In all fairness, i do have a second machine i can use while my laptop is being repaired. Also, if my laptop fails due to the video card, guess what, i can copy the hard drive because it is 100% fine - so i dont have to do without my data during the repair. Geek Squad is NOT fit to repair the laptop, i agree, thats why they sent it to HP. And as for your final comment, the "wear and tear" i mentioned is as follows:
the hinge broke lose from the frame due to stress over a year and a half of opening and closing the laptop, it happens, my dad had the same problem.
The HD DVD drive (ya its from those days) stopped opening, they replaced it completely no questions asked.
The hard drive was replaced completely unknown to me due to a pending failure - now this I will agree is iffy, as I lost the data on the drive, fortunately for me I had already wiped it to prepare for selling, but this I can agree was a shock.
Well the hinge was being repaired THEY broke the webcam, which they then fixed.
And yes, the keyboard and motherboard have been replaced due to me spilling a drink on it, figuring this may happen or something like it, is why I had the plan to begin with. This is the only thing I believe was MY fault and frankly is not uncommon with laptops. (and the motherboard worked fine because I cleaned it up myself, I had them replace it since I could and didn't want to have to worry about it)
So hopefully that clears up "wear and tear" for you and everyone else.
To the others who gave me thumbs down, ask yourself this, would you rather have paid 100-200 more and known that you would be ok than have to be scared of using your laptop or having watched it fail all together?