The Nvidia Defect Forum

I brought a Sony Vaio VGN-AR31S in March 2007 which has nvidia graphics. The video developed a problem suddenly this Jan 2011 with lots of green and red squares all over the screen and some vertical lines. The computer would not also start and the system recovery is not able to recover the system.

I wrote to Comet suggesting that they offer a refund or replace the laptop as I stongly believe the nvidia graphics card is to balme give the problem that I see on the laptop and all the reading I have done on this site and on the internet about the nvidia issue. Comet cameback stating that I should get the laptop reviewed by their engineer at a cost of £49 before they can say anything.

My questions are
1. Should I pay the £49 and get a comet engineer to look at the issue? Is there a risk that the engineers might rule in favour of Comet?
2. Can I go ahead and get a independent review done and then go to Comet with that info (hoping the independent engineer finds that the issue is indeed with the graphics card issue) ?

Please advice...

Many Thanks

Hello Kanthamohan and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

Please find below the answers to your questions.



No, you should not obtain your report from Comet.

They are neither independent and their opinion could be biased.

If you take a look through this forum not many customer have been told that the laptop is inherently defective for their £49.



Yes you can. The Sale Of Goods Act states that after six months from the date of sale there becomes what is known as the "reverse burden of proof".

This means that it is up to you, the customer, to prove to the retailer that your laptop is inherently defective. It is not for Comet to attempt to prove this on your behalf.

Furthermore, if you look through the forum, very few retailers ever admit to the fact that the laptop is inherently defective and most refunds are made "as a gesture of goodwill".

Your model of laptop, the VGN-AR31S is one that has been acknowledged by Sony as being inherently defective and that can be found here:- http://tinyurl.com/2wq7vl8

The full list of models that Sony admit to are:-



This will further enhance your case when making a claim.

I hope the above helps.

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

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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 advise. I have now raised a job with Lapcure... will keep you posted on how it all goes..

I just realised that sony are offering to repaid the laptops for four years from the date of manufacture.... (ref http://tinyurl.com/2wq7vl8)

This means that I have few more days left in that four year period. Am I better off getting this repaied through Sony, or should I stoill claim a refund/replacement?

Does any one have an experience getting their laptops repaired by Sony?

This is taken from the site Q&A .....


"A) We do not recommend a repair to these laptops due to the lack of reliable parts. We have seen huge quantities of laptops fail for a second or third time after the laptop has been repaired with a replacement mainboard. The defective chips are not only present in thousands upon thousands of laptops in use in the public domain; they are also present in mainboards being used in repairs.

If the retailer insists on offering you a repair then you should insist on a written guarantee.

You should ask the retailer to write the following statement on their company headed paper.

“The mainboard being used in the repair of your laptop is a new batch and is guaranteed to be 100% free of the Nvidia defect. Should the laptop fail again due to an inherently defective Nvidia GPU then a refund or replacement laptop will immediately be given.”

Most retailers will refuse to give such a written guarantee. You should emphasise to the retailer that the only condition you will accept a repair would be if they give you such a written guarantee.

If they give you this then keep it safe – just in case the laptop does fail again at which point you can march back to the retailer and demand a refund.

According to one of our customers one company, John Lewis, gave such a guarantee. Unfortunately for them the laptop failed again after 2 months. They received an immediate refund."

The full Q&A can be found at
http://www.nvidiadefect.com/frequently-asked-questions-t220.html

This is not meant as specific advise , only some thing to help you decide.

Paul, the site admin will be away for a few days ...

Ralph

Hello Kanthamohan



Ralphy quite rightly pointed out my advice about whether or not to accept a repair (thanks for that Ralphy)
and that is that you should ask for a written guarantee that the repair will be free from the defect.

I should be able to inspect your laptop tomorrow (Thursday) and will let you know my findings as soon as I have completed the inspection.

Fingers crossed 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.

Hmmm.. so far so good. My report does confirm that the issue with my laptop is indeed nvidia GPU related. I will be writing to the head office attaching the report. Hope 'Comet' play it fair and do not make this a tough up-hill struggle for me.

Thanks to Paul and this forum for getting me so far. I will keep you all posted on how it goes.

After two week wait... I finally had a response from Comet. They have offered a free service to be arranged through Sony along with a cheeky statement saying 'the laptop has operated error free for 48 months and with that they consider that the laptop to have served it's purpose' (though not in the exact same words). I will later upload a copy of the letter...

I guess I will send them one final letter stating that their offer of a free service is unacceptable unless they can offer a written guarantee that the repair will be free of the stated nvidia defect. I would also state that they should be dealing with Sony and not I. Or do I have an option of refusing the repair outright as the product is inherently defective I have a choice to make which is to 'get rid of it' and get another one?


Any other thoughts from anyone?

Hmm for some strange reason the last update does not seem to have been pickedup by the forum. It still shows as 6 replies inspite of the last one being the 7th... I am posting this to see if this changes so that I could have a few users reading and responding....

Hello Kanthamohan,

To be honest I never spotted that before. Excluding this reply there are nine replies to your thread yet the total only shows as being seven.

I will take a look to see if I can correct it.

Did you post a copy of Comets letter into the forum and found that it isn't showing?

Regarding Comets offer, like you correctly stated, the offer of a repair should only be accepted if Comet are prepared to give you a written guarantee. Furthermore, as it was Comet who you purchased from and not Sony, then it should be Comet sorting this out on your behalf. It is unacceptable that they are trying to palm you off to Sony.

If Comet refuse the written guarantee then you should refuse the repair.

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.