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Customers who bought Lenovo Yoga touchscreen laptops were misled about a defect that left the device unusable after “days” of use, a class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Anthony MacKay says Lenovo practiced deceptive marketing when promoting its Yoga touchscreen laptops, also sold as the “Flex 5” or “Yoga Series,” and breached its warranty after failing to fix it.
Filed in the U.S. District Court of Delaware, the class action lawsuit against Lenovo describes the frustrating process buyers went through sorting out the issue.
Sold to the public starting in April 2017, Lenovo advertised its Yoga touchscreen laptops as a “2-in-1” device with “360-degree flexibility.” In marketing material, the devices were described as “laptops with touchscreen monitors that can be folded flat against the underside of the base of the machine to approximate the form of a tablet computer.”
Additional promotional language for the Lenovo Yoga touchscreen laptop also included the following:
- “Stay Flexible with 360-Degree Hinge . . . More than just a traditional laptop, the Flex 5 transitions with your schedule. Thanks to a durable 360- degree hinge, you can easily flip into tablet mode for browsing the web, or stream a TV show in tent mode. With this much flexibility, you’ll always find your perfect viewing angle”
- “With up to 15.6” FHD IPS touchscreen narrow-bezel display, you can watch movies and browse the web”
MacKay says he purchased one of these models in August 2017. Within a month, the Lenovo Yoga touchscreen laptop was not working, according to the class action lawsuit. The screen began to flicker, freeze and eventually blacked out entirely and the included stylus would not work, either.
The Lenovo Yoga laptop class action lawsuit claims the touchscreen’s defect is triggered when the laptop is folded into “tablet” or “tent” mode.
“The Defect is the result of ordinary stress on a vital component that is common in the Class Laptops,” according to the class action lawsuit.
The Lenovo Yoga touchscreen laptop uses an “embedded display cable” to connect the display to the motherboard. This connection travels through the laptop’s hinge.
“If the eDP cable is poorly routed, opening and moving the display (such as when folding the monitor into tablet or tent mode) could loosen the cable and lead to the issues associated with the Defect,” the Lenovo class action lawsuit states.
Plaintiff’s research on his Lenovo touchscreen laptop and its defects revealed similar problems were widely shared. Online forums multiple-pages long were dedicated solely to the topic of fixing the defect. Consumers were troubleshooting on their own, collaborating through the message boards several trial-and-error methods and sharing their frustrations with the device.
“There are hundreds, if not thousands, of customer posts on Defendant’s own online forum complaining of the display issues described above in the Class Laptops. These posts date back to at least December 2017,” MacKay claims.
In the Lenovo class action lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges Lenovo failed to fix his Yoga touchscreen laptop twice. MacKay says many customers attempting to use their warranties were given wrong information, oftentimes being told it was a software issue, the screen needed replacing or the cable “rerouted.” Sometimes, Lenovo representatives “merely taped (the cable) into place.” None of these repairs reportedly addressed the defect.
“Despite being aware of the cause of the Defect, Lenovo and its representatives have often engaged in, or directed frustrated customers to engage in, ineffective repair methods.”
Some customers who bought the Lenovo touchscreen laptop said they successfully fixed the issue by replacing the embedded display cable, according to the class action lawsuit, but the warranty only covered “reseating” rather than replacing that cable.
Some Lenovo touchscreen laptop owners described being harangued by Lenovo’s customer service over the repairs after holding it for weeks, only to have it returned in a non-working state, according to the class action lawsuit.
“I open up the bottom panel, all they did was tape the display connector in place, which is ridiculously ineffective,” one customer’s post in the class action lawsuit said.
Plaintiff says Lenovo is in breach of the warranty because it promises “each Lenovo hardware product… is free from defects.”
Lenovo’s parent company, Legend Holdings, is headquartered in Beijing. Lenovo designs, develops and produces personal computers, tablets, phones and other electronic equipment. As of March of last year, Lenovo was the world’s largest personal computer seller.
Lenovo launched the Yoga touchscreen laptop line in 2017 with a starting retail price of $799.
Have you purchased a Lenovo Yoga touchscreen laptop? Let us know in the comments below.
The plaintiff is represented by Bradford deLeeuw of deLeeuw Law LLC, Nicholas A. Migliaccio and Jason S. Rathod of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP; David A. Goodwin, Daniel E. Gustafson, Daniel C. Hedlund, Mickey L. Stevens of Gustafson Gluek PLLC; and Kevin Landau and Evan Rosin of Taus Cebulash & Landau LLP.
The Lenovo Yoga Touchscreen Laptop Class Action Lawsuit is Anthony MacKay v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-01149-UNA, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
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152 thoughts onLenovo Class Action Lawsuit Says Yoga Touchscreen Laptops Are Defective
I too would like to join the Class Action Lawsuit Lenovo and Best Buy! I purchased my Lenovo I9 Yoga in 2022 from BEST BUY, a year after my other HP laptop failed to work. A month later my screen kept freezing and I had to perform a hard reset every time. I have a trail of communications with Best Buy and they had me send in my Yoga I9 to replace the motherboard. Every time I got it back the same issue would reemerge. I was told by Best Buy that I had two-year warranty on my laptop and now it’s been reduced to a year. Which puts me over my warranty. I believe both companies knowingly knew about this issue and refused to do anything about it.
I purchased the Lenovo yoga 6 and only a few months later I noticed the hinges were cracking the keyboard and beginning to separate. Within a few days the screen and keyboard separated completely while I was very carefully attempting to close my laptop. The cables disconnected and everything because they were pinched and held down by the hinges. Now my $700 laptop doesn’t work at all and I can not afford to replace it and Lenovo won’t fix it! That computer is my only option for working so I can support my self and my son. I have no way to work now.
Please add me to the list of people who want to be added to the Lenovo Class Action Suit for Yoga Touchscreen Laptops. I bought 2 of them in 2021, one for me and one for my freshman college student. Yesterday the left hinge broke when I closed the laptop and it scratched the screen and the flimsy plastic screen rim is peeling back. The touchscreen is no longer working. So frustrating. I bought them at Best Buy and intend to talk to them about their experience with this issue. So far, my son’s Yoga is still working without incident.
My laptop began flickering right after purchase, I did not take it in right away as I thought it was due to my internet connection. Later, when I realized that it was the computer and took it to Best Buy where I had paid for the warranty. Unfortuneatly it was after the warranty period. I spent $270 for repair at a computer repair shop, and it began flickering again that same week. The computer is unusable. I would love to join this suit.
Hinge broke, busted part of screen before I realized what was going on. I can browse the internet but touch screen does not work. I cannot shut my laptop as it cracks screen more. So very weird and annoying.
Originally bought a yoga 730 after two months with barley any use, I went to go use it. the computer was in a secured spot. I open the screen to find the screen cracked right above hinges all the way up. I was in awe how?! It wasn’t used and it wasn’t cracked last use. Come to find out after some research common prob. Those hinges flex and when closing move just enough to hit screen. Hundreds of similar stories on Lenovo forum. I fought with them back and forth for weeks when the fjnakky offered me a 920 replacement. Here I am with a 1400$ laptop that’s useless. I’ have it hooked to a monitor because the screen doesn’t work. The touch screen stopped working now tablet mode and the driver have errors the screen flickers sometimes doesn’t come in at all… never again Lenovo’s … sad because i do love this laptop, when it worked
My YOGA 920 13IKB worked fine several months, but the display started flickering. It slowly got worse and progressed to now only thin lines are displayed.
Bought a Lenovo YOGA 730 in 2019. in Washington state. Less than 3 years in and the hinge just snapped. I mainly use it as a desktop and hardly ever as a tablet. Poor design and it appears a common problem.
My hinge on 730 went into screen and cracked it. Hundreds of users report the same issue! Now my replacement a 920, is utterly useless after barely any usage
I purchased my Lenovo Yoga 710 2in1 in 2016. I had to contact warranty due to a flickering screen and battery dying within 2 hours of charging. Less than 2 years later, my screen started going into tablet mode on its own. I contacted Lenovo and was told I’d be charged if they helped me resolve the issue. I did not pay for the services as this was a manufacturer error. So ever since 2018, I’ve had to deal with my laptop going into tablet mode in the middle of my work at random times. I’d like to be included in the class action lawsuit.
My Lenovo 730 began flickering the day i purchased it in 2019. I thought that it was due to a poor internet connection. Later, when i realized that this was happening everywhere I went I took it for repair. $270 later, it still did not stop flickering. The shop, as well as 2 others refused to work on the machine as I was told that the Lenovo Yoga 730 had a serious, “well known” design flaw. I have not heard back from Lenovo and would LOVE to be part of a class action suit. I paid a pretty penny for this machine that is unusable.