Aspire 5 A515-51-55FD: Hinges broke, warranty decided damage was accidental - Greatest scam ever?

I bought this laptop in late November, and it's flakey with display problems from the beginning. The hinges for the lid fail in 2 months, making the entire thing useless.

I go to a service center, and they tell me that Acer decided the failure was "accidental damage" and want $140 to fix. I'm not putting that money into a laptop I just bought that's still within the warranty period.

My question: Did I just deal with a bad representative, or did Acer manage to explore beyond the limits of laptops that fail right after the warranty expires, and sell me one that failed while the warranty was still active, and not repair or replace it?

Accepted answers

Manny-Acer_Retired

Hello RonWeber,

I'm sorry that you're having issues with your Aspire 5 and warranty. Can you please send me a PM with the S/N of your unit so I can look into this for you?

NOTE:
Let me just clarify, the Acer Community (Forum Discussions), were designed as a peer to peer support community where Acer users help other Acer users with their questions or troubleshooting inquiries.

Although this community is not a direct portal to Customer service, Acer employees may read the various topics posted here and you will notice that some Acer moderators may interact with members when appropriate. (case by case basis).

But primarily the community is a place where members can exchange their own advice, ideas, articles with knowledge and troubleshooting techniques etc. The Acer community is not design for direct customer support consultation, case status, complaints, parts requests/orders or sponsorship/donations request, please use the appropriate channel/sources for your particular request.

Thanks,

Acer-Manny

All comments

JackE

Arrange for hinge repair again via the ACER service link at the bottom of this page. Have your machine's serial number id ready. Jack E/NJ

Manny-Acer_Retired

Hello RonWeber,

I'm sorry that you're having issues with your Aspire 5 and warranty. Can you please send me a PM with the S/N of your unit so I can look into this for you?

NOTE:
Let me just clarify, the Acer Community (Forum Discussions), were designed as a peer to peer support community where Acer users help other Acer users with their questions or troubleshooting inquiries.

Although this community is not a direct portal to Customer service, Acer employees may read the various topics posted here and you will notice that some Acer moderators may interact with members when appropriate. (case by case basis).

But primarily the community is a place where members can exchange their own advice, ideas, articles with knowledge and troubleshooting techniques etc. The Acer community is not design for direct customer support consultation, case status, complaints, parts requests/orders or sponsorship/donations request, please use the appropriate channel/sources for your particular request.

Thanks,

Acer-Manny

asdjigasdf

Same Problem With me

Manny-Acer_Retired

Hi asdjigasdf,

Sorry to hear this, have you tried contacting your local Acer support services for assistance?

Thanks,
Acer-Manny

Grace_M

Acer-Manny said:

Hello RonWeber,

I'm sorry that you're having issues with your Aspire 5 and warranty. Can you please send me a PM with the S/N of your unit so I can look into this for you?

NOTE:
Let me just clarify, the Acer Community (Forum Discussions), were designed as a peer to peer support community where Acer users help other Acer users with their questions or troubleshooting inquiries.

Although this community is not a direct portal to Customer service, Acer employees may read the various topics posted here and you will notice that some Acer moderators may interact with members when appropriate. (case by case basis).

But primarily the community is a place where members can exchange their own advice, ideas, articles with knowledge and troubleshooting techniques etc. The Acer community is not design for direct customer support consultation, case status, complaints, parts requests/orders or sponsorship/donations request, please use the appropriate channel/sources for your particular request.

Thanks,

Acer-Manny

Hello Manny,

I also have the same problem as RonWeber. I had it repaired once, but the hinge has broken again. It has gotten worse,my screen has blacked out now. I can't use it at all.

JackE

Grace_M You might want to send a personal message to Acer-Manny by clicking on this link Acer-Manny Jack E/NJ

Manny-Acer_Retired

Hi Grace_M,

Sorry to hear this, where are you contacting us from, can you send me your information and previous case number via PM?

Thanks,
Acer-Manny

MaggiW

My daughter's laptop has the same hinge issue. She had it repaired once but it is coming apart again. It is out of warranty. Not sure its worth getting fixed a second time.

JackE

MaggiW I'd suggest trying to minimize further damage with color-coordinated duct-tape from HomeDepot or Lowes. Jack E/NJ

enzoofthejungle

I have a A515-51G-53F6, and all the same problems. I'm seeing in other forums, both acer sponsored and otherwise, that this appears to be a problem borne, per the theory of at least two techs, of subpar casing materials.

Has Acer acknowledged what appears to be a defect, or is it charging customers for repair? The only person who appeared to get a free repair was one who went all the way to the Consumer Protection Bureau. I'd like to know what my alternative are here. Thank you.

JackE

It's the most highly stressed parts of any laptop. Unless it has a ruggedized metal case, the alternative is to minimize further damage with a 2 part epoxy like JBWeld and/or duct tape. Jack E/NJ

WoutVDR

I had the same problem with my axpire 5 (a515-51). Left hinge first felt a bit looser than normal. After a while the plastic on top piece separated. That was the moment I requested a reparation. The screen couldn't close anymore because it would have broken even further. So i shipped it with the lid still open at around 30° angle. Ofcourse I made sure to support it with foam. After a while I received an email with a price quote of 150 euro. If i didn't want it repaired and only shipped it back to me it would cost 66 euro. The person who checked my laptop opened the lid without being careful so the plastic did break. My laptop was still in waranty and I didn't do anything weird with it. I contacted the contact center and i showed a picture how it left my house. The person at the contact center was realy nice and because of the picture they took a second look at my laptop and repaired my laptop for free.

Make sure you ALWAYS take pictures when you send somthing to repair.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/to/covwxk9pfpxe.jpg

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