The Nvidia Defect Forum

My machine is an HP DV2630ea purchased from PC World Fulham in December 2007.

To start with I am a techie, so I am fairly certain that its the graphics chip that has gone. Its a 8400M chip so its in the list of affected variations.

The laptop has always run quite hot and I had applied all firmware updates and had set the computer to run in low power usage mode to try and keep it as cool as possible. The last 6 months it has been really hot all of the time so I knew it was only a matter of time before it failed. Started off by getting graphical artefacts in Windows which eventually started showing in the boot screen (this proves it was the graphics chip and not a software driver). A few weeks ago it failed completely, the machine switches on and the screen backlight comes on, but absolutely nothing shows up.

PC World Fulham is just down the road from me, so I popped in (as it was the weekend) to see if I could get the ball rolling. I guess not unexpectedly they said it was something I would have to take up with HP, although they did try and ring them in the store for me but being the weekend. What they did do though was deny all knowledge of a known problem. The Tech Guys assistant even asked several other people and phoned several people and still came back with the same answer. Anybody like to have a guess at how this is possible given how many people on these forums are returning laptops. The only reason I bought it from PC World is because it is down the road and so I get problems dealt with quickly.

So it was onto the phone support. Initially denied any knowledge of the problem, a few "I'll just ask my manager"s later they miraculously knew about the problem and said I needed an engineers report. I said that I could provide as I had the required knowledge but there was no joy there, they said it had to be independent. I put some quite considerable pressure on them to try and get the problem resolved quicker (including removing my business account on which I spend thousands of pounds a year), no dice.

So I guess this is a really long way round of asking a few questions.

- What is included in the engineers report?
- How do diagnose the problem if the machine doesn't boot at all? (Basically I don't want to have to pay for the report and then find there is nothing in there that can verify the problem).
- Does PC World require the laptop to be sent back as well?
- How long has it taken people to get a response?

Any input welcome. Oh, and thanks for putting up the board.

Hi there BatterseaBob and welcome to the forum,

Paul (Lapcure) is currently on holiday (back in a couple of days) but I'll try to answer the best I can for now - I'm sure he'll correct any mistakes I make when he returns


In order to diagnose the defect and produce his (very effective ) reports Paul carries out a rework of the GPU (basically heating it up to re-solder it to the board). If the laptop works after the rework then it's definately the defect causing the problem.

As an after effect of the rework the laptop is temporarily repaired but this rarely lasts for very long.


Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. There seems to be no logic to this although normally if you settle before issuing court proceedings then you can expect to give the laptop back - after this it could go either way.


I'm presuming you mean a result - the record is around 11 days (a recent one) but it can be anything up to 12 months if you have to take it all of the way through the courts.

Hope this helps & good luck.

_________________
Please note: I am not legally qualified and therefore any postings I make are just my own personal opinion based on my experience of working for a number of years at a busy County Court.

Can I ask a question ???

as you mentioned a business account in your post,
did you buy the Laptop on the business account ?

Ralph

Hello Bob and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear of the problems you are experiencing with your laptop.

Ciderboy answered your post very well and there is not a lot that I can add to it.

Ralphy did ask a very pertinent question though. You stated that this was purchased on a business account. Is this correct?

If so it changes things as PC World specifically exclude business sales from being covered under the Sale Of Goods Act.

What does it state on your invoice?

If you need any help or if you have any questions then 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.

Well I had a put this aside for a while due to lack of time, but thought I would pick it back up again. And all I can say is what a difference a month makes!

First off to answer the question. Luckily I bought it on my own card, so that won't be a problem.

After reading recent successes I decided to try phoning again and to be honest it was like I was speaking to a different company. I got my reference number and it sounds like they are going to deal with it in a much more intelligent manner than before.

So the highlights are:
- They told me about the right to claim for a product upto 6 years after purchase!
- I was told I would be contacted within 4 days
- Whilst the problem was not explicitly acknowledged, when recounting the story I wasn't met with the same hostility (all though this may come later).

One thing to note is that the operator told me that their 'out of warranty' claims team is very busy at the moment because of a new EU directive being introduced shortly that would limit this liability to only 2 years. Does anybody know if this is true?

Also the right number to contact for PC world is 0844 561 0098 -> option '5' -> option '3' -> option '2'
Might want to update the contacts page.

Anyway I feel a lot more hopeful than I did on my last attempt and if DSG are listening (which I suspect they are) well done. You nearly lost a customer permanently (and my DABS account can attest to my resolve in this matter) and now I no longer feel like it is me that has done something wrong.

Hello Bob,



You are not the first person who has said that PC World have changed their attitude towards customers caught up in this sorry debacle.

I have to say it is refreshing to see customers now being treated in the way in which they should and that PC World are finally facing up to their responsibilities.



This is not true.

Earlier this year, the papers were full of tales like this – a European Directive entitling all European customers to a repair or a replacement for goods which failed within two years of purchase. It was not new but clearly stated that “Sellers … are obliged to guarantee the conformity of the goods with the contract for a period of two years after the delivery of the goods”.

Some customers do quote the EU Directive on numerous occasions when making such a claim but they shouldn't as the the Sale Of Goods Act offers a customer much more protection and the EU Directive is no match.

This directive is currently in force so I am not sure what the lady was talking about but even if it were true why would their "out of warranty claims" team be busy? It is not as if customers are trying to beat a deadline so I would say that she was talking baloney.

Thank you for the updated phone number, I will update the contacts page.

Good luck for when they call you back and I hope is a favourable reply.

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.