broken laptop after warranty

chrism2007

hi

i have a HP G6000 here which has developed a fault after 2 years.
manufacturers warranty is 1 year. however the fault is a common problem with this laptop. its been recalled and warranty extended in the states but not here

the problem is graphics chip failure which will need a whole new motherboard. it was never dropped or nothing ive done has caused the problem.

nvidia has already been sued over it

i have the reciept here also

any advice on getting it fixed or who to go to would be much appreciated

Elessar

How much did you pay for it? Did you buy it from an Irish retailer?

If so you should still be covered under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980. If it was an Irish retailer, go to them and mention this act and that the laptop was not of merchantable quality and you believe that it is reasonable to expect it to last longer than 2 years. If they fob you off, write a registered letter to the manager again quoting the act and ask politely for a repair/replacement. Mention that you are willing to take the company to the Small Claims Court. Give them two weeks to get back to you.

If you hear nothing, or don't get a satisfactory response, open a case online with the SCC. It costs €15 and the registrar will do all the work. A good 90% of claims are settled out of court. Of course, this all depends if you bought the laptop here, and, to a certain extent, how much you paid for it.

chrism2007

it cost around 700 and was bought from soundstore in waterford city.

Elessar

chrism2007 wrote: »

it cost around 700 and was bought from soundstore in waterford city.

Well it is no harm trying as you might get it repaired under the act. In the end though, if it did go to court, it's ultimately up to a judge to decide if you should get more than 2 years out of a €700 laptop. All you can lose is €15.

chrism2007

cheers for the advice.

just one more thing. it was on sale reduced from 1200.

would that make a difference?

FunnyStuff

Elessar wrote: »

How much did you pay for it? Did you buy it from an Irish retailer?

If so you should still be covered under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980. If it was an Irish retailer, go to them and mention this act and that the laptop was not of merchantable quality and you believe that it is reasonable to expect it to last longer than 2 years. If they fob you off, write a registered letter to the manager again quoting the act and ask politely for a repair/replacement. Mention that you are willing to take the company to the Small Claims Court. Give them two weeks to get back to you.

If you hear nothing, or don't get a satisfactory response, open a case online with the SCC. It costs €15 and the registrar will do all the work. A good 90% of claims are settled out of court. Of course, this all depends if you bought the laptop here, and, to a certain extent, how much you paid for it.

Unfortunately its not the retailer who decides the warranty period on a laptop, and threatening the manager with small claims court is not going to endear yr case to him.
Go in to the manager and state the issue and be civil. He will get on to HP and ask to see if they can do anything. If its outside two years its more likely they wont, but if there is a history with this particular problem ya never know, its worth a shot.

going to court should be a last resort, and only if you think there is a high probability you would win, which in this case, i dont think there is.

Elessar

FunnyStuff wrote: »

Unfortunately its not the retailer who decides the warranty period on a laptop, and threatening the manager with small claims court is not going to endear yr case to him.

The warranty on anything is in addition to, and not a replacement of, your rights as a consumer. It is up to the retailer who sold you the product to remedy a fault, not the manufacturer. Their warranty just makes it easier.

going to court should be a last resort, and only if you think there is a high probability you would win, which in this case, i dont think there is.

How do you know? The only person who can decide that is a judge.

Elessar

chrism2007 wrote: »

cheers for the advice.

just one more thing. it was on sale reduced from 1200.

would that make a difference?

None at all, your rights under the Act also apply to goods purchased at sale prices.

FunnyStuff

Elessar wrote: »

The warranty on anything is in addition to, and not a replacement of, your rights as a consumer. It is up to the retailer who sold you the product to remedy a fault, not the manufacturer. Their warranty just makes it easier.



How do you know? The only person who can decide that is a judge.

so you try and go into a retailer with a product out of warranty and demand they fix it. Good luck with that by the way.

How do i know??? it was my opinion, i wouold have thought that was pretty obvious.

Elessar

Funnystuff,

You seem to have a poor understanding of your rights as a consumer in Ireland. A quick read of this will help you understand. Whoever the contract of sale is with, it is their responsibility to remedy a fault. Irregardless of warranty. In fact, if you bought a laptop in a shop that didn't have manufacturers warranty, you are still covered under the law and the retailer is still responsible.

Additionally, if it is reasonable to expect a product to last longer than it has, you are protected, even if it has been 4-5 years since you purchased it and the warranty has run out.

FunnyStuff

Elessar wrote: »

Additionally, if it is reasonable to expect a product to last longer than it has, you are protected, even if it has been 4-5 years since you purchased it and the warranty has run out.

Reasonable?? to who?? You??

4 or 5 years?!?!?! that depends on the product. If its my car then yeah.

To be honest i dont want to get into an argument about it. I was offering my two cents worth. If he came into my store threatening court etc i'd be less inclined to go out of my way to help him. I he was civil and polite i'd do what i could, i've done it in the past and will do so again.

Elessar

FunnyStuff wrote: »

Reasonable?? to who?? You??

A judge.

4 or 5 years?!?!?! that depends on the product. If its my car then yeah.

To be honest i dont want to get into an argument about it. I was offering my two cents worth. If he came into my store threatening court etc i'd be less inclined to go out of my way to help him. I he was civil and polite i'd do what i could, i've done it in the past and will do so again.

I never mentioned anything about threatening anyone. I simply told him to explain the situation to the manager and mention the Act. By doing so he demonstrates he knows his rights. If that did not work, he should send a registered letter explaining everything again politely mentioning that he will take the matter further if he doesn't get a satisfactory response. After that, his last line of redress is the small claims court.

Let's not go around in circles. If you are a retailer, I hope you are now one more informed as to consumer rights and retailer responsibilities.

FunnyStuff

Elessar wrote: »

A judge.



I never mentioned anything about threatening anyone. I simply told him to explain the situation to the manager and mention the Act. By doing so he demonstrates he knows his rights. If that did not work, he should send a registered letter explaining everything again politely mentioning that he will take the matter further if he doesn't get a satisfactory response. After that, his last line of redress is the small claims court.

Let's not go around in circles. If you are a retailer, I hope you are now one more informed as to consumer rights and retailer responsibilities.

So the judge's opinion could go either way, he could say yay or nay.

And what would you call a satisfactory response? is that your way of saying that if i dont get what i want i'll throw my dummy out of my pram? sounds like a threat to me.

Elessar

FunnyStuff wrote: »

So the judge's opinion could go either way, he could say yay or nay.

Exactly. Only the judge can in the end decide what is reasonable for a products lifetime.

And what would you call a satisfactory response? is that your way of saying that if i dont get what i want i'll throw my dummy out of my pram? sounds like a threat to me.

A satisfactory response would be the retailer agreeing to repair or replace the laptop in question. And yes, if you consider pursuing your consumer rights right up to the small claims court (which is exactly what it's for) a threat, then he should "threaten" them with that. He has nothing to lose by doing that. If it goes to court and the judge says "yes" and orders a repair, happy days. If not, and he/she deems 2 years to have been an acceptable lifetime for that specific laptop, then he gets nothing, but has only lost €15.

noodler

FunnyStuff wrote: »

So the judge's opinion could go either way, he could say yay or nay.

And what would you call a satisfactory response? is that your way of saying that if i dont get what i want i'll throw my dummy out of my pram? sounds like a threat to me.

Give it up man, just read the link he gave you and you'll know better for next time.

FunnyStuff

i read the link.

Anyway, good luck with it, hope you get something sorted.

wildefalcon

If you get no satisfaction from the refund channels it may be possible to repair the faulty component: Some of these nvidia graphics processors can be removed from the motherboard and recooked - this causes the solder that has fractured to remelt and repair.

Sounds like science fiction, doesn't it! Have a search on google or over on the laptop section of the boards.ie for further information.


WildeFalcon

foxinsox

i have a HP G6000 here which has developed a fault after 2 years.
manufacturers warranty is 1 year. however the fault is a common problem with this laptop. its been recalled and warranty extended in the states but not here

the problem is graphics chip failure which will need a whole new motherboard. it was never dropped or nothing ive done has caused the problem.

i have the reciept here also

Sorry I made a mess of the quote!

I have a HP Pavilion dv6000 laptop and with printer and accessories I'd paid €1400 approx.

It was out of warranty - 1 year warranty in my mind is totally pointless and means nothing and I would never pay for a warranty or extended coverage etc.. Consumer law covers everything for you.

Something you buy must be fit for purpose regardless of warranty.

Even if I had only paid €10 - €100 for something depending on what it is I would expect it to last for more than a year.

A laptop should last at least ten years in my opinion, ok it will be slow and out of date but there is no reason why it shouldn't if it has been treated properly. More than likely you would upgrade it before it dies or else drop it or spill coffee on it. etc.

My laptop had the same problem as yours.. I had sound but no screen. After googling the model number and mooching around the internet, I found out as you did that this was a recognised fault with HP and that it required a new motherboard.

I returned to the store (that is who your contract is with) where I bought it and asked for a brand new replacement for the faulty laptop (dramatics on my part!) I had been sold. I did not ring HP at any stage and made it very clear to the store I would not be making any such call.

Anyway I got my laptop back with new motherboard. It was about two and a half years old when this happened. Since then it has been fine except just last week speaker in laptop died..another known fault I just bought external speakers, couldn't be bothered going back this time.

To sum up, I made it very clear that I had purchased it from their store, it was faulty, manufacturer's known fault and therefore was no longer fit for purpose.

I think I probably scared them too... and annoyed them to death by calling every day to see if it was back or if they had any news! I only needed to have one mildish hissy fit in the store! :rolleyes:

DO NOT LET THEM FOB YOU OFF TO HP!!!

Good Luck

ejmaztec

wildefalcon wrote: »

If you get no satisfaction from the refund channels it may be possible to repair the faulty component: Some of these nvidia graphics processors can be removed from the motherboard and recooked - this causes the solder that has fractured to remelt and repair.

Sounds like science fiction, doesn't it! Have a search on google or over on the laptop section of the boards.ie for further information.


WildeFalcon

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055808171

It seems like only yesterday that this was discussed on the Laptop forum, but I would prefer to call it insanity instead of science fiction.:pac:

wildefalcon

Try it! No harm done if you've nothing to lose. I'd do it. I might have to - my laptop has the Nvidia GPU in it.

WildeFalcon.