Dell 'Knowingly' Sells Laptops With Defective Hinges, Alleges Complaint

Dell is knowingly marketing and selling mobile devices with a defective hinge system, alleges a Friday breach of warranty class action (docket 1:23-cv-00937) in U.S. District Court for Maryland in Baltimore. Plaintiff Rachel Gunter, a Maryland citizen currently residing in Phoenix, bought a Dell Inspiron 7300-5395S 2-in-1 hybrid computer in September 2020, from a Best Buy store in Rockville, Maryland, said the complaint. Gunter bought the 2-in-1 computer for its hinge design, with 360-degree rotation, and touch-screen feature, said the complaint.

Around October 2021, the right hinge on Gunter’s laptop began to pull apart from the screen, forcing her to tape the screen’s hinge to the computer’s base “to secure the device and keep it in an open position” as much as possible, the complaint said. A year later, the cracked hinge deteriorated further, and several pieces broke off the device, it said. Since the hinge broke off, Gunter has been unable to close the device, and has instead had to “leave it open at all times,” eliminating the device’s portability and hybrid functionality and preventing her from using it as intended, the complaint said.

The device and those of the proposed class “were unfit for ordinary use and were not of merchantable quality as warranted by Dell” in violation of Uniform Commercial Code § 2-314, alleged the complaint. The defect causes the 2-in-1 devices to “fail, move freely and ultimately crack Device screens and fray internal display wires,” the complaint said. The defects prevent owners from transitioning the 2-in-1 computers between tablet and laptop configurations, it said.

Dell hasn't sufficiently disclaimed the implied warranty of merchantability, alleged the complaint. The purported limitations in its warranties, “including limiting the exclusive remedy to a refund, repair or replacement," plus any durational limitations, "are procedurally and substantively unconscionable" and fail under U.C.C. § 2-302, it said.

Dell “should have known that the Devices are susceptible to premature failure,” and it had “unequal bargaining power,” misrepresenting the devices’ reliability, said the complaint. “The limited remedies unreasonably favor Dell and fail plaintiff’s reasonable expectations for product performance," it said. Plaintiff and class have “suffered damages and injury in fact and ascertainable loss,” in an amount to be determined at trial, including repair and replacement costs and damages, it said.

Gunter alleges violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, breach of express and implied warranty, unjust enrichment and fraudulent omission or concealment. She seeks an award of actual, general, special, incidental, statutory, punitive and consequential damages and restitution; pre- and post-judgment interest; injunctive relief, including an order that Dell be required to repair, recall and/or replace the class devices; and an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and legal costs. Dell didn't comment Monday.