Cracked Screen - Dell claims out of warranty?

Hi all,

I purchased a Dell around May 2008, and upon receiving the laptop I noticed that there was an area on the left of the screen that seemed to have an internal protrusion; whenever I moved the screen that area would have extensive rippling. When viewed from different angles the screen seemed to have a white mark in that area. Since I had had a lot of computer drama with HP back then, I didn't want to ship back my new Dell right as I got it, and I left it alone. Unfortunately I didn't take any images of the screen.

A couple of weeks ago, I opened my laptop like any other day, only to find that the screen had cracked internally, right where I had suspected the weakness. I called Dell technical support, who said that this would be covered under my existing mail-in limited warranty. I went ahead and sent in the laptop in the box they sent me.

A few days ago I got a call from Dell's Out of Warranty department saying that their technicians had reviewed the laptop and said that this would not be covered under warranty - that I would have to pay $260 for a refurbished replacement screen. Their reasoning was that "it is completely impossible for a screen to crack due to manufacturing defects" and that I must have hit it in some way to cause the crack. When I ask them to show how the screen was damaged, they keep running back to "we won't fix your screen for free" without stating why they think I cracked it (there aren't any dents or chip marks).

I've uploaded a photo of the screen before I sent it in. Does it seem like I cracked the screen? Has anyone had this issue before? If so, how did Dell respond?

 

Wow! That stinks! I cannot tell if it looks like you cracked the screen or not (bad eyesight FTL! ) but as soon as you noticed the issue, you should have given Dell a call.

Have you tried escalating the situation? Clearly it's a problem no matter what esp. since it seems you haven't gotten your laptop back yet.

If you've tried escalating the situation multiple times and nothing has happened, you may need to try this: http://consumerist.com/259713/how-to-launch-an-executive-email-carpet-bomb

http://consumerist.com/5135832/executivebomb-makes-finding-executive-contact-info-easy


Good Luck, and keep us updated

Ricky

 

try to contact the higher-ups. This is the only way you can get around it.

 

I am in so agreement with Richard on this. oish..major suckage for you...so sorry.

Here, complete this form: It's Dell's Unresolved Issues:
https://support.dell.com/support/to...lcare/outstanding_issues_care?c=us&l=en&s=gen

and, try this one, also. It's the main page for Unresolved Issues..you can do one on Customer Service and/or Technical Support.

If it were me, I would do both ~ since you basically had bad Customer Service/and Technical Support:
https://support.dell.com/support/to...outstanding_issues?c=us&l=en&s=gen&redirect=1

Good luck...and do update us all!

Cin

 

You have to try and look at it from dells prospective. It does look like you damaged it.

I can only say that you are at fault for not taking care of the problem before something happened.