The Nvidia Defect Forum

Right, my laptop seems to have suffered the Nvidia defect, and thanks to this board, I have got to the stage where I am obtaining an engineers report.

They took a quick look, and have confirmed that it is a graphics card issue, but I need to wait for the report to confirm exactly what has happened.

My next problem is that I am not sure what sort of compensation I should be looking for, as I paid a lot less for the machine than it was worth (sold as a Managers Special).

Hello Nedram and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that you have been experiencing problems with your laptop.

If you can let me know exactly how much you paid, when you purchased it and the date you reported the failure to the retailer I will calculate how much you can expect as a refund.

Also, did you pay by credit card as if you did then you would have extra protection.

Please let me know and I will advise further.

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.

I sent a Private Message with the information you requested a couple of weeks ago, and wondered if you received this information.

I have now spoken to the reporting engineer, who has confirmed that the laptop failed due to "BGA Failure", which is an issue that they have seen a number of times.

My next step is to write to PC World, and I would like to have some idea of what I am entitled to.

Hello Nedrab,

I did reply to your PM, but no problems, please find below details as requested.

You stated that the engineer:-



Is this what has been documented in your report?

If so, it may not be enough for you to win your case.

BGA failure, which basically stands for Ball Grid Array failure, can be caused by wear and tear.

The Nvidia defect is not actually a BGA problem. The BGA is on the underside of the GPU, but the Nvidia defect is related to the bond between the die, which is the chip in the centre and the substrate.



If you look at the image above, the rows of little dots that you can see are the ball grid array.

The black chip that you can see is the die and the green chip is the substrate.

The defect occurs between the die and the substrate.

On the basis of a BGA failure a retailer can argue that it has failed due to wear and tear and is not an inherent defect.

It is most important that the engineer documents the fact that your laptop is inherently defective if that is what it is.

I do not feel you have a strong enough report to win if it merely states BGA failure.

I hope you don'y mind me pointing this out.

As far as what you would be entitled to there is a calculation that can be done that will determine what the courts would allow as a minimum if a refund were to be made on usage.

1) You paid £500 for the laptop
2) A laptop should last 5 years = 60 months
3) £500 / 60 = £8.33 (Monthly rate)
4) You had 30 months usage out of the laptop (60-30=30 months remaining usage)
5) 30 * £8.33 = £250.00

So, if you were to proceed to court, then the minimum the court would allow would be £250.00.

You stated in your PM that you purchased this on credit at an interest rate of 21.8%.

You should also be able to recover any interest payments you have made as well so you will need to calculate the exact figure that you paid for the laptop.

Your first step though is to confirm with the engineer who inspected your laptop whether or not your laptop is inherently defective and if so will he document this in your report.

If you have any questions then 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.

By way of an update, I received the engineer report which did not specifically state an inherent defect, but the wording did suggest this.

This was forwarded to PC World, who I then chased for a response after a period of approximately 14 days.

They advised that they had tried to call me, even though they then said that they did not have my number, and a letter had been sent confirming an offer of £231.00. This still has not been received, even though a further working week has nearly passed!!

Anyway, given that I am looking to obtain a minimum of £250.00 for the laptop, plus £191.47 in interest charges (paid by instalments), plus £17.63 for the engineer report, I refused the offer and was told to write back to them confirming this.

A further letter was sent by 1st class post on Monday 28th June, allowing 7 working days for a revised offer before proceeding to small claims court.

I don't expect a response, so let's see where I end up.

Hello Nedrab,



Was the letter that you sent headed "Letter Before Action"?

If not then you should hold off starting your small claims action and should resend the letter via recorded delivery.

The letter before action is very important as it shows you have been reasonable and have not just rushed into a small claims action.

Also, you cannot be sure that they have received your letter.

Furthermore, the final line in your letter should state "Please note that in this matter time is of the essence"
(do not use the quotes)

Please ensure that you do this first before you file your claim.

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.

This morning, whilst thinking about writing another letter as suggested, I received a call from PC World.

They have advised that the offer of £231.00 will not be increased due to the age of the unit, and they have never heard of being able to reclaim the engineer costs and incurred interest charges.

I explained that these were not costs that I would have incurred if I had known about the defect, and their response was that they would not have sold the unit knowing there was a defect, so would not consider the subsequent costs.

It was left that the offer was not accepted, and it would be handled via the small claims court.

She finished by stating that the offer would be left open for a small period.

Hello Nedrab,



What absolute baloney - how can they state that they have never heard of customers recaliming the engineers costs?

These are consequential losses and PC World have refunded them time and time again.

I suggest whoever you spoke to goes for a period of training and should be a lesson to their management not to use work experience staff to man the phones.

Their offer is way too low and they have to refund your engineers report.

Simply file your small claims action and then see how quickly they comply.

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.

Will do.

Thanks for your help so far.

I finally reached the stage where PC World wouldn't provide a decent offer, and processed my claim online.

Today, I received a letter confirming that PC World have acknowledged the claim, and plan to defend it in its entirety.

Given the advice from this site, and the comments of the engineer that issued my report, I think this may be a ploy to try and get me to drop the matter. Can only wait and see what happens now.