The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi, I only heard about this site after taking my daughters laptop to a friend after months of problems with it.

It was bought in July 2008 from PC world as a gift for my wife but long story my daughter "borrowed" it for UNI, January this year she started having problems with it, things like Internet cutting off, screen blurring then coming back, laptop getting very hot, black screen on startup and having to restart to get it to work, so she hasn't used it since then and it's only because I needed it that I started trying to use it in May this year.

Luckily I badgered into making back ups of all her work so at least she still has that.

Six weeks ago the laptop just gave up, wouldn't boot just a split screen then nothing else, I took it to a friend who had a look and told me about your site, best thing he could do, it also appears that I am not the only person with the same problem.

Yesterday took it back to PC world and the tech guy there took one look and you could tell from his manner that it wasn't the first time he had seen this problem, his responses was to take the laptop in for "diagnostics" at a cost of (think he said) £60, second option was to phone customer services.

When he spoke it was almost as thought he had a prompt sheet in front of him, customer says this, you say that.

Any way, I hope I have done the right thing and copied your letter and sent it to PC world Head Office via delivery, is there any point in phoning customer support on Monday or do I now just wait.

Also after this amount of time if by some miracle PC world do offer a refund just what amount should I accept.

Why is it that a company is oh so willing to take your money but when things go wrong they will try every method going to get out of doing anything right to make the customer happy.

Hello Dave and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

Your laptop contains an Nvidia 8400 GPU (GPU REV G86-630-A2) which is one of the more prolific of the defective GPU's. The manifestation you have described is definitely the defect so you should have no problems with your claim.

You did the right thing in sending the letter to their head office and I would now wait the seven days to see what response you receive.

If you receive no response in that time then I would give them a quick call to see if they are prepared to offer you a resolution. If they refuse then you should proceed with the next step in the step by step guide.

That is here in case you have not already seen it:- post13.html#p13

If you follow my advice in that guide then you will be successful.



If you ask me it is all to do with their bottom line, or in other words their profits.

If a retailer refutes 100 claims and 20 people go away and drop their claim then the amount that has to be refunded is much less.

Based on the information in your profile the minimum amount of refund that PC World should be offering you is £263.36.

This is based on the six years Statute Of Limitations and the 34 months of use that you have had.

This figure also excludes any consequential losses which you may incur.

I hope the above helps.

If you have any questions or if you need any advice along the way then please let me know.

Good luck and best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.

Update about my laptop, just had a phone call from a very nice lady who represents PC world saying that she has just received my letter and that it appears that my laptop does indeed have the Nvidia fault.

She explained that she would phone back tomorrow with an offer of either a cash refund or money towards a new laptop from PC world.

Fingers crossed I may have a result with just one letter to their head office, well worth the time and effort and advice from this site.

Hello Dave,

Excellent news and not a hint of resistance from them.

If they do make you a cash offer then the minimum that they should be offering is £235.64. This is based on the fact that the laptop should last as long as the Limitations Act, which is six years.

Fingers crossed they make you a good offer.

Good luck and best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.

Seems I may have been "misled" over the conversation I had with the lady from PC World customer service when she phoned up about my laptop, when she phoned me back last Wednesday (27th June) she explained that the laptop had to go back to PC World Tech department to be assessed as to what the fault was, if it was found to be a Nvidia Fault then the laptop would be deemed as unrepairable and they would then make me an offer.

So Thursday I took the laptop back to PC World and the laptop was taken by them to be sent to their Tech people, I was told that I should have an answer by this Tuesday at the latest. I have waited until today before trying to find out what the results are and the answer I have been given is,

"Your laptop is in for repair and should be back to you in the next 5-8 days repaired and working" when I tried to explain what had been said to me before it went back I was again told " we have decided that these laptops can now be repaired and that is what we are doing and any thing said to you was wrong".

So they have my laptop and can now do what they want even though on 4 occasions I said that I would only have it repaired if they guaranteed any repair and put it in writing on PC World headed paper which they refuse to do.

When I took the laptop in I was told that there was a £50 charge to send it back but this would be taken care of by a goodwill voucher to cover the cost and this woman kept asking how much I would be prepaired to spend on repairs, I just kept telling her zero pounds, nothing, not one penny.

So what do I do now, they have the laptop and from their view point they can do what they want and I have to acept it, any advice.

Hello Dave,

Well, well, well. So this is how it is to be is it?

I have heard of this happening before to some other members and the cynical side of me thinks that this could be a tactic in order to get their hands on customers laptops only to effect an unauthorised repair.

Sadly there is nothing that you can do at this stage. When you get the laptop back you should then run the GPU stress tester on it and monitor the temperatures that the GPU reaches.

If the temps are inordinately high then that could be an indication that the motherboard is as inherently defective as the one that it has replaced.

That is if they even replace the motherboard. They could just try to rework the current GPU.

I hope that your experience serves a a warning to other customers who are in your position. I would recommend that customers do not allow PC World et al to inspect your laptop and would instead insist on your rights under the Sale Of Goods Act to provide your own independent report.

Please let me know when you get your laptop back and have tested the GPU.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.

Hi, thank you for your advice but to say I am annoyed is putting it mildly, is there any point in writing to PC World head office again to advise them that I did not agree to any repair work and that the person at their customer service in Sheffield had specifically stated that this fault was unrepairable and if the laptop again fails I will just get an independent report and then pursue the matter through the small claims court and will only notify them that I intend to do so and will not give them the laptop back again.

I'm so annoyed that some one can be lied to so blatantly and they expect to get away with it, the best part is that the woman I spoke to in the first place is now on Holiday until Saturday and is not expected back in the office until Monday, how convenient.

I'm not the sort of person who just gives up because it's too much bother to continue fighting for any legal rights I may have.

Regards

Dave

Hello Dave,

I can fully understand your angst, I would feel the same.

It is like you were tricked into the repair which is, in my opinion, thoroughly unprofessional and akin to the type of practices that Arthur Daley would become involved in.

I would therefore wait until the woman gets back off holiday and then tackle her about the empty promise that she made.

You could always argue that you had a verbal contract with them and that you want to adhere to what you have already agreed to.

It has got to be worth a try, especially if you tell them that you will take this to court and will inform the press of their dubious practices.

What do you think?

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.

Hi Paul, while I still had a bee in my bonnet I phoned up my insurance company legal help line and explained the situation to them.

I was very surprised at their reaction, they are more than willing to act on my behalf in taking action against PC World and gave me instructions to phone PC World back.

The man I spoke to yesterday was so smug in telling me what I had to accept from PC World and he even told me that he had the same problem with his lap top and even "his" claim was rejected and I would have to have my lap top repaired because they can.

So armed with a set off instructions and questions to ask the support staff it proved a very entertaining 20 minutes on the phone, now it seems that the person I spoke to yesterday "may" have got his information "wrong" about the "work" that is to be done to my lap top and it is only in for assessement. It was with great pleasure that I let it be known that I was acting after getting instructions from my legal help line and I needed to know the name of the person I spoke to yesterday and also the name of the person who I dealt with today so I could pass this information to them.

The legal help line actually said the same as you that my first conversation with the support staff could be considered a verbal contract that could be binding on their part.

So after a lengthy time being put on hold their attitude is now one of they are just looking at the lap top with a view to making a refund towards another lap top.

Any way I have now been told that they will e-mail the lady concerned and get her to phone me Saturday at the latest with an update about my lap top.

When I first spoke the the support staff I would have been more than willing to buy another lap top from PC World but now I wouldn't even buy one from them if it was buy one get one free and if any body ever asks about buying any thing I will do my best to steer them well clear of the place.

But I am not holding my breath but will now just wait and see what happens.

Regards

Dave

Hello Dave,

That is excellent news. I was actually looking into this for you before you replied and am glad that the Solicitor has confirmed that there was indeed a verbal contract.

Had PC World not told you that if it was found that your laptop was indeed inherently defective then they would refund or replace the laptop then you may not have paid them the £50 to inspect the laptop.

This is exactly what you need and I think that the call you will receive on Saturday will be a favourable one.

Based on the information you have provided in your profile I have calculated that the minimum amount that you should be offered is £332.67.

Fingers crossed that this nightmare ends on Saturday for you.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.