Lenovo tablet screen spontaneously cracked

Yes but it's off through the night.

Around 7.30 I imagine. Seems a bit odd if being in a central heated house is outside it's tolerance range.

On 17:54 3 Jan 2019, Cynic snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

I have heard of this happening to Lenovo smartphone screens (such as the Moto G5) but had assumed there was some minor impact that had been overlooked. Perhaps not.

For example:

I hear more and more stories of Argos refusing to honour warranties. And they used to be so good with returns....

Now isn't it the law that in under 6 months from purchase Argos has to prove you broke it, not the other way round? Take the bastards to small claims court, it's only £30.

Not me, but they do surely have a duty under law at such a short time of ownership.

It should be just a walk in and swap job. Obviously they would look for signs of misuse but as there would be none, I think any sane small claims court would award in our favour with costs paid by Argos. These shops especially at this time of year try it on, as I'm sure they do get a lot of stuff back, but I think its always a good idea to bone up on the law and talk confidently to a manager, none of this we will repair crap. I'm wondering though at such a cheap price how it can be much of a computer. Its probably go sod all storage and no room for applications and will run like a slug in about three months. Brian

Come on, if it cannot stand that then its hardly much good for portable use is it, It would get more stress from being in a car on a hot day for goodness sake! Brian

Sounds a little odd. I know a friend who had a problem with an Amazon tablet screen simply sent it back after a couple of months and there was no quibble about replacing it. It seems to me this is Argos being stupid. Brian

My Moto G Gorilla glass screen has survived several drops onto concrete floors (not recommended) with only minor chips to the very edges. Most tablets end up with a spiderweb of cracks if you drop them.

It only takes a comparatively tiny nick together with a moderate thermal gradient across the screen such as you might get with one end hanging over a radiator and the other up against a cold frosty window.

I'm with Argos on this one - the unit has almost certainly been abused.

Thermal expansion and contraction can generate huge forces. In the days before excessive H&S it used to be a demo in O'level physics to snap a cast iron bar with a suitable metal rod contraption made red hot and tightened up. Same principle as rivetting makes ships watertight.

My granddaughter had a similar problem with a cheapo 7 inch "Alba" tablet from Argos. The screen just cracked overnight just a few months after purchase and Argos refused to repair or replace it under warranty.

The same thing happened to a friend of hers with a similar tablet purchased around the same time.

In message <XnsA9CCE3990CC1AF3QA2@81.171.118.178>, Pamela snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com writes

My experience with Lenovo might be slightly relevant. My Medion phone, bought through Aldi, was actually a Lenovo. Lenovo own Medion. The screen went faulty - not cracked, but didn't respond correctly. In the original documentation, there were instructions about what to do if there was a fault in the guarantee period. I rang or emailed (can't remember) and found myself in direct contact with Lenovo in Germany. I sent the phone off, it was repaired and came back. Screen fine, plugged in the charger and nothing, so off it went again, was repaired and was then fine. They just needed proof of purchase.

This December, I got an email from Lenovo saying there was a recall on the phone battery and offering a replacement phone, "equivalent or better".

I returned the phone and yesterday the replacement arrived. It looks like a much more upmarket phone, but is running Android 5 rather than 6. I am still deciding what to do.

In every case, Lenovo paid for carriage both ways.

If you have the documentation, in this case it might be worth trying to bypass Argos.

I suppose the thermal stress could arise because half of the screen is heated by the radiator under the window whilst the other half remained cold. Still, I've not heard of that before.

As has already been mentioned, in consumer contracts there is a 6 month "reverse burden of proof" in the Consumer Rights Act. If something fails during this time the onus is upon the seller to show the damage was caused by the user. The user does not have to prove the cause of the fault existed at the point of sale.

If Argos have said the faulty is not covered by the Warranty that is correct. However the warranty is in addition to your rights under the Consumer Rights Act, not in place of them. It will be worth reminding Argos that you are claiming under the Consumer Rights Act, not any warranty. Remind them that the goods are under 6 months old and the onus is upon them to prove the damage was caused by mishandling and ask them to show you what their proof is.

Note that if you have already told the seller the item was given to someone else as a gift then you have no Consumer Rights Act rights as you no longer own the goods.

It is likely the shop managers will only know the "not under warranty" mantra so having gone through them you will need to escalate the complaint to the head office.

The seller is entitled to an opportunity to inspect the item before agreeing to do anything. Given that most cases of cracked screens are caused by users it would be a foolhardy seller who simply swapped the item without inspection by a technician.

The vast majority of cracked screens are the result of mistreatment. Lenovo would not have inspected the tablet, almost certainly it would have been a specialist repair company under contract to Lenovo or Argos. They would usually photograph the item to show the reason they believe the damage is user inflicted and will have produced a brief written statement. Their reason for rejecting the claim could be things like marks on the bezel or some Lenovo tablets incorporate accelerometers which may have a log. In the absence of any such evidence and photographs your case is much stronger.

In my experience (which is primarily dealing with damage to mobile phones) not many of cracked screen cases get to a small claims court and of those that do the supplier who photographs the items and shows why they think it is user damage wins the great majority of them. (Although the idiocy of some buyers was remarkable. One took a case to small claims saying it wasn't liquid which had damaged his phone but beer).

It is also the case that some major sellers seem to have a policy of making life difficult for claimants in the hope they will go away. In these cases persistence at the right level often pays off.

If all else fails the OP might have house contents insurance. If so claiming on that might be the best bet.

Warranty is not your friend but you do have one: see Peter Parry's excellent post.

If you go to settings, then System, then Software Updates, you may find it will allow you to update to a later one.

On 10:31 4 Jan 2019, Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nezumi.demon.co.uk>

wrote in news:q0nclj$qae$ snipped-for-privacy@gioia.aioe.org:

I am sure some people underplay the impact the device received.

On the other hand, wouldn't you allow for screens which had been badly fixed into place during manufacture with physical stresses that were just waiting for the smallest stressor to cause a crack?

Been there, done that and last night it spent about 40 minutes doing an update that included 2 restarts.

But it still says it's running Android 5.1.1. :(

It does seem to be old stock, but a slightly higher end phone. It seems to work OK so far.

And was it a sunny morning? Though at this time of year heat from the sun isn't that great at least not first thing. What time did daughter get up and notice the crack? Adult is >= 18, ie "teenager"...

I reckon she dropped it and won't own up. <g>

It's Argos passing the buck and the customer falling for it

tim,