I have a problem. I hate the frame.work laptop I have.
I received it at the beginning of march 2025, and the 19th march 2025, I complained about the laptop freezing too many times, CPU at 100% every time I do anything with it etc…
I soon received a response asking some questions to evaluate the problem. I gave the answers on the 25th march 2025 which confirmed the problem and then I received another response asking me (among other things) to boot the laptop without the main panel, by pressing buttons on the motherboard… Seriously, am I the customer or a frame.work’s employee ???
Obviously, I did none of that and at the same time, I got unemployed and stayed away from the laptop.
Yesterday, I used it again, and it started freezing while I was using firefox… I swear, I was doing nothing shaky, I was at my desk, in the middle on the day…
That’s unacceptable.
I finally replied that I want a refund (I do believe this laptop is just crap) but now, they won’t refund me because I asked after the 30 days period… But I did report the problem within the 30 days period, and they are the ones who asked me to do some stupid tests…
What should I do ?
I am now going back to my old Dell XPS 2019, which performs better than this.
You should do as they ask, get any warranty repairs done if needed and then sell the laptop if you feel so inclined.
Framework is well within their rights to refuse the return. You knew the return policy and you knew you had no intention of performing diagnostic steps when you originally reached out. If you were within the return period at that time you should have done so.
Now your only option is to proceed with doing the troubleshooting steps and getting warranty replacements if you intend to use/sell the laptop.
If not, send the laptop to a recycler or attempt to sell it non-functional on the forum.
I get the frustration of having to do what feels like Framework’s job of diagnosing and performing repairs while in warranty but that’s kinda what we all signed up for. Framework will provide parts or send you a label to send the device back to them once some diagnostic steps are completed.
I understand that you weren’t interested in disassembling the laptop and helping support troubleshoot the problem and that is understandable. I think support should’ve simply given various options like “you can return the laptop, or send it to a repair center or we could try various things first if you’re fine with that”. After confirming that there is indeed a problem.
I think you should’ve answered within the 30 days that you were not willing to disassemble the laptop and would like a return instead
But you should still have warranty, so I’d go that route. Follow the troubleshooting steps that are reasonable for you to do, request a warranty repair or exchange, be persistent with support since they’ll often ask for the same thing numerous times, and after that laptop is fixed either keep it or sell it.
Hi GhostLegion,
I understand your point of view but I do not share it.
I signed up for an upgradable/replacable laptop. I just wanted to be able to easily add more ram, change the ssd or replace the battery. In no way was I interested in debugging the hardware. Maybe it does interest you but not me.
Anyway, thank you for your answer. I can now more clearly steer away people from frame.work laptops now that I know debugging hardware should be in their capabilities
Yes, I totaly agree with you. They should have given me some options AND I should have refuse to perform the disassembling as soon as I was asked to.
The thing is : I considered to do it at first. Then I got unemployed and stopped using the laptop. But now that I need it… I realize that I did not buy an expensive laptop to do any of these things.
Anyway, I asked again for a refund. I’m waiting for their answer.
I was just wondering if others were in the same situation.
The unemployment and lack of actively engaging with support is on you not Framework. Want to know why companies have a return policy for X days? Situations just like this.
It is JUNE now. Customers are entitled to warranty repairs for 1 year in the US and if not wanting to follow suggestions from support to diagnose the device then that is a choice and sending it off might be an option that will take substantially longer. Dell, HP, Lenovo, Apple etc. are probably better fits for these expectations.
You said, “I signed up for an upgradable/replacable laptop. I just wanted to be able to easily add more ram, change the ssd or replace the battery.”
All of these tasks require removing some screws and parts, yet when asked to embark on some of this the attitude is someone else should do this and not the end user? Ok I see where this is headed.
Almost none of us are in this “situation” mostly due to the fact it was understood that an upgradeable/repairable laptop requires some disassembling/reassembly.
lol, no you just have an attitude and think you should have longer than 30 day return window.
What you should have done is reply to the support that you are not interested on troubleshooting and just want to return it. Not go for a silent treatment for months.
Not really? My post history is at least as harsh towards Framework and I try to be fair towards others. I recognize that perhaps because the laptop is in warranty you feel it is expected that Framework handle the repair from beginning to end. Not unreasonable from a different manufacturer. This is Framework, marketed as being easy to repair and marketed towards enthusiasts who want to repair stuff themselves when possible. It’s confusing to me when people purchase the laptop and expect a Dell/Lenevo/HP support experience.
Especially when you say that immediately upon being asked to open the laptop you had no intention of doing so, while also being in the 30 day return window. So the lack of requesting the return within that window is on you. Sure, Framework could be nice and give you an extended return window since you did report a problem within the 30 days but they aren’t obligated to do so. Ergo, this mess is on you, not Framework.
You asked what your options were and myself and @Jonathan_Haas gave you your available options although he was nicer about telling you. Perhaps I was a little rude but not toxic. Tell you what, I’ll retract some of the stuff in my original reply that was a little rude.
Had you come here with an actual horror story about support (of which there are many), then I for one would be far more sympathetic. Instead it’s just you sitting on principles and obstinately saying no when asked to do something in order to be given warranty support. It’s cutting your nose off to spite your face and that attitude doesn’t engender sympathy from others.
I’m with the others on this matter. It’s on you to know your own rights, and use those rights at your own discretion. You owe it to yourself to be accountable for your decisions and actions (or lack of).
Let’s for a minute ignore it’s a Framework laptop. Substitute the laptop with any other consumer electronics. What to do within the return period is still on you.
To those of us in the know, we question why someone would have the same expectations.
To those everyday / less informed consumers, they could find this [lack of serviced] experience confusing…when they discovered the intangible differences after the purchase.
I’ve edited my comment to hopefully reflect the second interpretation which is what I intended although both interpretations are equally valid conclusions when you think about it.
Except you will pay extra for support from Dell/Lenovo/HP otherwise have fun watching your laptop disappear into their repair depot and get returned to you several weeks/months later in the same or worse condition.
Performing a troubleshooting step to potentially avoid weeks or months without my new gadget seems like an obvious choice to me, and I might accidentally learn something; I don’t understand people sometimes.
When you pay extra…(at least when I pay extra), you ought to go all in and get on-site support. Paying extra in a half-baked fashion to ship it off to a depot is just asking for complications (SSD removal, boxing, shipping…etc…unknowns).
To me, it’s not just on-site convenience…but also peace of mind of timeliness (specific time frame), security (the laptop doesn’t leave my site & sight), and I get to verify the repair on the spot without back and forth.
Don’t get me wrong I always went with next business day onsite repair when I was in the Thinkpad fold. Never had a bad experience with the service, especially since for most of the stuff I could simply have the part shipped and do the repair myself, and yeah that happened immediately and I would receive the part at most within 48 hours.
Same here. There was a time when you can get same day 4-hr on-site, but those days are long gone for ThinkPads (still available for the servers space). NBD is the most you can get these days AFAIK.
If you are past the return window, you could reach out to support and request to send it to a repair center. This isn’t a perfect solution, but if performing any troubleshooting yourself isn’t something you are willing to do, it might be worth requesting a label to ship it for repair.
If you want to get some troubleshooting help on the forums, folks are typically more than willing to help out. If you provide some details about your configuration, OS, what software you are running when you have issues, etc., people may be able to lend some advice.
on you. Sure, Framework could be nice and give you an extended return window since you did report a problem within the 30 days but they aren’t obligated to do so. Ergo, this mess is on you, not Framework.