Consumers Union estimates that last year, approximately 238,500 of the personal computers sold in the U.S. were "lemons." These computers had to have three of more components replaced. This estimate is based on data from a survey of more than 54,000 Consumer Reports readers. See "Lemon Aid for PCs Gone Sour" Consumer Reports, November 2000, page 8.

According to the consumer survey results, as reported in Consumer Reports, 5% of desktop PCs sold since 1996 were "dead on arrival." An additional 11% of PCs had serious problems within the first month of ownership.

State legislatures in Pennsylvania and Illinois have considered bills to create a "lemon law" for computers. Like the lemon laws for cars, these bills would give consumers a statutory right to a refund or a replacement for hard to fix computers. The consumer's right to chose a refund or replacement would be triggered by two unsuccessful repair attempts.

For the Consumer Reports article and for more information about these innovative state law proposals, see:
www.consumerreports.org

Prepared by:
Gail Hillebrand
West Coast Regional Office
Consumers Union of U.S., Inc.
1535 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
 

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