Laptop Hinge Breakage

[octave]

I haven't broken the hinge.
You accuse me of having broken it. So yes, I can't prove to you that I didn't throw the laptop to the ground or jump on it with both feet, but I can tell you nonetheless that I treated it with respect and that I did not mistreat it.

Wisely, Barlew said a little above: The next question, which to be honest is between you and PCS is whether or not the hinge was damaged through some fault with the laptop or incorrect use. I will not speculate here its pointless.

The problem was not visible. Besides, I had trouble taking pictures that showed the hinge was damaged. She must have put herself at an angle but it couldn't be seen. At first, when I wanted to close the laptop, there was a bit of resistance at the hinge. And the screen started to peel off at the bottom right and left as can be seen in the photos. Suddenly, I gave up shutting down the laptop and contacted PCS.

I even considered taking the laptop apart in an attempt to fix it but I didn't so as to void the warranty.

You were lucky not to have had any problems with the hinges on any of your laptops. Me, this has happened to me several times on old entry-level laptops. But don't assume that I mistreat my laptops.
DavidStopher659 said in a post above that it happened to him with an HP. I am sure that if we ask forum users or any laptop owner, many of them will testify that hinge problems are recurrent on laptops especially when they are thin or entry level.

 

[SlimCini]

I've had eight laptops in my lifetime either personally or as work machines. Only one ever had a hinge break. And that's a work one and i dropped it after walking into a door.

 

[Bhuna50]

I expect a thorough examination of the laptop will be able to determine if the hinge was faulty or has broken through impact and whilst we all have our opinions on how this may or may not have occurred it is ultimately between the OP and PCS to sort out.

The OP has asked for assistance in how to escalate or chase up a complaint, he has not asked for the Spanish inquisition into how the fault / damage has occurred so rather than speculate on this and all throw our opinions in, then can we answer that question for him:

OP - at the moment there has been an increase in turnaround on emails and support and even RMAs being dealt with. Various factors and reasons for this, which can be seen on the forum, but I'm afraid all you can do at the moment is what you have done - send a formal complaint to the email address that you have done so ensuring it is headed up FORMAL COMPLAINT in the title. According to the website (extract copied below) they can take 7 working days before replying - working days being Monday to Friday.

This will sadly join the queues of emails but hopefully be escalated to a decision maker / senior person to investigate in more detail for you and all I can say is await the response.

It doesnt sound as if PCS are querying the hinge damage but more the damage to the screen from what the OP has said.

May I suggest that unless anyone else has something to say on the complaint process that we all now avoid any accusations / thoughts / suggestions regarding how the damage to the hinge occurred and just keep those thoughts to ourselves going forward.

 

[octave]

Thank you Andjef796
Just thank you

 

[ubuysa]

I expect a thorough examination of the laptop will be able to determine if the hinge was faulty or has broken through impact and whilst we all have our opinions on how this may or may not have occurred it is ultimately between the OP and PCS to sort out.

The OP has asked for assistance in how to escalate or chase up a complaint, he has not asked for the Spanish inquisition into how the fault / damage has occurred so rather than speculate on this and all throw our opinions in, then can we answer that question for him:

OP - at the moment there has been an increase in turnaround on emails and support and even RMAs being dealt with. Various factors and reasons for this, which can be seen on the forum, but I'm afraid all you can do at the moment is what you have done - send a formal complaint to the email address that you have done so ensuring it is headed up FORMAL COMPLAINT in the title. According to the website (extract copied below) they can take 7 working days before replying - working days being Monday to Friday.

This will sadly join the queues of emails but hopefully be escalated to a decision maker / senior person to investigate in more detail for you and all I can say is await the response.

It doesnt sound as if PCS are querying the hinge damage but more the damage to the screen from what the OP has said.

May I suggest that unless anyone else has something to say on the complaint process that we all now avoid any accusations / thoughts / suggestions regarding how the damage to the hinge occurred and just keep those thoughts to ourselves going forward.

View attachment 24320

And that's fair enough. Non-native English speaker or not though, it's still a bit rich to create a post entitled 'pitiful' and to go on and on moaning about PCS's customer service when the root cause is a hinge that 'magically broke all by itself' four months after the OP took delivery.

I'm done here.

 

[GeaFit]

Whatever about the investigation into the mechanism of the failure, the level of service at the moment is not acceptable. Weeks to get email response, RMAs taking months, hours to get through on the phone. I know it’s a pandemic and I understand places are busy, but this is a bit much. It’s reasonable to ask are they biting off more than they can chew to provide reasonable aftercare.

 

[steaky360]

Whatever about the investigation into the mechanism of the failure, the level of service at the moment is not acceptable. Weeks to get email response, RMAs taking months, hours to get through on the phone. I know it’s a pandemic and I understand places are busy, but this is a bit much. It’s reasonable to ask are they biting off more than they can chew to provide reasonable aftercare.

Its easy to come onto an online forum and post about poor service, issues, etc. - especially when things are definitely sub-par and below a normally very high standard.

Just to offer a comparison, I phoned up PCS on Monday (I had a day off from work so had the time) - I spent approximately 20 minutes on hold before getting through to someone and then a further 35 minutes talking through the issues I was having.

Throughout the hold period, you are repeatedly told that PCS are aware of the sub-optimal wait times/etc. that have been experienced as of late and they point out that PCS are actively making changes to attempt to fix this (hiring new staff, etc.). I was speaking to a newer member of the PCS tech support team so can confirm they have hired new people.

Its not helpful, accurate nor even (in my opinion at least) reasonable to suggest, intimate or speculate that PCS are 'biting off more than they can chew' or other such sentiments (ie that they should stop selling stuff till they 'catch up' or whatever) <-- its simply not how any business works and would most likely hurt most businesses rather than help in the medium to long term. It bugs me when I read such statements because they're often said out of a 'thought' that 'not doing so' (somehow, the only thing I can think of beyond what PCS are already doing is to limit sales... which is simply ridiculous to suggest) should make things better without fully considering the other implications such an action might have.

Potential apologies @GeaFit as you may not have intended your post to come across in the manner I have read it, but that is the other issue with an online forum, its difficult to parse your statements carefully such that they are not misconstrued (I struggle with this every time I post, I hope I'm not the only one ).

 

[GeaFit]

It’s just a frustrating level of service. The product is good and the constrains at the moment are noted. My experience was as follows:
DOA PC packed with no internal protection at all for any of the components with a heavy 3070.
2.5 hours to get through to someone that could help
Told that if I RMA it would likely be 6 weeks minimum to get back if all went well
Told that the easiest thing is buy another prebuilt that happened to be in stock and a refund would be provided as soon as the DOA came back
Purchased the replacement
No word for 3 weeks after DOA arrived back to PCS. Still had the cost of 2 PCs on my card (which I appreciate was my own tactic to try speed things up)
Got an email saying that they had diagnosed the old PC and it would be returning to me
Panic trying to get in contact as I didn’t want 2 PCs
Another 2 hours waiting.
Got cut off.
Another 1 hour waiting.
Refund arrived after about 2 months.
New PC has a cracked front panel. Emailed 4 times asking about getting a replacement. All ignored. Couldn’t face calling again. Covered it with a sticker.


To say that’s not how business work is fine, they are going to supply all they can source. But they needs exponential levels more of support staff. It was by far the worst CS experience I’ve had with any significant purchase.

Anyway this is just my experience. If you think that’s an acceptable level of customer service that’s your prerogative. Have the PC now and its a fantastic PC.

 

[steaky360]

To say that’s not how business work is fine, they are going to supply all they can source. But they needs exponential levels more of support staff. It was by far the worst CS experience I’ve had with any significant purchase.

Anyway this is just my experience. If you think that’s an acceptable level of customer service that’s your prerogative. Have the PC now and its a fantastic PC.

Without wanting to further derail the original thread, I feel its worth pointing out at no point did i say it was acceptable and want to clarify that I don't think it is (neither do PCS: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/customer-support-services-update.76810).

The situation you experienced, is obviously unacceptable and I doubt anyone would disagree with that.

My entire response was aimed as a comment on the potential suggestion that PCS are not making efforts to improve the situation... we have no reason to believe that is the case - as I pointed out in my previous response, they are hiring new staff and are therefore making efforts to improve. There's always going to be more to be done right up until they've gotten over the hump/backlog and start to catch up.

 

[GeaFit]

Ah ya I agree. I'm not looking for an argument I just think its a real area they need to improve on.

 

[Martinr36]

I often wonder how folk break laptop hinges

 

[NoddyPirate]

Don't confuse probability with possibility peoples - just because a hinge breaking through some fault is improbable doesn't mean it's impossible. I see no reason not to give the OP the benefit of the doubt here. Anything else is only speculation. PCS will figure it all out.

However, I've said so many times that I think people have largely failed to reset their expectations - both because of the current retail conditions - but also most likely because they have not yet been a part of the constant and ever present small percentage of buyers who have problems no matter what service, retailer, product or region.

Typically, it seems shoppers fall into two categories:

1) Those who have a problem, incorrectly assume it is like this for everyone, and rant about how terrible XYZ Company is. They are so used to seeing rapid delivery and perfect items these days that they can't comprehend how anything could go wrong or how a ball might be dropped every now and again. They are of course entitled to this position if they so wish to inhabit it - lack of perspective and all.

2) Those who have no issues at all - but they are so used to seeing rapid delivery and perfect items these days that they completely take it for granted. Perfect results become expected, not appreciated, and as such they don't post anywhere whatsoever. We never even know they exist.

In general I believe that for every one person in category 1 there are 100 or more in category 2.

It's terrible for anyone to be less than satisfied, and PCS I am sure are sad that any customer is less than happy no matter what the cause. But as for it being an indication of PCS' attitude to their customers, their greed, or total disregard for problems or concerns? Well, just be careful you don't get dizzy up there on your high horse......

To the OP - yours in an outlier case I am sure - but I sincerely hope you get a good resolution for you. To everyone else, I would politely suggest that if there nothing to say other than to imply knowledge of something you couldn't possibly know for sure, or even worse suggest impropriety on behalf of anyone without facts, perhaps it's best to just back away from the keyboard......

 

[octave]

Thank you +++ Nobodypilot

And just for fun, because life is beautiful :

And that's fair enough. Non-native English speaker or not though, it's still a bit rich to create a post entitled 'pitiful' and to go on and on moaning about PCS's customer service when the root cause is a hinge that 'magically broke all by itself' four months after the OP took delivery.

I'm done here.

Ah, I thought Barlew and Andjef796 had whistled the end of recess.

I often wonder how folk break laptop hinges

Okay, that's not hard to figure out. Breaking the hinges is a hobby like any other. I like to break hinges to test the limits of the warranty and the quality of the after-sales service.
I bought a laptop from PCS because all earthlings know that English computers are the best in the world to infinity and beyond. All earthlings know that the English are all gentlemen who pamper their technological jewels. All earthlings know that the rest of the world is populated by barbarians who only know how to mistreat English technological jewels. It's simple. It's clear. That's a fact. We cannot fight against a fact.
But this is not true ? Have I been lied to?

I should never have mentioned that damn hinge. It was just to put the problem in context.
Besides, if the hinge was THE problem, PCS wouldn't have offered to do an RMA procedure and send the laptop back to them for repair. PCS would have just answered me: we are sorry but the broken hinges are not covered by the warranty. Do it on your own, barbarian.

To refocus the debate, I am angry because the technician who took charge of my laptop considers that the laptop screen was broken while packing it. That's what he said in his report.
I'm angry because it took a month to do it.
I am angry because he did not bother to read the RMA card which stated, supporting evidence that the screen was broken before it was packaged.
I am angry because the technician who took my complaint at the start of the procedure has no decision-making power and is unable to escalate my anger to the technician who took charge of the laptop or to other officials.
I am angry because I cannot have contact with this repair technician or other responsible persons.
I am angry because despite my efforts at dialogue, I was forced to formulate an official complaint.
I am angry because I do not yet have a response to this official complaint.

This is why, I opened this thread. To be able to pour out all my barbarian anger on the nice hobbits of this magnificent forum. (By the way, I really like forums and I hate facebook which killed almost all forums).
Me too I am a big fan of lotr. But I prefer to run in the elves team to win the godwin point race.

 

[NoddyPirate]

OP - I don’t think you’re helping really. Let’s just keep all the dog whistling and jibes for another time perhaps?

 

[octave]

Of course you're right Noddypilot

 

[Bhuna50]

Can I suggest that a moderator (@SpyderTracks / @AgentCooper - I see you are online at moment) now closes this thread as I think the OP is aware there are delays and of the complaint process (original question) and it will avoid any further speculation / comments on hinge-gate.

I am happy for the OP to private message me if he has any questions he would like me to help investigate (please note though that I am not a PCS employee) to hopefully answer any other queries he may have.

Andy.

 

[AgentCooper]

Can I suggest that a moderator (@SpyderTracks / @AgentCooper - I see you are online at moment) now closes this thread as I think the OP is aware there are delays and of the complaint process (original question) and it will avoid any further speculation / comments on hinge-gate.

I am happy for the OP to private message me if he has any questions he would like me to help investigate (please note though that I am not a PCS employee) to hopefully answer any other queries he may have.

Andy.

I don’t think closing it is necessary just yet, I’m actually interested to see the outcome, if @octave is willing to update us when all is done. I would however suggest that people refrain from speculating and chiming in unless it’s a post that’s productive and actually related to the thread. What I have done is change the title of this thread from ‘Pitiful’, I don’t think that’s appropriate.

Love your new name, by the way @Bhuna50. I’m a madras man myself 😜

 

[SpyderTracks]

I think it’s important the OP is able to post their progress, and agree if we can all leave our personal opinions out of it, leave that up to PCS.

 

[SlimCini]

Who did bhuna50 used to be then??

 

[octave]

I agree with your decisions Agentcooper and Spydertracks.