Water sprinklers

Unfortunately, due to some fire thing in my hotel room and the sprinklers went off and the laptop (powered off) soaked in water.

I dried it but in vain. It does not start and it is clearly looking soaked. Although it is quite clean but a bit rusty when you look in the ports.

Dell says they take 500 bucks to repair EVERYTHING that is wrong with it including all the hardware and cosmetic looks. It is a E1505 Inspiron.

Is it worth it? Also, as a side note - is it not the hotel's responsibility here so can I claim for this expenditure to my hotel guys?

Southerngirl !!!! any tips? they say motherboard might just have been damaged.

 

Negotiate to extend your warranty to include complete care.

Was this a mistake or was there actually a fire in the building. The sprinklers are usually set to break when a certain amount of heat is present. If the hotel had a faulty sprinkler head, then it's their problem, not yours. They should have insurance for that anyways. What hotel was it?

 

how thoroughly did you dry it, a complete disassembly and light cleaning of all parts and connectores, then at least two days spead out in very dry low humdity place is the bare minimum for something like that, then put it back and see if it works, all it takes is a pin head sized drop of water in the wrong place and its toast, to try and the hotel to cover it your going to have get a lawyer, and for 500 bucks, that might be more trouble then its worth, also i'm sure they have signs posted that they are not responsible for any property lost/stolen/or damaged, and it was most likely part of the agreement you signed to get the room, sorry man, hope things work out

 

there indeed was some fire but I am sure the laptop did not get burnt. It's the water.

But then, isn't the hotel insured and as I am the guest - is my household not covered under warranty when I am staying with them?

What if there was a physical damage to someone sitting there in that room ?

 

I am no legal expert, but there is something called Travel Insurance that covers anything you wish to cover when out of your home (not just yourself but also possessions), check with your credit card company that you used when travelling and checking into the hotel, see if they can help.

 

Perhaps you should call the hotel and speak to a manager. Explain your situation and see if they have some sort of insurance that covers this type of incident.

 

You never said which hotel it is. Is it a big chain or a little motel?

 

If it is a big chain you would figure they try to make you happy so that you don't sue them for damages.

 

If you bought the notebook on your visa, they might be able to help you out. Also check with your home insurance provider.

 

Or American Express. I heard AmEx is very good about replacing stuff that broke that you buy on their card.

 

It is a big chain.. Extended Stay hotels!

1. I do not have any personal insurance which would have covered the laptop

2. I did not use any AMEX or other credit card.

3. I will be in USA for 6 more months. I am employed here.


- I spoke with the hotel management. They said, the insurance (hotel) will get in touch with you and you probably will be given a form to claim things you lost. She did not say YES or NO to whether or not my laptop will surely be covered but she said that the insurance guy and you will do the talking. Insurance will decide what and how much to cover. Because I am their customers and one of their rooms caught fire and I lost things! Straight forward.

- The fire department came out with a report (cum speculation) that a pan handle broke (L O L !) and it interfered with the motor and got burnt! My say is.. GE machines so unsafe? why don't they have a auto self shut off thingy? so they will just spread fire and not shut themselves off?

- Hoping for the best. Any more suggestions? The laptop just took water and no fire.

 

Was the fire just in your room? Sounds like it was, I'm guessing there's some type of insurance the hotel has that will cover fire related accidents and the sprinkler going off. If you have renters insurance or home owners insurance in the U.S. this type of thing is usually covered as well (at least, it's worth looking into). It sounds like you wouldn't have insurance from a U.S. company though, so I don't know.

 

I don't have any good feelings about Extended Stay.
They are so cheap they couldn't even provide iron and ironing board for each guest (I had to go to the reception which is only open during business hours to get it).

I wish you good luck!

 

LOL. They do provide iron and ironing boards.. at least the extended stay delux people do. Quite a nice place to live in.

Also, the laptop won't be covered by the hotel management. It is the insurance coverage of the guests' household who will do the needful if they are to.

Anyway, the DELL people said that $199 is the basic fee and the cosmetic and the hardware parts replacement won't go above 300 in any case. But it is still 500 bucks!!!!

sigh!

 

The managers of the hotel asked for a list of items lost in the fire and they said we will see what can be done about it.

Their insurance guy called me up but kept talking about legal mumbo-jumbos.

Hoping for the best! Our company holds the biggest national account at the hotel because all their employees stay in the same hotel all the time.

Pray for me folks

 

Just guessing I'd say the hotel should pay for it. If it happened to me I'd take them to small claims court if they refused to pay and was sure it was not on any disclaimer.

 

The truth is, unless your lawyer is very good, there is almost nothing to gain by suing the hotel management. People have had items stolen in rooms as well as cars from the hotel parking lot, but you can't file suit against the hotel for failing to prevent the theft.

 

The insurance guy called up again and here are his lines "from a legal stand point your claims are denied because it isn't the hotel's fault and not yours too. But looking at your situation the hotel has requested us to compensate for your losses. Please forward me the list of items that you have lost along with their bills"

Now, it is not the fault of both the parties in case of a fire or any such incident. But isn't the insurance people sitting there just for such incidents and eating heavy premiums per year?

Let's see.. I made it clear to the hotel management, that it is not MY job to deal with YOUR insurance people as THEY did not give me the room and THEY did not wet my stuff. I am going to talk to HOTEL management ONLY. They said that they are not saying that they won't compensate. It is just the process that they are going through.

Hope floats!

 

Here's hoping!

 

It looks like they are trying to compensate you without acknowledging any wrong doing.

 

At least the management agrees you should be compensated, so you are lucky!

Insurance is a one-way business... they take our premiums and keep it!

 

The hotel's insurance guy left me a voice message today. He said that he has decided to go ahead and pay me 1800 dollars !!!!!! (???)

He made it a point to say again that though the claims would have been denied from a legal standpoint, we consider your situation and toward good faith, customer service and BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

L O L

 

Congratulations!

 

You are one lucky sonufagun!
Bring a waterproof bag next time when u travel!

 

They agreed to send me a check through mail-in!

Guys in the USA..is this the usual way an insurance company works here?

Just another question. SHOULD I GO AHEAD NOW AND REPAIR THIS LAPTOP I OWN THROUGH DELL or SHOULD I THROW THIS AWAY AND BUY A NEW ONE?

Any experienced members here with DELL's repairs? They said the repair includes everything (the cosmetic and hardware) and will not cost me more than 550 USD.

If I now go ahead and buy a new laptop (and better one), does DELL give me a discount if I return this laptop to them? They can certainly repair the laptop and bring it out as a refurbished product.

 

I would sell the laptop on ebay. People will still buy it for parts. Then, just buy a new one.

Getting it fixed allows for a lot to go wrong in the future from hidden damage.

 

I'd just get it fixed for $50 and you've still got $1750 left. It's what I would do.

 

I called up DELL Out of Warranty support. The representative said that the laptop will be neatly repaired and shipped back to you within two weeks time. It will take care of ALL the possible damages and cosmetics and will carry the warranty for 3 months for entire repaired/replaced products.

They gave me a $400 cost (including shipping and taxes and replacements and repairs).

So, I will get it repaired first - and see what it looks and performs like. I am thinking of using it (keeping it powered on to perform a kind of a regression test on it). If it feels the same, I will continue using it OR I can simply sell it off for cheap and buy a new one.

But first- awaiting the check from the insurance company!

 

They have sent me an empty box to send the laptop back to them.

What are your experiences with DELL repairs folks? do they do a good and thorough job? I just hope they do not miss out on checking something.

 

I have had awful experiences with out of warranty repair actually fixing the computer, but after sending my 700M in three times, they sent me a brand new XPS M1210 as replacement (albeit a very basic model).

 

Well I would not mind that but I have told them and included it several times in the emails already that CHECK IT THOROUGHLY!!

Let's see if they do a decent job.

 

Within a week (i.e. with blazing speed), I received the repaired laptop back and I am testing it thoroughly.

They replaced the motherboard, the keyboard and the palm rest chassis.

Everything looks normal and performing well. DVD rewriter and the hard disk is intact and so is the screen.

Sigh of relief! Dell did not screw up.

Thanks guys for the moral support...the insurance gave the rest