Any excuse not to repair but let the customer pay!

On 3 December 2017 we signed a new contract for a new laptop and data with Vodacom. Vodacom setup the laptop for us and we were very happy with the technicians’ service. We went on holiday 10 days later, locked the laptop away at home and returned towards the end of December 2017. On Wednesday 10 January 2018, I fetch the laptop, switched it on and worked on Excel for a few hours. Round about 21h00, I saved my document and switch it off. On Thursday 11 January 2017 my wife intended to continue with my document, but then it did not want to switch on. She phoned me at worked and informed me that it does not want to switch on. I phoned the Vodacom technician and Keywest Shopping Centre and requested an appointment for him to attend to it. We arranged that I met with him at Vodacom on Friday 5 January 2018 ±16H00. The technician Ettienne immediately attended to it in our presence. His opinion was that the problem might be with the motherboard as he could not see any other reason. He proposed to phone Platinum Warranty on Monday to collect it from him, alternatively we could arrange to have it collected from us. We phoned Platinum Warranty and I spoke to a gentlemen named Hayward. He advised me to follow a power test for him but without any success. He provided me with a reference number (RN ********** 2) and said he will arrange a technician to come do an onsite repair within 24-48 hours. On 12 January 2018 at 16:59 I received an email confirming the Onsite Repair has been logged and a technician will be in contact with me within 24-48 hours. On Monday morning 15 January 2018 at 07H43 I received another email confirming a technician is ready to attend and will contact me shortly, which he did. So the gentlemen named Danie du Plessis came to my office to attend to the laptop. His opinion was that it was the power button as it does not “click”. I asked him what he means as it never clicked since we bought it. He then indicated that he has to take it in for repairs, and we signed the collection document of which I made a copy for my records. On 16 January 2018 at 14h04 I received a message that they are updating me and advises that they are arranging for collection of the laptop and shortly thereafter also received a telephone call with the same story to collect. I advised the guy that it was collected the previous day by a Danie du Plessis. He advised me that he was from a courier company but will inform Platinum. NOW READ THIS … On 18 January 2018 at 11H21 I received another email confirming that my Repair Request has been logged for collection (Ref RN ********** 7), and directly another email confirming that the device has been received by their Depot. At 13h28 another email to confirm that the device is with a technician and being assessed. This morning 19 January 2018 I phoned Platinum Warranty and spoke to a guy named Clive. He placed me on hold for a while and then returned with a message that HIS MANAGEMENT says that the power button is not working and that the technician says that the power button has been tampered with and that I have to pay for the repairs. I did not understand what he meant with that and questioned his comments. I explained the above to him when it did not switched on and then took it to Vodacom. I also assured him that neither my wife nor I tampered with anything and that I can confirm that the Vodacom technician also did not tampered with it and could be confirmed with their CCTV system in the store. In light of the collection date of the device and emails as mentioned above, also questioned where the device was in between these dates. Who did what with my device? How do we know somebody at Platinum did not taper with it? The technician Danie would have seen it as tampered with when he collected it but did not indicate it at all. He even wrote it seems power button loose. I insisted on an explanation and now awaits there call. In the interim I contacted Vodacom and spoke to the technician and the manager. The technician confirmed that when attended to the laptop there was NO signs of tampering. My opinion is that either the technician did something wrong and that caused the problem to look like tamper or Platinum Warranty does not want to do the repairs and that is how they get the customer to pay for something they are not supposed to pay. I also intend to seek legal advice, should Platinum Warranty fail to repair the device (laptop) which is under warranty and guarantee. And confirmed to the Vodacom Manager that I will insist on a new laptop if not repaired free of charge.