[ltp] Re: Linux-Thinkpad digest, Vol 1 #1939 - 16 msgs

[Steve Newcomb]

By contrast, I've enjoyed excellent service from IBM in the 
US for our T60s.  I had the fan get too noisy; the
technician replaced it here at our home 2 days later, having 
driven 3.5 hours to get here.  Then I had the DVD burner go 
bad.  I had the replacement in my hand on the 2nd business 
day, as promised.  All part of the on-site service contract, 
which I would recommend to anyone, and which is the only 
reason we keep buying things that say "IBM" on them (even if 
they're actually "Lenovo").  I'm gathering from your note, 
Peter, that things are very different in Europe.  Is IBM the 
service provider there?

> From: Peter Lemken <ibm-thinkpad@bloatware.de>
> Organization: Totally Disorganized
> To: linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
> Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:53:02 +0100
> Cc: fragen@de.lenovo.com
> Subject: [ltp] Lenovo Service and Support - My last Thinkpad
> Reply-To: linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> I'd like to share with you my experience with the Lenovo support I have had=
>  in=20
> the last 2 weeks. There are two notebooks, my spouse's X60 and my own T60 a=
> nd=20
> both have been purchased with an extended 3 Years on site warranty.
> 
> The X60 became unbearably hot, i.e. 90=B0C during compile, draining the bat=
> tery=20
> in less than 45 minutes. A support request with Lenovo has been filed on=20
> =46riday, March 14 with a detailled description, together with the informat=
> ion=20
> that the battery has lost 60% of its original capacity. I received a call=20
> from the local on site technician on Tuesday, March 18, i.e. one full day=20
> after the guaranteed one-business-day policy of the warranty upgrade. He=20
> changed the motherboard, but couldn't say anything about the battery. We=20
> needed to leave the house right after the technician was finished so I call=
> ed=20
> Lenovo on March 19, reporting the battery. They could not find anything abo=
> ut=20
> the battery in the original report and then told me that since the machine=
> =20
> has been bought on March 16, 2007 the battery would not be covered by the=20
> extended warranty, since the report came 4 days late. That was it, my spous=
> e=20
> is now left with a battery that has 40% of its original capacity.
> 
> Thanks a lot.
> 
> But that's not all: My T60 has some problems too and I reported these on=20
> Thursday, March 20: The DVD-writer has problems reading and writing CDs; it=
> =20
> only writes at half the speed and most of the writing fails at the first=20
> attempt. The display has started going red upon switching on and it takes=20
> about a minute until it is white again. I know this symptom from my old R51=
> =20
> and know that the CCFL is going to fail soon, so I asked them to replace th=
> e=20
> display. The battery is little over 1/2 year old (machine bought in July=20
> 2007) and has only 80% of its capacity left.
> 
> It's now March 26 and I haven't heard back from Lenovo since March 20. I kn=
> ow=20
> it's been the Easter Weekend, but they are already one day behind again. I=
> =20
> received a call from the Lenovo UK-support center on Easter Monday, but=20
> couldn't take the call. I tried to call them back under the number I saw in=
> =20
> my phone display, but it seems that this number blocks incoming calls. I=20
> tried calling them twice today, having waited for their call all day=20
> yesterday, but always got stuck at one support guy who tried to put me=20
> through to the lady taking my original support request, but she wasn't=20
> available both times. They promised me a call back from her, but=20
> so far nothing happened. Besides, I don't understand why it would need the=
> =20
> original person to take the service request, it should be in their ticket=20
> system and they should be able to give me a status report.
> 
> Update:
> 
> I have just been called by Lenovo UK. They will hopefully send out a DVD-dr=
> ive=20
> and a battery today. They can't do anything about the display, since the=20
> store where I bought the machine has changed it from XGA to SXGA+ upon=20
> purchase (I specifically bought the machine to have the combo of Intel GPU=
> =20
> and the SXGA+ Flexview display which they didn't have in stock).
> 
> I now have a bricked display which the store won't exchange, since the disp=
> lay=20
> change itself voided the warranty.=20
> 
> What pisses me off in particular is the way I was treated as a customer. No=
> t a=20
> single apology for the delay and reaction time and not a single effort to=20
> find a solution for the problem; mere shoulder shrugging is all I got.
> 
> I am sure my company will rethink its decision to buy Lenovo notebooks that=
>  is=20
> in planning right now; we can't use that kind of business policy in a=20
> professional environment.
> 
> My last Thinkpad; Goodbye Lenovo.
> 
> Peter Lemken=20
> Stuttgart