The Nvidia Defect Forum

I take on board all the points you make Ralph and I will start the Small Claims Court process in motion if I don't get a replacement laptop or a full refund. I am going to have to go shopping for a new laptop with my daughter next week at the latest though, whether the matter has been settled by then or not.

I e mailed Staples earlier today to say that I was contacting the credit card company and also to ask about the refund for the costs of the engineer's report. They replied within the hour but merely said that the cheque for the costs was in the post and made no reference to my approaching Capital One.

I've just sent my letter to Capital One by recorded delivery and whilst I hope that they will either settle the issue with me, or somehow influence Staples to settle the issue, to my satisfaction I will use the time whilst I await their response to prepare for the Court.

So, what do I need (document wise) and where do I get it from?

I haven't heard back from Consumer Direct yet.

Incidentally not everything contained in the BBC link was encouraging - the question of reductions to take account of benefit of usage wasn't mentioned and at least one person who went to the Small Claims Court lost their case. I do however take the point that you make so forcefully that the suppliers are likely to back down at the eleventh hour.

Cheers and thanks for the encouragement.

John A

The more I think about it the more I think I will also push for a full refund.

Have a look through this sites excellent links



http://www.nvidiadefect.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10


Ralph

I have just found this website which provides information leaflets about making small claims through the courts. I'm about to do some reading but in the meantime thought I'd copy the link in case it's helpful to anyone else:-

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/info ... /index.htm

John A

Hello John,

Thanks for that link - very useful and interesting.

I have added it under the "Law And Sale Of Goods / What steps should I take now" section of this forum.

Thanks again John.

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.

Update

Hello everyone

In a nutshell this is now another success story as Staples have agreed, as a goodwill gesture, to refund the FULL cost of my failed laptop, £399.99.

Recent events ran like this:-

I e mailed Staples again because I hadn't heard back from them following my rejection of their offer and to remind them that I hadn't received the cheque for the costs of the engineer's report.

The Customer Services Team manager sent me a letter through the post saying that their offer of £200 was still open re-iterating that this was a fair valuation. She also asked me to let her know if the cheque still hadn't arrived. I phoned the manager but missed her so left a message for her. I followed this up with an e mail emphasising that I still rejected the offer and that unless the matter had been resolved by the end of the week I would be buying a new laptop for my daughter and lodging a claim with the small claims court for £399.99 plus costs. I told them I had now put the finishing touches to my claim form on moneyclaim.gov.uk and they would be served with the documents by the end of the week if the matter still remained unresolved to my satisfaction. I also said that I had contacted the credit card company but had not heard back from them.

I did also re-stated the gist of my case in clear terms as follows:-

I repeat that in the circumstances of this laptop’s failure there should not be any reduction in your offer to take into account benefit of usage. The laptop was just 18 months old when the wireless functionality was lost and 21 months when it failed completely. The laptop has been very well looked after and its breakdown was entirely due to the inclusion of the defective Nvidia component at manufacture. This component had been causing the laptop to run at dangerously high temperatures since new potentially putting the user at risk throughout. HP knew about this inherent fault at the time the laptop was offered for sale yet failed to recall affected models preferring instead to allow them to fail (which they have in huge numbers) shortly after the warranties expired presumably in the hope that consumers would shrug their shoulders and buy replacements. This is nothing short of scandalous.

At the eleventh hour - and after a couple of further days - the manager e mailed me yesterday with an apology for not getting back to me sooner as she'd been out of the office for two days. Her e mail contained the offer of a full refund and stated that a cheque for £399.99 had been authorised. She added that the original cheque covering the costs of the engineer's report had been sent on 11th Sept but as I had not received it they had put a stop on it and would send out a second cheque. I should receive both cheques shortly.

I hope anyone else who is tempted to give up or settle for a partial refund will take encouragement from this outcome and persevere.

To Staples credit they have responded quickly to my correspondence and, at my request, used e mail in the main. They have also remained thoroughly polite throughout and I have gained the impression that I was actually pushing on an open door but their company policies dictated that they should not 'give in' too easily. Nonetheless, they have put me unnecessarily through the wringer making me do all the work which has left a rather bad taste in my mouth as a genuinely innocent consumer. I just hope that they, and other retailers, will use their massive influence to bring pressure on HP to act more decently in response to consumer issues.

If I can help anyone please get in touch.

Thanks most sincerely to Paul for setting up this support forum.

Well done John.

Thanks for updating us along the way in order for us to help you.

Good luck with your replacement laptop.

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.

The two new cheques have just arrived

Cheers

John A

Hello John,

As a matter of interest, did you have to give them your old
laptop back?

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.

Final Update
You may recall that when Staples were still insisting that their partial refund offer was a fair valuation I wrote to Capital One, as I used their credit card to buy the laptop, to ask for their assistance.

I received a reply from Capital One today together with copies of their e mail correspondence with Staples. It seems that by the time they contacted Staples, Staples had already sent my full refund. Whether or not my threat of involving Capital One had had any bearing on Staples decision remains to be seen.

My laptop failed completely on 17-08-09. I came across this forum and sent my first post on 19-08-09. It then took just 36 days for me to get a full refund. I hope this will encourage others to persevere.

In case potential claimants are interested this is how it went:-

21-8-09 Visited local Staples store and left template letter with manager.
27-8-09 Staples replied asking for engineer’s report
3-9-09 Laptop collected by DHL en route to Lapcure
8-9-09 Lapcure e mailed engineer’s report to me as .pdf file and I forwarded it to Staples by e mail
10-9-09 Staples said they had arranged for cheque to be sent to reimburse costs of engineer’s report and offered me £150, which I immediately rejected
11-9-09 Staples increased offer to £200, which I again rejected within 10 mins of receiving it. Staples replied stating they felt it to be a fair offer.
14-9-09 I e mailed Staples once again stating why I wanted a full refund
17-9-09 I e mailed Staples again to say I was writing to Capital One that day and reminded them that cheque to reimburse costs of engineer’s report had still not arrived.
17-9-09 Sent letter to Capital One by recorded delivery
21-9-09 Staples wrote to me to say their partial offer still open
22-9-09 I e mailed Staples rejecting their offer once again
24-9-09 Received e mail from Staples offering full refund
25-9-09 Received two cheques from Staples; one in settlement and one to reimburse costs of engineer’s report.

In case it is helpful and purely for information here is how Capital One dealt with the issue, which I guess could be typical.

Capital One contacted Staples by e mail as follows but the date of the e mail isn’t shown – page cut off.

I am contacting you on behalf of a mutual customer Mr John A.... Mr A... has confirmed that he purchased a HP laptop from you on 17th Nov. 2007. Mr A... has contacted Capital One to confirm that the goods he has purchased from you are faulty.

My understanding is that Mr A..... has contacted you regarding a refund and you have offered to refund Mr A..... £200. Mr A.... is not happy with this resolution.

I am contacting you to see whether or not you will reconsider your offer to Mr A.... as Capital One are not liable for the transaction.

If no amicable agreement can be made between you and Mr A...., the only option Mr A.... will have left is to pursue the matter through a small claims court.

Before I contact Mr A.... again, I wanted to contact you first to see what your stance is on the matter with this new information.

I look forward to your response.

28-9-09 – Staples - Thank you for your e mail, our records show that Mr A....’s case is now resolved (25/9/09)
28-9-09 – Capital One – Can you please confirm what resolution has been offered to Mr A.....
28-9-09 – Staples – A Refund
28-9-09 – Capital One – Can you be a little more specific? Can you advise me how much the refund was for?
28-9-09 – Staples – I’m not aware of the exact amount as this was processed in store, but it was for the full amount.

I very much doubt I would have achieved this outcome without the help and support of Paul at Lapcure.

Good luck and happy to answer any questions if I can help.

John A