Thomas got a good deal on a wireless keyboard and mouse at Radio Shack, and also went ahead and bought the warranty and replacement plan. The plan that lasts for one year. Six months later, the item wouldn’t work. So just drop it in the mail or take it back to the store where it was purchased for a replacement, right? Not so fast. The Shack was determined that he wasn’t going to bring home a replacement keyboard on their dime. [More]
warranty and repair
7 RMAs Later, Asus Still Won't Replace My Tablet
By 5.10.12
Richard just wants a working tablet. He’s sent his Asus Transformer in for repair seven separate times. It’s usually for variations of the same issue, but Asus’s records disagree. Handy, because those different service records mean that as far as Asus is concerned, the tablet hasn’t come in over and over for the same issue, and doesn’t need to be replaced. [More]
Linksys: Where A 1-Year Warranty Sort Of Isn't A 1-Year Warranty
By 5.9.12
Yes, Linksys products ostensibly have a one-year warranty, but there’s a catch. When Cody tried to contact them to replace a router, he learned that in order to actually use that original warranty, you need to pay extra. Specifically, after the first 90 days, you need to pay for either phone or chat support to talk to a real person who can authorize the return of your defective router. [More]
Toshiba Thrive Tablet Cracks While Being Held: Sorry, That's Your Fault
By 5.8.12
Alex writes that his five-month-old Toshiba Thrive tablet cracked, sort of under its own weight. Is that possible? Maybe. Stranger things have happened to electronics. But everyone he’s talked to at Toshiba doesn’t think so, and they’re acting like it was accidental damage. [More]
I Paid $2000 For A Stupid TV That Lasted Two Years
By 5.7.12
I feel a certain kinship with Alan. Two years ago, both of us purchased HDTVs made by Vizio. Both of us bristled at the idea of buying an extended warranty for an electronic device that really shouldn’t be disposable. Both sets are out of warranty, but mine still works (for now) and Alan’s has black horizontal streaks running across the screen. A warranty’s a warranty, but he wonders: did he really just pay $1,000 per year for the privilege of owning a TV? [More]
If You Enjoy $200 Disposable Coffeemakers, Buy A Keurig
By 5.4.12
I’ve often heard, both from readers of this site and in real life, about the generous replacement policy that coffee-pod maker Keurig has when something goes wrong with one of their products. But if you happen to buy a model that’s defective, reader Synimatik tells us, Keurig will only replace it so many times before you’re on your own and have to just buy yourself a new one. He didn’t expect to spend more than $200 on what he calls a “disposable coffee maker.” [More]
EECB Strikes Lenovo, Gets Customer New Laptop
By 5.1.12
Patricia’s refurbished laptop from Lenovo could have used more refurbishment. It had a scratched webcam and an unbearably rattly disc drive, and she didn’t find this acceptable for a device that she had just purchased. So she tackled the issue using a time-honored consumer technique: the executive e-mail carpet bomb. Lenovo’s Executive Relations team heard her plea, and sent her a new computer to replace her refurbished one. [More]
Dell Will Sell You A 5-Year Warranty, Not Actually Honor It
By 4.30.12
M. bought a five-year Complete Care Warranty from Dell, and this somehow led him to believe that he would receive five years of warranty coverage. Crazy, right? Consumers can be so foolish. But just because the site will sell you a warranty, and documentation on the Dell site says that you have almost a year left on that warranty, that doesn’t mean that you actually have that warranty, because the Complete Care warranty that includes things like accidental damage is only an add-on to the regular warranty that has already run out. [More]
How Hard Should I Try To Give Back Someone Else's Tablet?
By 4.27.12
Last week, Brian received a package from the ASUS repair center. It was a freshly repaired tablet, the same model that he owns. Except he hadn’t sent his in for repair lately. Someone else’s address appeared on the return merchandise authorization (RMA) form inside the box, but the label on the outside had Brian’s information. He wonders: how much time and money should he invest in getting this package home when Asus doesn’t particularly seem to care? [More]
Fixing Your Own Electronics Is Fun And Almost Easy
By 4.27.12
Last year, I bought a used iPhone 3Gs that is now well out of warranty. Not a big deal. Only the battery didn’t stay charged all day anymore, and I wondered whether it was time for a new phone, even though mine is otherwise in great shape. Too bad I couldn’t just order a new battery online and snap it in like with previous phones. Except…I could. I just needed a tiny screwdriver, a few other tools, step-by-step instructions, and a lot of patience. [More]
Asus: No, Your Tablet Is Totally Supposed To Draw Jagged Lines
By 4.26.12
Sita’s Asus tablet cost about $1,400, and the purpose of it was so she could work on her art wherever she happens to be. She has this crazy idea in her head that to serve that purpose, the tablet should let her draw smooth lines. Or at least lines that don’t look like a seismograph during an extremely minor earthquake. Asus doesn’t agree, and they insist that there’s nothing wrong with the tablet. [More]
How It Takes $100 In UPS Labels To Swap Out A $100 Corsair Headset
By 4.24.12
Reader Chris may have found the answer to the U.S. Postal Service’s woes: they just need to convince gadget maker Corsair to bring all of their warranty return business over there. A recent return had Chris sending enough incorrect items back and forth via UPS to Corsair that the shipping bills now exceed the original cost of the headset. At this rate, they could single-handedly bail out the Postal Service. [More]
One Man's Campaign To End Six Months Without A Working Haier TV
By 4.20.12
Andrew took advantage of a great Black Friday deal from Newegg to buy a nice large TV. At least, he assumes that it’s nice. The first set he received never worked, and the second worked for only 48 hours. Stuck dealing with Haier, he still hasn’t managed to extract a working TV out of them. [More]
Own GE Appliances? Get To Work On Your Upper Body Strength
By 4.13.12
With the approval of your physician, there’s no time like the present to start a rigorous exercise program. Doubly so if you own any General Electric appliances. See, Jack owns a stackable General Electric washer and dryer. GE was happy to sell him a 5-year extended service plan, but balked at actually sending a repair person to his house. Once he finally talked them into sending someone to fix his washer, he learned that he and his wife would have to move the dryer from on top of the washer themselves. What’s the problem? It only weighs 150 pounds. [More]
Dell Tech Support Manager: 'Sell Your Computer, Buy Something Not Made By Dell'
By 4.4.12
Andrew had a beautiful and relatively modest dream as a teen. He wanted to own an Alienware gaming computer. When he became an adult, he was able to achieve that dream by purchasing a M14x laptop. There was no happy ending for the man and his computer, though. It has needed to be sent back to Dell five times already. He bought it in August. Of 2011. He hasn’t even owned it for a whole year yet. [More]
Lenovo Replaces Lemon Laptop… In Theory
By 3.30.12
The Lenovo laptop that Aaron bought at Best Buy just a few months ago was clearly defective. The company admitted it, and granted him a new computer. In theory. While he was told that a computer was on its way two weeks ago, there’s been no sign of it, and no indication of when it will ship. [More]
Sears Employees Not Entirely Sure How Manufacturer's Warranties Work
By 3.22.12
Russell was browsing at his local Sears, seriously considering a purchase of fitness equipment. He grossly miscalculated, though: he got the idea in his head that he could ask an employee about the products for sale in the store and receive a factually correct answer. Instead, the salesperson emphasized the uselessness of the warranty, losing the sale and annoying the customer. [More]
When Laptop Screen Cracks, Office Depot Comes Through
By 3.16.12
Usually, when a message arrives in our mailbox containing the name of a big-box office supply store and the word “saga,” it means that a sad tale of incompetence and woe is in store. But that’s not the case this time. “I’ve never had a corporation help me this much in my entire life,” Curtis noted in his e-mail. When something went wrong with the screen of his Gateway laptop that be purchased from Office Depot, Gateway offered to fix the screen for $200. He wrote to Office Depot about the problem, not expecting much, but ended up stunned at the help he received from corporate. [More]
