Advice regarding broken laptop

[Starfish38]

In April 2021 I bought a laptop from Dell. A few days ago the bezel cracked came away from the bottom right corner as I was opening it - there were no problems at all before - and when I pressed it back in, the screen became multi-coloured and stripy. The service contract was for a year, but the laptop is still quite new and has been looked after, with only myself using it. The repair shop said it would cost £150 to fix, but he also showed me the top of another one that had the same problem. When I contact Dell, what can I ask for or expect of them?

[R0b]

Hello

In terms of your rights, where there is a defect or damage that occurred after 6 months, the onus is on you to prove that the defect or damage was there when it was first purchased. The fact that the repair shop found a similar issue with that exact model does not automatically mean that there is a manufacturing defect and by your own admission, it seemed to be working without issue for the last 12 months.

You can try to ask Dell to carry out a repair but they might refuse or charge you for the privilege. I expect them to tell you that you need to provide evidence that the defect was there at the time of purchase otherwise I don't think they will entertain any claim.

You can obtain an independent report to verify the cause of the problem and whilst it may further your evidence, it doesn't guarantee that Dell (or a court) would agree.