We bought a reconditioned laptop from their store....

We bought a reconditioned laptop from their store. After getting home, we found out it had a scratch on the screen, so we took it back within the week to get it replaced. Customer service was not appalling but not great. No apology, just a begrudging replacement with another laptop of our choice (which cost us a bit more) and a few side comments minimising the issue.

With the second one, we got home and it became clear that the maximum battery life was maybe 20 minutes if i am generous. The battery charging cord was also not working correctly, and we had another laptop of the same brand which we could test this on and confirm. It was otherwise working fine.

When we went to make a claim on the warranty (for a replacement battery), and after a week of the laptop being investigated at their office, it was agreed they would replace the battery charging cord, but they did not want to replace the battery. I was directed to their terms and conditions which said the warranty did not cover batteries.

So i had a look, and the same section says that Recompute will not sell us a battery that does not hold charge. I wrote back explaining that it now holds a maximum of 10 minutes charge, and was already in need of replacement at the time of purchase (which we had no way of knowing when we purchased it). They said that the battery does hold charge (even if only 10 minutes) so therefore they did give us a battery that does hold charge.

Sorry but that is just ridiculous. And being a legal girl, I contacted Fair Trading who concurred with my view. What they were claiming was cheeky and not a fair or reasonable reading of their own terms or conditions.

But i didn't need to make a claim in the end as they agreed to replace the battery after i mentioned my contact with FT to them.

When we went to pick up the replacement battery, the same grumpy shop guy was there and said he didn't know anything about it and couldn't find it, so we had been put out once again.

We got it in the end, but i think the most disappointing and concerning aspect of the whole experience is that they are a retailer of reconditioned computers yet had sold us two computers that had obvious issues. Second to this would certainly be their customer service, particularly the grumpy shop guy who should not be in a customer-facing role.

I would not purchase another computer from Recompute and would not recommend others to do the same.