Problem Question 2

Sally is an 18 year old student who visits Gigaflop Computing in Sydney and informs the salesperson she wants a laptop for gaming and doing university assignments.

The salesperson told her the computer had 16GB of RAM, a fast CPU and a separate graphics card so the laptop would be perfect for games as well as standard office applications.

Sally also informed the sales person that the laptop needed to be reliable because she was a full fee paying student doing distance education and if her assignments were late and she failed a subject it would cost her a small fortune to repeat any subjects.

The sales person assured her the brand of computer came top in the list of most reliable laptops in a range of surveys.

Sally told the sales person that she would buy the computer because of its reputation for reliability, and because it would be suitable for both gaming and writing assignments. The laptop cost $600 which appeared to Sally to be quite a bargain.

On the way home the laptop was sitting on the front seat of Sally's car. She had to brake suddenly to avoid a cow and the laptop fell off the front seat. But the laptop was safely boxed and secured by form-fitted Styrofoam packaging.

When she first logged onto the laptop to set it up she discovered that the software diagnostics revealed that it only had 8GB of RAM rather than 16GB.

She took it back to the Gigaflop and there was an offer to look at it on the spot. After 10 minutes wait she was told the RAM was there but not seated properly so it didn't register, but it was able to be easily fixed. She was charged $50.00 for this service. It was explained the RAM must have come loose during transport. However RAM chips are held in place by clips which would not usually be dislodged by minor bumps. Next time Sally logged on the 16GB RAM was confirmed.

When Sally tried playing games she discovered that the graphics card was not adequate to run the games she liked at Full High Definition (FHD) resolution. She had to play her games at 720p rather than 1080p resolution. Most modern PC games are designed to run on 1080p.

And then after six weeks the laptop wouldn't turn on at all. Sally took it to be checked and was told that the motherboard had short circuited and it needed to be replaced (after yet another $50 charge to have it assessed). She was told the short circuit was most likely due to moisture and probably caused by a spill. But Sally never eats or drinks near her computer equipment. The repair quote was $300.

Because Sally didn't have the use of her laptop she wasn't able to hand an assignment in on time and lost all her notes and she ended up failing a subject which cost her an extra $2,000 to repeat.

Clause 5 of the terms of the Gigaflop contract of sale states: 'Gigaflop Computers reserves the right to charge a service fee of $50.00 to inspect goods which may be subject to a warranty claim. Further, Gigaflop's own assessment of any right to a claim is final.'

Sally now wants to return the laptop and get her money back.

(1) Does the Sale of Goods Act 1923 (NSW) apply?

(2) What rights does Sally have under the Sale of Goods Act 1923 (NSW)?

(3) What remedies might be available to Sally?

(4) Does Clause 5 of the contract make any difference to Sally's rights?

(5) What difference would it make if all the facts are the same but it was

revealed Sally made most of her income buying and reselling on eBay which is why she really required the laptop?