Lemon Law Attorney

An increasing number of lawmakers agree with Judlick, and if they get their way, consumers will someday enjoy the same level of protection for PCs–under the proposed PC Lemon Law–as they do with automobiles. Introduced last summer in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by State Representative T.J. Rooney (D-Lehigh/Northampton), the bill, which could become law by year’s end, would protect consumers, including home PC users, students, or businesses with less than 30 workstations, by defining a set of standard rights and remedies for all PC manufacturers.

The current bill would only protect Pennsylvania residents and consumers who purchase PCs in that state, but PC owners interested in a local version of the bill (PA House Bill 1718) should write their own state legislators.

In short, the bill requires that PC manufacturers provide the consumer a working system for at least two years after purchase. In the event of any system defect–hardware or software (as long as the manufacturer installed it)–the vendor must cover any and all costs associated with fixing or replacing the system, including all shipping costs. Vendors who fail to comply would face steep fines.

“The law [would] really put accountability back where it belongs: with the manufacturer,” says Craig Kimmel, a Philadelphia-based attorney who specializes in lemon law litigation. “It removes from the manufacturer any discretion to do any less than what’s right and fair.”

What About Warranties?

All consumer products, including PCs, are covered by federal warranty law, and most PC vendors also provide reasonable-sounding warranties that should protect you from situations like the Judlicks’. But getting vendors to live up to the promises in their warranty can be harder than fixing the problem yourself. For example, Steve Judlick was told that Gateway’s standard warranty does not allow on-site repair service for problems that “do not appear to be hardware-related.” Guess who decides whether the problem is hardware-related?

Meanwhile, what can you do if you’ve gotten a sour deal from your PC vendor? First, keep careful records of all repair orders, phone calls, and correspondences–and don’t save the information on your PC. “Document everything,” advises Kimmel, “including a log of all the problems you’ve had. Write to your vendor, and include names, dates, and all the information you’ve collected.” Be specific about what you want, whether it’s on-site repairs, a refund, or a replacement. And finally, don’t give up. Says Kimmel, “The more you fight, the more the manufacturer is compelled to do something.”