Dead Laptop :'(

That does indeed sound like a faulty graphics card. It needs to have the motherboard exchanged then.

 

Well the laptop reached zepto last week, we ended up sending it our self out of our own wallet after the usps company that Zepto offered us failed to turn up three times in a row.The laptop was packaged in three layers of bubble wrap as well as bagginfg and boxing ect. Got an email from zepto claiming that it was damaged in the post and therefore not their responsibility despit ethe fact that it wasnt inadequatley packaged. Luckily business post is covered for up to £500 so if zepto email me the origonal invoice for the laptop showing it svalue of 900 quid then I should be able to make a claim, im getting a quote for the repairs however I have a feeling its gonan be cheaper just to buy a vostro from Dell which will have better specs than the broken zepto for less than 500 quid.

Any advice appreciated, anyone got any experience of making claims from postage companies? Also idf someone from Zepto wants to PM me about the invoice then that would be great.

 

Update

Okay heres the situation.

UPS failed to turn up to collect laptop for three days in a row, as I result I was forced to send it to them via business post at my own expense. The laptop was packaged in a cardboard box and three thick postal bags. The laptop arrived at zepto smashed up so they refuse to honour the warranty despite the fact that the reason that it was smashed in the post was because they failed to provide an adequate delivery service. I was just about ok with this as the business post was in sured so I emailed asking for the origonal invoice (for the insurance claim) as well as a quote for the repairs, I get a reply saying that is ok and that the service department will send me a quote and an invoice. I then recieve an email in Danish saying that my laptop was dispatched, confused I emailed back asking what they had sent and why I had not recieved either of the invoices I requested and asking what was in the package that I had been sent as UPS are gonna charge me 75 quid to accept the delivery. I then get the following email back:

------------------------------------------
Hello Ben,



As we have informed you before the packing of your notebook was in poor shape

witch has resulted in that the notebook has taken severe damage.



We have tried to contacted you several times regarding this

But never got any response or answer regarding this.



As the information text says “If the product isn’t sufficiently packaged and damage occurs to the machine your case will be denied and the warranty on the machine may be removed.”

--------------------------------

The funny thing is that I did respond and I have a log of emails that we exchanged proving this, I hope that this is a misunderstanding and that zepto are not trying to palm me off. Im a full time student with no sources of income I really dont need this right now.

Please can a zepto rep PM or post here.
Thanks.

 

Heres the email log, I have removed personal details such as email adresses but all of what is posted is the same, the messages at the bottom are the oldest with the newest at the top.

------------------------------------------

Hello Ben,



I have contacted our rma department and they will send you a offer for the repairs

and ?also the the original invoice.





image

Best regards / V?nliga h?lsningar
Peter Frank International Customercare

Mail: Web: www.zepto.com



From: [mailto:]
Sent: den 17 juni 2008 10:49
To: Peter Frank
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead



Hello,

Sorry for the extremely delayed response, I am currently in the process of filing an insurance claim as the laptop was sent by insured post. Please email back a quote for the repair work, also would it be possible to send me a copy of an invoice showing the value of the laptop at the time of purchasing in order to assist us in the claim process? The reason why we had to use an alternative postal service to the one that you provided was because the company that you used failed to turn up three times so eventually we gave up with using them and paid for the laptop to be sent at our own expense. So please reply with a copy of the laptops invoice and with a quote for the repair work as well as any more pictures of the damage you may have as these will help speed up the claims process, so that I may decide what to do next. If the work costs too much then I probably will ask that you send back the main parts of the laptop to me (the ram and the hard drive ect) but that's only if worst comes to worst. Seeing as you did not provide an adequate delivery on the laptop, is there any chance on a discount on buying a new machine from you or any chance or cut price repairs seeing as the carrier service that you sent never turned up to collect the laptop meaning that we had to pay for it to be sent to you which under the terms of your warranty we should of not had to do..





From: [emai[/email]
To:
Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 14:56:09 +0200
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead

Hello Ben,



Unfortunately i have some bad news, the package you sent the notebook in with wasn’t enough as protection.
Please see information below I sent you, “If the product isn’t sufficiently packaged and damage occurs to the machine your case will be denied and the warranty on the machine may be removed.”



So yes we have received your package, but at this moment the computer has no warranty and the only option we have is to either ship the computer back to you or

Give you an offer for the repairs.

image

Best regards / V?nliga h?lsningar
Peter Frank International Customercare

Mail: Web: www.zepto.com



From: [mailto:]
Sent: den 18 maj 2008 17:13
To: Peter Frank
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead



Hello,
The laptop was sent to you on monday so hopefully it should be with you now, the rma is RMA[rma no.] and the serialnumer is [serial number]. If you could confirm that you ahve recieved the laptop then that would be great.
Thanks,




From:
To:
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:22:13 +0200
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead

Hello Ben



I have sent you a new note, hopefully you wont experience the same problem.



image

Best regards / V?nliga h?lsningar
Peter Frank International Supporter

Mail: Web: www.zepto.com



From: [mailto:]
Sent: den 28 april 2008 20:48
To: Peter Frank
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead



Hello,
I have tried to use the delivery label that you have sent but I get the error code 0.




From:
To:
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:53:42 +0200
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead

Dear Benjamin

To be able to repair your notebook you will have to send it together with a copy of your invoice to us. You have been assigned a RMA-number RMA127070, this you need to type clearly on the package being sent to us.

Expected repair time is 15 working days from the day we receive your package. If at any time you need to contact us regarding the case we kindly ask you to state you’re RMA-number.

Your repair case is open for 2 months from the date you receive this mail. After that date it will be automatically deleted from our system if we haven’t received the product. All cases sent in without an RMA number written on the package will be sent back to the sender without any repairs made.

ATTENTION: If no valid fault can be found we will charge for repair time and shipping.

We recommend that the product shipped is well packaged and with enough padding to be able to hold the product in place whilst being shipped.

If the product isn’t sufficiently packaged and damage occurs to the machine your case will be denied and the warranty on the machine may be removed.
We cannot guarantee that the product is being shipped back in the same package it was sent in with.

You can contact us for a free of charge pickup with UPS (NB: only covers warranty cases). Your equipment needs to be packaged and ready to ship when UPS arrives. In most of our cases we use electronic shipping notes; this means that UPS will send a digital shipping note to the email that you used to make this case. This note needs to be printed out and attached to the package. Then you can contact UPS to arrange a convenient collection date.

If you would have any questions regarding the pickup you can contact us on +45 47 37 10 63. We do not cover shipping cost if the machine is being sent with other services than UPS. When the product is being shipped please only send in the parts that are defect. We ask you kindly to not send in other accessories, like adapter, bags or cd's. If they aren’t related to the problem. Zepto Computers Ltd. will not be hold responsible for lost accessories being shipped with the computer.

You can check the status on your repair on www.zepto.com Select your country > service > status of repair. Then enter your customer number and RMA number. If you have bought this laptop through a retailer this function will not work and you will have to contact us to get a status update.

Send the package to the following adress:

Zepto Computers A/S
Baldersbuen 38
2640 Hedehusene
Denmark

Best regards
Supporter

Zepto Computers Ltd.
Baldersbuen 38,
DK-2640 Hedehusene
Phone: 0045 70 204 304
www.zepto.com



image

Best regards / V?nliga h?lsningar
Peter Frank International Supporter

Mail: Web: www.zepto.com



From: [mailto:]
Sent: den 22 april 2008 18:42
To: Peter Frank
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead



Hello,
Thanks for the reply the serial number of the laptop is: [serial no. removed]
I am not at home during the day so please pickup and return the laptop to my office adress.

[my adress removed]

Thank You,
Ben

From:
To:
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:01:03 +0200
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead

Hello Benjamin,



To be able to arrange the pickup I need to know the serial number, your customer number or the original order number.
If you can also confirm your current address you would like to have the notebook picked up and sent back to after

The service.

image

Best regards / V?nliga h?lsningar
Peter Frank International Supporter

Mail: [emai[/email] Web: www.zepto.com



From: [mailto]
Sent: den 21 april 2008 14:42
To: Peter Frank
Subject: RE: Urgent- Laptop Dead



Hello,
Thanks for the reply. I can guarantte you that it is not an issue with the computer being stuck in standby mode, I have had contact with Rene from Zepto who says that the motherboard will need exchanging and the fault is probablly due to the notebooks graphic chip. You can view our correspondance at the following link:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=240822&page=6
Please email back so we can arrange for the laptop to be picked up and sent to DK for repairs.
Thanks,

 

Just recieved a call from UPS trying to deliver the laptop, I will not accept the delivery until zepto states what is in it, I am not paying 75 quid to recieve a broken laptop.

 

Still no response to any of my emails, zepto customer service dead or something?

 

that sucks..

any progress so far?

 

Nope, they have my laptop and wont email back, I will keep trying though.

 

Oh, what a coincidence i've got the same model and exactly the same problem, it started with clumsy colors in a game then a freeze and graphic corruption on boot. Only the safe mode seemed to work so i removed the drivers and tried to reinstall them, same issue. Black screen, reboot in safe mode, remove drivers etc... Not working with ubuntu live Cd either.

The computer is in Denmark since 2 weeks now. The status is still "pending".
Hey, guys you know what? I need my computer.

 

I wonder if the problem is related to this?

John

 

Maybe, who knows. I've also bought my zeppy over a year and half ago...
And i dont think the problem comes from overheating. I cleaned the computer with a "spray duster" twice a week (so no dust inside) and i used a cooling tablet (zalman zm-nc1000, great stuff). Programmed auto-destruction?

 

Ok, it has been 3 weeks now since my computer arrived in Danemark and it's still "waiting for reparation", hellooooo, are all your technicians dead or something?

Ok, now they're ignoring me...

07/23/08 Still nothing...

 

Hmmmm. My Zepto 6214 with Nvidia Graphics did not boot up last wednesday. Seems as dead as GooghyB's one... same symptoms. Got it December 2006, also one and half year ago........ How many more did not outlast this period?????
Luckily, I got my hard drive out alive and spinning. Try now to send the corpus back for resucitation.

 

After a couple of emails I got to hear what repair would cost. Sending the thing and get it to look at is over 100 euro. With repair I could expect the price of half a laptop..... not worth it. Anyway, I saw the other day a link to this in another forum on this site:

http://apcmag.com/Content.aspx?id=2750 with the following interesting paragraph

"What's wrong with your computer might you ask? Something small that can affect it in a large way. Quite a few of the graphics chips NVIDIA have been producing are defective. We know that the rumour of every 8400M and 8600M chip being bad is probably true, but now we're hearing that it might extend to other models like in the mobile NVIDIA chips running off of the 6000 and 7000 designs. That's a lot of graphics chips and this can cause your computer to overheat, lock-up, and possibly not work."


It all smells, my appreciation of Zepto has been drained away. Not so much about the computer dying but the very poor responses with respect to a fault and bad information about prices and possibilities. Zepto shows no surprise that three laptops of the same model and specs die after one year and a half. All responsibility -because out of warranty - has been passed on to me, the consumer. By charging 110 euro for picking the computer up and looking at it, Zepto shows no intention to want to understand the fault underlying the synchronized deaths. The possibility that at heart a graphics card is at fault will never been examined this way. Which is no good for consumer confidence, both in Zepto or Nvidia. Which is a shame, as I liked my computer very much. But now I have decided to buy something else, and without a graphics card of the said company. Just to have something that hopefully last a bit longer....

 

Zepto have been very quiet on the question of the nVidia GPU problem since this post.

Read reports like this and you will see that there is still a lack of information about the extent of the problem. If you have good reason to believe that the GPU failed due to the manufacturing problems then check your consumer legislation regarding "latent defects". These are faults that were in the product at the time of purchase but did not become evident until later (often beyond the normal warranty). HP has extended the warranty for the potentially affected computers up to 2 years, even for those computers with a 1 year warranty.

I can believe that Zepto is trying to make the customer pay because they may have difficulty in recovering all the cost from nVidia (although nVidia have put aside up to US$200M for this problem). I think you should ask Zepto for proof that the problem with your notebook is not the defective GPU.

John

 

I know this isn't related, but I was very close (and still am) to buying a Zepto. But there is just so many problems, and they don't seem to care at all. I hope the new models don't have the same problem - or they can just not bother coming in to the office, probably there won't be one.

What notebook are you going to buy to replace the Zepto? I am assuming it won't be another Zepto.

I think I am going to maybe put my Zepto purchase on hold - maybe until the old models are truly gone and the new ones take over. If there is problems, then goodbye.

 

do remember that what you see on this forum is the negative side of Zepto, there is still thousands of Zepto users that have no problems whatsover, and I am luckily one of them.

Im running Age of Conan with my specs, wich arent that awsome, on medium-high (shadows low, textures high, distances medium) with a framerate between 15 and 40 (15 in big fights with loads of particles), average maby 20-25, but varies alot depending on area.
On native! (1680x1050)

 

I appreciate that ... but it is a rather large percentage of negatives.

 

looking at the total number of people writing about problems here compared to the number of machines Zepto sell pr. month its a pretty low, if not pretty normal number of people having problems compared the other brands on the market. I don't know the exact number of machine Zepto sell, but i can't see it being under 2,500 machines a month. What you have to remember is that Zepto isn't selling as large a quantity as the huge brands as HP, so the few people having problems might seem like a larger quantity than they actually are.
What you have to remember as Sprint also mentioned is that it is normally only the people with problems tat speak out on forums, not the people that have a machine without problems.

 

The problem isn't so much in the number of bricked or semi-bricked laptops.
It's also the change in service/responsiveness from Zepto staff here on NBR.
A lot of the 6024, 6224 and 6625 owners have had (and are still having) BIOS problems that have gone on and on and on.
Zepto has been communicating a lot through this forum in the past with it's customers but since quite a while it has almost been dead silent.
Sure, anouncement about new notebooks have been made but no news on faulty nVidia cards in the current lines or how Inventec is proceeding on a BIOS solution for the faulty graphic cards like currently already offered by companies like Dell etc.
That's the major problem; being dead silent to your customers so they just give up on discussing their problems.
And lo and behold, all of a sudden mostly only the new notebooks are being discussed...

This is utter bollocks of course.
If Zepto doesn't sell as much laptops as HP then the few (sic) people having problems are actually a larger percentage than in your HP comparison.

Cheers.

 

Well that is a bit on how you look at it, with more sold laptops comes more faulty laptops, how good the company is has nothing to do with faulty components. Those will allways excist.
But how the faulty computers are handled is a whole other story.

 

We also have to remember that the majority of Zepto customers are not native English speakers and are less likely to come here, even if they do have problems.

John

 

No, I think I have come across wrong! I should of said, the majority of the 6XXX series customers are unhappy, which is due to a bad ODM? Whether the new ODM's, or if Zepto proceeds without one is a improvement - time will tell.

But really, when it comes to ODM's - it is either Clevo, Compal, Quanta, Mitac, ECS, or Uniwill.

The rest are not widely known - due to poor products.

I did notice, that the 6025WD is now the same price as the Nexus, which I am correct in saying was made down to the component by Zepto? Then again you do get Vista bundled, no problem if you own one!

I wonder how Zepto are coping with ditching Inventec?

 

Huh, i'm not a native english speaker and i'm there . Besides of that, they (finally) finished to repair my computer so i'm expecting to get it soon. Hope they've put a better gpu inside.

 

English is my third language

 

Sorry for the epic bump.

Several months later and out of the blue Zepto have made contact again, they have emailed me and sent out the laptop today. I just hope they are sending me a repaired laptop and not the same broken one. I will be very happy if this is resolved.

 

I'm having the same problem. I shutdown my 6625 WD last night, and today it won't boot. The first time the screen remained black (not even BIOS), but I heard the Vista logon sound, and when I typed my password I heard the welcome sound, so I successfully logged in. Ofcourse I could not do anything, so I held the power button for 30 seconds to reboot, and after that it's been the same story, except now just before the logon screen should come on, time-wise, I hear what I think is the HDD turning off again? Like that beep you hear during shutdown right before the laptop actually turns off. After that it just idles, and if I press the power button it just turns off instantly.

I've pulled out the RAM, the harddisk, tried booting with the Vista disk, but nothing. I'm downloading Ubuntu now but I don't expect much avail.

 

they were goibg to try an mail me back the broken laptop again, tgankfully i managed to email them in time to tell them not to. Now finaly after almostfour months they hace agreed to give me a quote to get it repaired.