Cracked LCD Screen (Thinkpad X200) - No warranty? **bleep**? [ Edited ]

[AlphaCentauri]

Hey guys!

Until the day before yesterday my Lenovo Thinkpad X200 worked perfectly for 2.5 years. After I finished working that day, I closed the laptop and went to bed. When I reopened the laptop yesterday - nobody had even touched it inbetween -  there were cracks in the screen (not on the surface, but in the LCD panel) and the right half of the screen didn't work anymore.

Today I went to the Lenovo service center in Hong Kong and the (generally friendly) people there told me, that this was no case for warranty, because I had caused the damage. However, as I am sure, that the failure is not my fault, I am really not willing to pay 3000 HKD (400 USD) for a replacement screen (I have a 3 year warranty).

What I wanted to ask now is: Has anybody else had similar problems? Does anybody has an explanation, how this damage can occur? And especially: How can I convince the people from the service center to repair it under warranty? I argued with them for 2 hours, but they were not open for my arguments.

Just to clarify: I am 100% positive that nobody touched the laptop before the problam occurred.

Thank you in advance!

Cheers,

Markus

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

1) can you post an image of the problem?

2) Cracked LCD can be due to:
a) dropping the laptop on a hard surface.
b) the LCD have uneven pressure spot behind the LCD, which when loaded by an external force (i.e. putting a large load on the top case), causes a concentrated stress resulting in LCD cracking.
c) closing the LCD too hard, i.e. slamming it shut
d) a manufacturing defect or there is construction defect, if the latter usually light spots on the LCD would appear first.

cases a,b and c are the most common causes of LCD cracking.

Unless you have some sort of proof that the case d was the cause of the LCD cracking, then there is very little likelihood that Lenovo would repair the LCD damage under warranty.

[AlphaCentauri]

I took a picture, but it's on my camera and the computer I'm using right now does not have an SD Card reader.

I can definitely rule out a, b and c... As I said, I closed the laptop as I usually do and reopened it the next day. There were no items on the display and it didn't fall down. But of course I don't have any proof for that...

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

let's have a look at the picture first, but odds are against you.

[mlrtime]

Same thing happened to me.  Lenovo quality and warranty coverage have gone downhill since the old IBM series standard 3 year warranty days.

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/x300-crack-in-screen-no-warranty/m-p/323985#M1...

I'm no longer recommending Lenovo to friends and family.  If they insist, I tell them to save money by not buying the extended warranty.

Good luck.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

IBM did not cover LCD damages either, unless you had the Accidental Protection warranty.

[topmahof Community Moderator]

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad-S-series-Netbooks/S10-3t-S103t-Cracked-Screen/m-p/289576

first of all older ibm's didn't get cracked screens just by opening them. there's just too much flex in the newer ones. and it's not just lenovo. dell, hp all have the same problems. plastic fantastic.  

you need to escalate your claims to a supervisor coz it's obvious that it depends on who looks at it whether it will be covered or not.  i guess it depends on which depot it gets sent to.  some of them obviously don't want to bother with it.  letter of the law so to speak.  some of them will just say screens aren't covered, that's it. others will take the time to actually inspect it. 

it's just a shame that people have to resort to a forum to get something covered under warranty that should be covered by the depot.

[billbolton Community Moderator]

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topmahof wrote:

first of all older ibm's didn't get cracked screens just by opening them.

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Neither do X200 models! 

Cheers,

Bill