Asus Repair information for N7 Broken Screen

[pbandjca]

I turned on my nexus 7 tonight only to find it developed a crack from one side to the other. It was NOT dropped. I used it last night in bed, placed it on my nightstand, and when I turned it on tonight the touchscreen would not work. I examine the screen closer and find the crack. Now what are the chances of Asus believing it was not dropped? I sure as heck do not feel I should pay anything for a repair. I preordered my nexus, so I am sure I got one of the original batches. Any word of advise?

 

[ManBearPig618]

I turned on my nexus 7 tonight only to find it developed a crack from one side to the other. It was NOT dropped. I used it last night in bed, placed it on my nightstand, and when I turned it on tonight the touchscreen would not work. I examine the screen closer and find the crack. Now what are the chances of Asus believing it was not dropped? I sure as heck do not feel I should pay anything for a repair. I preordered my nexus, so I am sure I got one of the original batches. Any word of advise?

Just remember that you'll catch more flies with honey. I'd recommend trying to photograph it as best you can, and while you're on the phone with Asus be willing to send the rep a picture of the crack and calmly explain to them that a dropped device likely wouldn't develop a single crack like that. Good luck.

 

[JaSauders]

I turned on my nexus 7 tonight only to find it developed a crack from one side to the other. It was NOT dropped. I used it last night in bed, placed it on my nightstand, and when I turned it on tonight the touchscreen would not work. I examine the screen closer and find the crack. Now what are the chances of Asus believing it was not dropped? I sure as heck do not feel I should pay anything for a repair. I preordered my nexus, so I am sure I got one of the original batches. Any word of advise?

I was extremely explicit with the rep when I spoke to him over the phone... particularly when he told me "Unless the N7 was cracked when you opened the box, ASUS will likely charge you." I was beyond irritated and asked him to kindly write down notes to my account.

I explained to him I've done extensive research on the topic. I told him I'm well aware of what defects were existent in the Nexus 7, particularly in the first batch. I also informed him that Google personally confirmed this defect to me over the phone. I told him in detail via the photographed tear down of the N7 exactly where the flaw is on the left side, ironically indicating this is where my tablet cracked as well. I said I know there are no guarantees over the phone, but I can guarantee you this item was never dropped, and it's superb condition will confirm that. As a result, it will be fixed, and I will not be paying a dime, or this will escalate into a fiasco.

I have to deal with IT companies all the time. When I'm wrong, I deal with it. When I'm right, I won't tolerate being told I'm wrong, which is likely why I'm being on edge in this situation.

When I sent my tablet back I noticed on the RMA directions they sent me via email that they wanted some sort of description as to what the story was. I also took some pictures, which after several tries I finally landed one that was very clear and depicted the screen lift perfectly. I printed out a full size image and included it in the box. My note also read something to this effect:

Here is a picture depicting where the issue originated. The item was not dropped and spent its short life behind a screen protector and a leather folio case. The left side screen fracture despite it not having been dropped is directly consistent with the confirmed design flaw that plagued several of the first generation devices, as per Google's confirmation on the topic. I anxiously await your response.

My Name
My Number
Email Address​

I've always had exceptional experiences with ASUS. I hope this won't be a turn for the worst. With what I'm hearing from other users, I'm borderline enraged that ASUS turned some of them away. Granted, some other users dropped their device too... not from 10 ft high, but they still dropped it, which from the company's perspective is enough food for thought to play hard ball.

I'll keep you guys updated with what happens. Might be a while, only sent it out late yesterday.

 

[anon(924308)]

I've never bought a 3rd-party warranty before, so I could be mistaken.. If you dropped it literally within days of receiving it, couldn't you sign up for an accidental damage warranty program like Square Trade? And just say you dropped it ex post facto?

I have an ASUS laptop and it's lasted longer than any other brand I've tried--the customer service has always been excellent. lol I'm worried all these funky N7's will clog up ASUS customer support and make them less compassionate.

 

[JaSauders]

I've never bought a 3rd-party warranty before, so I could be mistaken.. If you dropped it literally within days of receiving it, couldn't you sign up for an accidental damage warranty program like Square Trade? And just say you dropped it ex post facto?

I have an ASUS laptop and it's lasted longer than any other brand I've tried--the customer service has always been excellent. lol I'm worried all these funky N7's will clog up ASUS customer support and make them less compassionate.

I had similar worries, but then I stopped caring after I saw how little thought ASUS put into the expensive responses they gave other users. I could always sign up for a warranty and wait a while and do that, but I never really felt as though that was "right."

Truth be told, this issue stemmed from a design flaw, which originated from ASUS. That's who needs to fix it. Not SquareTrade. Not Google. Not Obama. Flipping ASUS needs to fix this. Period.

 

[anon(924308)]

I could always sign up for a warranty and wait a while and do that, but I never really felt as though that was "right."

It's definitely not the most moral option, but it's either that or a $200 loss. You're well within the acceptable time period to purchase the warranty, so you could think of it as only having a few days stand between the regular flow of events, and the less moral path.

 

[JaSauders]

It's definitely not the most moral option, but it's either that or a $200 loss. You're well within the acceptable time period to purchase the warranty, so you could think of it as only having a few days stand between the regular flow of events, and the less moral path.

I have a hard time siding with that, though. Maybe I'm just a self righteous stubborn bastard about this, but I'd rather take a hit and be out of a tablet full well knowing I will take any and all opportunity in the future to avoid ASUS and make sure all family/friends/co-workers know about my story rather than succumb to an unfair warranty just to get *my* device working. I feel like if I sign up for the warranty after the fact, I'm just as bad as ASUS is.

But it's okay. I spend a lot of time in the evening on my system doing work on various projects. I can easily multitask with those tasks while simultaneously yelling at some reps with a headset on and a little Pink Floyd jamming in the background. If they refuse to do anything for this tablet, I'll at least ensure they burn as much employee time as possible on the phone with me when I'm already married to my desk for a few hours.

What will crack me up to no end is if ASUS comes back and says "oh hey no problem we fixed it just fine, enjoy!" I'm extremely doubtful that'll happen, but it'll be the ultimate foot-in-mouth scenario.

 

[stillmind]

Weak screen, period. It's not a coincidence that so many people suspect that fact.

 

[stillmind]

So judging by your experience the screens are not as fragile as some people here are making them ought to be.

So, they are all liars? You must work for ASUS.

 

[stillmind]

Slipped my 3 week old N7 in my cargo pants pocket for an otherwise uneventful 10 min ride to work yesterday. When I got to work & pulled it out, there it was, a "spider web" crack pattern emanating from the middle of the left side. No drops or anything, the most stress it would have come under was sitting down in my car set, as the pants leg "tighten" a bit when you sit -- but they still were pretty loose, it couldn't have been THAT much stress.

Perhaps related, it seemed to me in using it over the weekend that the touchscreen was getting a little less responsive, numerous times it seemed to "lose contact" and drop when I was dragging objects in games (tiles in Words with Friends, etc). Maybe this was a symptom of it starting to "separate." Now, after the crack, the touchscreen is completely unresponsive.

Reading the experiences of those that have suffered similiar damage with little-to-no apparent cause, it seems like Google/Asus's policy is to acknowledgte this problem and replace the unit if you detect the defect BEFORE it creates a crack, but once it does, they stop acknowledging the flaw & accepting responsibility? Is this the correct conclusion? How messed up is THAT? I'm going to contact Google and see if anythign has changed, if they have had enough complaints to revise their response. To me it's even visually clear my N7's damage was likely not from a drop, as the crack emanates from the middle of the SIDE (not a corner).

It is happening to lots of people. It's very suspicious and I agree with you Asus (not goggle) should address the problem and lower those repair prices ($160+) for a cracked screen. Totally unacceptable!

 

[stillmind]

I too am dealing with the same issue. Yesterday I was at the kitchen counter emailing a co-worker on the tablet. With the tablet in hand, I left the house and got in my car. When I got in my car I set the tablet on the passenger seat and noticed a hair on it. A closer look revealed it wasn't a hair, but a crack.

I did not go mountain biking off a 100 ft cliff and live to tell the story.
I did not have a high speed car accident.
I did not have an epic fall right there in my driveway.

I took 9 steps to my car and it cracked. What the? So I called ASUS and they of course played hardball with me. I brought up the design flaw of the original batch of N7's, to which ASUS played dumb over. I told them there are extensive reports about the Nexus 7 in regard to the left side of the screen not being mounted properly or being flush. Sure enough, my left side had some degree of screen lift, which likely put the screen under pressure since the middle of the left side was bowed up a bit.

I told ASUS that my tablet was not dropped and it is in perfect condition. I had a screen protector on it and also had it in a leather folio case. ASUS told me that the techs likely won't repair it free of charge, at which point I asked how they can possibly think they're going to hide this design flaw then Google themselves even confirmed it. He said, well, was your tablet cracked when you received it? No. Well there's your answer.

...I lost it. To know that a company will put out a product that has the capability of cracking in your bare hand when you're taking steps to your vehicle is beyond me. I told ASUS that I will be sending my device in and I expect it to be fixed without hassle. I'm awaiting the dreadful email saying it'll cost me ~200 to fix it. That'll be a fun conversation when the time comes.

Right now i'm trying to be cool about it, but I'm exceptionally disappointed in ASUS already based on what level of customer service I've heard other users comment on. Hoping for the best, but certainly expecting the worst.

I'm having the same issue with a broken screen. I'm absolutely enraged and disheartened by ASUS response when I called them 2 weeks ago. On the other hand Goggle just advised me to call them, but never mentioned they were aware of the screen weakness prob. Maybe we can all get them in a class action suit? Pls, keep me posted.

 

[seelan]

today morning i came frm shower and noticed a line thru my nexus 7 screen in the reflection...man my nexus is cracked right down the middle from north to south.
how did this happen? i went to work and thought abt this...felt reaaly bad.....did i sleep walk over it? ( i never slleep walk). nothiing made sense.....so i finaly came back from work and googlkled it....and im not the only one it seems... i bought this here in australia on the 27th july when it first came out in the shops.

 

[MadMan84]

today morning i came frm shower and noticed a line thru my nexus 7 screen in the reflection...man my nexus is cracked right down the middle from north to south.
how did this happen? i went to work and thought abt this...felt reaaly bad.....did i sleep walk over it? ( i never slleep walk). nothiing made sense.....so i finaly came back from work and googlkled it....and im not the only one it seems... i bought this here in australia on the 27th july when it first came out in the shops.

When you say "middle north to south", do you mean down the middle along the long axis of the tablet (parallel to the long sides), or along the short axis (between the two long slides).

Most (all?) of us who are finding POOF their tablet has a crack for no apparent reason, are finding the latter, a crack running from the middle of one long side to the middle of the opposite one. Or put another way, from the middle of the left side & straight across when you hold it in portrait mode (that would actually be "south to north" when you hold it in landscape mode).

ADDED: oops I see you are in Australia -- maybe you see north and south / up and down the opposite of us northern hemispherers? In seriousness, sorry for you loss. I (literally) feel your pain. I RMAed mine & haven't gotten word yet, but am girding myself for being told that I did not handle it properly (even though, like you, that is not the case) & be asked to pay through nose for the repair, d@mn their warranty & how this happened.

 

[JaSauders]

I'm having the same issue with a broken screen. I'm absolutely enraged and disheartened by ASUS response when I called them 2 weeks ago. On the other hand Goggle just advised me to call them, but never mentioned they were aware of the screen weakness prob. Maybe we can all get them in a class action suit? Pls, keep me posted.

In an effort to keep you posted, even though this post will contain no exciting information, I called ASUS today for the 2nd time to get an idea on the RMA status. The online gizmo said they haven't received any info yet, but we're going onto 3 days now that my tracking info says ASUS has had the device.

They said there's nothing to report, and he even put me on hold to supposedly dig further. Nothing. Okay fine, no big deal. At this point I decided to be blunt (since I'm beyond the 'giving a damn' stage) and asked him if ASUS has changed their outlook on owning up to warranty repairs.

The rep seemed confused and asked what I meant. I said very clearly, I've heard of hundreds of reports of users having mysteriously cracked and lifted screens on their N7, yet in every single case I've heard about, ASUS has sent the customer a bill instead of owning up to the repair and fixing it. I said I'd like you to know I am fully prepared to push this to the absolute max regardless of how ugly it gets in the event ASUS does not fix my screen under warranty. I went through the story again and repeatedly asked him, how on earth does a screen crack when the user is walking with it in his/her hands? He didn't have an answer, but seemed to side with my frustration.

Ultimately, I just have to be more patient and wait. I can't bust ASUS's chops yet. I haven't gotten a yes/no answer back. That being said, I'm fully expecting them to come back and say I need to pay for the repair. That tablet is in perfect shape aside from the cracked screen. The rep today told me if there's sign of external damage, it won't be covered, but if it has no physical damage and appears to be the result of a manufacturing defect, ASUS will cover it... I'm holding him to it.

 

[JimboDeany]

Do people not have personal insurance? I'd highly recommend it. I pay ?15 a month and that covers all my belongings, wherever I am, and pays in cash.

 

[JaSauders]

Do people not have personal insurance? I'd highly recommend it. I pay ?15 a month and that covers all my belongings, wherever I am, and pays in cash.

I didn't get the insurance because I didn't plan to drop it (then again, who does plan that?). Oh, er, wait. I didn't drop it, and it still cracked. Doh!

 

[JimboDeany]

I've just got generic insurance for all my belongings. Much cheaper than covering each thing individually.

 

[JaSauders]

I've just got generic insurance for all my belongings. Much cheaper than covering each thing individually.

I have the standard insurance that's needed, like home, car, etc. I never had personal insurance on personal electronic devices because I never really needed it. Sure, I'd love to have it now (this is the first time anything like this ever came up), but I'd also like to have a device that wasn't riddled with design flaws. BAM. You lost a customer for life, ASUS.

 

[AprilStorm]

I'm another owner with a cracked screen and I am very disappointed.

I bought a case immediately on purchase and the tablet was always in the case. The case seemed good and wrapped around all the corners etc. Last night, it fell from the bedside locker. A slight fall but it has a hairline crack and now the screen is unresponsive.

The attitude of Asus support is terrible. I sent them the requested photograph and they replied "that does not look like a warranty incident. Send it to us, pay the shipping and we will let you know how much it costs to repair."

But do I want another one? Yes, I made good use of it and it became an integral part of my work (and leisure). I was thinking of buying one for my daughter for University and also one for my wife. Only last week, I was recommending it to friends and colleagues only last week. But how long will a new/repaired one last. I can;t recommend a product as fragile as these seem to be.

I don't think they are fit for purpose. A tablet should be in regular day to day use and these just seem too flimsy for that. I have been looking for a google customer service number to put my dissatisfaction on record but can't find one. As for Asus, their attitude would put me off buying anything from them ever again.

The Amazon Kindle Fires don't seem so bad. At least Amazon seem to have a better approach to customer service. This is the end of my relationship with the Nexus 7.

 

[kertesd]

Any update?