The Nvidia Defect Forum

On 27 Dec 2007, my partner purchased an HP Pavilion dv9500 from PC World in Lincoln on the advice of their salesperson after he had heard her requirements. She paid £799.
Over the past few months, she has noticed that it has been slow to boot and even slower to close down. Then, a few days ago, the screen went mad and the machine emitted a loud noise. She could not turn the machine off and had to wait for the battery to be drained before it would shut off. (Not being in any way technical, she did not know how to remove the battery.) Then, on attempting to restart, the self repair could not do anything.
Grey screen and nothing else. Contacted my usual engineers who immediately suspected the NVIDEA fault ( which I had never heard of). I took it to them and they confirmed the problem.
Contacted PC World who gave me a Complaint Number and told me to take the machine to the Lincoln store who would then contact the relevant department and we would receive a call within a few days.
Arrived at Lincoln PC World and it was 25 minutes before anyone even spoke to me. At first, they appeared to be saying that they were unaware of any inherent fault and they wanted to restore the machine to its initial (sale) condition although this would delete all data. They wanted £30 to save the data. I asked how such action could help an inherent fault but they were adamant that this was essential before they could go any further. Then, I was kept waiting for another 30 minutes whilst the person was on the phone to someone else. Eventually, I was called to speak to this other person who stated that there was nothing they could do if I would not let them attempt repair. I pointed out that an independent engineer had already told me what was wrong. They want me to send a report from that engineer (which I shall do).
After this call, there followed a conversation with the in-store personnel which included an assertion that little could be done as we had accepted the machine without letting them know of a fault within 6 months of purchase. I told them that this was rubbish as we had no idea that there was an inherent fault with the machine until it manifested itself. They then said that a laptop was not expected to last more than 3 years. Again, I said that they were talking rubbish.
It then transpired that they had (somewhere) a list of the affected machines but that ours may not be on it. They also said that the NVIDEA fault usually showed itself within a year of purchase. This was a complete contradiction of their initial comments that they were unaware of such a problem. Furthermore, I was told that they had not had ANY machines returned with this problem which I said was quite amazing considering that it was a known inherent fault and that the small independent engineers, to whom I had taken the laptop, had 5 on their premises with the same problem.
One of the PC World staff then even suggested that we would get nowhere unless we instigated legal proceedings.
After my initial call to PC World, I felt that things would be rather smooth in resolution.
After my visit to PC World Lincoln store, I was left angry, frustrated and feeling that they didn't really care that a customer had a problem.
Is this a normal "in store" attitude or was I just unlucky ?

Hello Chrisnbaz and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed and of the experience you had when you visited PC World.

Their lack of understanding of the Sale Of Goods Act is glaringly obvious don't you think?

Whether or not your laptop is on a list is irrelevant. Everyone knows that these "lists" are wholly incomplete and there are far more models of laptops that are failing than the manufacturers will admit to.

Take absolutely no notice of anything they say to you as much of what spouts forth is absolute baloney from staff who have little understanding of the laws, of your rights, or of the defect in question.

Your next step is to send a copy of your report along with a letter before action to PC World's head office. There is a template letter available in this forum and that is here:- download/letter-with-report.doc

You should download that, edit it with your details and sent it with a copy of your report via recorded delivery.

Please remember to keep a copy of the letter and report and postal receipt.

There is also 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 reach a positive resolution.

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

Please keep us updated on your progress.

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.

Hi, Paul,
I have been tied up with work and it is only now that I am in a position to proceed with PC World.
I have the hard-copy Independent Report stating that our HP Laptop has an Nvidia Graphics Chipset which has failed and that tests show that the Heatsink is functioning correctly. They further state that, although the HP Pavilion dv9500 does not appear to be on the list issued by HP, they (the Engineers) have had a number of this model with the same problem.
Questions :
1. PC World gave me an address for their Customer Service Centre in Sheffield as the place to send my letter and the Report. Is this the correct address or is there a central Head Office address which would be better ?
2. My partner is looking for a replacement laptop. Are HPs now "safe" ? (She has her eye on an HP Pavilion dv7-4045 or dv7-4180.)
Thanks.

Hello Chrisnbaz,

The address they gave you in Sheffield is correct so you should send all communications there.

Regarding a replacement laptop, I would take a look at the following before making a decision:- http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/Squa ... y_1109.pdf

Personally I would recommend Toshiba's as being the most reliable of the brands with HP, according to the survey, as being the least reliable.

I hope the above helps.

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.

Hello,

So I been suffering with the same issue with my laptop since... I want to say September of 2009. At the time it was all denial of the issue. Well now there was a setelement however my model doesn't seem to be included as I have a dv9543cl. Extremely frustrating so I was wondering if you have any luck with your letter please keep me posted.

My biggest problem now is when it first happened and I had no other option but to repair it myself which I felt really comfortable doing and got it to work for 15min or so while the computer was still taken apart (was testing before I put it back together). When I did put it back together once again turning computer on resulted in black screen with all the quick touch LED lights on. So took it apart did the re-flow again and got it to boot when computer was apart. I shut it down but didn't unplug it when I was resembling it which I think shorted the little board that controls the power of the computer. It will not power on anymore sadly.

None the less the cause of all of this was due to the fact that I was having the Nvidia issue on my machine and had absolutely no other rout to take at them time as the computer was out of warranty and talking to HP CS informed me I was out of luck and must pay for out of warranty repairs if I wanted it fixed.

Hi, Paul,
Well, I sent the letter and the Report to PC World on 10th February. Hadn't heard a thing from them after a week, so I telephoned and was told that my letter had been received and was being dealt with by a chap (who I won't name here) who would be in touch forthwith. I received no communication by mail or phone.
I telephoned again and was told he was unavailable but would call me back. He didn't !
I telephoned again this morning and, again, he was unavailable but would call me within the hour. He didn't !
I telephoned again and made it quite clear what I felt about the "Customer Service" which I was receiving. They said he would call me this afternoon ------ even though I had already said that I would be unavailable after 1pm. I said that I wanted to speak with this guy without further delay or I would be forced to escalate the matter.
He phoned me a few minutes ago and said that he had just read the Engineers Report this morning (?) and had been in contact with the Engineer to ascertain the costs involved in repairing the Laptop. He was now waiting for them to call him back with such costing and he said that he'd call me back this afternoon (even though they had noted that I won't be home). I stated that, from all information available, there was no guaranteed repair which could be done. He talked of replacing the motherboard. I pointed out that, according to what I've already been told by the Independent Engineer, this would contain the same Nvidia chipset and, therefore, such a repair would be prone to the same problems in the future.
I am not inclined to accept such a "repair" but where do I stand legally in this regard ?

Hello Chrisnbaz

If they do offer you a repair then you should ask for a written guarantee, on PC Worlds company headed paper, that states the following:-



If they refuse to give you the above guarantee then you should reject their offer of a repair on the grounds that they have failed to provide sufficient evidence that the repair will be of a satisfactory quality.

Fingers crossed for you that it all goes smoothly.

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.

Well ! Having not received the promised call from PC World, I phoned them again this morning and was told that the guy dealing with me would call me within 20 minutes. He didn't !
So I called back after 2 hours to be told he was unavailable but would definitely call me this afternoon.
At 4.37, a guy telephoned (don't know who he was) and told me that they have my letter and the Report and that I would receive a call from the relevant department by noon tomorrow. I pointed out that they had received the Report on 10th February and it was now 14 days later. I also pointed out that had a converstaion about this on Tuesday. The guy (today) was very abrupt and just said "Look, you'll get a call tomorrow !".
That was it !
To say that I'm unimpressed with the Customer Service would be something of an understatement.
Meanwhile, we have bought a new Laptop because we needed one immediately. Therefore, I won't be accepting "repair" or replacement ------- just some cash towards the new one.
I'll let you know what happens tomorrow.

Hello Chrisnbaz,



You are not alone in your conclusion and I have to say that they are consistently inconsistent in the way that they deal with their customers.



How rude! I bet he was absent on training day when the subject topic was attentiveness and politeness to customers.

Their procrastination does nothing more than alienate their customers and PC World would benefit from sending their staff to Staples to see how a Customer Services department should be run.

When you sent them the final letter before action did you put the "time is of the essence" bit at the end of the letter?

If so then when you speak to them tomorrow you should tell them you want an immediate offer of a resolution otherwise when you put the phone down you will, without hesitation, file you small claims action online. You should further tell them that you are more than confident of a successful outcome so it is in their best interest to settle now rather than later when there are court costs involved.

Don't let them keep you hanging on and you should refuse any offer of a repair.

I hope the above helps.

Good luck for tomorrow.

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.

Just had a call from PC World (11.05) and I'm not a happy bunny at the moment.
He said that they were waiting to hear from my Indepedent Engineer regarding confirmation that the new motherboard contains a chipset which is not faulty. He said that HP and Nvidia have now distributed replacements which are not subject to the defect. I told him that, from all my research into this matter, there is NO such replacement/repair available and, therefore, I would not accept a repair. I, also, pointed out that we had purchased a new laptop due to the situation in which we found ourselves which was compounded by their lack of contact and/or swift action. (I had been told that they received my letter and Report on 16th Feb ----- however, Post Office Tracker shows that it was delivered at 09.08 on 11th Feb.)
I said that they had had ample time to resolve the matter especially in view of the fact that we are not talking of a "one-off" situation but a known defect whereby PC World have had many similar cases with which to deal. I stated that I am not inclined to wait much longer for resolution and reiterated that a repair was not acceptable.
He then said that I was misunderstanding him and that he was not saying that I had to accept repair but that, until he had heard back from the Engineer, there was nothing more that could be done with regard resolution.
I then asked, if we are in a situation whereby a repair is NOT acceptable to me and PC World are not saying that I had to accept one, why can we not resolve things now ? I said that I want this resolved without further prevarication or delay.
He simply said that he would call back after receiving the info from the Engineer.
Confused ? You bet !