The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi there,

I purchased the Compaq CQ60-320SA from Currys back around May/June 2009. In mid-December 2010, the laptop died with a black screen and intermittant booting/black screens/distorted graphics.

Thankfully I knew someone at our local laptop repair centre, and they said it could be a graphics issue and they re-flowed the chip. When it came back, it worked for about a week before exhibiting the same problems again.

Until today I had forgotten about this - it was a story on Slashdot about nVidia settling a class-action suit in America that made me look into this a bit more, and where I found your site from!

I'm guessing that the issue is probably related to this defective chip inside the laptop? I'm hoping that the attempted repair won't invalidate a claim in anyway.

What kind of resolution do you think would be appropriate in this case? Would it be worth obtaining a report from someone other than the people who repaired it?

It'll be interesting for me as I actually work for Dixons (don't hate me! - I only do merchandising and stock replenishment!) - I don't think there's anything that would prevent me from filing a small claims case if it got that far?

Thanks for any information you can provide!

Chris

Hello Chris and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

The problems you describe, such as the black screen and distorted graphics are indeed manifestations of the defect and so coupled with the fact that your laptop contains an 8400 GPU I would say it is highly likely that your laptop is indeed inherently defective.

In the first instance I would simply contact Currys and would tell them that the laptop has failed due to what you believe to be an inherent defect in the Nvidia GPU.

They may tell you that your laptop is out of warranty and that there is nothing that they can do. You should tell them that the warranty status is irrelevant as you have six years from the date of purchase in which to bring an action against a retailer when the goods in question are inherently defective.

They may then tell you to contact HP. You should tell them that you purchased from Currys and not from HP so it is entirely Currys responsibility to resolve the situation.

They will then probably ask you to provide an engineers report to prove your claim that your laptop is inherently defective.

The fact that your laptop has already been repaired should not affect your claim because at the time of the repair you were unaware that your laptop was inherently defective and that you had a right to pursue the retailer.

You may be best not to tell them that you work for them when making a claim, I would not want them to hold it against you.

There is a step by step guide on this forum that will help you reach a positive resolution and that is here:- post13.html#p13

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

I hope the above helps.

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

Good luck and best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

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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.

Thanks for the reply and useful information Paul

I fired off an email to the Currys customer service e-mail last night with a run down of what happened and when. I provided a self-diagnosis of the nvidia issue and explained that I had the chip re-flowed by a repair company.

I got a telephone call a few minutes ago from them advising that HP had re-called certain models, but mine wasn't on the list. They said however that they have an out-of-warranty team that deals with these issues.

They advised me to take the laptop into my local Currys/PCWorld store (which I can do when I go into work tomorrow ) and have it looked at by the Techguys/KnowHow experts. They will then make a call to Head Office who will authorise the payout.

The person on the phone advised me that they would offer £195 as a contribution towards a replacement. Does this seem fair given the timescales? Should I request more as I had to have it repaired?

Unfortunately for you Paul, they stated that they no longer needed engineers reports - they must have realised that you know your stuff and didn't want to keep paying out for your services just to say the same thing each time

Thanks again for your fantastic site and advice!

Chris

Hello Chris,

Fingers crossed for you for when you take your laptop down.



That is excellent news as it must mean this forum and the campaign is working.

I am actually still providing reports for customers who purchased from PC World so it may take a little time for the message to filter through to all their branches.

Let's see if they stick to it.

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.

Well, everything seems to be going well!

Just popped to the TechGuys desk and we called the out-of-warranty team who initially stood by their £195 offer.

I told them that the laptop had been repaired externally which I had to pay for, and they said they wouldn't be able to cover the cost of that (which we all know is baloney), however, they would increase their offer to £235.

Seeing as though I can keep the laptop for parts, this doesn't seem too bad an offer and I accepted. I am now awaiting the voucher to be sent so I can get my replacement.

Cheers again for the forum and the advice, much appreciated!

Chris

Hello Chris,

Well done on your success.

What a breath of fresh air it is when they don't make you jump through hoops in order to reach a positive resolution.

You should get a decent price for the laptop on Ebay in its current condition so that is also a bonus.

Well done again and all the best for the future.

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.