Lenovo LaVie Z 360 discounted due to stand issues

By Jon Martindale May 11, 2015

lenovo lavie z discounted ultrabooks 9 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you were planning on picking up one of Lenovo’s new LaVie Z notebooks, chances are at least one of the many features you were excited by was its multi-faceted folding modes, which let you use the attached keyboard as a stand in various configurations. However some of the early-bird buyers have found that several of the different modes don’t actually work as intended, so much so in-fact, that Lenovo is giving people a five per cent discount to apologise.

Lenovo was at least pro-active with these problems however, and didn’t wait for disgruntled customers to get in touch with it. Before receiving the Lavie Z 360, Consumer Reports was sent an email detailing the issues. The problems appear most in stand and tent modes, where in the former, the screen doesn’t auto-rotate, leaving users looking at an upside down screen and in the latter, the keyboard doesn’t automatically deactivate.

Related: Lenovo’s LaVie Z notebook is lightweight with heavy-duty specs

According to the correspondence, the reason these problems weren’t caught before release, was because of Lenovo’s “haste” to have it reach consumers. That is a sentiment that continues however, as instead of requesting the laptops be returned, or announcing a delay in their delivery, Lenovo is refunding everyone that purchased one with five per cent of the sale price. Or around $85.

It’s not clear at this time whether disgruntled fans will also be offered a full refund, though there are general consumer protections that should allow for that if desired. Presumably though this is something that can be fixed down the road with an update to the notebook’s firmware, though Lenovo has yet to announce anything of the sort and there was no mention in the received email.

If you bought a brand new laptop like the Lavie Z 360 and it came with these sorts of issues, would a five per cent refund placate you?

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