Asurion Sams Club Extended Service NEW Sams Club Extended Service Plan Is A Borderline Scam Internet

I purchased a laptop in August of 2011 from Sams Club and their extended service plan along with it. About a year later, the screen failed. I filed a claim with NEW who handled the requests and repairs, sent the laptop in for repair, and received it without any issue and less inconvenience than I had anticipated. 

It worked flawlessly until October of 2013, I started to hear a light popping noise from inside the screen bezel with the computer opened. I put the laptop down in front of me and the bezel at the lower right corner separated, with small plastics falling out. Upon removing the front screen bezel, I saw the right side hinge had broken at its thinnest point where it attaches to the side of the screen. It's with mentioning that the hinge is all but frozen in place - it takes a lot of effort to move the hinge at all, and when it folds down, it snaps shut like a spring trap.

Again, I placed a service request online and was promptly informed by a representative that these types of issues were not covered. I made several calls to no avail, and decided to use the laptop as a desk model until I could fix it myself, which I later found out was more involved than I could possibly handle with my limited experience with computer hardware.

Fast forward to February of this year and the computer has been on a shelf for a couple months since buying a new computer for work, while I figure out what to do with this one. I get the gaming bug again and start using it on a desk to play a few games in the evening after work.

March 27th, the cooling fan fails. Again, here we go with a service request. At this point, I've had all I can take. I call their 1800 number when prompted and reach and ANGEL, who, after hearing my whole story (and informing her that I've read everything in the service plan coverage and the hinge failure should be covered) agrees with me and says all the failures fit within the service plan and they're sending me a box to pack my computer in and should be back to working condition in no time. YES. FINALLY.

I pack my bags and head out of town for a couple weeks and when I get back, so is my computer... with a letter claiming I did all the damage to the computer and they're not fixing it. No email explaining what is going on, no phone call that it is on its way back to me. Nothing. If I hadn't received it when I got back home, it could have been a week or more before I realized it was missing.

Not only that,  but now my keyboard is 'bowed' and it won't even turn on!!!

I've been calling since last Thursday only to find out they're not willing to budge. They think the thermal wrap the wires under the screen are enclosed in is duct tape I put there for some reason I can't fathom, the hinge is again not covered under the service plan and they don't have a comment at all about why my keyboard isn't fitting in the case or why it won't turn on anymore. 

I made recovery discs on the computer about 48 hours prior to sending it in, just in case there are any doubts.

Gabriella, whom I spoke to today, understands my frustrations and said if I had it fixed myself, it should be under $100 and they would be willing to reimburse me. If that's the case,  why not just fix it? And why put me through the headache of trying to get them to send me a check afterwards? I know the parts are cheap but I want my service plan to remain intact, and this surely wouldn't happen if someone other than Asurion were to touch it. She also forwarded me to the dispute resolution center who apparently won't help you if the claim is closed. The repair center closed the claim before the computer was back in my posession, so what good is that?

And here I am, at a total loss with a completely unusable $1400 paperweight. As of right now, I'd tell anyone reading this to stay clear of sams extended service plans. They'll break your computer and leave you holding the bag!!!

At this point, I plan on calling and calling until I can at least get them to restore my laptop back to the condition it was in before I sent it in. A keyboard properly attached and powering on again. They damaged my property when I paid for them to be on my side and fix it. They owe me that much.

Thanks a lot, Asurion.