<p>The laptop friends bought my son this summer from Costco appears to have a faulty hard drive. The purchase was made June 18, so we are just past the 90 day period. </p>
<p>Going to contact Costco today, but just wondering what I can expect - if you have had a faulty computer experience w/Costco, did you have to send the computer to the company (in this case, Sony), did Costco? He has the computer at school right now, so I can’t get it back in my hands till Sunday and he has no Costco near him and no car to get to one!</p>
<p>Talked to Costco Conceirge Service - S will have to call in so they can “troubleshoot” . But likely S will have to send it in to Sony. Ugh. I’m wondering how long this whole process will take… :(</p>
<p>So a “repair depot” is perhaps a regional center that serviced your manufacturer??? </p>
<p>S is learning how dependent we are on computers while his isn’t working! Seriously, professors/coaches, etc. rely on the fact that students are checking their email morning, noon and a couple more times during the day!</p>
<p>We sent our DD away with two computers, just in case this happens. You can get a cheap netbook for about $300 and it will do everything the other laptop does.</p>
<p>What is wrong with Sony?!! My D’s hard drive crashed within 3 weeks of buying her laptop. Office Max just switched it out for another new Sony. I bet Costco will take care of you. There was a recall on Sonys last year. I’m thinking that maybe some of these fell through the cracks.</p>
<p>Trouble is we are past the 90 days (barely) and the computer was not bought here in town (Chicago area) and not by us (by friends) - I have the original receipt and all, and I suppose I could give the local store a call, but I figured it was a stretch. </p>
<p>I’ll guess that Costco will try hard to accomodate you satisfactorily. Failing that, see if there is a MicroCenter Superstore in your area. Great repair service (at least at our local store) for a reasonable price.</p>
<p>Contacting SONY in writing is a good idea also, since the darn thing is brand new. I’d go right to the top of the SONY AMERICA corporate ladder. But yes, as far as your time goes, it will be a significant inconvenience as you wait for a reply.</p>
<p>However, the laptop likely has at least a one year warranty. If Costco won’t stretch to take care of you, then you will need to follow Sony’s warranty procedures.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to do that (it will likely take several weeks), you can probably replace the drive yourself or at a repair shop for < $100. Drives are very cheap these days. Assuming of course the problem is the drive, and not the motherboard.</p>
<p>Hopefully you have backups of your files.</p>
<p>Also, most colleges these days have support centers for computer equipment. Even if his model is not the school’s “official” model, he can most likely take it in and they will be able to repair it.</p>
<p>My daughter’s laptop died while still under Dell’s warranty. While her school’s IT was not the certified repair center, she had them repair it anyway as she needed it back ASAP; of course, what college student does not need their computer yesterday!!</p>
<p>Have your son check with his school; they might repair it and maybe your son will be reimbursed.</p>
<p>I like the idea of a backup computer. Walmart has a laptop (not netbook) for a little over $300. Good to have when the other one is in repair…lots of place charge this much for an enhanced service plan.</p>
<p>This happened to S2 – speaker hardware was damaged in shipping to us. Because we got a custom built online through Costco, we had to go through Concierge Service and have it shipped. HP sent a box with labels via second day, shipping to the facility was two-day, return to S was ground. It was at the repair facility when S moved into school. Computer arrived the second day of classes; we were able to have them ship it directly to S2.</p>
<p>We bought a $300 netbook for me a few months ago when our five year old laptop died. DH already has a laptop for work; both kids now have laptops, and we have a desktop at home. Netbook is perfect for when I travel and need internet and minimal word processing/spreadsheet capability. We sent S2 to school with the netbook until the laptop arrived, and then he sent the netbook back to me. Worked out really well. </p>
<p>I believe Costco Concierge warranty repairs have to be done through them, though it doesn’t hurt to check the schools’s IT folks to see if they can repair for low cost.</p>
<p>S1 had a laptop with an extended warranty (it was a freebie) and his school’s IT folks repaired it several times and charged back Dell for the warranty service, since the school was an authorized Dell repair contractor.</p>
<p>A friendly reminder to all – have external or online backup!!!</p>
<p>Update: S spent over an hour on the phone yesterday w/ Costco concierge service to determine what he already knew - bad hard drive. Sony will send new hard drive which will arrive early next week to S at school - he will have his school’s IT dept install - they said they would - and then he has to ship back the defective hard drive. </p>
<p>I am still not very happy!</p>
<p>90 days from purchase, return computer to store and exchange for a new one. 100 days from purchase includes:
Several phone calls
One phone call from son resulting in 70 minutes off of our Verizon minutes for the month.
One week between report of problem and part to be received. Hopefully only one week.
We have to install hard drive ourself or find someone to install for us.<br>
S must return defective hard drive before a certain time period or be fined $200. (ok, he can mail it back, but this makes me feel like somehow this defect is our fault!)</p>
<p>We had purchased Microsoft Office through a download, guessing we will be out that now as well (?) </p>
<p>And I have to say, that I am one parent who feels like his $1000 “new” computer is now a “refurbished” computer. :(</p>
<p>You won’t lose your Microsoft Office. When I bought mine through download, I was given a license key that you can use to activate your copy. I think my computer came with Microsoft Office disks that you could use if you needed to reload it (once again, using the acitivation key).</p>
<p>Yeah, Toledo, I’ve been hearing LOTS of "I don’t you so’s " from my H through this process EVEN THOUGH he hasn’t lifted a finger to help it!!!</p>
<p>The computer didn’t have Office on it when S got it. We bought online and I’ll have to figure out if they sent a key (don’t know why it doesn’t come to mind).</p>
<p>I am still tempted to go into Costco and complain. When I talked to a Costco person the other day, they said we had to go through the concierge and see if they could “satisfy” us. He kept using that word - satisfy. He said if we weren’t satisfied, we could talk to the store again. I hate word games!!!</p>
The purchase was made June 18, so we are just past the 90 day period. </p>