Please bear with me because I am new to owning a laptop.
I bought a Gateway 6510GZ notebook from Best Buy in Oakville (Ontario, Canada) in the summer of 2005 under the most expensive and comprehensive extended (3 year) service plan. From the first day I bought it, the included power supply kept getting so hot that it gave me a severe burn when it touched my leg, and the battery would start and stop charging for unknown reasons. This continued till the battery refused to charge at all.
Best Buy tried out the laptop/charger ensemble in the store, sent out the charger (which was also covered), and eventually replaced it. They replaced the charger two more that year after recurrent charging failures, after which time they suspected a problem with the DC Power Jack.
By then a permanent vertical line had also appeared on my screen, and Best Buy sent the laptop to shop for repair. The power jack was fixed, and though here were a few worrisome pixel outs, the replacement motherboard had eliminated the vertical line.
I had no more problems with the unit until April 2008, when my opening of the notebook caused THE WHOLE PLASTIC to RIP AWAY FROM around THE KEYBOARD, geez Louise!. When I took it into the store, a geek squad member pried out a screw from some damaged plastic around the hinge, and explained that the loose hinge screw had caused the problem by jamming into the plastic below the hinge, causing trauma to the connecting plastic when the lap was opened (which makes me wonder WHY laptop hinges would be constructed interconnecting with the plastic?)
After he sent it out for repair, I got a disturbing call from the shop saying they would not repair the notebook unless I paid $300 extra, because the only thing that causes hinge failure is the dropping of the unit, which voids the terms of warranty. I declined on a matter of principle, as my friend could fix it for free, which ? guess what ? also voids a warranty.
The laptop was returned to the store with a different explanation ? that ?normal wear and tear? was not covered under warranty.
Since when is dropping a product considered ?normal? wear and tear? And does anyone know something that has worked to get them to honor their warranty?independent appraiser ? court ? newspaper ? anything? If it is just a mistake resulting from ignorant staff, I am willing to remove this post as not to defame them, but otherwise I am not rich enough to accept being cheated on something I so desperately need.
Cheers,
Charlie