Refurbished laptop I sold just died - now what?

[TechLady]

I'm not sure if this is the right section for this, but here goes. I sold a customer a refurbished Dell Latitude D620 in January for $400. 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo with Win 7. Well it just died. The woman was just playing music or something--nothing special--and it all of a sudden died and will not turn on for anything. Based on what I've read and the symptoms my instinct tells me it's probably the motherboard (or the jack, which is just as bad).

What do I do now? She only got 10 months of life out of it, and the warranty went out on it last year. Also I don't really do motherboard replacements on laptops--don't have the tools, and most of the time it isn't cost effective.

I am bringing her an Acer netbook tomorrow as a loaner to keep her happy until I can figure this out. I can't just buy her another laptop but I don't want her to hate me either. (And yes, now I realize it was dumb to buy a refurbished laptop out of warranty. Hindsight is 20/20). I DO have an old Eeepc 900 running Jolicloud I could give up I guess, it mostly sits around, but it has a really annoying micro keyboard.

So...first step...do I fork over to have a shop that works on laptops to definitively diagnose? And secondly, if it IS the motherboard, then what?

No warranty or guarantee paperwork was signed, but I still don't want an unhappy customer.

Thoughts?

 

[carlitos31]

Depends on the warranty you offered

I sell a lot towers and laptops, and the warranty is 30 days on the hardware. Of course when something goes wrong, even if its past one or two weeks, then I either fix the computer or give them a similar replacement ( assuming they did not create the problem.
Of course I have clients give me a lot business and even if I only state 30 days, I work out a solution, for example taken the broken as a trade in and they put some cash and walk out with an even better machine.

If you sold it 10 months ago, no one would give that much warranty on something that was not new at the time of the transaction, but for the future, you may want to consider a receipt that states how long is the warranty good for

 

[RegEdit]

will not turn on for anything.

Try swapping in a known healthy power supply pack.
Do lights turn on? Fans? If so swap in a new CMOS battery.

This is why you tell customers that "refurbished" PC's are like the Gong Show. You never know what's behind that curtain. Might be PC that lasts 10 years, or might be one that lasts 10 days. It's THEIR risk! That's what they get when they pay so little. I also tell people that laptops are made to fail. Buy desktops if they can live without portability. It's all about giving the customer the heads up in advance so that YOU don't get blamed if things go wrong.

 

[NETWizz]

The way I look at it is that you write it into the warranty terms ALWAYS.

... Even if it is a disclaimer indicating NO Warranties Expressed or Implied. You ALWAYS fill out warranty paperwork.

Here is what I would do:

30 Days Labor <= i.e. Virus Removal, Windows Optimization...

90 Days for Refurbished Parts or Refurbished Computers <== If the hardware dies, do the labor that is required to replace it free of charge.

1 Year for New Computers

******************

If the manufacturer offers anything beyond that, it is between them and the manufacturer. I.e. If your new computer has a Seagate Drive with a 3 year warranty that dies in year 2... I would process the claim & let them know it is OUT of your warranty, but Seagate will cover the part but not the labor. <== They won't care who is paying if it isn't them! I would then make them pay labor for the service.


Any warranty work I do would be warranted for 30 days or the remainder of the original warranty... whichever is longer.


**********************************************************

Your situation...

When you press the power indicator on the battery, do the lights light up? I.e. the Power indicator bars? If yes... even with a bad jack, the laptop should power on (until the battery dies and can't be charged).

If no, the laptop probably ran out of power and won't turn on.

...

Try a different Power Adapter...

Try a different CMOS battery...



Obviously, if the jack is bad and you don't replace motherboards, you aren't going to solder a jack! That said, you SHOULD replace laptop motherboards; it is not that hard to do! <== You said you don't have the tools... Well, all you really probably need is a very small small Philips screwdriver! A plastic pry tool might be nice, but you get the idea... Obviously, you would also need a source to get a motherboard.


If it is a motherboard, you can get one here for only $105:
http://www.serversupply.com/products/part_search/pid_lookup.asp?pid=130460

How about this ($58 free shipping if you eBay):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-Latitu...therboards&hash=item2a143f523a#ht_1843wt_1163



Without any paperwork (depending on where you live), they MIGHT expect you to warranty a computer you sell for a year. I don't know. New equipment is pretty much always 1 year minimum - most likely by law... Obviously, this is NOT new equipment... providing you disclosed that it wasn't. If you didn't disclose it was refurbished (BAD), I would treat it as if it were new handling the claim.




If it were me, I would probably try to solder a replacement jack if I had one just to see if it works. I would also look for any flashing lights (dell error codes). I would re-seat the RAM, re-seat the video card... even Re-Seat the processor... not that that would help.... I would try EVERYTHING.

Heck, I would cover it in foil and throw it in the oven if it has an NVIDIA chipset to try to re-flow it... using my infrared thermometer. <=== you don't have to completely re-assemble it to test if it works.


If after 1 hour I didn't have it working, I would suck-it-up and buy the $58 motherboard from eBay... get it, install it, use Dell's Utility to set the proper Service Tag!


My point is the most this should cost you is a 1.5 hours of your time and $58 if you eat the cost and fix it. <== I would probably do what is needed to fix it ad tell her the warranty expires in two months (1 year from the purchase date. Give her some paper work stating it in with the repair you are doing... )

... I would fix the problem, make her go away happy, and get something in writing limiting my liability to where it just has to survive 60 more days then it is NEVER my problem again... Then cross my fingers. You can ignore ebay warranties... they probably aren't any good after you leave feedback...

 

[OldSchoolPC]

10 Months is reasonable for a refurbished laptop. That's like selling a car that has 100,000 miles and having is die at 110,000 miles. Sure, maybe they could have gotten a lot more use out of it but it's not like it died within 3000 miles which is often times within warranty of a used car. It's business, and it's not like you intended on taking advantage of them or sold them bum parts else it wouldn't have lasted that long.

 

[RichmondTech]

I agree with the other posts in that you have to do right by the customer, then put a process in place that states your warranty so this doesn't happen again.

 

[Encrypted Existence]

+1 to Netwizz. I would try to make her happy within reason. You may also get some mobo swapping experience in the process. I also would like to get some experience with laptop hardware (mobo) as I have none. Good luck.

 

[maclaptech]

I agree with some posters here. 10 months is reasonable, this was refurbished and you can't make everyone happy in this business, it is next to impossible.

 

[FoolishTech]

10 months is well outside of my 30 day warranty. Tough.

But... IF it was a good customer AND she was unhappy and pestering me about it, I would probably give them something to keep them coming back. Something that doesn't really cost me anything, like some free labor on their next visit, or a discount on a new PC say charge them parts only, free setup & delivery -- with the understanding that it is for keeping them happy, NOT for compensating them on their used PC loss which you are not responsible for.

 

[Rosco]

10 months after the sale? I would have her pay. i do Warranties for used are 30 new for 90 days! not your fault that it stopped working. any free work at this point is only hurting you!

 

[Rosco]

10 months is well outside of my 30 day warranty. Tough.

But... IF it was a good customer AND she was unhappy and pestering me about it, I would probably give them something to keep them coming back. Something that doesn't really cost me anything, like some free labor on their next visit, or a discount on a new PC say charge them parts only, free setup & delivery -- with the understanding that it is for keeping them happy, NOT for compensating them on their used PC loss which you are not responsible for.

^^^ foolish tech really like this. a incentive to get the next computer from you is a great idea while still not taking responsibility for the computer failing. because it is not!

 

[mraikes]

..........snipping... a refurbished Dell Latitude D620 in January for $400..........2 Duo with Win 7. ..... probably the motherboard (or the jack, which is just as bad).

......10 months of life....I don't really do motherboard replacements on laptops--don't have the tools, and most of the time it isn't cost effective.

............I can't just buy her another laptop......have a shop that works on laptops to definitively diagnose? ....if it IS the motherboard, then what?

No warranty or guarantee paperwork was signed.......

Thoughts?

Bypassing all the "lessons learned" issues that fairly shout from your post . . .

A power jack isn't as bad as a motherboard. If that's all it is, find someone to replace it - it won't be too expensive. If it IS the motherboard, get a replacement and do it yourself. Go slow, take pictures, keep track of the screws and use the service manual ( http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd620/en/SM/index.htm ). It can be tedious the first time you do it, but it's not difficult.

If you just want to be done with it, buy another one for about $200 (including Win 7) on Ebay and provide it as the warranty replacement. It only has to last two months - to fulfill a theoretical 12 mo warranty. Keep the broken one to practice on/fix later.

 

[NETWizz]

Bypassing all the "lessons learned" issues that fairly shout from your post . . .

A power jack isn't as bad as a motherboard. If that's all it is, find someone to replace it - it won't be too expensive. If it IS the motherboard, get a replacement and do it yourself. Go slow, take pictures, keep track of the screws and use the service manual ( http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd620/en/SM/index.htm ). It can be tedious the first time you do it, but it's not difficult.

If you just want to be done with it, buy another one for about $200 (including Win 7) on Ebay and provide it as the warranty replacement. It only has to last two months - to fulfill a theoretical 12 mo warranty. Keep the broken one to practice on/fix later.

The worst case scenario is that it needs a new motherboard, which is $58. If it needs a new LCD, that is even less, if it needs RAM, a hard drive... you probably have those. If it needs a power adapter, that's less.

The MOST this should cost you is $58 + some of your time.


I would personally suck-it-up and fix the laptop. At $58 it isn't going to hurt me as much as a lost, angry customer, nor the embarrassment of court, you won't have to worry about dealing with the BBB or any of that.


My advice (what I would do):

1. Settle this one & make the customer happy.

2. Limit my liability. You can't be expected to support this thing through 2014. Somewhere you have to draw the line & I think you are in the gray area now...

3. Change your policies to include a warranty or warranty disclaimer for EVERYTHING.



I would tell the customer that it WAS a refurbished laptop and that you cover these for only 90 days or whatever. Hand her the hand out with your polices.

HOWEVER... Since you have been a good customer and it may not have been made clear, I am going to treat the warranty on this as if it were sold as a NEW computer. I AM going to fix this laptop as a good-faith courtesy...

You will want to Listen to your Customer, Apologize to your Customer, and ultimately Satisfy your customer. When completed, make sure to THANK your customer... and have them sign the release stating $0.00 due... Warranty... warranty... warranty <=== next to a bunch of line items!

Have an indication or note that you extended the warranty to 1 year as good faith & the original date of sale... Add to it the # of full-days it was in your shop and put an Expiration Date of the warranty... Have her initial.

As long as you are 1.) Fixing the problem... and 2.) charging $0.00 and 3.) being nice/polite making her feel like you are here to help her... treat her like a friend/family member... and 4.) let her know this work is covered for 53 days or 67 days (or whatever is left), she WILL sign it... and go away and hopefully leave you alone and not come back for more warranty work.

The next time you see her, it will probably be paid work, and she WILL come back and TRUST you if you treat her fairly.


I am telling you that I would eat the $58 to make her happy and get this problem out of my life. Just chalk it up to a lesson learned & fix your policies to NEVER have this happen again. Learn from it.

 

[thirsty.professor]

For the refurbs I sell I give between 30 and 90 days for a warranty, anything beyond that and you might be asking for trouble for yourself. You also dont know what this customer did to this laptop. She could have overheated it or spilled something on it, etc.

 

[TechLady]

I know for sure it is not the power adapter, as I have another here I tried it with. Also removed battery several times. I will pop off the keyboard and sniff around a little...if I am very lucky maybe it's something stupid.

I asked if anything got spilled on it and she swore it did not. I think she's probably telling the truth. But yeah, you never know.

 

[732914TECH]

Most likely it is the motherboard, they tend to have issues with them in this model laptop, due to the GPU going bad, it may or may not be the same issue.

 

[NETWizz]

I know for sure it is not the power adapter, as I have another here I tried it with. Also removed battery several times. I will pop off the keyboard and sniff around a little...if I am very lucky maybe it's something stupid.

I asked if anything got spilled on it and she swore it did not. I think she's probably telling the truth. But yeah, you never know.

I think you would INSTANTLY be able to tell you pulling the keyboard off. What is the charge indicator on the battery?

If you plug the battery in and an AC adapter does the charge indicator go up? If YES, the DC jack is good. This should have been diagnosed a long time ago in my opinion... It should take at the absolute most 30 minutes to diagnose with certainty.

 

[TechLady]

And that would be why I took it home with me--there were a number of symptoms that all said "motherboard." The lights do not do anything at all. The ONLY thing it will do at this point is the battery light will flash orange for a second when you press the power button, and that's it. No sounds, no effort to spin up. I have seen this before, and it is not usually good news.

And yes, I intend on getting my warranty paperwork in order for the future. The customer is not livid, in fact she is not really even what I would call upset..."concerned" is more like it. I gave them the loaner netbook this morning so she is happy for now.

 

[1aComputerServices]

This is why I don't sell refurbished. I have sold used items on occasion though.

 

[Cybjun]

My warranty on used is an "AS IS" warranty. Its working as of when when I put it out for sell. I test hard drive & memory, DOD level format then a fresh OEM windows install using the CoA w/ updates. When people ask what the warranty is I usually say 10 feet for 10 minutes whichever comes first. I have a non-spoken 30 day warranty on used if it stops working within 30 days I will see what I can do to fix it, passed 30 days even if its 31 the most I will do is give them a break on labor.

for your situation I would start with finding out what exactly is wrong with the laptop. if it will cost you more then $100 labor & parts to fix it, then I would have her pay for the parts and offer 1/2 labor cost. less then $100 fix it and remind her what your warranty is for the repair/unit.