Put things like this on top of the gigantic pile of reasons I switched to Mac 10 years ago and haven’t had a single issue since.So... In a way this is OK and I understand but in another it's rather poor CS/support and cost Dell a long time customer (I've purchased Dell exclusively for the past 15 years and recommend them consistently - but no more).
The hinge on my wife's laptop broke away from the screen on one side - the small plastic extensions that secure the *screws* to the plastic back plane broke off of the back plane (no more attached hinge) so everything wants to pull apart when the screen is opened (you have to manually push the hinge up and resnap the outer bezel in place). It works but now pulls away if the screen's closed and opened again. It's obviously poor design and bad/defective manufacturing. The warranty expired 9 days ago - *9* days. I work in corporate IT and if we have a device that's *that* close to warranty expiration it's typically repaired anyway. It's a Dell (same brand I have zero issues with on a slightly expired warranty at work) so I get online and do a chat to explain the issue and ask for an exception. They refuse to budge. I explain the situation more detailed - with a photo of the "damage" proving it's *not* "accidental" but a manufacturing defect, adding that it was a Christmas present and wasn't given to the user until the 25th of next month. No dice. I ask "How much to get repaired?" The total for evaluation,, a new screen, repairs, and shipping is $280!! I can purchase the *exact same* system from them for $380 (on sale this week and roughly $50 more than I paid last year) - $100 more and it'd have a 1 year warranty. Paying $280 for repairs that'll have, at best, a 30 day warranty is plain stupid. I told the CS rep I am *not* paying that much for repairs due to a faulty design on a system that's only *days* out of the warranty period, said I'd be replacing the system with a non Dell model as a result, and thanked them for their time.
Stupidly I opened a support ticket instead of just "extending" the warranty ($10/mo on a month-month basis and cancellable at any time) and *then* opening a ticket, which would have gotten the system fixed for $10 (I'd have cancelled as soon as it came back from repairs). So... I'm annoyed that they won't make an exception for a system that's that close to the warranty expiration. Had it been another week or two I'd never have asked for an exception,in spite of it being a Christmas gift.
I then ordered my wife a new, non Dell, system that's identical, spec wise, to the broken system for less than the identical replacement system from Dell. The new system has an extended warranty plus a better designed hinge and a superior designed power plug - right angle at the computer instead of straight like Dell uses and less prone to damage.