Disney Broke DH's laptop, any recourse (long)

[wdwluver]

We checked into the boardwalk on 6/15 gave our bags to the bellman and did valet parking. DH pointed out bag to the bellman that contained his laptop among other electronics and asked him to be careful as bag contained a laptop computer among other fragile items. We later checked in and had bags brought up by bellman - different from the one who took our bags. DH immediately removes his laptop from the bag and turns it on. The screen does not light up, and computer makes sound of booting up and then shutting down (Microsoft windows tune) DH tries for at least 30 minutes to get computer to boot up and remain on to no avail. He is VERY upset and frustrated at this time. He takes computer, bag it was in and heads to front desk. He's directed to bellman desk where Bellman manager, and Disney manager take information, act very apologetic and hand him claim form, etc. Disney says, they are not responsible for laptop, bell services contractor is. Bell Services manager says someone will contact him to settle claim. We returned home Sunday and Bell Services people call to happily inform DH that they have reviewed the claim and determined DH has no proof that Bell Services broke his laptop, so claim is denied. They tell him computers break all the time, he should return to store where purchased and see if they can repair it since computer is probably still under warranty - it is not.

I'm not sure what proof they need - a picture of bellman throwing bag? computer was working without problems the day we arrived. We stayed at another hotel overnight prior to arriving at Disney. DH used laptop that morning without problem. Now the screen will not turn on and computer will not boot up.

Does DH just have to kiss his laptop goodbye?

 

[ducklite]

Make a claim through your homeowners and let them try to subrogate from WDW or whoever their bell services company is.

Anne

 

[wdwluver]

Thanks, I never thought of that.

 

[dannyh23]

Working in the IT field, I never trust anyone to look after a fragile laptop and always carry it myself. You can look at them wrong and they break!

Did you purchase travel insurance? It may be covered under that policy.

You may also find that the cost to repair is more than the laptop is worth!

 

[eliza61]

Unfortunately, this is the policy of many hotels. I had my laptop broken at the Waldolf astoria in Manhattan. Since I could not "prove" that the belllman damaged it, my claim was denied. I also found out they have alot of loops around theft of electonics (my sons ipod was stolen on a trip). Now, if it's valuable it stays with me.

 

[Poly Pal]

Your homeowner's insurance will likely not pay for the broken laptop unless it is specifically scheduled on your policy and you have coverage for breakage. If that is the case, you will need to pay the deductible. The cost of the repair might not exceed the deductible or the cost above and beyond the deductible may be too small to make it worthwhile to file a claim (aka a "nuisance claim"). Insurance is there to help you when you would not otherwise be able to afford to repair, replace, or rebuild, such as after a devastating fire.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Poly Pal
(an insurance guy and Disney fan!)

 

[ericamcl]

as terrible as it is to say you really don't have any proof that the damage was caused by the bellman. who's to say it wasn't damaged while in transport from the hotel you stayed at the night before to the resort you were checking in to.

one other thing, you need to decide if it's worth putting a claim in with your homeowners insurance. sometimes, even the smallest claim can come back to kick you in the rear

i hope that there is nothing major wrong...and if there is i hope it's not too terribly expensive!

 

[cymomtx]

Our personal backpacks, purses and briefcases never get handed over to Valet's or bellboys. They are way to valuable. We take personal responsiblity for them, just like instances like this.

 

[raven69david]

It's an expensive lesson, but one you had to learn the hard way. NEVER leave that thing away from your site. All it takes is one scammer to turn on your computer and dump the hard drive to a thumbdrive and there goes your personal info and identity. Be lucky that wasn't the case.

 

[Trekker]

I always travel with my laptop and I'm sorry to say that the response from the bell services is what I would have expected.

There is no way to determine if the laptop was damaged on the airplane, in a car, or where ever. It only takes 1 good smack for that to happen.

Back in the day when laptops were expensive I had a special rider on my hoomeowners insurance that covered my laptop for damage with no deductible. With the cost of laptop dropping as low as they have I removed the rider.

 

[Tink10]

I always travel with my laptop and I'm sorry to say that the response from the bell services is what I would have expected.

There is no way to determine if the laptop was damaged on the airplane, in a car, or where ever. It only takes 1 good smack for that to happen.

To the OP, I'm sorry that there was an issue with the laptop, but I agree with Trekker. I'm sure these claims are fairly common at Disney and for all they know, the accident could have happened at any time during your vacation. Unless you & others actually witnessed mishandling, you're probably out of luck.

 

[CarolA]

What was the laptop packed in? I travel with mine every week and have left it with Disney numerous times and nothing has ever happened to it. If it's in a padded case, I think they would have to work VERY hard to "break" it. My laptop case is too big to fit on the CRJ and commuter planes and I let them gate check the thing..... never had a problem from that. I don't buy the "they break if you look at them" We abuse ours and they don't break from abuse, they just break.......

Having "broken" a laptop (or two) by "dropping" or other "Physical" issues, I hate to say this, but I agree with Disney this may just be a mechanical failure. Happens with these things all the time. Just a few weeks ago mine started up fine and then when I came back from lunch the stupid thing was DEAD, DEAD. It did not suffer any "abuse" during the day, but the hard drive just fired......

If the bellman didn't THROW the thing (and I doubt he did) then I don't think he can be held responsible.

(Personally I blame Bill Gates, but that's a whole different thread)

(I have dropped a few... screens seem really not to like that, the hard drives work, but the screen... that's a whole different issue)

I will continue to leave mine with bell services. IMHO thats a LOT safer then leaving it in a car where the tempature exceeds over 100 degrees. That is hard on the stupid screens too. And I am not hauling it around Epcot!

(And I don't keep personal data on the laptop so that's not a real risk!)


One other thing, if this happens to you DO NOT do what OPs DH did. If the thing doesn't boot up, and you continue to "try" you actually may do more damage. (I have also learned this the hard way. I have been hauling around "PCs" since the first "portable" It weighed something like 50lbs was the size of LARGE suitcase and had a screen the size of an index card.... It was HUGE and did nothing LOL! It's the only thing I have ever carried on a plane that I couldn't lift overhead. Luckily I traveled with a team and generally two of us would be able to "wrestle" the thing in there!)

 

[jcb]

This is off the topic of resorts (sorry!) but having had a laptop crash while on vacation (and having dropped another while traveling), I can relate to DH's frustration.

Before giving up on it, see if it is a software problem because if the computer starts to boot up but then cuts off, that is typically a software or driver problem. You might see if you cannot boot it up in "safe mode" (hold down F8 while starting). If it works, that would mean it is software.

While it isn't out of the realm of possibility that dropping the laptop might have caused this, it is also possible that the laptop would flop out on its own, even if it is a sad and remarkable coincidence.

 

[DVCconvert]

Back in the day when laptops were expensive

Geeee....I don't know what your annual wage is, but from what I see when I look at new laptops, I still find them "expensive".

 

[Lorix2]

I definitely understand how frustrating it is to have you're laptop rendered useless, but you don't have to mishandle them to have them malfunction.

These things can happen at anytime and a perfect example is one night I shut down my laptop and put in on a table for the night. The next morning I turned it on and the screen was dead, just black, dead, but it had power. This was only 13 months old too. I took meticulous care of it and never dropped it, overloaded it, took it anywhere, etc...and it's dead, out of warranty and I'm SOL.

I hope you're DH's laptop can be fixed.

 

[Anewman]

Sorry but I dont think They can really be held responsible for this.

1) even if laptop was damage during bellmans transporting of your luggage, did you see them be unreasonably negligent with your bags?? I mean unless you can prove that they treated that one bag any worse than the thousands of other bags they handle I cant see how they would be liable.

2) Was the laptop in your bag all the way from MD? did you fly? was it in the car/trunk?
It could have been damaged anywhere between home and Disney.

 

[ericamcl]

You know, I was re-reading this thread for some reason and I got to thinking. When DH's laptop was about 4 months old he tried to turn it on and nothing happened. We took it back to the store (it was still under warranty, and we actually have extended warranties on our laptops) and it just so happens that his power supply went up. They had to send it out to be repaired, but once they replaced the power supply it was as good as new.

Let us know how things turn out with your DH's laptop....

 

[minnie56]

Unfortunately the 'burden of proof' to prove that the Bellman indeed is responsible for the demise of your Laptop rests with you to prove and you can't. Just one of those unfortunate incidents I would think? Having had numerous Laptops I agree with the general consensus here...they are a bit tempramental at the best of times and anything and nothing may have lead to the problem you encountered.

 

[WillCAD]

I'm sorry to say it, but in this case I have to agree with Disney and the bell services contractor.

You may know for sure that you didn't drop the laptop or do anything else that might have damaged it, but Disney and the bell services company don't know that for sure, and they are under no obligation, legal or otherwise, to pay out $1000-$2000 for a broken laptop unless it can be proven that they are responsible for breaking it.

Look at it this way - suppose the TV in your room stopped working after you left. You know you didn't break it, but the hotel tries to charge you for it. Wouldn't you raise cain over being charged for something when they can't proove it was you?

In the real world of laptop computers, the cold, hard truth of the matter is that the laptop could have been damaged, if indeed physical damage is the problem, anywhere on your trip from home to WDW.

You said you did valet parking; that means you either had a rental car or drove from home.

If you had a rental car, it means you flew; during the flight, your laptop was most likely in the overhead bin (I won't even touch on the remote possibility that you checked it!) and despite the fact that it was only a few feet from you it still could have been impacted by other bags during boarding and deplaning, or if stuff shifted in flight. It might also have been jarred when you made your way through the airport to bagage claim and the rental car desk, or when you loaded it into the car, or during the drive to WDW if something shifted.

If you drove all the way from Maryland, the laptop was most likely in its bag in the back of your vehicle (either in the cargo compartment of an SUV or van, or the trunk of a car). During the 14-hour trip from Maryland in the June heat, the laptop would have been subjected to a lot of temperature changes. Yes, you probably had the A/C running while driving, but whenever you made stops for bathroom or food breaks the vehicle would get hot - then it would get cold again when you got back on the road, possibly causing condensation inside it from humid air. This happens to camera lenses and eyeglasses all the time - moisture of any kind is the mortal enemy of sensitive electronics! As are multiple temperature changes, which cause the materials to expand and contract, losening soldered connections on printed circuit boards.

Maybe NONE of this stuff happened. Maybe you'll read this and think, "He's crazy! I didn't do ANY of that stuff! The bellman broke it and I KNOW IT!" But the truth is that there are a million places between home and the Boardwalk where the laptop could have been damaged.

And of course, the darn thing could simply have had a mechanical or software failure that had absolutely nothing to do with the trip except coincidental timing. You said it's out of warranty, which means that it is at least a year old - that's no spring chicken for a laptop, especially if your DH uses it every day or travels with it a lot.

So please, try not to be upset. Unless you actually saw the bellman treating the laptop roughly, you really don't have any reason to suspect that the laptop's failure is his fault.

 

[jfulcer]

I agree with the other posters, it could have happened anytime. What if when your DH put it away after checking it that am, he set it down too hard? Or cinched the velcro just a little harder than normal. There's a million things that he could have done to break it just as easily as there are a million things that the bellman could have done too.

I would chalk it up as an opportunity to upgrade to a newer model, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at.

I am sorry that it broke, though.