Laptop hinge broken 2 weeks after warranty expired(Acer Aspire A515-51)

FrustratedEmily

I am located in Newfoundland, Canada. I have an Acer Aspire A515-51 and I've been very happy with its operation.

However, my warranty expired at the end of January, and less than two weeks later, the hinge on my laptop snapped. I am extremely careful with this machine; it sits on a desk and is only moved from its place when I travel, in which case it's carried in a padded laptop bag. There has been no trauma to the corner of the machine and there is no visible damage, and yet the casing around the screen is splitting and I can't close the laptop without pinching the casing together near the hinge so it doesn't damage the screen.

I've attempted to contact Acer multiple times and am continuously redirected to a third party because when I enter my SNID, they detect that my laptop is out of warranty. Repairs will cost upwards of $100 and my laptop could be gone for several weeks, which is simply not acceptable. 

This is obviously a product defect, and the fact that Acer won't even speak to me directly about it is incredibly disappointing, especially considering the fact that I've spent upwards of $10,000 on Acer equipment for my home and business in the last 5 years. I have been attempting to get an Acer representative to hear me out on this issue for the past two months, and have been given nothing but a runaround. This will be my last purchase from this company.

tobimaru

FrustratedEmily said:

 Repairs will cost upwards of $100 and my laptop could be gone for several weeks, which is simply not acceptable.

Your expectations are not reasonable. You want a free repair, out of warranty, on your own schedule. You're dreaming!

If this was a product defect the hinge would break within the warranty period. The warranty is there to guarantee the product lasts within a certain time-frame and usage scenario(s). Once the warranty has expired, that guarantee is no more.

If you believe the manufacturer can expertly and precisely time a break or fault in a product to happen exactly when the warranty expires I'm afraid to say you may be paranoid! It's simply bad luck and the inevitable outcome which happens to all things with use (and especially travel); wear and tear.

FrustratedEmily

Seriously? You think a year and two months of use constitutes an acceptable time frame for a hardware fail? It's a laptop, it's not meant to be stationary. I've had laptops for five years without issue, and this one breaks after one, and the manufacturer won't even speak to me about it!

Glad to hear I'm paranoid, I'll get that checked out just as soon as my primary computer has been repaired for the hardware issue that I didn't cause.