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Laptop Keyboard failure - repair help

Good morning! I'm hoping someone knowledgable can help me with this problem. I originally posted this is Consumer Rights, but I'm reposting here as I haven't had a response - hope someone can help :o

Bought an Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3-581TG laptop 16 months ago from online store 'Simply Acer' and about 1 month ago the keyboard started to fail - sometimes the keys on the bottom row just won't work. We've plugged an external keyboard into the laptop which works fine so it's definitly a hardware issue.

So far, we've found the receipt and called Acer's customer service (rather than going back to Simply Acer) to ask for the keyboard to be repaired. The laptop hasn't been dropped or mistreated, so this is failing of the machine not customer damage. My OH called Acer customer service and mentioned SOGA, but their reaction was "it will cost £55.15 p+p + the repair cost (unknown until they look at it)".

What is the next step we can take with this, as its a failing of the hardware a couple of months out of guarentee surely Acer should repair this free of charge (or at minumal cost)? Also, has anyone heard of this as a known fault for this series?

Thanks!!

Comments

  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    SOGA is the vendor go back to the seller .
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    As above, Acer have no liability, as it's out of manufacturer's warranty. SOGA must be claimed against the seller. As it's over 6m old, to succeed you'd have to prove a pre-existing fault, which requires an engineer's report (which may or may not come out in your favour, and which you'll need to pay for upfront).
    Much better to simply buy a replacement keyboard and fit it yourself; usually quite easy on modern laptops.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • rygon
    rygon Posts: 748 Forumite
    I spilt a drink over my laptop and had to get a new keyboard for it.
    Its very easy to replace yourself. All you need to do is pry the small lugs out at the top of the keyboard (I used a watchmakers type flat headed screwdriver), unplug the ribbon and then plug in the new keyboard.

    Make sure you get a genuine (OEM) keyboard, as I bought a cheap one off amazon which didnt work too well. In the end I found a website (pretty sure it had acer in its name) for about £20-30. Works perfectly now
    Smile and be happy, things can usually get worse!
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