Consumer Law, Warranties Lenovo Laptop Hinge problem

Marybell

Member
Jurisdiction
Kansas
History: Lenovo laptops are notoriously known for having hinge issue (due to poor manufacturing) when plastic bezel frame starts bulging out in the corner and then very quickly it transforms into a disaster when a hinge is getting completely broken and a laptop is becoming two separate parts, broken in between. Often it happens before even the first year of use is over (which should be covered by their standard warranty), there is LOTS of evidence and complains from people about this problem in the internet. There is even 32-page long discussion on Lenovo forum when people complain about the company not taking care of this issue under standard warranty. I heard there are some class action lawsuits, too.

My experience:
I own two Lenovo laptops (IdeaPad series). On the first one, the hinge problem happened after 9 months of normal use, I sent it to Lenovo and they fixed it without much resistance (I was lucky)

On my second Lenovo, the hinge started to break about one week prior to the expiration of the 1 year warranty. I was glad it happened within 1 year of purchasing, and, given my positive experience, with the first laptop, I open a ticket with Lenovo. This time they told that the given breakage isn't covered by standard warranty. After a couple of phone calls, I got them to send me the shipping box but still no positive promise to get it fixed for free. They told me to send it and then they decide.
Some time later, after I inquired several times for updates, they informed me that there was a small dent on the corpus close to where my hinge breakage was, and this voids any warranty.
Here is the truth: Soon after the laptop was purchased, it slid out of the bag inside the car while I was driving which resulted in a minor dent, I am admitting this, however this hasn't caused any problems at all besides
minor cosmetic issue. All my family members knew I had a dent on the laptop for months and that it was working great. The hinge breakage started many months later, in the same manner as other people describe it.. and exactly like it was on my first laptop.
Oh, while I was sending my second laptop and getting them to reply, the warranty has expired. I just know that the hinge breakage began while I still had the warranty and its documented (ticket created, pictures sent, while I had warranty)
I read that people had to complain to BBB and had a positive outcome (they had to fix their laptopts elsewhere and had Lenovo reimbursed later after BBB would order Lenovo to do it)
My unit is being held by Lenovo until August 10th. They can either fix it on my expense, or send it back unrepaired (the condition is very poor at the moment, and the dent had NOTHING to do with it)
Given that they indicate a dent (damage) as the reason why they won't fix it, even though one isn't related to the other, what can I try? do you think I have a chance?
I am attaching a picture to show the dent and also how the problem with hinge begins (it becomes much much worse very fast) - the dent is on the part that has keyboard and is flat on the chair.
 
The BBB is a consumer agency and does not have any regulatory authority.

Do you have a legal question?
My question is - How to achieve that the company fixes their faulty machine that can't even withstand one year of normal use. I'm not sure what kind of question it is, just a question.
 
Short of filing a lawsuit for breach of warranty there's not much you can do except work within the corporate structure and rattle some cages.

Send an email to:

Matthew Zielinski
Senior Vice President and President North America PC and Smart devices
1009 Think Place
Morrisville, NC 27560
MZielinski@lenovo.com

I've had occasional success, but not always, and no guarantees.

That email should be current. If not, let me know and I'll see if I can dig up another.
 
My question is - How to achieve that the company fixes their faulty machine that can't even withstand one year of normal use. I'm not sure what kind of question it is, just a question.

Yours isn't a legal problem.

Yours is a customer service issue.

That said, you'll catch more flies with honey, rather than vinegar.

You could lodge a formal complaint with Lenovo here:

Contactus

Lenovo Contact Number, Email, Support, Information

You might contact dem potent muckity mucks of Lenovo here:

Leaders | Lenovo US
 
Short of filing a lawsuit for breach of warranty there's not much you can do except work within the corporate structure and rattle some cages.

Send an email to:

Matthew Zielinski
Senior Vice President and President North America PC and Smart devices
1009 Think Place
Morrisville, NC 27560
MZielinski@lenovo.com

I've had occasional success, but not always, and no guarantees.

That email should be current. If not, let me know and I'll see if I can dig up another.
Thank you, will do. He is among the collection of lovely faces in the last link that ArmyJudge provided.
 
Yours isn't a legal problem.

Yours is a customer service issue.

That said, you'll catch more flies with honey, rather than vinegar.

You could lodge a formal complaint with Lenovo here:

Contactus

Lenovo Contact Number, Email, Support, Information

You might contact dem potent muckity mucks of Lenovo here:

Leaders | Lenovo US
thank you.. have been to some of the links to no avail, however other links may be useful.

When communication with the customer service fails to produce satisfactory results, the consumer wonders what other things can be tried (like class action lawsuit for example or threatening with one)
this is why I posted on this forum
 
what other things can be tried (like class action lawsuit for example or threatening with one)

Threats of lawsuits don't butter any parsnips. Companies know very well when somebody is capable of suing or not. They find out when they get served the summons and complaint. Until then, the threat falls on deaf ears. So don't bother mentioning lawsuit unless you are prepared to sue. And if you are prepared to sue, go ahead and sue because threatening will be a waste of time anyway.

Class actions are useless to the average consumer. The lawyers and the lead plaintiffs get most of the money and everybody else gets pennies on the dollar.

He is among the collection of lovely faces in the last link that ArmyJudge provided.

I saw that. Email him. Be polite and explain your issues and that the first repair had been done under warranty and could he intervene on the second despite the dent.
 
Regarding emailing senior and executive level folks over minor consumer service issues:

Maybe "adjusterjack" has had different experiences. However, in my company, when folks reach out to our CEO (or, on occasion, the CEO and CFO of our parent company), those communications are promptly forwarded to the appropriate lower level manager without any concern by or attention from the senior/executive level recipients.
 
Regarding emailing senior and executive level folks over minor consumer service issues:

Maybe "adjusterjack" has had different experiences. However, in my company, when folks reach out to our CEO (or, on occasion, the CEO and CFO of our parent company), those communications are promptly forwarded to the appropriate lower level manager without any concern by or attention from the senior/executive level recipients.
I've heard plenty of anecdotal stories where such communications have been effective.

At the company I work for, a call to the CEO of the company does get acted upon rapidly, although, not always to the customer's liking.
 
Maybe "adjusterjack" has had different experiences. However, in my company, when folks reach out to our CEO (or, on occasion, the CEO and CFO of our parent company), those communications are promptly forwarded to the appropriate lower level manager without any concern by or attention from the senior/executive level recipients.

I have had that happen more often than not and I expect it to happen. However, those referrals often go to high level assistants who have the authority to apply common sense to a consumer issue as opposed to the bureaucratic front line customer service people.

I've heard plenty of anecdotal stories where such communications have been effective.

I have quite a few anecdotes of my own.

At the company I work for, a call to the CEO of the company does get acted upon rapidly, although, not always to the customer's liking.

Right. I've had a few of those, too.

Bottom line, though, a letter or email to a corporate executive is like chicken soup. Might not result in a cure, but it couldn't hurt.

:D
 
Thank y'all for siggestions!
During communication should i admit that laptop was dropped, which resulted in a dent?
Also, if they refuse at the end, should i pay what they ask to get it repaired and then try to get reimbursed through BBB complaint or should i get it back unrepaired and then find a place to fix it and also try to get reimbursed thru BBB complaint?
 
Thank y'all for siggestions!
During communication should i admit that laptop was dropped, which resulted in a dent?
Also, if they refuse at the end, should i pay what they ask to get it repaired and then try to get reimbursed through BBB complaint or should i get it back unrepaired and then find a place to fix it and also try to get reimbursed thru BBB complaint?
The BBB is nothing more than a glorified complaint site. It has no force of law.

Frankly, it's possible that the laptop being dropped actually did precipitate the problem you are experiencing. It's only plastic...
 
Frankly, it's possible that the laptop being dropped actually did precipitate the problem you are experiencing. It's only plastic...
I could be inclined to agree if thousands of other people didn't experience exactly the same problem with their hinges that looked exactly the same for everyone. my laptop was working just fine for 10 months without any problems after it fell. I don't think that this was the case (that breakage was related to the drop)
 
Actually, today somebody called from Zielinski's office and said that they asked repairs dep to fix it for me. I hope that repairs dep will follow thru, however, wondering how long it will take, given that they have my laptop since July 18.

We have another problem as well. My teen daughter worked hard, saved and finally bought an iPhone on Apple website on August 2nd. It was shipped, according to their email and was supposed to be delivered the next day with 1 day UPS air shipping. Something strange was going on with the tracking, no updates, she was busy working, and today I was finally able to get ahold of someone at UPS. They said they can see on their side that the shipment arrived to our city on Aug 3, however there has not been any updates since that. Shipments are scanned twice a day, and it hasn't been scanned since arrival on Aug 3rd. We filed a claim, UPS says it can take up to 10 business days to get a result. We probably will want to request that Apple ships a replacement, if UPS cant find the phone fast.. money is gone and she needs her phone coz her old phone broke. However, talking to a human at Apple may be tricky - I only was able to speak with a robot that simply hung up on me saying Bye, Bye! (need to dig for some good phone numbers to reach to the right person at Apple)
 
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