Broken HP Laptop, who's responsible? is there anything i can do??

bigg1982

I purchased a HP Pavilion Laptop model dv6000 - 6152eu in january 2007, i paid £700 for this laptop from comet. i only had the initial 12 months warranty, anyway in august 2008 the laptop died and I found on HP's Website that this is a known fault with the motherboard (this had to be replaced due to overheating)and HP repaired it for free under an extended warranty agreement, last month my laptop died again exactly the same symptons as last time, friends have looked at it and diagnosed it as the motherboard has gone again, i contacted HP who said it is now outside of the extended warranty period of 2 years and they're not interested, i'm annoyed because i paid a lot of money for the laptop and it's only last 2 and a half years and will cost too much to be repaired, i could of brought cheaper model laptops and they'd probably have been fine, i could have brough a cheap laptop for every year i've had my one. anyways does anyone know where i stand?? on the pc advisor website they advise i may be covered by the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and that i should contact comet i just want to know do i have a leg to stand on. sorry to go on so long but need help.

Money_Grabber13579

I suppose strictly speaking, the average lifetime of a laptop is around 3 years, (so I'm told, haven't experienced it yet! Finger's crossed!) so on that basis you've just come in slightly under that. Although it's generally the hard drives, not the motherboard's that go.

My sister has a HP Pavillion laptop as well, as she had it 3 years and 1 day, when the battery gave up! Perhaps not as good quality as the brand would lead you to believe?

Humphrey10

3 years is what I'd expect from a laptop too, so yours hasn't died that early. I'd never consider buying a laptop without a 3 year (collect and return) warranty, and I'd be pleased if it lasted longer than those three years.
They are quite fragile little things, especially if you carry them about. Although, if it has the same fault as before there could be something wrong with the design so maybe you would have a case, I don't know.

Have you asked how much it would cost to get the motherboard replaced?

And £700 is cheap for a laptop imo. Mine cost over twice that. You can get cheaper ones, but they won't do much, just word processing and web browsing.

DCodd

Just a stab in the dark here but wouldn't HP have guaranteed their work and replacement parts for a year??

Looks like the op says they did repairs in Aug 2008 and the same parts died in Aug 2009! Just a thought!

Error404

I'm in exactly the same situation as the original poster with an identical machine although mine has had been repaired twice, each time by HP, each time the main board has been replaced. Now exactly the same problem has reoccurred for the 3rd time but this time the service enhancement has expired.

The fault with this series of of laptops is very well documented on the HP help forums. There are literally hundreds of posters dating back to 2007 all with pretty much the same problem- fried motherboards. The cooling system on this and a few others is seriously inadequate, as a result the AMD processor and graphics chip heat up like hot coals and melt part of the mainboard. HP do not dispute that this series has fatal design faults.

Rather than recall this series and replace all the units with models that do not spontaneously combust they have simply chosen to repair the models until the warranty expires then deny all responsibility. HP guarantee their repairs for 3 months only which is laughable in my opinion. It doesn't matter how many times you replace the main board, after several months it will die due to the overheating.

HP know full well that this series is complete junk, they are unserviceable. How can they expect people to pay £700 for a laptop that requires a new motherboard every 6-8 months.

HP informed me that the cost of an out-of-warranty repair would typically cost almost as much as a new machine and was kindly advised about their great new models on the website- idiots. I pushed hard over the phone about their complete and utter failure to address this problem satisfactorily and they hung up. I have now escalated my complaint to a case manager and am also in consultation with Trading Standards. As one of the worlds largest manufacturer of IT equipment this level of service is totally unacceptable. I will be pursuing this issue with unwaving fervour and will push hard for a replacement model- something HP should have done in the beginning. I suggest you do the same.