Sold a Faulty laptop 2 years ago, only offering to refund 1/2 the cost, Is that fair?

lil_tuts

Basically i bought a laptop from pc world 2 years ago which has just stopped working, as it turns out it was one of many laptops with a faulty graphics card. there are major class action law suits going on in the states over this at the moment. Pc world are offering to refund me 450 -500 euro. And i paid 1000 for it . Is this fair? I know i have it 2 years but i was sold to me faulty and they know it. I am in no way responsible for breaking it, should i be entitled to a full refund or be happy with 1/2 ?

Thanks

Cabaal

Thing is there's no such thing as class action suits here in Ireland.

Perhaps get all the evidence together to backup the fact that its a fault laptop with a known issue and then go back to the store and ask to deal with a manager, then issue formal complaint.

If it is not resol;ved then go to small claims with your evidence, costs 15e for that but your better off showing that you first attempted to resolve the matter usiung other means first.

I doubt PC World knew the laptops were faulty but none the less they could take up with the manufacturer especially if you have evidence.

Axe Rake

Take the 450-500 and call it a day. Laptops depreciate so fast it's no where near 1000 euro anymore.

upandcumming

What breed of laptop is it? Is it a VAIO?

crazyderk

they're basically offering you an exchange which is part of your entitlement, however they're exchanging it for a similar spec model which has a value now of 400-500 euro they're just letting you pick or add to the value

Varik

From what i understand the shop gets the choice of refund/replacement/repair, €500 will get a better laptop than €1000 did 2 years ago, i'm not sure how this partial refund which would amount to a better replacement laptop would be dealt with if you did bring it to the scc.

slimjimmc

Varik wrote: »

From what i understand the shop gets the choice of refund/replacement/repair, €500 will get a better laptop than €1000 did 2 years ago, i'm not sure how this partial refund which would amount to a better replacement laptop would be dealt with if you did bring it to the scc.

The shop can only choose which option to offer, but the consumer is not obliged to accept that offer and can request one of the other options. Neither party is required to accept the others choice, it's all up for negotiation.

P. Breathnach

slimjimmc wrote: »

The shop can only choose which option to offer, but the consumer is not obliged to accept that offer and can request one of the other options. Neither party is required to accept the others choice, it's all up for negotiation.

You can try negotiation, but the courts generally takes the position that if a seller offers one of the three classic remedies, it is unreasonable to refuse it. In essence, unless there are special circumstances, it is the seller's choice.

Rollercoaster

In my opinion you would be as well to take the 500 Euro and upgrade your laptop. I bought a desktop a few years ago with Windows ME for over 1300 Euro. It works as well as it did when new but it hardly has any value now! (PM me if anyone wants to make me an offer for the desktop complete with monitor, keyboard & mouse )

Good luck with your decision

jor el

lil_tuts wrote: »

Pc world are offering to refund me 450 -500 euro. And i paid 1000 for it . Is this fair?

Yes, extremely fair. It probably isn't even worth that much at this stage.

doctorg

For reading your problem I guessing its a Dell with a nivida graphic card?
If it is the dell I would suggest you contact dell first as they would repair or replace the laptop free of cost.

TouchingVirus

Or a HP/Compaq. There's a recall out there for certain models of those laptops with faulty nvidia chips. As doctorg said, check with your manufacturer if you want to first.

Personally I'd take the €500 and buy a new one. You'll get a better spec'd laptop now for that money than your €1000 got you two years ago.

doctorg

Tbh you would get a basic laptop of Dell which isn't an i processor but about 2.2 ghZ 2 GB ram and 250gb HD
It would help if you told us your specs so we could help guide you!

Dazzler80

I see you got your reply already on the Nvidiadefects forum..
I was gonna point you that way.. Had my 2 cents written, but, as you've already been answered, i'll leave it. :-)

jimmycrackcorm

So OP, you got 2 years use out of the laptop. If you are looking to get the equivalent for your laptop now then 4-500 sounds fair as a replacement value to get the equivalent new spec.

foggy_lad

But surely it is about the price paid two years ago and whether the op thinks they got €500 worth of use from the laptop in the two years? Not what the same laptop would cost today as it probably can't be bought anymore?

ssmith6287

Your not entitled to anything as the laptop is out of warranty, If PC World are offering you a laptop worth 4 - €500 then snap their hand off.

If it was in warranty and the problem started within 28 days thenyou are entitled to a refund, outside of that the shop can offer you a replacement or repair.

If it is a known fault then you should take it up with the manufacturer, Im guessing HP

BostonB

This effected a whole range of laptops, from Apple, Dell HP, pretty much them all. Anything with a 8xxx nivida chipset, 8400, 8600 at the time. Nivida wouldn't admit the fault, and a lot of the manufacters kept selling laptops with these chips even after the fault was known.

A lot of the manufacturers extended their warranties by an extra year to cover this. So check you are covered by that.

Personally after two years of use, and deprecation, I think 500 is fair. After 3 or 4 years most laptops are pretty much worth nothing.

lil_tuts

all sorted guys, the shop is responsible BTW not the manufacturer , my contract is with them and i have something like 5 - 6 years to sort that out if they sold it to me faulty (sale of goods act) I'm taking the 500 euro glad its sorted they were aware of the faults don't know why they werent recalled ! Btw if anyone has a NVIDIA graphics card i would check if you have the affected model ...
www.nvidiadefect.com

Rafloution

Jesus get to the small claims court. They are liable to refund replace or repair giving you 500 quid doesn't fit into any of them.
They are admitting liability offering half just trying to save a few quid.

15 quid fee and the court decides...do it.

None of this warranty lark that people spout when they know nothing. If the retailer thought they could get away with paying nothing they would. They know they are responsible full stop

phill106

BostonB wrote: »

A lot of the manufacturers extended their warranties by an extra year to cover this. So check you are covered by that.

Any links regarding that? I have a hp laptop with one of those cards and it gets quite hot using it.

lil_tuts

doctorg wrote: »

For reading your problem I guessing its a Dell with a nivida graphic card?
If it is the dell I would suggest you contact dell first as they would repair or replace the laptop free of cost.

Nope its a Packard Bell but i know dell were affected as well along with Hp and Sony as well as others

lil_tuts

Dazzler80 wrote: »

I see you got your reply already on the Nvidiadefects forum..
I was gonna point you that way.. Had my 2 cents written, but, as you've already been answered, i'll leave it. :-)

That Forum was so helpful god bless who ever set it up !

lil_tuts

phill106 wrote: »

Any links regarding that? I have a hp laptop with one of those cards and it gets quite hot using it.

Yep here are some :
http://www.nvidiadefect.com/

http://apcmag.com/nvidia_disaster_thousands_of_gpus_faulty.htm

Also if you google Nvidia defect you will get a lot of info on it.

BrianD

Rafloution wrote: »

Jesus get to the small claims court. They are liable to refund replace or repair giving you 500 quid doesn't fit into any of them.
They are admitting liability offering half just trying to save a few quid.

15 quid fee and the court decides...do it.

None of this warranty lark that people spout when they know nothing. If the retailer thought they could get away with paying nothing they would. They know they are responsible full stop

I don't recall the OP stating that the reason that the laptop stopped working was the graphics cards. The only known fact is that it has a graphics card that is known to be faulty. He would have to prove that it was down to the fault and nothing else that he id - mishandling, adding of other hardware, software etc etc.

The offer is good take it!

axer

A Seller is fully entitled to offer a partial refund when goods have been used for some time before a fault develops. The buyer is fully entitled to reject this but in many cases it is preferable than a replacement especially with something like a laptop.

astrofool

lil_tuts wrote: »

all sorted guys, the shop is responsible BTW not the manufacturer , my contract is with them and i have something like 5 - 6 years to sort that out if they sold it to me faulty (sale of goods act) I'm taking the 500 euro glad its sorted they were aware of the faults don't know why they werent recalled ! Btw if anyone has a NVIDIA graphics card i would check if you have the affected model ...
www.nvidiadefect.com

They weren't recalled because there wasn't really a fix for them, other than run the fan faster (makes it fail slower) or just put a new chip in (which would eventually fail, and this would only be if it wasn't soldered straight to the motherboard).

nVidia paid out a lot of money for extra warranties/RMA, but they knew there wasn't a fix, yet continued to sell them.

Similar thing happened with the IBM Desk(Death)Star years ago, spelled an end to IBM in the hard drive market.

BostonB

phill106 wrote: »

Any links regarding that? I have a hp laptop with one of those cards and it gets quite hot using it.

Sorry no. Most decent gfx cards (especially in laptops) get hot. That in itself is not unusual. These specific ones with the fault seem to fail randomly. I dunno how much a new bios, that runs the fan more, or temp monitoring really helps. You've nothing to lose by trying, I guess.

I do nothing special with mine, and its lasted 3 yrs. I don't game as much as others though. It doesn't have this flaw but the gfx failing is a common error is laptops with decent gfx cards.

whiterebel

ssmith6287 wrote: »

Your not entitled to anything as the laptop is out of warranty, If PC World are offering you a laptop worth 4 - €500 then snap their hand off.

If it was in warranty and the problem started within 28 days thenyou are entitled to a refund, outside of that the shop can offer you a replacement or repair.

If it is a known fault then you should take it up with the manufacturer, Im guessing HP

Could you be any more wrong with that post? Maybe you should look up what a consumers entitlements are under law before you repeat that kind of rubbish

Ah, I see from another post on another thread you used to work for Harvey Norman. That explains it.

ssmith6287

whiterebel wrote: »

Could you be any more wrong with that post? Maybe you should look up what a consumers entitlements are under law before you repeat that kind of rubbish

Ah, I see from another post on another thread you used to work for Harvey Norman. That explains it.

Whats the consumer right that says a person whos laptop is out of warranty is entitled to a refund?

axer

ssmith6287 wrote: »

Whats the consumer right that says a person whos laptop is out of warranty is entitled to a refund?

The Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980