Q: Almost a year ago, I bought a netbook which I need to use on a daily basis. A few weeks ago a problem cropped up with two of its USB ports. Sometimes these ports do not function. When I bought the netbook, the retailer gave me a one-year commercial guarantee.

I reported the problem to the company I had purchased the netbook from. I was told to leave the netbook at the shop for repairs, but since I need to use it every day I asked whether it would be a problem if I submitted it for repairs in June instead.

Since the commercial guarantee expires in a month’s time I was told that if I took it for repair in June I would incur the repair charges. At this point I asked whether it would be possible for the company to give me a netbook on loan which I could use while my netbook was being repaired. They refused.

Can you inform me of my legal rights in this situation?

A: First of all you should know that the Consumer Affairs Act gives you two years of legal protection on the goods you purchase as a consumer. This means that although the netbook you purchased has a one-year commercial guarantee, you are legally still covered for two years in case the goods purchased have a latent defect or are not in conformity with the contract of sale.

However, even though there is this two-year time frame for you to claim a free remedy, when a product purchased is defective it is the consumer’s responsibility to report such defect to the trader as soon as it is possible, not later than two months since the problem became apparent.

Regarding the possibility of having another netbook while yours is being repaired: it all depends on how long the repair will take to be carried out. If the period of time for the repair is long and it will cause you significant inconvenience then you have a right to request a netbook on loan.

If the company still insists this is not possible, you may refuse the repair and instead request for the netbook to be replaced with a new one. This is what the law entitles you and it is over and above whatever your commercial guarantee stipulates.