LCD Screen Cracked on 3-day-old G62-144DX

Hi all -

I purchased a G62-144DX last week from Best Buy, replacing a 4-year-old Vaio that was finally beyond repair. I picked it up on Saturday, used it Sunday, used it at the office on Monday, and took it home. Tuesday morning, my heart sank as I turned on the laptop, only to see a crack in the LCD screen. I hadn't done anything with or to the laptop that even remotely should have caused this type of damage. But my experience told me right away that I was (and am) in trouble. Cracked LCD = user damage in 99.9% of cases (I'm making that statistic up, but you get the picture).

I spent much of Tuesday dealing with Best Buy - both via their 1-888 number and at a local store. Of course, there would/could be no exchanges, returns, etc. I knew the realities but was still furious that a 3-day-old laptop that had not been dropped, mishandled, etc. would break like its case was made of a tortilla chip. The store manager and one of the Geek Squad techs looked over the computer very carefully and acknowledged there are no signs of stress, abuse, or damage on either side of where the crack is. The only resolution Best Buy would agree to, however, was to send the unit to HP, on my behalf, in hopes that HP might either find a fault that contributed to/caused the LCD problem, or be willing to swap the unit out, since it was only a few days old and shows no signs of damage. I knew the chances were slim, and I was right. Yesterday, I got a message, and as expected, HP simply said "$350 to repair this please".

Before I start talking with HP and Best Buy again, I have a few questions I hope someone might be able to help me with:

1. IF something besides user damaged caused or contributed to a crack in the LCD screen (laptop temperature, a manufacturing defect causing uneven pressure around the edge, etc.) - how could/would that be determined? How might those respective problems be ruled out?

2. Do HP laptops (or others for that matter) have g-force/impact sensors? If I caused the break myself (and I'm not saying it's impossible that I did), it would be helpful to know what HP will base that opinion on - other than "it passed all diagnostic tests, so it must be your fault".

3. Any advice on how to deal with this?!?!?!?!

That said, please note the following disclaimers:
a. No, I did not buy the accidental protection plan from Best Buy.
b. I have examined every possible way that I could have damaged the unit and ruled out everything I can remember doing with it.
c. I know that I'm pretty much #*@@*#d here. Please be kind and don't write just to remind me of it

I appreciate any feedback, so thank you in advance!

Dan
Chicago, IL

 

To be honest, I think you handled this wrong. Your only option is to see if best buy will let you return it, then buy a new one, or pay HP the $350. That said, however, here's what I would have done: I would have bought a 1 year accidental damage plan right when I saw the crack. This would probably have ran you about $80-$100. Although you're not supposed to do that, they're not going to know if it was damaged before or after you purchased the warranty. The problem is that HP now has the laptop in their system as being damaged. There might be a way you could still pull this off, but I don't know. I think you're pretty stuck in this situation though. You can try to plead your case to them on the phone until they get so tired of you they just do the repair for free...but you have to be REALLY polite and REALLY persistent.

Good luck.

 

did you pay via credit card? If so, call your CC company to see what their concierge program can do to help.

 

To be honest with you, I have worked on laptops for many years in a professional setting, and I have never once seen a cracked lcd that was not caused by the owner. I am not saying that it is impossible, but very highly unlikely. That being said, both of the posters above had good ideas. If worst comes to worst, they have the lcd's on ebay new for 132. Hopes that helps.

 

My friend has a year old HP dv7 I think.. he was using it one day on his desk and the screen cracked WHILE he was using it. Which doesn't really make sense.

 

Thanks for such fast responses!

mnp2005: I had that same thought about buying the policy from Best Buy - after all, you're able to do it within the return period. I decided not do this, however, after reading the terms & conditions on Best Buy's website: "If you decide that a Geek Squad Black Tie Protection plan with Accidental Damage from Handling (ADH) benefits is desired, you will also need to bring the product in to a Best Buy retail store. Best Buy will need to inspect the product and verify that there is no current damage."

I think you're absolutely right, in that it's basically now between HP and myself. The chances are slim, but I will plead with them until they tell me to stop calling (as Homer Simpson said, "I would make it my business to be a third wheel.")

Newsposter: I'm going to speak with the credit card company about that tomorrow, as a matter of fact.

Flawed: My experience has been the same, which is why, like I said, my heart sank when I first saw the crack. It took only fractions of a second to know that I was most certainly up a creek, even if I had no idea how it cracked. I may be the only one to blame, and I'm naturally frustrated (to say the least) having to fight an uphill battle over a notebook I don't even want back. If nothing was wrong with it, then I'll either replace the screen and sell it or just sell it broken to recoup whatever money I can. Without knowing how I might have broken it, I don't want to go on using it, fearing another LCD repair might be around every corner. I go very easy on my laptops, so the idea that this one broke so quickly is horrifying. Also, this HP model is well reviewed, and I have not seen other people who've had the same problem, leading me to believe that something is/was either wrong with the unit I got or that I did something of significant enough impact to cause the crack.

I think it's safe to say that my next laptop purchase will be accompanied by the ADH policy.

Thank you to all of you for your replies and ideas.

 

Sorry to hear this man. I searched around at a few places that sell quality replacement LCD's, but yours is too new to look up without the #'s off the back of the screen. With your serial # or product # you can look it up and see just how much the screen costs through HP and fix it yourself. Might save some money?
HP Parts Store - HP Computer Parts - HP Printer Parts - Compaq Parts

 

oh believe me I understand the feeling. I had a lady purchase a laptop, she swiped her CC and than opened it up as was playing with it a bit at the counter, we chit chatted for a little bit, then she closed the laptop as she was getting ready to leave. What she forgot, was that she put the pen on the KB when she signed the CC slip, and broke her brand new laptop screen. I felt terrible for the lady, and ended up replaceing the screen at cost for her.

That aside, I have 2 G60 laptops right now that are great machines, never had a issue with them. If I had to make a guess, I would say that it might of just got bumped or had pressure in the wrong place at the wrong time type of thing. Normally it takes alot to break it (bump wise), but you could of just been unlucky enough that it was some type of freak accident.

I would call you CC vendor first, and if that is a no go, then harrass HP non stop. If nothing else, I would just replace it I guess. Wish I had some better advice for you, but thats not a great situation to be in. Hopefully it will work itself out though.

 

Thanks again to all of you for your insights. The barrage of letters and phone calls to HP will begin Tuesday morning. Hope you all had a great weekend!

 

If the damage was not caused by Fedex during transit from the factory or the service center then you caused the damage. That is the official position of HP.

A laptop screen can break due to a combination of thin/cheap glass, heat and a poor fit in the screen bezel (causing uneven pressure). Combine that with a bezel that flexes when you use one hand to close the screen down and a broken screen is a foregone conclusion. You will never convince HP of a design flaw even though they do recall stuff from time to time (anybody own a TX that won't power up ).

Your machine might have an accelerometer that tells the computer to park the hard drive if it detects a drop. The bad news is that there is probably no log being stored on the laptop of data from the accelerometer. And there are no diagnostic tests performed on a cracked screen. The tech will look at it, see it's broken and will want to charge you for it.

Since the laptop has been sent in already it is already going to be flagged by the service center. If it had not been sent in I would be a terrible human being if I suggested to you that you visit the HP website and purchase an extended warranty with damage insurance and then call them three weeks later explaining how your screen broke after your cat gave it a stern look (yes, they are that fragile). Sorry man, I think you are doomed.

Will this website let you do polls? We need a poll on broken screens to see what the most common failure mode is. Or has that been done already?

From the sounds of it you didn't do anything extraordinary to your laptop to cause the screen to break. It probably broke when you closed the screen down. For normal use why the hell would a person need to purchase damage insurance or one of those stupid USB powered thermal pads? Can't the industry just build a durable, well engineered product that won't break from normal use or melt itself into a pile of goo?

I am astonished that retailers and manufacturers claim that you need to buy a "chill mat" for the modern laptop so it will function properly. That's like buying a new car and then just before you drive it off the lot the salesman says "Now you're gong to want to buy a radiator fan for that. They're extra". Why not just make the laptop a 1/4" thicker and install a proper cooling system? Why not just add 1/16" to the thickness in the glass in the screen and increase it's strength by 30-40%?


I hate everything.

 

I don't doubt this for a second.

 

That computer has been to the repair shop and back a few times.. 3 hard drive crashes, optical drive broken, clicker broken.. in 1 year.

My guess is something happened to it in transport / at the repair shop, and it took a while for the crack to manifest itself. It rarely leaves my friends desk, so I don't doubt him too much.

 

Bought the same lap top from Best Buy as well in mid dec. 2010 lasted 5 days. Then the screen cracked toke laptop back to Best Buy with the same result no help except to help me buy another laptop. Said it was my fault and that it wasn't worth fixen it only 5 days old not worth fixen. There was no marks on the screen or laptop it is perfect. I did the same had it for 5 days toke to a freinds house opend it up and Ooo no. I'm still searching the web for more post like this before going to HP.

 

I also had the same problem with an HP mini netbook. I was also told that it was my fault even though I did nothing to damage the netbook and took extremely good care of it. After tiresome negotiation with two case managers, I was finally offered to pay $65 for the repair instead of $250. However, I still do not feel that it is fair for me to pay a penny to repair what the case manager admitted is a known issue with similar models—overheating of the screen caused by simply closing the netbook cover after 1 or more hours of use. HP needs to honest about this defect and treat customers with integrity by fully repairing the damage--this was not an accident. I am convinced it is a manufacturer defect. I have already opened a case with BBB. I am also considering finding an attorney who is willing to take up a class action law suit against HP