I contact manufacturer or retailer about warranty?
Q I was interested to read about recent cases where 12-month Lenovo warranties started before the customer had even bought their laptop. I think I have the same problem, but I was wondering whether I should contact the retailer (Currys) for a solution, or go straight to Lenovo? The latter might end up being quicker.
Chris Rowland
A Yes, contacting the manufacturer might be quicker, and they should be able to tell you when your warranty started. Give them your purchase date and they should be able to reset your warranty.
Legal responsibility rests with the retailer, however, so involve them too. You could for example ask the retailer to contact the manufacturer on your behalf. Or you could get confirmation from the manufacturer about when the warranty started and show this to the retailer. You should point out that it’s misleading to show the wrong length of warranty in a product’s description.
Whichever you choose, only the retailer can offer money back as damages for the reduced warranty. If the warranty expires before you’ve had 12 months’ cover and you have to pay to fix a problem, you can ask the retailer for this money as damages. Alternatively, the seller may have to fulfil the services covered by the warranty for the period of the missing months. All these rights are now covered in the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act (DMCA), which has superseded the 2008 Unfair Trading Regulations.