I do have to wonder why you didn't report it within the warranty period... I mean, I understand your frustration but how are they to know it didn't *just* start to fail? I guess I wouldn't consider this an instance of *bad* customer service, just *not great" customer service. If they tried to back out on something that was reported while still under warranty, that would qualify as bad customer service, to me. Or maybe I'm just too pessimistic. 
They are saying that the reason they don't have to help me is because of the two days I missed it by... 2 frikkin days. :-(
Most credit cards double manufacturer's warranty on all purchases. You should check with your issuer if you used one to pay - and this is obviously a great reason to carefully choose payment methods before buying.
And the real lesson of this horror story? Report warranty issues without delay! I appreciate the angst this must have caused you, but it's a one-year warranty, not a one-year-and-two-days warranty.
If you were a major customer with 100 laptops in your office you might have some leverage, but alas as the purchaser of a single laptop you have squat.
I'd recommend you find a good local service shop: they will probably be able to get you fixed up with a new drive for much less than the manufacturer's repair channel.
Sorry to take "the other side" on this issue, but they are clearly within their legal rights, and it's not like you are even saying you would buy another of their machines if they fixed this one. So, putting it bluntly, what's in it for them?
I would advocate talking with the folks over at the consumerist blog, consumerist.com. They might be able to provide you with some very good ideas.
As a worldclass procrastinator, I truly feel your pain. However, that doesn't make it "bad customer service". It's annoying, true. I've been there. That sort of thing reminds me that my procrastination bites me in the butt sometimes. (Which reminds me to get off said butt and get stuff done before it's too late.)
Well - under UK consumer law (which is pretty good) - I'm going to get this resolved. They're just making me jump through a few extra hoops and get a bit more angry - hence this blog post.
Oh - and the reason I didn't report it earlier is that we didn't discover the drive had stopped working until December when we were in the middle of a house move (and I didn't realise the warranty was about to run out).
And the fact that they took a month to reply to my first letter didn't help!
Wow that's a nice read!! :O
Great article.
Your readers might want to try www.Measuredup.com a leading customer service review website where people share reviews with other users and with companies. Companies that are involved with and value customer service read Measuredup to keep up on what people are saying and to be able to improve customer service.
Your disputes could be resolved using MeasuredUp if the company you reviewed reads your review or another consumer could give you advice. When you have good things to say a company could reward you.
It is free and easy to use and your info is private.
I have tried some other sites that are also good but really like this one.
Anna: For the record, by my definition, this would definitely qualify as 'bad customer service'. They have done exactly the minimum that they percieve is required - in fact, signifiantly less, if Michael's interpretation is correct.
Good customer service, by definition, requires going above and beyond what is required of them.
In this case that would normally be a no questions asked repair or replacement, with a loaner laptop fedexed to him for the duration so that there was never a single day when he was laptopless.
I've just posted a review on Measuredup (thanks Marc).
Dabs are trying to claim I caused the damage (basically because if Fujitsu refuse to help they will be left with the bill). I have some solicitor friends and will take this to small claims court if I need to.
Interesting read but very unsurprising. I worked in asset management for 3 years specifically in IT equipment of all types dealing with and managing returned and unsold stock for a lot of the big distributors and the biggest pains when it came to sorting out faulty goods (even when goods were "in" warranty) was Fujitsu, they are quite frankly useless and will generally eat glass before eventually giving in - if you scream loud and long enough. Good luck and great blog ultimopc.com
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