The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi Paul,

After some advice on a laptop I purchased in October 2006 which went faulty with the NVidea symptons described on 12/4/2009.

I have had lots of comms with Comet and the latest is shown below,

"At present, the fault you are witnessing to your laptop has not been confirmed as a known defect and is only speculated to be that which you have seen documented on line. As you made your purchase in October of 2006 and have only just reported this issue to us by e-mail, irrespective of you stating the fault first appeared after 37 months, to all intents, and to Comet's knowledge, your laptop has worked for 51 months.

Whilst I do not wish to diminish Comet's responsibility as a retailer under the Sales of Goods Act, before Comet are able to address those responsibilities, the fault you are experiencing must first be established by a qualified engineer. Once the nature of the fault has been established, Comet would be happy to honour its legal obligation to you. It must, however, be noted that this may not result in a full refund or free of charge replacement as you have requested."

I received this in February but due to other commitments have not had time to address this.

I do have a PDF report of all comms with HP which briefly is:

8/7/2007 Wont power up - arranged mail in repair
29/7/2007 Replaced motherboard
August 2007 Wireless stopped working - used external adaptor
12/4/2009 Wont boot - 3 beeps - blackscreen

Been ongoing emails with HP and Comet ever since.

Is it viable to still proceed with this at this stage as I have let it lapse a little.

Also will you need the HD as we currently have it plugged into a lead on another PC to use the data on it.

Thanks

Dave

Hello Dave and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear of all the problems you have been experiencing with your laptop.

The current problem that you have, the three beeps, relate to a failed video so it is high likely and not "speculation" that your GPU has failed.

On the 30th November 2008 HP released an upgrade for the BIOS contained in this laptop named F.3D. One of the “fixes/enhancements” of this upgrade was “Updates the fan control algorithm of the system to reduce the likelihood of future systems issues.”

Looking further into the Hewlett Packard support website it also states the following:-

“The new BIOS release for your notebook PC is preventative in nature to reduce the likelihood of future system issues. The BIOS updates the fan control algorithm of the system, and turns the fan on at low volume while your notebook PC is operational”

This BIOS upgrade was released by HP in order to prolong the life of the Nvidia GPU by trying to keep it cool. It failed drastically as laptops that had been updated to this BIOS are still failing.

The later BIOS updates also contain the same instruction to switch the fans on continuously.

This just adds further evidence that there is a problem with your laptop.

I do think that you still have a viable case as you are still well within the Statute Of Limitations, which is six years from the date of purchase.

Furthermore, depending on the documentation that you have it may be possible to make them accept the April 2009 date as the date of failure and so this will greatly enhance your refund.

There is no need for the hard drive so you can send the laptop in without it.

I hope the above helps.

Any questions please let me know.

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.

Hi Paul,

Sent a letter for court action within 5 working days which is today.

I have just had the following back from Comet

Thank you for your continued patience.

I have now received the required information from the manufacturer and am able to provide an update. I have arranged for a free of charge repair to provided for your laptop, which will use parts that are free of the original defect. So that I can arrange for the repair to take place, please confirm where you would like you laptop to be collected from and when it would be possible for the collection to take place. Please also provide a contact number, should the manufacturer need to contact you regarding this repair and collection.

What would you advise at this stage as they are not offering to pay the Laptop report fee and I cannot confirm if this board will rectify the problem or if it will fail again in 6 months.

Many thanks for your ongoing support aand suggestions.

Dave

Hello Dave,

I would get back in touch with them and would ask for the guarantee to be sent to you on their company headed paper.

I would also tell them that you fully expect them to reimburse you with for your consequential losses, which include the cost of the report.

If they refuse to provide you with either of the above then you should tell them that you are going to issue a small claims action against them. You should further tell them that you are aware of a number of other customers who have issued a small claims action against them and that they were successful so you are more than confident of a successful outcome.

See what they say and if they still refuse to comply then you should issue a claim against them.

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,

I have already drafted a mail saying just that, ie requesting it in writing nd also for reimbursing the costs.

Will let you know what happens.

Just had this reply from Comet

We would not be in a position to provide a document detailing this information. However, as HP would be completing the repair they have confirmed to ourselves that the repair would be complete using new parts free of the original defect. Parts which have been recognised to contain this defect would not be used by HP for a repair as they are obsolete and no longer in production.

I can advise that the repair would be covered by a 3 month guarantee.



Whats your thoughts Paul

Thanks
Dave

Hello Dave,

Well, that is a long way from what we have requested of them.

I cannot understand why they would only want to give a three months guarantee if the parts were brand new and I also cannot understand their reticence and putting the written guarantee in writing.

Remember, you purchased from Comet and not HP so it is Comet with whom your contract is with. HP are repairing on behalf of Comet not you.

You should tell them that you will only accept the repair if they are prepared to give you the written guarantee and that they increase the warranty from three months to a year.

You should also ask if the parts that are being used will be new or refurbished.

Please let me know what they say and I will advise further.

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,

This is Comets reply:

Thank you for your e-mail

After reviewing this matter with the Head of Operations of the Customer Care team, they are satisfied that the information provided is correct.

As confirmed in my previous emails, we would not increase the repair guarantee from 3 to 12 months, and the parts to be used would not be refurbished. Furthermore, as HP are the repair agents, we are not in a position to provide such a document.

I have however been provided authorisation to reimburse the charge incurred for your independent engineer report. This will be issued in the form of a cheque and should be received within 7-14 days, however this can take up to 28 days to arrive. If you should not be willing to go ahead with the repair we would advise you to seek advice from a relevant Third party who will duly contact us on your behalf.


Comet Customer Services


I will complete small claims court application tomorrow morning but thought I would see what you think first.

Thanks

Dave

Hello Dave,

It is my opinion that the written guarantee is vital if a repair is to be accepted as this will provide you with a little extra protection should the laptop fail again in the future due to the GPU.

Furthermore I do not feel that three months warranty is acceptable due to the fact that it can take up to 14 months or more for the defect to manifest itself.

If Comet are not prepared to accede to your requests then I suggest you continue with the small claims action.

At the end of the day all you want is some assurance, in the written form, that the parts that will be used will be of a satisfactory quality.

A number of Small Claims judges have ruled in favour of the claimant on that very basis and agreed that the retailers had indeed failed to provide satisfactory evidence that the parts to be used would be of a satisfactory quality.

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 I had my day in court today. This followed a mediation session a few weeks ago that resulted in Comet offering £100 + half of the court fee which at the time was £60.

Today in court the judge awarded me £200 plus all court fees (£60+£80) and half days wages based on the max allowed of £90/day.

Whilst it is a positive result that I am very happy with for a laptop purchased in 2006 I would advise anyone going armed with your report thinking the judge is likely to be on your side against the retailer.

The truth of the matter is that Comet are basing their defence mainly on the report and whilst the judge didnt accept that the Nvidia defect didnt exist as Comet would have liked he wasnt goint to accept the report as evidence that it did exist on my laptop.

The judge after receiving the papers from Comet that would be used had already done his homework looking at the forum, sample reports and my report and come to the conclusion that the report wasnt independent enough. The problem appears to be with the link to this forum which publises the successes and has a negative effect of it looking all to automated and commercial.

I almost think that the judge had a lot of simpathy for Comet having to endure the onslaught of so many of us.

I also had a small problem in that my rights as a consumer were somewhat diminished by the fact that I had purchased the laptop for use in my business. Comets terms clearly state domestic use only.

The facts of the exact dates where questioned at one stage but because of me keeping all my emails I could prove the dates in court.

My advice to others from my experience is ensure you have all evidence of facts and dates to hand, dont rely on the report as gospel proof of the defect and above all dont under estimate Comets defence which I am sure wil get ever firmer in future.