Factory defect - but warranty voided :-(

So, the problem I have is that my aspire one took a very minor hit, making the screen hinges glitch a bit.
On the left side I could just snap it back into place and everything was fine.
On the right side however that did not work and I figured something was broken.
Since I had already done the RAM mod I was unsure if my warranty was still valid, and even if I hadn't I figured I had done the damage so I didn't think warranty would cover it.
So what I did was I dismantled the front panel of the screen.
I found some damage to the clips holding the panel in place (not sure if it was there, or I actually made the damage during dismantle).
However that was not the cause of the glitch. The glitch was caused by a missing screw! There are two screws holding each hinge, the one missing was the one under the rubber pieces. Then I tried attaching a screw, and I noticed that the hole for attaching the screw was completely fucked up! Apparently during production it had been damaged and someone figured it was good anyway and sold it that way.

You might ask if I could have caused this damage, but the way it looks it is completely impossible that the error was not there while in production.

So now to my question... I've probably screwed my chances to use the warranty, or have I?
What is acers policy on fabricational faults?
I'm so upset with myself for not trying the warranty when I had the chance :-(((

 

I would think that taking apart you machine as you described, basically voided your warranty. Almost impossible to prove now that the person assembling the machine messed it up.

Never hurts to try, though.. Give them a call.