The Nvidia Defect Forum

hello all, i am the (once happy) owner of a sony vaio VGN-NR32S equipped with the infamous NVIDIA 8400M GT GPU. My wife and i bought this laptop thinking "yeah, SONY,, it's gonna be mint". sadly, this was not the case, less than 15 months in, the gpu died, unfortunatly our model is not on sony uk's extended warrenty list ( even though i can find others with the same vaio+gpu+problems ) sony repair tells me "i can send my laptop in for a diagnosis,,,BUT,,, they will have to recover cost's for shipping meaning we're going to be out of pocket for an "inherent fault". we're currently taking the matter up with curry's as we feel that the sales of goods act '79 should hold true in this case.......... DOES ANYONE ELSE OWN THIS MODEL VGN-NR32S / S ..... PLEASE GET IN TOUCH,, SONY NEEDS TO UPDATE

Hello Pete and welcome to our forum.

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

It took a long while before Sony finally put their hands up and admitted that they had a problem in their product lines.

In fact, early last year Sony were adamant that there were no problems in their product lines publicly stating that their laptops were manufactured with different chips and were therefore immune from the problem.

Now, with egg on their faces they admit there are problems, but only with a limited number of models.

HP are taking the same stance insofar as they will admit there are only problems with some models when we all know full well that the problems extend to many more models than they would care to admit to.

So, with that in mind it is irrelevant whether or not your laptop is on their incomplete "list".

First of all, forget about Sony as they cannot do anything for you. Your contract is with Currys and it is Currys that are responsible for remedying the situation.

Here is what you should do.

1) Call Currys or go into their store. Tell them that your laptop has failed due to what you believe to be the Nvidia defect.

They will probably tell you that you are out of warranty and to go to Sony.

They should never tell you to go to the manufacturer because your sales contract is with them and you should tell them so.

You should tell them that the warranty is irrelevant as you have SIX YEARS from the date of purchase to take action against the retailer when the goods in question are inherently defective.

They will then probably refer you to their head office.

2) Armed with the head office details you should download the template letter before action available in the downloads section of this forum.

Edit that with your details and send it via recorded delivery to their head office. Please ensure that you keep a copy of the letter and the postal receipt.

The letter gives them seven days to respond in the positive.

If, after 7 days you have not had a positive response then you should proceed to obtain an engineers report on your laptop that will prove the inherent defectiveness of the Nvidia GPU.

Once you have that you should send it to their head office, again by recorded delivery and again ensuring that you keep copies of both the report and postal receipt.

Please let me know when you get to the report stage as that is a service we provide.

Start off with the above and see how you get on.

The important thing to remember is to not let them fob you off. Your rights are set in stone and they cannot refuse to comply with their obligations under the Sale Of Goods Act.

If your laptop is inherently defective then you really cannot loose.

If you require any help or 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.

thanks for your swift reply. We should be fine with the report side of things as a shop in Grimsby (VAT registered) has said they will do the report for £15 (i suppose it's because they can narrow down the search and just concentrate on whether its the GPU or not). One other question though,, does my vaio model (VGN-NR32s) translate to another model on the USA or ASIA sites as i think SONY may be extending the warrenty on an equivelent model but hiding the fact that it is the same as mine.. one thing is for certain. SONY HAVE LOST YET ANOTHER (used to be VERY) LOYAL CUSTOMER.

Hello Pete,

I don't know of an equivalent model on the US or Asia site but to be really honest does it matter?

Sony do not have to admit to a problem with your laptop in order for you to get a resolution.

We have had countless successes with HP laptops that were not on HP's "list"

Both Sony's and HP's list are so incomplete anyway that it almost makes them worthless if they are to be used as a guide by the retailer when deciding if a laptop is defective or not.

_________________
=======================================================
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.

hiya,, i know sony doesn't have to admit to the problem but, dammit, they should, chances are that they have already got money back from the $310.000.000 (last count i could find) that NVIDIA "put aside" for paying for this problem,,, it just bugs me that another giant corp' is walking all over the consumer and we're still lapping it up..., 0905 number for out of warranty support,,, pay for shipping for a diagnosis just so they can say its "another component",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, i'm sorry, but sony have really got my back up,,, on ther other hand, the guy we spoke to at curry's (Grimsby) was great.

HI guys,

Just thought i'd share with youthe fact that my Sony NR32S has just died recently, and i believe it to be caused by the Nvidia defect. I also bought my laptop from Currys and emailed Sony about two weeks ago hoping although my model wasn't listed they would extend the warranty - they simply said it was outside of warranty but would repair with charges. My laptop was purchased August 2008.

I've just left it with a repairer who is likely to confirm tomorrow that it's the defect. He has offered to given my a report and he was the one who lead me to this forum. Shocking state of affairs but i will go back to Currys on confirmation of the fault. If anyone has the template letter to hand, please email it to me at vernaldo1@gmail.com

Regards

Vernon

Hello Vernon and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear you are having problems with your laptop.

You should make sure you deal with Currys at all times. They are the ones who sold you the laptop so they are the ones who are responsible.

Currys may tell you to go to Sony, but you have no contract with Sony and they cannot help.

There is a template letter before action available in the downloads section of this forum.

You should download that, edit it with your details and send it to Currys head office.

This gives them seven days to respond. If they do not respond in that time then you should proceed to the next step.

Did you say that you already have an engineers report?

Does it specifically state that your laptop is inherently defective?

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 Tim,

I will go back to Currys. I said that my laptop is now with a repairer who will confirm that my laptop has been affected by the defect. The repairer will give me a report should i want one and if it stregthns my case i will get one.

Regards

Vernon

Final report on Sony saga.......

Sent a letter of complaint to Curry's who confirmed receipt of it yesterday. Curry's called me this morning to say that they would not repair or replace but would give me a credit voucher for £300. I accepted and thought 'hang on, i should have negotiated'. Anyway, i rang them back and said i didn't feel i could buy a similar model for that amount and they up'd it to £325. I then spoke with Consumer Direct who said if i take them to the Small Claims Court i may not receive anymore and it was reasonable due to me having 18 months use of it. I rang them and accepted. Now awaiting a credit note.

It not as much as i'd hoped for but it's more than what Sony offered me - a repair a minimum cost of £300.

Regards

Vernon

Hello Vernon,

You never said how much you paid for the laptop so I am unable to say whether or not the £325 was a good offer.

Still, at least you are not completely out of pocket.

Good luck and best wishes for the future

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.