Technically no warranty

In November 2023 we decided to buy laptops for our kids during Black Friday. At the time of purchasing, we were informed that the laptops had a 3 year warranty. About a week ago one of the laptops stopped working and upon returning it to one of the store to be repaired we were informed that it was out of warranty. We were then advised to take it to an outside repair centre at our own expense. My husband then called the branch where we purchased it advising him of our experience and not being told about the warranty activation and he was basically told that nothing would be done about it and it was our word against theirs. I feel like this is an absolute ****. Had we been informed of the warranty activation upon purchase we would have definitely requested assistance in this regard, but we were not advised leading me to believe that this is something they possibly do intentionally. I am now sitting with a R6000 laptop which is now basically a “paperweight”, as we were told by the repair place. This was a complete waste of our time and absolute waste of our money. I would not recommend computer mania at all.