A rant about laptops
Orginally posted on Discuit
I am having the worst luck with tech this year.
I wanted a new laptop to take on my honeymoon because my old one is 6+ years old, the screen is splitting, and it's a 15.6" screen with a disc drive, so it's on the cumbersome side. I'm not that picky, all I really care about is it being USB-C powered (so I can share my work laptop charging cable), not being a chromebook, and a screen no bigger than 14".
We were leaving in June, so mid-May I bought an overpriced 11" laptop from Starlabs because it saved me having to fight with Linux on the thing myself, and I *loved* it. For 11 days. That's how long it took for the overheating (despite being on a stand at all times) to make the trackpad and keyboard stop working properly. Returned for a refund (minus the charger, I still love the charger).
So on the 25th I went for a slightly more expensive Lenovo thinkpad(?). 13" screen, same size as my (also Lenovo) work laptop, perfect. Except it randomly forgets that it has a network adapter in it and won't remember until it's restarted. Oh well, I can deal with that for the trip and look into fixing it once we get home. Seems like a driver issue, so I reinstall 8 internet-related drivers from the Lenovo website, and all the "optional" updates in Windows. Still the wifi drops, and then when the laptop goes to sleep it won't wake up or power off. Internet suggests it may be a firmware issue, but as a CYA measure I send it back to the site I bought it from to check for a fault. Much to my surprise, they find one and automatically order me a new machine.
That was last week. Today I get an email that my order is out of stock, please call this number for a refund or replacement order. I call, and am told that they gave me a credit on my account. I don't have an account, I checked out as guest precisely because I didn't want to make an account. Oh, well you need to make an account to get the credit.
Their terms and conditions state that for orders less than 6 months old that have been sent back with a fault, they will contact you to ask if you want a refund, repair, or replacement. The terms also state that refunds will be made to the original payment method.
I am annoyed.
This is on top of me dropping my phone for the bazillionth time and the battery flying out (normal, it was removable) and instantly puffing up (very not normal). The phone had been having issues for a while, mainly with call-handling (I tried three different networks to rule out connectivity), so I took this as an excuse to get a new one rather than just getting a replacement battery.
At least the new phone is good, given it's my only device now!
Update 11 Oct 2023:
Called the customer service line again, trying very hard not to sound pissed off (and apologised in case I failed). This time the rep was very apologetic about the run-around and within minutes had put through the refund. Should hit my credit card in a couple of days. Success?
Then I got an email from PayPal that the refund didn't match the original charge, it was only for the cancelled replacement order, not the original order, so they're stiffing me on the £5.98 delivery charge despite their terms stating that delivery is part of the refund. It was already a ripoff because I'd paid for next-day delivery and it still took 3 days, but I couldn't be bothered to complain. Now I may well complain.