It’s widely agreed that the most important foreign-language question for travelers is, “Where’s the nearest bathroom?” Having read of Delhi Belly and the Mumbai Trots, I want to be perfect in my annunciation of this need, and even more important, be able to understand the answer.
Fujitsu
Disaster
As soon as I plugged in the Fujutsu laptop’s AC power and re-booted, I knew I was in deep trouble. The display was 20% scrambled.
Maybe it’s a software glitch or static buildup? I shut down and re-boot again.
Now almost 50% of the screen, the entire left side, was a mess.
The US$3,000 Paperweight
The Fujitsu Lifebook P7120 laptop computer is out of service and the situation is not good. Only a few months ago I paid $2,000 for it and invested roughly $1,000 more in software and memory upgrade. Now its only dependable function is to keep loose papers from blowing away in a breeze.
Legal Action
Today I filed a lawsuit in Hudson County, NJ against Fujitsu for:
1) selling me a laptop computer that fails the implied warranty that it is designed and manufactured for the purpose for which it is advertised and sold, as a reasonably robust portable computer.
2) failure to honor their own warranty by repairing the defective and useless computer.
3) failure to return the computer to me some 8 weeks after it was handed to them and despite frequent explicit written and phone requests that they do so.
The suit demands a full refund of the purchase price, refund of the cost of the memory upgrades and software I installed on the computer, cost of work needed to reprogram access codes and passwords compromised by the loss of the computer and the costs of the lawsuit.
The court will advise me before Dec 1st, 2006 of a hearing date. I’ll post it here when I know.
As Lyndon Johnson Used to Say . . .
When LBJ was a Senator from Texas and famous for getting his way against strong opposition from fellow congressmen and government bureaucrats, he was asked to explain his negotiating secrets. He said to the questioning newspaper reporter:
“Son, it’s really simple. You grab ’em firmly by the balls. Their hearts and minds will follow.”
It turns out that what charms reluctant politicians works just as well on corporations . . . case in point, Fujitsu.
Update on Fujitsu
It has been roughly 4 and 1/2 months since the above was reported on. Considering how negative the experience may appear – but with proper respect for what is right – here’s an update.