Aspire Vero AV15-52 : Is there a manufacturing fault with the LCD bezel coming away from the screen

under_vee

The black bezel surrounding the LCD keeps coming away from the screen at the bottom left and right corners, as seen in the image.

Then, when opening the lid, the bezel catches on the corner of the base unit applying a bending force. When the bezel gap becomes big enough, the force applied by the base unit causes the bezel to crack, as seen in this image.

It can be clearly seen from the below image how contact with the base unit applies pressure to the bezel, forcing it back on to the screen, which has resulted in it cracking.

It seems the bezel is coming away because the hinges are too tight. The clips holding the bezel in place down the sides of the screen are either not effective in holding the bezel in place or are broken. Either way, if I push the bezel back in, it just pops out again the next time I open the screen.

I also seem to have some warping of the bezel along the bottom edge just above the hinge. The warping pulls the bezel away from the screen. This seems to be a common problem, looking at other posts in this community.

This type of plastic warping is generally because of over heating. After prolonged use, the whole of the bottom of the bezel gets warm, noticeably more than the left, right and top bezel edges. There is also a heat vent just below the bezel. However, it doesn't feel like its hot enough to permanently warp plastic, unless this plastic is particularly sensitive to heat (perhaps a property of recycled plastic??)

Instead, I think its the over tightened hinge that is pushing the bezel away from the screen. There is no obvious signs of the hinge being broken - it's just very tight. I am convinced this is a manufacturing defect.

The pictures given here are from the second time this happened. The first time the bezel broke, it cracked on both corners, and then progressively got worse; the bezel was severely warped on both sides. I returned it to the high street retailer, who sent it off for repair. I was expecting it to be repaired under warranty for free. Instead I was accused of causing the damage by misuse; I think 'dropping' is the word they used. So, they refused to repair it under warranty (despite still being in the 12 month warranty period). After many phone calls to the repair centre and despite there being no evidence of dents to suggest it had been dropped, I reluctantly accepted responsibility and paid more than £200 for labour and parts.

Fast forward six months to today - it cracks again! The same retailer now tells me the labour is only guaranteed for 90 days so I have to pay again to have it looked at, despite the part that has broken is still under warranty. I was advised to call the help centre, who tell me the same thing - I need to pay because I don't have a service plan and the labour guarantee period has passed.

The fact that it has happened twice in identical circumstances confirmed my original belief that this is a manufacturing defect - most likely an over tightened hinge. I am not prepared to be robbed twice so have now raised a complaint with the retailer. I'm expecting a call back in a few days. Lets see how that goes. If this is not resolved satisfactorily, I'll be back to name and shame the retailer.