Scratched 14z Lid - What to do?

My girlfriend mindlessly put the charger in the same bag as the laptop and it ended up putting some pretty deep scratches in my midnight blue lid.
I would be fine with it if it was just normal wear-and-tear but it really sucks since I literally got the laptop 3 days ago.

My question is if there is anyway to float this by dell and have it covered by the warranty? Or maybe have them send me a replacement lid? I'm still in the 21 day period so I could see about returning it and ordering a new one but I reallllly do not want to do that.

 

hey I had a problem with my power button switch and when I got the part to replace it , the panel consisted of the whole top lid along with the power button assembly....so ultimately I got a new lid even though I didnt ask for it...but then thts on a studio 1555 where the power button is on the side...not sure abt the 14z..

 

Hm yeah the 14z also has a power button on the side. How difficult was it to install yourself?

 

ha ha..no i didnt do it myself..am not qualified enuf.. ...the engineer came...ripped apart the whole laptop...i mean he had remove the keyboard, then the side panel, then the hinges, then the lcd and then finally replace the assembly...so its a big process but not to difficult as far as I thought...
the best part was..dell didnt need any convincing to get the thing replaced..they were like..'wt prob do u hav?'....'ok fine we will send u the parts and an engineer'..lol

 

I suppose you could call and ask them but it is not a manufacture's defect so I am sure they won't and don't have to replace it under warranty. What would be your reason for returning it to dell even if you are within your 21 days?

 

No, unfortunately not... since this was obviously not a fault of the laptop itself..Meaning that it is not something that should be covered by the warranty, that is a defect in the materials.

Dell, cannot be held responsible for something that was caused by the owner's own error. Sorry. I'm sorry this happened.

If you had purchased Complete Care (Accidental Coverage), then yes...this is something that would be covered. You would be walking a very thin line if you were to try and get Dell to cover that under warranty, or have them send you a replacement lid, based on what you stated above.

Cin...

 

If it bothers you that much then you have several options:

1. Buy a new lid from a parts seller, eBay or Dell themselves and fit it yourself.
2. Cover the lid with one of those stickers. If done properly they don't look bad.

 

How do you go about ordering/installing a new lid?

Otherwise I might just suck it up and cover it with a decal. sucks.

 

look for your service manual on dell's support website - that should tell you pretty clearly what you need to do in order to access the lids.

 

You can get a lid for $20-$40 and replace it yourself, it's not very difficult. If it bothers you that much, I'd say buy a new lid and replace it.

 

I've completely disassembled my 14z about 4-5 times. All you need is a small phillips screwdriver. On my first attempt it took me over an hour but now I can do it within a couple minutes.

Here are some tips f you do disassemble it yourself:
- Pulling the keyboard and display bezel can be difficult the first time since you won't want to break it by accident. After you've managed to lift a decent amount, the trick is to rock the bezel back & forth, left and right, and up and down. Just try all directions until you start to feel it give into one of the angles.

- BE VERY CAREFUL not to rip off any connectors/wires when removing parts like the keyboard or display. If you move slowly and cautiously, it should be easy to avoid any damage.

- When removing the 4 screws from the display hinges, secure your display because it is heavy and it can just fall off when you are on your last screw.

- Pay very close attention to the wiring in the hinges, particularly the rightside. I recommend you take photos of it so that you know exactly how the wires wrap around the hinge areas. It might appear fairly logical when you are disassembling it, but reassembling can be a if you forget how each wire is placed. (Learned from experience)

- Organize your mess. I warpped each set of screws inside a piece of paper and labeled it like "four screws - keyboard (1)" the number at the end dictated the order I followed so that I could just go in reverse later.


Reassembly:
- Keyboard backlight connector (the small orange one) should be inserted upside down.

- Check to see if your display and bezel are completely snapped together all around before reattaching to the main. If you have parts that aren't closed and stick out a tiny bit, it can scratch your laptop when you try and shut the lid!! I know because I scratched mine.

-OF course, make sure you are grounded to avoid electric discharge.

- Don't attach the keyboard bezel until you've checked to see if your laptop works when you power it on. If something is wrong, you've saved yourself sometime to disassemble again. If it works, then snap it back on.

- After reassembly, if your computer doesnt start, do not panic and DO NOT CALL DELL. First attempt, I got a blank screen and 8 loud beeps in a row that ran consecutively nonstop. I discovered that I did not fully insert the display connector. Just go over each part carefully to ensure its connected properly. If you call Dell, the will simply tell you that they are not authorized to help you, and they will give you a "repair services" phone number that you'd have to pay for.

 

I'd go with that one. Many people buy those lids and stickers just because they want their laptop to look cool.