The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hello

I purchased my Packard Bell MB88 P003 in Dec 07 for £650 and it failed in April 2011. A computer engineer has looked at it (for free!) and told me it was the graphics card that has failed.

Thanks to all the info contained here I am now commencing my claim against PC World.

I've just got off the phone with them - (very helpful by the way, and told me that yes I do have a valid claim under the Sale of Goods Act) - they are requesting that I pay them £50 to collect the computer and they will undertake the engineers report. The £50 is refundable if there is a fault with the computer. This sounds a reasonable offer to me - I just wondered if others have proceeded with PC World undertaking the report or if it is better for me to get an independent report?

Many thanks all - I will let you know how my claim proceeds

Andy

Hello Andy and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

Your laptop contains an Nvidia 8600 GPU which is one of the more prolific of the defective GPU's so the chances are that the engineer who looked at your laptop is correct.

I always advise customers to obtain their own engineers report as this is your right under the Sale Of Goods Act. The specific part that gives you the right to obtain your own report is the "reverse burden of proof". This basically means it is up to you, the customer, to prove to PC World that your laptop is inherently defective. It is not for PC World to do this for you.

The cost of any report that you obtain is refundable by PC World as this is a consequential loss and will be refunded on top of any refund that they may be awarded.

You can of course choose to let PC World inspect your laptop and it will be interesting to see if they concur with the findings of the engineer who has already inspected your laptop.

I hope the above helps.

Any questions please let me know.

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 all,

I have a Packard Bell ARES GP2W (i think thats the model anyway!)

I purchased it around 4 years ago and approxiametly two weeks ago I encountered a problem where my screen went distorted, then blanked out and turned off. When I turned it back on again my screen was split into 6-8 smaller screens and it was unusable. The next day I turned it back on and it launched up fine, normal screen etc. A windows problem and solutions screen popped up and said I needed to install a new NVIDIA graphics driver. I did this but nothing happened. Since then I have tried wiping the whole computer, installing new windows 7 to see if that did anything but its still the same. Sometimes it doesn't even boot up Windows and you can only access it in safemode but the screen is still split into smaller screens, right from the Packard Bell launch up screen.

I have read on this forum about the NVIDIA effect. Does mine fall in this same category?

Any help would be appreciated.

Your doing great work on this forum!!

Thanks, Marc

Hello Marc and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

The problems you describe are indeed manifestations of the defect and so coupled with the fact that your laptop contains an Nvidia 8600 GPU I would say that it is highly likely that your laptop is indeed inherently defective.

Please could you let me know who you purchased from, what method of payment did you use and can you prove payment?

To be able to prove payment only requires either the original receipt or a debit/credit card statement.

Please let me know 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,

Thanks for your speedy response.

I can't remember for certain, but i'm sure I purchased it using a credit card, so should be able to obtain proof of purchase if I trawl through my statements.

I bought the laptop from a PC World store.

Thanks, Marc

Hello Marc,

Well, fingers crossed that you did indeed pay by credit card as this means the card company are jointly and severally liable with the retailer in situations such as this.

If you fail to reach a positive resolution with PC World then you can pursue a Section 75 refund from the card company.

You should now contact PC World and should tell them that your laptop has failed due to an inherent defect with 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 PC World and not from HP so it is entirely PC Worlds responsibility to resolve the situation.

See what they say. If they say they will inspect it for a fee you should refuse and say that due to the "reverse burden of proof" then you will provide your own independent engineers report.

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.

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

_________________
=======================================================
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 contacted my bank who are going to send me a copy of the credit card statement that includes the purchase of my laptop. Is this sufficient evidence for proof of purchase because I cannot find the actual receipt anywhere.

Cheers, Marc

Hello Marc,

Excellent news that you are going to get a statement showing the purchase as this is indeed sufficient proof that you purchased the laptop.

The actual receipt is not important, what is important is being able to prove purchase which the statement will do just nicely.

Good luck with the next step.

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.

Is it essential to go contact the store before sending off the first 'Letter before action' template?

I have posted the letter today but as i'm not fully aware of the facts behind the Nvidia defect, I don't feel confident enough to speak directly to a member of staff.

Thanks, Marc

Hello Marc,

There is absolutely no need to contact the store although I would have advised that you phone the head office first.

As the letter has already been sent then it is a case of sitting back and awaiting their reply.

Please let me know the contents of their reply 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.