Laptop screen dead after 13 months

ddm18

Hi,

I realise that this question and similar have been asked before, and I've read a few responses, but was hoping someone would be kind enough to offer some advice for my specific case.

In a nutshell, I bought a laptop (Acer) 13 months ago from Currys on the high street. Recently (since the 12-month warranty expired), the screen has become unusable. It is just a flickering mess, as if there is a loose connection - the same kind of thing you see on a normal monitor if you wiggle the cable so its not quite connected properly.

I went in to Currys, who said it was out of warranty, so they weren't interested. When I quoted the SoGA, they referred me to their call centre. I called them, who also said they weren't interested, and gave me another number to call about the SoGA (the existence of a special department to deal with SoGA complaints doesn't fill me with confidence...!).

The tech support guy on the phone, however, did suggest I reformat the laptop first, as that might fix it. I was confident that it wouldn't but tried it nonetheless, and, sure enough, it had no effect.

I Googled the problem quickly and found others reporting the same or similar problems, and most agreed with me that the cable or connection was dodgy. There were some videos etc of people replacing the cable, so, being relatively technically minded, I gave it a go.

Took apart the screen, couldn't see anything obviously wrong or any easy way to unplug the cable, put it back together and - lo and behold - it worked fine.

Two days later and the same has happened again, confirming in my mind that it's a dodgy cable or dodgy connection. The fact that the cable is wrapped around the hinge where the laptop opens and closes seems like a design flaw to me, and the cynic in me thinks that it might even be deliberate, to significantly reduce the life of the laptop...

My question is - what should I do now? I'm confident that 13 months isn't a 'reasonable length of time', and that the defect is in the design of the product, but I'm not sure how to prove that. I can show that there is no external damage to the laptop, which would strongly suggest that it hasn't been treated roughly. I can also show that there are many other users online reporting similar problems. Will that be good enough to convince Currys and/or the small claims court?

Perhaps most importantly - should I keep quiet about the fact that I've opened up the laptop? I'd like to make the point about the cable being wrapped around the hinge, but, even though I know I didn't do any damage, I don't want to give them the excuse that I must have caused the problem by opening up the laptop.

Finally - what should I ask for? I don't really use the laptop that much, so my ideal situation would be a refund, but I presume that I wouldn't get much, given that it would be reduced for the length of time that I've had use of it. I'm not sure that I'd be completely happy with just a replaced cable (although it would be better than nothing), because presumably the problem is likely to happen again after another 13 months...

The final option is that I just buy a cable and replace it myself, but I'm thinking that should be a last resort, because once I've done that, if there is something more sinister wrong, I'm guessing I'll be completely on my own.

Thanks for reading all this - I didn't really expect it to become such an epic, but hopefully someone will have some advice

Esqui

What have the proper customer services people said?

And no, people on the internet with the same problem will probably not suffice in a court, nor to the company: the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'evidence' - you will need an independent report

ddm18

Thanks very much for your reply.

When you say 'proper customer services people' do you mean the Helpline number I called (0844 561 6283), who suggested reformatting, or the number he gave me as 'the people who deal with complaints about the SoGA' (0844 561 6263 option 5, 3, 2)?

Or is there another number I should be trying first?

CoolHotCold

they are no longer called Tech Guys, its knowhow now. (Or the KnowHow Sheffield Contact Centre for those in the know)

Restore is pretty common to be asked to do, its the one sure way to rule out software or hardware.

In order to help you futher, what make and model, the exact DOP and how much you paid for.

E.G if its a Acer netbook for £150 than you've really not got much recourse, if its a Acer notebook for £800 than its different (I know you said laptop but note/netbooks aren't really laptops as they aren't made for them)

ddm18

Yes - I wasn't too unhappy about being asked to reformat, kind of to be expected, and I'd probably have tried it myself anyway, had we not got anywhere.

I'm not sure the exact date of purchase (although I have it at home), but it was towards the end of January 2010.

It's an Acer Aspire Timeline 1810TZ, and cost in the region of £430. Not a super-expensive laptop, but I still think it's reasonable to expect it to last more than a year. At the time, I think it was the most expensive 'sub-notebook' Currys were selling, so not unreasonable to expect some measure of quality. Sure, it's cheaper than a fully-fledged notebook, but the price difference should be reflecting fewer features and lower spec, not reduced quality.

CoolHotCold

ddm18 wrote: »

Yes - I wasn't too unhappy about being asked to reformat, kind of to be expected, and I'd probably have tried it myself anyway, had we not got anywhere.

I'm not sure the exact date of purchase (although I have it at home), but it was towards the end of January 2010.

It's an Acer Aspire Timeline 1810TZ, and cost in the region of £430. Not a super-expensive laptop, but I still think it's reasonable to expect it to last more than a year. At the time, I think it was the most expensive 'sub-notebook' Currys were selling, so not unreasonable to expect some measure of quality. Sure, it's cheaper than a fully-fledged notebook, but the price difference should be reflecting fewer features and lower spec, not reduced quality.

You will find reduced price also has the associated feature of reduced quality.

However, 13 months is very unlucky to go faulty and I would keep on at Currys to find a solution.

One thing I would ask is, if the cable wraps around the screen hinge when you took it apart did you put it back properly because if not that might also be the reason why the screen is playing up (Sorta like the hinge is pulling at the connector when opened and closed) try fixing the connection to the mainboard/screen with some electrical tape.

If not Currys can ask for you to provide a engineers report to state that it is a inherent manufacturing fault or it was there since purchase.

ddm18

I left the cable as it was, which is obviously how it's designed - it's difficult to describe without having it to show you, but the hinge isn't exactly like a 'typical' laptop hinge, it's... different - I can't think of a good way to describe it! There's really only one place the cable can go, which is where it is - and I think you're right - it's rubbing/pulling on the cable each time you open and close the screen. Hence my feeling that it's a design flaw.

On the quality issue, I take your point, but I beg to differ. If you had two products with identical functionality and one was cheaper, then I agree; it would be reasonable to assume that the cheaper one would be lower quality. But you can't compare a sub-notebook (i.e. small screen, no CD drive, limited processing power) with a top-spec 17" machine and say that because the sub-notebook is cheaper, you'd expect the quality to be lower. In fact, given that this device was expensive compared to others with similar functionality, I'd say the quality should be higher.

I shall call Currys tonight and hopefully get somewhere...

Esqui

ddm18 wrote: »

Thanks very much for your reply.

When you say 'proper customer services people' do you mean the Helpline number I called (0844 561 6283), who suggested reformatting, or the number he gave me as 'the people who deal with complaints about the SoGA' (0844 561 6263 option 5, 3, 2)?

Or is there another number I should be trying first?

Have to admit, I don't know...I only ever use the store lines (and before anyone suggests it, they are 0844 numbers too!). I've no idea what the 6283 number is for, so I would presume the latter number. I usually recommend people write or email instead of call.

ddm18

Just a quick update to say that so far, I'm relatively happy - the customer service chappie didn't put up any fuss (and he told me about some kind of secret European law about being protected for 6 years... :P).

Claims will be contacting me with an offer of repair or depreciated credit - I'm not expecting vast sums, but assuming it's not 50p, it seems like a reasonable outcome to me. Is there any point in haggling over whatever offer they make?

squeaky

ddm18 wrote: »

Is there any point in haggling over whatever offer they make?

Depends

They are likely to make you the lowest offer that they feel is reasonable (that dreaded word again) and that you are likely to accept.

If you're happy with the offer fine.

If not you can discuss a compromise, and if you're not happy with the result your only recourse will be the small claims court.

See the last post in the ReadMe for more.

PZH

ddm18 wrote: »

Just a quick update to say that so far, I'm relatively happy - the customer service chappie didn't put up any fuss (and he told me about some kind of secret European law about being protected for 6 years... :P).

Oh dear - here we go again....