Call Kurtis: Laptop Fixed Four Times

You expect when buy a brand new laptop it will last for years.  But a Roseville woman says her new computer started acting up right away.

Debbie Camillo admits, she loves playing Farmville with friends.  She deserves it.  She's retired and after working in the California Department of Education's IT office for 20 years she's ready to have fun with computers.  But the former web designer says her problems started just three weeks after she bought her laptop.

"My screen started flickering, it would shut down and then it would do a recovery on its own," Camillo tells us.  "I would like a computer that I don't have to fix and work on.  I don't work anymore.  I don't want to have to work on computers."

After a quick Google search, Camillo realized she wasn't alone.  She found a number of blogs and chats filled with other Toshiba Satellite owners experiencing similar flicker problems.

"People were scrambling trying to fix it themselves and I just thought, you know, I shouldn't have to fix it myself," Camillo says.

The laptop was covered under Toshiba's manufacturer's warranty and she's now sent it in four different times.  But every time she gets it back, Camillo says there are problems.  She showed us screen images of various error messages that pop up.

We asked Toshiba how many times does a customer have to send in their computer before it's time to send them a new one?  The company didn't answer that question.  But California's Lemon Law says, "If, after a reasonable number of attempts, the defect has not been fixed, the buyer may return this product for a replacement or a refund subject, in either case, to deduction of a reasonable charge for usage."

After we got involved Toshiba gave Camillo two similar options:  either a comparable laptop or a Toshiba credit that's equal to the depreciated value of her computer.  She chose the new laptop.  But when that new laptop arrived, Camillo found it was a different model than we were told she was getting.  It was comparable to her old model, so she's fine with it.  Camillo is also still waiting for a 50-dollar credit Toshiba promised so she could upgrade the battery.