Help required please

reuben23

Hi, Am after honest opinion on how best to tackle the following any info very much appreciated, BUT not dont go to comet as that would be to late..Thanks. I'm prepared to go to court but obviously wish to avoid if possible! so..

I bought from Comet in March 08' a Vaio notebook for £900. The Vaio had a warped case, so Comet exchanged for an identical model no problem.

Vaio worked great until june 08' when the usb's on the side were found not to work and more concerning the computer would reset the date to some time in 1996..? Comet stated best to send to sony..I agreed since it involves sony arranging collection and delivery from your home.

long story short, two trips to Vaio repair in June and July 08', 1st trip replaced USB board & reflashed BIOS. 2nd trip replaced motherboard & reflashed BIOS.

It did then work fine until sept 09' where, with a black screen it turns off a few seconds after power on.. Back to Sony:j, they love it. It now needs.....£747.54 motherboard:mad:

With the SOGA, price, and 18 months personal use in mind. Comet should? offer free repair, which am thunking is ok. BUT have found out that Nvidia (the people who make the graphic card soldered to the motherboard) made a wee boo-boo and put an inherently defective part in all the cards for a while (publicly announced july08')....and don't seem to have rectified the fault*. So, whilst it would be nice to have said free repair, would prefer them not to replace a bad part with another one likely to break soon!!
Any thoughts on looking for an exchange?? any advice would be most welcome, I apologies for the length of this post, Comet got three pages!

* materials used in chip of differing thermal properties, resulting in thermal fatigue and failure of part over time due to excessive heat, this time is undisclosed nut is short enough to be annoying many customers and extending manufacturer warranties. A huge thanks for viewing! help?

Esqui

If they know that the part is defective, they won't replace it with the same one. If they have not confirmed it, and you have learnt that from the internet (where the plural of 'anecdote' is 'evidence') then they may do.

Either way, a repair is an adequate solution for the moment, or so it seems.

reuben23

Thanks Esqui, further to the above Sony have extended the warranty on the graphic card to four years. BUT if Comet or anybody else open the unit that warranty is void. Would that mean that Comet have to use sony repairers? can I insist? It puts the repair at £750, and if instore they offered credit to less than that value I would take it.
In the letter to comet I asked for FOC repair with proof that the new part is free from defective manufacture. an exchange to the full value, Or full refund less 25% for use.
Are they viable options?

Esqui

Comet would use whoever their repair agent is, which is almost certainly Sony. You can ask for an exchange or partial refund, but the decision is Comet's and if they think a repair is a suitable solution, then you have to go with it.

That's not to say things can't change - agreeing to a repair now does not mean you wouldn't be entitled to an exchange under SOGA if the repair causes you significant inconvenience (e.g. if it were to take 5 months).

reuben23

Comet will use 'Comet on Call' as the repairer I believe, it is their repair company and the unit is no longer warranted by Sony.
The laptop does have an extended warranty for the graphics card offered by Sony (expires march 2012), but if another company opens the laptop (Comet), the warranty is invalidated. I'm not wanting to lose that warranty, so can I FORCE Comet to use sony for the repair? Since if they have to pay Sony £700+ I would guess they would prefer to pay me £600+ !!
I imagine the only other option be they (Comet) do the repair, and also cover the manufacturer warranty which they invalidate?
Its funny.., I bought a good one thinking it would avoid all this!!

Esqui

You'll still have rights under the Sale of Goods Act if Comet repair the laptop, and that includes the graphics card.