What can I do if manufacturer fails to repair laptop under warranty?

Given that you're in QC you have better consumer protection than the rest of us. I would explore the QC government consumer protection department's website to see what your options are. Or perhaps someone from QC can chime in.

Another hurdle you face is that gigabyte's NA warranty service is located in California. So even if they accept your notebook for repair you'll have to pay to ship it there. You'll also have to make sure the proper customs paperwork is done in both directions.

jackrabbit000 wrote: ↑ Have you tried cleaning the fans with compressed air? Try uninstalling the control centre, download and reinstall it. Reboot and see what happens.

+1 this. I often get weird fan noises, which is fixed by blowing them with air. Dust get's trapped over-time, and jams the fans up

lachdanan wrote: ↑ Hi,

So my laptop has been started making a lot of noise from the fans. I contacted the manufacturer gigabyte, and they told me they don't provide the fans or sell them. Asked me to install a few things like the latest bios, which made things worse. Their control center app doesn't even launch, without which you are not able to increase CPU/GPU speed. By default they are gimped.

So they asked me to contact their service center where I am, and I did but no reply in 2 weeks.

If their service center doesn't help and gigabyte drops the ball, is there anything I can do?

I bought it using PC mastercard, but it doesn't provide extended warranty for laptops. But even then, it's still under manufacturer warranty.

Is it possible to dispute this via regular CC dispute? Though it has been like 9 months since I bought this laptop.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Try calling them back and in an annoyed and frustrated tone tell them you want this fixed or your going to deal with your consumer protection thing i wish we had here and/or your gonna get the credit card company involved for a possible charge back.

Dont let the company push you around like this.

gujuman23 wrote: ↑ +1 this. I often get weird fan noises, which is fixed by blowing them with air. Dust get's trapped over-time, and jams the fans up

jackrabbit000 wrote: ↑ Have you tried cleaning the fans with compressed air? Try uninstalling the control centre, download and reinstall it. Reboot and see what happens.

I tried a dozen times and even a repair shop tried here and said he cannot so he didn't charge me. I think the fans are beyond cleaning. They are super clean. I think the sound is due to rattling which I feel is related to wear and tear of the magnetic socket they sit. So it doesn't spin stably.

XtremeModder wrote: ↑ Try calling them back and in an annoyed and frustrated tone tell them you want this fixed or your going to deal with your consumer protection thing i wish we had here and/or your gonna get the credit card company involved for a possible charge back.

Dont let the company push you around like this.

I don't know if they have a number but their warranty claim is done through their website. It's horribly slow and they are pretty bad. This is an Asian company, so I don't think they care if you sound annoyed. They seem to be care less from what I can tell and reading other people's experiences.

Basically they cheap out on the fan/cooling system.

bylo wrote: ↑ Given that you're in QC you have better consumer protection than the rest of us. I would explore the QC government consumer protection department's website to see what your options are. Or perhaps someone from QC can chime in.

Another hurdle you face is that gigabyte's NA warranty service is located in California. So even if they accept your notebook for repair you'll have to pay to ship it there. You'll also have to make sure the proper customs paperwork is done in both directions.

Actually right now I am in Thailand that's why they referred me to their Bangkok service center which also seems like a miserable shop.

Can I still take advantage of QC consumer protection as I reside there normally?

lachdanan wrote: ↑I tried a dozen times and even a repair shop tried here and said he cannot so he didn't charge me. I think the fans are beyond cleaning. They are super clean. I think the sound is due to rattling which I feel is related to wear and tear of the magnetic socket they sit. So it doesn't spin stably... Actually right now I am in Thailand that's why they referred me to their Bangkok service center which also seems like a miserable shop.

I suspect that Thailand, being a relatively small market, doesn't have an official gigabyte presence. So you're likely dealing with a distributor who has limited service skills and access to OEM parts.

Some general suggestions:
1. Try Googling on "gigabyte <model> fan noise." If this is a common problem you should get some results. Hopefully someone else who's experienced these symptoms has found a solution or a source for parts.
2. Gigabyte being a smaller company may use off-the-shelf fans rather than a custom design. Look for a label on the fan with make and part number, then Google on it. Perhaps you can get a replacement fan that way.
3. Could it be the tips of the fan blades hitting the housing? If so you may be able to bend them out of the way or file them down. If you suspect the bearings then perhaps a drop of watch oil or sewing machine oil.
4. Of course 3. would be last ditch measures if you can't get warranty support. Once you mess with the fan you'll give gigabyte an excuse to invalidate the warranty. So proceed with 3. with caution.

Can I still take advantage of QC consumer protection as I reside there normally?

No idea. Presumably it will depend on where you bought the system, i.e. in QC. I don't know if they'll respond to email queries. Perhaps someone who's located in QC can post.

You don't want to be messing with the fan speed as slowing it down will cause heat issues and the unit to lock up. Try blowing some air on the fan and intake area as dirt can cause the blockage that warms the unit up and makes the fan work harder.

hightech wrote: ↑ You don't want to be messing with the fan speed as slowing it down will cause heat issues and the unit to lock up. Try blowing some air on the fan and intake area as dirt can cause the blockage that warms the unit up and makes the fan work harder.

Yes I know but the fans are super clean not a speck of dust. It's not from dust.

bylo wrote: ↑ I suspect that Thailand, being a relatively small market, doesn't have an official gigabyte presence. So you're likely dealing with a distributor who has limited service skills and access to OEM parts.

Some general suggestions:
1. Try Googling on "gigabyte <model> fan noise." If this is a common problem you should get some results. Hopefully someone else who's experienced these symptoms has found a solution or a source for parts.
2. Gigabyte being a smaller company may use off-the-shelf fans rather than a custom design. Look for a label on the fan with make and part number, then Google on it. Perhaps you can get a replacement fan that way.
3. Could it be the tips of the fan blades hitting the housing? If so you may be able to bend them out of the way or file them down. If you suspect the bearings then perhaps a drop of watch oil or sewing machine oil.
4. Of course 3. would be last ditch measures if you can't get warranty support. Once you mess with the fan you'll give gigabyte an excuse to invalidate the warranty. So proceed with 3. with caution.


No idea. Presumably it will depend on where you bought the system, i.e. in QC. I don't know if they'll respond to email queries. Perhaps someone who's located in QC can post.

1. I did this and found some topics, mostly with a different model from the same company. They all had similar experiences where gigabyte didn't send them the parts nor to the service centers.

2. I checked this also and found another guy with the same fan model number but they are nowhere to be found likely some other number rather than actual models numers that's carved on the fans.

3. I checked this, but not. From what I can say with 99% confidence, it wasn't the fan, but the magnetic fan housing. So if I change the fans, the left one is still making noise. The right one is better. So it's the left one doing it. I can feel with my hand, there is leeway to move the fan from side to side on the left side, due to I assume the magnetic hole holding the fan metal pin, to be slightly bigger maybe due to wear. That's why I can see the fan in motion on the left one, the right one looks still coz it's smooth.

Maybe those things are generic so I need to check this tomorrow, that would help me. But I suspect they come with the fan. I saw on aliexpress which seems like it fits the bill:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000796 ... hweb201603_

So I might have to bit the bullet and pay for this.

4. They are a miserable company for sure.

A lot of these fans will go back to normal if you clean them out and/or put in a drop of household oil.

Worst case scenario, you can probably get some near-identical replacement fans on eBay or similar.

Jucius Maximus wrote: ↑ A lot of these fans will go back to normal if you clean them out and/or put in a drop of household oil.

Worst case scenario, you can probably get some near-identical replacement fans on eBay or similar.

They are overcharging for them starts from 160 to 350 USD on ebay.

lachdanan wrote: ↑ They are overcharging for them starts from 160 to 350 USD on ebay.

That makes no sense to me. Can you post a link to these items on eBay?

Jucius Maximus wrote: ↑ That makes no sense to me. Can you post a link to these items on eBay?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/fan-PLB07010S1 ... SwewhfHs41

lachdanan wrote: ↑ https://www.ebay.com/itm/fan-PLB07010S1 ... SwewhfHs41

Wow, it's pretty expensive with the actual housing and stuff.

Fortunately, these companies almost always use off-the-shelf parts to build their stuff. A bit of research suggests to me that the internal fan inside the housing is less than $20.

Example: Power Logic 5010 PLB05010S12H-3 Cooling Fan 12V 0.27A 4-Pin XFX 9800gt fan

Perhaps it might be possible to disassemble the original fan housing and replace the internal fan with this part? At the very least, I would try to confirm the model number of the fan inside the housing. Most likely it's made by some miscellaneous Chinese factory and can be had for cheap.

Yes I looked at those, they don't look like the ones inside the laptop but they might be compatible but I am not sure. The one I send is definitely an exact copy of the fan used inside, it's just that they are horribly overpriced. Gigabyte refuse to provide help or identify the fans used. That's why I am looking for a recourse to hit them back with something.

Go through your credit card. They normally give you an additional year on top of the manufacturer warranty. Don't waste your time with the manufacturer if they keep jerking you around.

Contact your credit card company and see what they say. Also which website did you buy it from? You could also contact the website or store (unless its from gigabyte directly since it wouldn’t make a difference in that case).

Another alternative is posting on their social media sites. Most companies hate any negative comments about them on social media and will try to resolve any issues to get you to remove those comments. Plus this is an experience others would likely want to hear about before buying the same laptop and experiencing the same issue.

If you really want to hit them where it hurts, start posting on social media and even try contacting news station to see if they are interested in picking up the story. This would do much more damage to a company than whatever price you paid.