How can an 8 month old laptop (Aspire 315-42) suddenly disintegrate and not be covered by warranty?

RAC515

I bought an Acer Aspire A315 in September last year. In June 2020 one day I opened the screen and on opening the laptop there was a loud crack and the right hinge broke into pieces, breaking the bottom part of the plastic casing as well, and the screws attaching the body of the computer to the screen on the right side fell out. There was nothing stuck in the hinge, I didn't open it aggressively, literally just lifted the screen like you would on any laptop to begin using it. With the plastic casing disintegrated and the screws missing the screen barely functions, having to be propped up loosely on the metal hinge. I contacted Acer support in June, provided pictures, and explained the issue (obviously this was within warranty).

I got a response saying the warranty does not cover physical damage and I would have to pay £50 to ship it to Acer PLUS the unknown cost of having it repaired, which is obviously ridiculous as I am not going to commit to paying an unknown sum of Acer's choosing plus £50 to repair a £300 laptop, nor should I have to since I was sold a faulty product. I have found many cases online of Acer laptops breaking in *precisely" the way mine did, the hinges suddenly cracking and falling apart for no good reason while still recently purchased. I replied to the customer support explaining that I would not pay this fee, it was insulting to suggest it, and that I expect Acer to cover the cost of repairing a laptop which breaks into pieces 8 months after purchase. I never heard back after this.

Now the screws which hold the left side hinge to the screen have broken off as well, making the machine practically unusable. I have never had a worse experience with a company or product, and wouldn't recommend buying an Acer to my worst enemy at this point. Before this I owned a Dell which lasted me 7 years and had customer support which was genuinely helpful when I had issues.

I would like to give Acer another chance to rectify the issue and repair or replace the broken machine, but I anticipate another copypasted response saying this must be my fault for having the temerity to try and open my laptop, and inviting me to pay an extortionate amount of money. To everyone else, I can only suggest you do not ever buy an Acer Aspire machine or frankly any other Acer product. It looks like I will have to spend several hundred pounds on another new laptop within a year that I really cannot afford to.

JackE

Sorry, physical damage like this  is a common issue with non-ruggedized mostly plastic frame laptops from, among other issues, wear and tear of opening and closing the lid too much. Google broken laptop hinge plus any major consumer-grade manufacturer DELL, HP, ACER, ASUS, Surface, Lenovo and see how many hits you get for each brand. Jack E/NJ