My Dead Fujitsu Esprimo 5515 less than two years old
Mark Cooper of Wolverhampton wrote in to share his experiences trying to get his laptop repaired. Its a harrowing tale. Have any other readers had similar experiences ? Let us know either by adding your comments below or emailing CWDowntime@rbi.co.uk
I just thought I would share my Fujitsu experience with you and your readers for what can only be the worst “customer care” I have ever experienced:
I bought the Esprimo less than two years ago, woke up one morning a month ago, switched it on – nothing, completely dead! Why?
I checked the charger lead – OK – still working. Rang Fujitsu help line, they asked for the serial number, then promptly advised it was out of warranty.
I knew that but expected a result, only to be told I had to ring a premium line in Belfast, who had no idea what the problem was but if I got it to them they could have a go. As there was so much sensitive stuff on the hard drive I thought better of it.
I took it to the local repairer who thought it was a faulty main board – replacement cost £300!! Went to another, suggested same problem – cost £150, if they could get one.
I took it to a third, he said big problem – again no idea but said expensive. Went to PC World. Would not repair it
I thought I could do this myself, by buying a new board off ebay, again £150, but noticed lots of failed Esprimos for spares or repair? All were just out of warranty – strange I thought, so contacted a few who advised they had just died like mine. I then thought the MD of Fujitsu at Bracknell should know
Fujitsu had a fault problem they were not addressing. He wrote back saying it was not his problem and I should take it up with the retailer. This I did and was told they made a charge of £35 for looking. So I still have to wait, now two weeks for a solution.
Oh, I did not mention the first two repairers also charged me £30 each for telling me it did not work, I knew that before I took it in, so I am £95 down already and still no repair.
Although the laptop is badged Fujitsu Siemens GmbH, all the components are made in the far east or China, not in Germany as I at first thought.
The main reason why I bought it in the first place. But my main gripe is with the lack of customer care or interest at Fujitsu, Surely, a new lap from a reputable company, should last more than two years? Yes I think so but Fujitsu don’t appear to think so.
Just to try to put the issue into perspective, I have a Fujitsu desktop which I purchased in 2001, using Windows 98, which works fine even today, so is there a fundamental fault with Esprimo Laptops that Fujitsu do not acknowledge? I think there is but worst of all Fujitsu does not care about this major problem with many of these laptops.
Downtime looks forward to hearing from Fujitsu.