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Defective computer part destroyed other parts of my computer

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maxeytheman

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

TX

Hello all, I bought a computer part at Costco today (Lexar SL100 512GB SSD) and when I plugged into my computer to use, it started heating up, melting plastic and emitting smoke.

Now multiple other computer parts and external devices are nonfunctional and the room has a strong molten plastic odor due to the defect in the product. Can I expect any sort of reimbursement outside of the cost of the defective product from Lexar?

Thanks for reading.
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
Theoretically, yes. If a defective product damaged your computer, the manufacturer should be liable for replacing the damaged computer.

Now call Lexar.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
AND external devices?

Unless they are not working due to the computer itself not being able to operate them it's not likely they were damaged by the defective SSD.


you will likely have to have your machine checked out by a qualified computer repair center to determine what is damaged and if that damage could in fact have been caused by a defective SSD. Lexar isn't likely to accept liability without some proof their part caused you any damages.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
I can almost bet that even if the external drive got red hot, they are going to argue that it shouldn't have been close enough to the other components to damage them.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
I can almost bet that even if the external drive got red hot, they are going to argue that it shouldn't have been close enough to the other components to damage them.
Given it's an external drive there is really no way it could have damaged anything by emitting heat. I would think it might damage an internal power supply or associated connections within the computer itself by overloading that circuitry but even that is highly unlikely.

Op will have to be able to prove causation to get lexar to pick up the tab other than replacing the SSD.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
It sounds to me like the computer's external ports had some sort of preexisting problem.
 

maxeytheman

Junior Member
AND external devices?

Unless they are not working due to the computer itself not being able to operate them it's not likely they were damaged by the defective SSD.


you will likely have to have your machine checked out by a qualified computer repair center to determine what is damaged and if that damage could in fact have been caused by a defective SSD. Lexar isn't likely to accept liability without some proof their part caused you any damages.
I just checked my external devices on two other computers, turns out the first other PC I tested it on already had broken USB ports, and they did start working on the second PC I tested on. So now my damages only include a few usb ports and a USB hub, apologies for any confusion.

But I believe that the SSD may have affected my USB 3.0 controller because though I only used one USB 3.0 port, both are now nonfunctional.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Unless the manufacture of the SSD rolls over and pays for anything you will have to prove the defective SSD is what caused the other claimed damages.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
it sounds even more to me like you had defective parts in the computer that destroyed your SSD. Lucky for you that Costco is very liberal with their return policy.
 

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