Don't buy a computer in Great Britain if you live in Spain

Although I live in Spain I bought my computer from PC World in the UK when over here. After a few weeks of use it stopped picking up its Wifi connection and nothing that HP and PC technical support outlets in Spain did sorted the problem out.

They insisted that the only way I could get it put right was to take the computer back to the UK. This I eventually did and had the computer exchanged for another of the same model.

However, the second new computer has a problem with the optical disk drive, but I have been told I have to take it back to the UK.
Bill Bertham

Legally Mr Bertham’s contract is with PC World in the UK. Although Spain, as part of the European Union, will have similar consumer laws as the UK they will not be exactly the same.

Each member state implements EU directives into national law as they see fit. This is legal if the laws they introduce meet the minimum requirements of a Directive.

However, this shows one of the problems of buying from a trader in another country, even if the retailer is in an EU member state. In situations such as this, the best way to handle a complaint is to go to that country’s consumer protection body.

In Spain this is the Confederación de Consumidores y Usuarios (CECU), based in Madrid, telephone: 0034 913 641384.

If people need to find the contact details for consumer organisations in other EU member states, a good place to start and get further information is from BEUC, an umbrella body for European consumers’ organisations.

We have contacted PC World to ask what it would suggest under these circumstances. The company said: “Our Spanish outlet PC City closed last year. If it was still operating we could have tried to help, but unfortunately this is now not the case.

We do want to point out that, legally, if Mr Bertham wants to use UK consumer rights, he will have to either send or bring the PC back to PC World in this country.