William’s laptop wouldn’t boot. He went to Toshiba for help, since it was still under warranty, and they charged him for software help, since his warranty didn’t cover that. Fine. Only they wouldn’t refund him the $100 when the problem didn’t turn out to be software-related. He sent the machine in for a hardware repair, and Toshiba sort of did the opposite of that. He says that the screen was just fine when he sent it in. Toshiba says that it wasn’t, and that he should pay them $500 to repair it.

I bought a Toshiba laptop. One day, the computer would not boot to Windows. I called Toshiba. They said it sounded like a software issue, which isn’t covered under warranty. They charged me $100 to troubleshoot the software. They then said it was a hardware issue, which is covered under warranty. They never credited me the $100.

To make matters worse, I just received this e-mail below from Toshiba saying the screen is damaged and they want to charge me almost $500 to repair it. The screen was perfectly fine when I sent the computer to them, so I am not paying them $500! If the screen was damaged during shipping, it’s not my fault. I used Toshiba’s box they sent me and their return shipping label. I tried to call Toshiba at the phone number in their e-mail, but the recording says to go to toshiba.com and then hangs up on you.

I e-mailed executives at Toshiba a week ago, because it was taking Toshiba days to get me a return box. They never responded. I will e-mail them about this screen issue too, but I’m sure I won’t [hear] back from any of them.

I do not recommend buying Toshiba products. If you already have one and need to send it in for repair, I recommend taking a picture of the item undamaged in Toshiba’s shipping box at the shipping company’s location so you have proof of the condition.

That’s valid advice for sending your electronics in for repair anywhere, not just Toshiba.

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