LG has poor customer support.

My R500 died, yada yada yada. Visa covers the extended warranty. I brought my laptop into bestbuy/futureshop like Visa told me to, to pay for a estimate to see what needs to be fixed. They say it looks like the GPU/Motherboard, Visa had trouble getting a hold of LG on the phone and they are hinting to not be able to repair it. They arent giving any proper information on what they can do, we have a estimte of whats wrong and LG is saying we needa send it to them for a estimate, and it will cost aprox 200$ for shipping (both ways). And LG can't confirm that they will repair it depending on whats wrong. Even though we know whats wrong but they want to check it over. Now it looks like Visa is not going to even cover it, or if they do I have to pay out of my pocket to repair it and then if it meets the criteria of Visa's & LG's repair policy then I get my money back.

Tbh, this is ridicolous. Its a complete fking mess. LG is no help at all, im very disapointed. Even at the store the guy said hes seen numerous Fkups@LG. I was talking to the store manager and he was saying that hey carryed their crap for 1 year and it had so much problems he just cut them off his product list.

So now because of a fault 8600M GT GPU, I might not even get any repairs or any money back, and mainly because LG can't give a straight answer, making Visa not agree to cover it until its fixed and they examine the criteria.

The most upsetting thing is the laptop is in perfect condition, it looks like it came right out of the box. It still has the plastic covers over the LG decal thing. I never got around to taking them off.

Ill let you know how it goes. But LG, Im choked!
I swear LG is gonna get one hell of a letter if this goes no where.
I gave them a chance with open arms despite what other people said about some of their shotty products, the laptop seemed good. But in the end I was screwed just like the rest of the people I hear from.

LG. *Shakes Head*
Thanks for the working computer that turned into a 1600$ paperweight in under a year and a quarter.

 

If you can confirm that it is the 8600M GT (A known fault-prone GPU) that is thrashed (ask in the hardware section and provide symptoms) you could easily replace it with a new one yourself. If you don't have any more warranty you can't blame the company, I have two years on my laptop.

 

It's a shame to hear this because LG makes great laptops; unfortunately, like all manufacturers that used the 7th and 8th generation Nvidia cards, some of their models are permanently defective. That is to say, even if you get it fixed, it will eventually fail again because all the replacement motherboards have the same defective GPU slapped on. As such I would recommend that you sell it as is instead of getting it repaired.

 

@NegatiVe
I do have a warranty, the LG international warranty is only 1 year. But the extended warranty I have is 2 more years. Giving 3 years total, the LG international warranty expired a couple months before the laptop died. Now im still under the extended warranty but its a mess. I guess I could replace the 8600M GT myself, but I don't think its MMX, thus meaning I would have to replace the whole Mobo, even if it was MMX then ill still be paying 300+$ out of my own pocket. What the hell is the point of a warranty then?

When this laptop broke I bought myself a whole new laptop because I needed one quick to do stuff. So really, Id be happy in only getting half the cost of the broken laptop back.

@Bog
It is a shame, I even talked to LG and they said I have no proof that the 8600M GT's are faulty, and that if I did pay all the money to repair it and it happens again im back to the same place. And Bog, honestly, who's gonna buy a laptop that doesn't work. Ill get like what 100$ for it?...

I talked to Visa again, and they said they cannot get any proper info from LG. And they cannot consider the 8600M GT being faulty because there never was a recall. They contacted Future Shop and Best Buy and they had no idea about the faulty GPU's either. Making me look like a dummy Regardless, the guy at Visa said if its not "Economically Repairable" meaning if it cant be repaired for less than a cost of a new one eg. If its not worth repairing. Then they will give me cash/Visa Credit back, which I would be happy with, it would actually be like a refund.

But right now it depends on what the final analysis of Best Buy will be, if the stupid kid says its repairable and I just needa send it back well then ill be screwed, because I don't want it repaired if its just going to be faulty again. Pretty much what im hoping for is saying that replacing the whole insides/mobo/gpu combo will cost 800$ to repair and then about 300$ for the shipping fee's, well hell, thats a new laptop pretty much, and then if visa goes along with that Ill get some cash back or just credit to get another laptop or something. I just hope it plays out that way.

Ill keep this updated. But right now im starting to feel that a warranty is nothing more than a printed lie.

 

That's bull. When under warranty they should just accept it, repair it, and send it back imho. At least that is how it should be when the warranty is provided by the manufacturer. With Visa covering the warranty though... I'm unsure of their policies. Sounds like you're in a pinch, best of luck to you. Why is the shipping fee so high?

 

Shipping fee is high because I have to send across the border, they have to check it. + They want priority shipping. Pretty much, what Visa says, is if im lucky and the Best Buy guy says its not worth repairing then Visa might be able to give me cash back, even though they are unable to get any real word out of LG. If the Best Buy guy says to send it to LG, and Visa thinks its repairable then I have to pay out of my own pocket to ship to LG, get them to analyze and repair and ship back, and then I have to file a claim for Visa to reimburse me IF i meet all the criteria. But even if they repaired it for free, I would be choked cuz it will just break again within < a year or a bit more.

Im gonna try my hardest to get credit/cash/something without that 8600M GT mess. And without paying hundreds of dollars and waiting months to file a claim and whatnot.

And LG isn't the only one to blame, what about Geforce! Ive been a long time Nvidia Geforce customer. From this whole mess ive changed my mind and im buying ATI instead of Nvidia from now on.

Right now, I feel like this:
Stewie = Me
Brian = LG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AJ0SkbPxAk

 

You bought from Germany? I'd say Brian is a combination of LG and Nvidia really, if not for that series of cards there would be no problems. Hope you get some cash back and that this does not happen to me. At least I wont have to pay that kind of shipping. If it ends up being that you have to send it to LG, just sell the thing on ebay. People do buy broken items.

 

I live in Canada, I bought it from Future shop. The shipping costs so much because they either have to ship it to the US, or Toronto, and Priority shipping isn't cheap. They want it priority shipped too.

Tbh, repairing it is no better than doing nothing. Because if they repair it will just die again from those GPU's. I think its nvidia/LGs responsibility there should have been a recall and we should have been re-reimbursed with unlimited warranty or, the option to trade it for a non-geforce faulty GPU laptop.

I just don't see how they can sell a faulty machine, if this was a car there would be lawsuits over it.

Few months ago I thought the same thing, my 8600M GT is fine. My LG is great. Then 1 night I shut it down, the next day, it won't work. Just like the snap of a finger. The next time you shut your laptop down may be the last. And the most annoying thing is they deny the fact that the GPU's are faulty.

Sad'est thing about this is that weather I get cash/credit back or have to ship it for another faulty one depends on a pimply best buy tech. Which annoys me since I'm much more qualified than pretty much anyone working at geeksquad or bestbuy.

 

My advice to you is sell it with the blown GPU and just buy something else with the cash. You should still be able to get a good amount of money for it.

 

Well they will have my computer for pickup from best buy within the next couple of days. If I can't get cash/credit from visa then yea, I guess ill sell it. But honestly who's gonna buy it? What do you think Id get for it? (if its under 200$ theres almost no point). And im sure it would since its broken and near useless..

 

Relax, the CPU alone can be sold for around $200. You can either try to sell it all at once, or in pieces; there are always people looking for spare parts, either for personal or business use (some make a living off peddling laptop parts online). Either way, there are still modern and perfectly functioning parts that you can sell in the R500, with the exception of the motherboard.

 

Im sure if you sold this notebook even on this forum with the blown GPU you'd still get some decent offers.

 

Well I got the bad news today. Visa cannot give me credit because LG says, "Its possibly repairable". Thanks LG, you just made my day. The problem was the GPU just as we all thought. The repair cost was estimated at around 800$. Just as we thought.

And now I only am left with 1 option. To pay 300$ for labor and pay for shipping to LG. So by the time its all over with I will end up paying 400$, and the part they replace for free (there's your so called warranty). Im not doing it, since Ill just end up paying 400$ for another faulty piece of crap that will break in another couple of months or a year, and the worst part is when I get it back repaired they only offer the warranty for 30 days after. So the 2+ years warranty I have now, all vanishes after its repaired. What a mess,

Im gonna go whine to LG via Phone/Email. They lost one hell of a customer, because I spent a fair amount on computers. And alot in the future.

Im sure sooner or later your gonna start seeing me post these pieces up for sale on these forums or ebay.

Thanks for everyones help here, and input.

LG = Legendary Garbage?

 

Lol my advice is still on table

Im sorry to hear about that though It sucks to spend money on stuff like that especially now when the economy is done and these companies still have billions of dollars....best of luck to you....

 

Thanks, its not over yet. I talked to someone I know who works at Best Buy in insurance and they said I'm supposed to get two choices, either the repiar or the cash of the cost of the repair. So its back to Visa, I might be able to get 600-800$ + keep my broken laptop. Then I could sell parts and end up with 800-1000 or so.

 

Thats good then plus you can get a pretty solid notebook for around $700 now too

 

Well I already have a new laptop, I bought a new laptop 2 days after the R500 died. I can't waste time, a laptop is a vital part of my life. So whatever I get back from this R500 will be sent straight into the bank for keepin.

Anyways, after fighting with visa for a while and explaining to them that its completely unfair to result this the way the suggested before. They agreed for me to get all the recipts and everythign together and they are gonna settle on a cash refund to give me back. I don't know yet, it may be $100 it may be $600 we don't know but Ill keep everyone updated. The matter now is explaining to LG and getting a gohead from them that repairing is absurd idea since I got another laptop because i can't waste time waiting weeks for a repair.

 

Since you are from Canada and I hope from Quebec?

Why Quebec you ask?

Because of the Consumer Protection law that is specific to Quebec,;

Legal Warranty!

Legal Warranty law state that any durable good should last and be usable for a reasonable amount of time.

What is a reasonable amount of time? It all depends on the type of goods, the price paid.

It would be safe to think that a Notebook Computer should last at least 3 years.

In your situation, you could sue LG in small claims court. What about that Extended Warranty, who did you buy it from? Since the dealer who sold you that extended warranty made a profit, the dealer is also responsible for that warranty.

Since you can probably find material on the web that proves about the defect of the GPU, maybe you can have your whole purchase price re-imbursed.

These are only suggestions, I hate it when the little guy get stuck with it.