Hello Anthony,
Thank you again for the response. As I mentioned I tried with different headphones and was hearing both channels on each side. I also tried a USB headset and for that the sounds came out properly, which led me to believe that it was indeed the port as you suggested. I went back to the store and replaced the laptop, hoping it was just an issue with the one I first purchased but unfortunately this one has the very same issue, both channels are heard when using the normal stereo headphone jack.
Thanks for your help and input, but I'm just going to return this one too and just go with another brand or model. Which is a shame because this laptop is quite good but to have this problem seems like a big oversight especially on a machine that has it's audio as a big selling point. Thanks again.