John Lewis: Good place to buy a computer?

I�ve just been checking out the John Lewis site, mulling over possibilities for my next main computer purchase. I need to reduce my �office� area and am looking at various alternatives to the traditional desktop design. I�ve tended to buy Dell over the years because of the next-day at-home warranties but looking back, my experiences in getting somebody out and the quality of the fix have been variable, though gthey were swift to sort the problem MHC reports:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/hardware/t/4027488-...

A neighbour bought a mid-range laptop from the local branch of John Lewis recently, having �heard� that their aftercare is good. I like the look of some of the higher-end laptops on the website All John Lewis computers come with a 2-year guarantee with options to extend the warranty. But how good is John Lewis aftercare? I�m don�t want the PC-World/ Dixons model of care. Years ago, I had to return two desktops as unfit for purpose and it was not easy. Neither do I want an expensive system dispatched to somewhere remote for weeks on end�. You get my drift.

Anybody with experience of John Lewis aftercare?

I have not experienced their aftercare for a computer buy I have for their TVs. It was seamless and pain free, I would thoroughly recommend them.

I bought a laptop for a local computer group from JL, aftercare excellent. I know others who have bought from JL and the few that have had problems have had good aftercare. Maybe it's the staff at the local JL, maybe it's their normal countrywide approach.

Personally i have always found them to be very good with customer service but their prices can be a little high sometimes, as for the two year guarantee, yes thats nice but the law covers you if a product breaks down within a reasonable time, all these one year guarantees you see are actually longer than that under the sale of goods act although it can be a hassle getting shops to understand this law.

Check the link below.

http://www.monikie.org.uk/yourrights.htm

I would check out Amazon for prices as they are also good with delivery and customer services but John Lewis is a good shop to buy from.

John Lewis gave 5-year's Warranty on my TV. Had to use them once and first class next day at home service.

Can't give advice on PC's, but if you are prepered to pay a premiun (despite their 'never undersold' tag), might be worth considering.

Wife has a Dell Laptop, went wrong soon after purchase (bought from a non-related JL site) and Dell came out the next day and fixed it.

Exended Warranty to protect yourself?

Agree with your comments on PC-World- my Son had a Comaq Laptop that died; took weeks for them to 'fix' it, but still didn't work. Threw it into the skip in the end and bought an Acer.

You don't need to buy extended warranties, the law covers you without these, extended warranties are a way for these companies to make more money out of you.

In reply to a post by TalkTalk1969:

as for the two year guarantee, yes thats nice but the law covers you if a product breaks down within a reasonable time, all these one year guarantees you see are actually longer than that under the sale of goods act although it can be a hassle getting shops to understand this law.

Check the link below.

http://www.monikie.org.uk/yourrights.htm

Don't assume that process will be easy though.

I've just been through the process of trying to get a £600 laptop fixed that was purchased from Currys online and was 15 months old.

The first call I had I quoted the sale of goods act which resulted in being asked to provide an independent engineers report that would specifically say that the fault was due to a manufacturing fault.
They are perfectly entitled to do this from what I have read.

Of course I couldn't find anyone that would be able to say this in a report and if I could it would have been a major hassle to arrange.

I phoned back a second time and started the conversation from scratch not mentioning SOG act at all. This time got a completely different response with an agreement to pass me on to a special out of warranty team who agreed to a free repair through the PC world fixed price repair service.

When I took it in the guy at PC world refused to believe that I had managed to convince them to do a free repair!

They weren't able to repair it in the end so got some vouchers off them instead.

Given my experience if I were buying an expensive laptop again I would definitely take out an extended warranty.

Hi Tony
Can you say a little more about the aftercare you received? Did somebody come to you to fix the laptop or did you have to take it to JL, have it sent away and so forth�?

Two cases I can recall.

1) Wireless network stopped working. Took the Vista PC it in to JL, while there the assistant in CS booted it up, had a look, went in to "repair wireless" (or something like that). That did the trick. Was fine thereafter. Who knows what caused it go bad?

2) 18 month old HP laptop stopped working. Took it in, was sent away. Came back after a week or so apparently fixed. Failed again within a few days. Went back, after a few days JL admitted they couldn't find what was wrong. Offered the owner the new value of the laptop (£600 IIRC) to buy a replacement. He got a more up to date, faster, laptop for that money with a warranty that restarted the clock as it were. He was very pleased. As he was retired the absence of the laptop for a week or so wasn't that critical to him, that may not be the case for some, but few (if any) warranties will provide for a replacement, and certainly not for data etc.

Another case I've just remembered, though pre-sale rather than post-sale, was for a couple who, owing to speech handicap of the husband, needed special software which had some very specific and possibly awkward requirement. Also because of the way it was physically used, the arrangement of USB ports - how many on the left and how many on the right - was important. The staff at JL were incredibly helpful in working through the options to ensure the couple got a laptop which fully met their needs.

Maybe it's my nearby (3 miles) JL (Cheadle) but my own experience of their general customer service is good. Yes, they've made mistakes, but they've always admitted the mistakes and sorted them, even on one occasion sending a beautiful arrangement of flowers to my wife.

Even on price I've twice got money back via their "Never knowingly undersold". Yep, I'd use them again.

Edited by cheshire_man (Fri 12-Aug-11 14:53:34)

Many thanks for all that detail, Tony. It�s a pity there isn�t a rapid call-out option but what you describe inspires confidence in JL. I�ve found Dell good when it comes to replacing components (i.e. dial-up modem, CD/DVD drive, laptop lid/screen) but uninterested in potential major hardware faults (e.g. I ended up getting a local technician to reseat the RAM in a brand new desktop because I could not persuade Dell that it�s performance was, at best, one-third of what I expected.) I have a 5-year old Dell laptop and it�s fantastic for its age/spec but it�s a second system and I�m looking to replace my main desktop.