Lenovo troubles - Revision history

Digimer: /* Final */

2010-03-09T15:10:01Z

Final

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:10, 9 March 2010
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	Oddly enough, when we got our first new car, there was a long delay. Our sales person did the same thing Ms. Rhooms did - He didn't reply to us when we asked where the car was because he had no news. So let me close this event with a question;		Oddly enough, when we got our first new car, there was a long delay. Our sales person did the same thing Ms. Rhooms did - He didn't reply to us when we asked where the car was because he had no news. So let me close this event with a question;

	Is it normal for a company to be silent when they have nothing new to say?		''Is it normal for a company to be silent when they have nothing new to say?''

	Cheers!		Cheers!

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2010-03-09T15:09:45Z

Updates

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:09, 9 March 2010
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	= Updates =		= Updates =

			== Final ==

			'''Mar. 09, 2010''':

			Ms. Rhooms has come through excellently! To recap, she didn't return my emails because she didn't have any news for me. Combined with other troubles I had, I got worried. Once she got back to me, she genuinely apologized and has been one of the best support techs I've had to deal with. In the end, she got me my laptop back within the time frame she said she would in the beginning. When it turned out that my replacement dock would be delayed because of the Chinese New Year, she returned my old dock to hold me over until the replacement arrived.

			So not to take back my early frustrations, but to wrap it up, I am happy with Lenovo, my laptop and the over all experience. Will I buy another Thinkpad? At this point, I am somewhere between "maybe" and "yes".

			Oddly enough, when we got our first new car, there was a long delay. Our sales person did the same thing Ms. Rhooms did - He didn't reply to us when we asked where the car was because he had no news. So let me close this event with a question;

			Is it normal for a company to be silent when they have nothing new to say?

			Cheers!

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Digimer: /* Executive Email */

2010-02-17T17:53:46Z

Executive Email

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	Here's the letter I sent:		Here's the letter I sent:

			Sent '''Feb. 17, 2010 - 10:45''':
	<source lang="text">		<source lang="text">
	Good morning Ms. O'Sullivan,		Good morning Ms. O'Sullivan,

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2010-02-17T17:53:07Z

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	'''Feb. 17, 2010 - 10:50''': Holy molly that was fast! Less than ten minutes after sending the email to Ms. O'Sullivan, Ms. Rhooms called me back apologizing. Apparently the palm rest and screen have been replaced, but the tech "couldn't reproduce the docking station issue". I pointed Ms. Rhooms at the video (see [[T400s\|here]], bottom on the page) and she said she'd call me back within 2 hours.		'''Feb. 17, 2010 - 10:50''':

			Holy molly that was fast! Less than ten minutes after sending the email to Ms. O'Sullivan, Ms. Rhooms called me back apologizing. Apparently the palm rest and screen have been replaced, but the tech "couldn't reproduce the docking station issue". I pointed Ms. Rhooms at the video (see [[T400s\|here]], bottom on the page) and she said she'd call me back within 2 hours.

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2010-02-17T17:52:56Z

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			'''Feb. 17, 2010 - 12:30''':

	Ms. Rhooms called me back again. Apparently the tech was able to reproduce my dock error, but insists that it's because I am not pressing down on the laptop properly. Design flaw, you think? Anyway, I know I've tried inserting it the way the tech described with no better luck, so she said she would have it replaced. If it still doesn't work, I'll concede it's a design flaw.		Ms. Rhooms called me back again. Apparently the tech was able to reproduce my dock error, but insists that it's because I am not pressing down on the laptop properly. Design flaw, you think? Anyway, I know I've tried inserting it the way the tech described with no better luck, so she said she would have it replaced. If it still doesn't work, I'll concede it's a design flaw.

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2010-02-17T17:52:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:52, 17 February 2010
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	'''~~edit~~''': Holy ~~moly~~ that was fast! Less than ten minutes after sending the email to Ms. O'Sullivan, Ms. Rhooms called me back apologizing. Apparently the palm rest and screen have been replaced, but the tech "couldn't reproduce the docking station issue". I pointed Ms. Rhooms at the video (see [[T400s\|here]], bottom on the page) and she said she'd call me back within 2 hours.		'''Feb. 17, 2010 - 10:50''': Holy molly that was fast! Less than ten minutes after sending the email to Ms. O'Sullivan, Ms. Rhooms called me back apologizing. Apparently the palm rest and screen have been replaced, but the tech "couldn't reproduce the docking station issue". I pointed Ms. Rhooms at the video (see [[T400s\|here]], bottom on the page) and she said she'd call me back within 2 hours.

	== 2 ==		== 2 ==

Digimer at 17:51, 17 February 2010

2010-02-17T17:51:31Z

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{header}}
 '''edit''': Holy moly that was fast! Less than ten minutes after sending the email to Ms. O'Sullivan, Ms. Rhooms called me back apologizing. Apparently the palm rest and screen have been replaced, but the tech "couldn't reproduce the docking station issue". I pointed Ms. Rhooms at the video (see [[T400s|here]], bottom on the page) and she said she'd call me back within 2 hours.
 = Trials of a Lenovo Customer =

Digimer at 16:35, 17 February 2010

2010-02-17T16:35:07Z

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	{{header}}		{{header}}

			'''edit''': Holy moly that was fast! Less than ten minutes after sending the email to Ms. O'Sullivan, Ms. Rhooms called me back apologizing. Apparently the palm rest and screen have been replaced, but the tech "couldn't reproduce the docking station issue". I pointed Ms. Rhooms at the video (see [[T400s\|here]], bottom on the page) and she said she'd call me back within 2 hours.

			= Trials of a Lenovo Customer =

	So I've had no end of trouble with my [[T400s]]. Bad dock, bad palm-rest, $31 "free" Windows 7 upgrade, two months to get said Windows 7 upgrade, dark pixels... Now I've been without my laptop for two weeks, forced to use my netbook as my daily work machine... ugh		So I've had no end of trouble with my [[T400s]]. Bad dock, bad palm-rest, $31 "free" Windows 7 upgrade, two months to get said Windows 7 upgrade, dark pixels... Now I've been without my laptop for two weeks, forced to use my netbook as my daily work machine... ugh
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	So today I gave up and sent an executive email to Ms. Frances O'Sullivan, SVP of the THINK division, in the faint hope of getting some help... Let's see what she says, if anything...		So today I gave up and sent an executive email to Ms. Frances O'Sullivan, SVP of the THINK division, in the faint hope of getting some help... Let's see what she says, if anything...

			= Executive Email =

	Here's the letter I sent:		Here's the letter I sent:

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2010-02-17T16:16:39Z

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Páàjì titun

{{header}}

So I've had no end of trouble with my [[T400s]]. Bad dock, bad palm-rest, $31 "free" Windows 7 upgrade, two months to get said Windows 7 upgrade, dark pixels... Now I've been without my laptop for two weeks, forced to use my netbook as my daily work machine... *ugh*

Worse, the CSR who issued my RMA won't reply to my status update inquiries. When I called about the problem, the CSR said that he "had no idea" where my laptop was nor did he have any knowledge of the location I sent my laptop to. He did say he'd look into it and call me back though... He didn't.

So today I gave up and sent an executive email to Ms. Frances O'Sullivan, SVP of the THINK division, in the faint hope of getting some help... Let's see what she says, if anything...

Here's the letter I sent:

<source lang="text">
Good morning Ms. O'Sullivan,

I've been having very little luck with my Thinkpad T400s or with your
staff. I know that communication is important to you, so I am hoping you
can afford the time to hear my story and perhaps help me.

I've been a Thinkpad user since my first 486 Thinkpad back in the 1990s.
To this day, I've owned more Thinkpads than I could remember. Save one
Armada, Thinkpads are all I have ever owned.

I was quite nervous when I heard that IBM had sold the Thinkpad
division to Lenovo, as I feared the quality would drop. Despite this
worry, I decided to give Lenovo a fair try and invested in the T400s
last August. As a systems administrator and programmer, I needed a light
laptop with a good keyboard. Sure enough, when my T400s arrived, I was
absolutely blown away with how nice the machine was to work on. I was so
taken back by the machine that I was showing it off to my colleagues and
customers.

Before I explain what is wrong, let me mention what went right.

When I called to order the laptop, I spoke to a Mr. Keeley
(919-804-6803). He was extremely helpful and didn't rush me. In fact,
when I lamented that I wasn't able to get a docking station for this
unit, he informed me that they were in fact available, but had not been
added to the website. He was able to add the docking station to my order
(laptop: --, dock: --). Further, the laptop arrived
almost exactly when he said it would. My first impressions of Lenovo was
excellent and I truly felt like I was valued as a customer.

However, my troubles started fairly soon after.

First, the docking station stopped resetting itself
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4T9f3JGb4Q). I decided not to worry too
much because I knew it was made available to me before it was on the
Lenovo website.

Later, I decided to take advantage of the “free” upgrade to Windows
7. I was quite taken back when I found out this was actually a $31
upgrade. Annoyed, I figured it was probably more Microsoft's doing then
Lenovo's, so I paid the money and waited for my upgrade discs to arrive.
When they did, the DVD was snapped cleanly in two. I called Lenovo who
arranged for a replacement disc to be sent out. I waited over a month
before giving up and calling back. The CSR was not able to track the
first replacement shipment and had to send a second replacement disc
(--).

Next, I noticed a bad crack developing on the palm rest under where I
rest my hand while typing
(https://alteeve.com/index.php/File:T400s_crack_02.jpg). I was
starting to feel that I had made a mistake buying this laptop. When I
called about this issue, the CSR felt it necessary to point out that if
it was determined to be "abuse", Lenovo would not repair it. Fair
enough, Lenovo can't be held responsible for customer damage. That said,
given the advertisements from Lenovo extolling the strength of the
T400s, I was surprised that the CSR felt the need to point this out
rather directly.

Finally, the screen started developing a dark spot
(https://alteeve.com/index.php/File:T400s_dark_pixels_01.jpg). This
may not seem like much, but as a programmer, I look at the screen all
day, every work day. I keep feeling the urge to wipe the area thinking
that it's a speck of dust. This can only be described as annoying.
Certainly not an adjective I hoped to use to describe my "high end"
business machine.

Allow me now explain my CSR troubles.

When I was told that I would have to return my laptop and that it
would be gone for "a couple of weeks", I asked if I could get a loaner
laptop. Going without a laptop is simply not an option for me. I
understand that this is not normal policy for Lenovo, though I hoped an
exception could be made given my difficulties so far.

To this end, my RMA request was escalated to Michelle Rhooms
(1-866-426-9292 x 2832679, ref.: --). She was very helpful on the
phone but reiterated that nothing could be done to help me. So I gave
up, backed up all my data, migrated to an old netbook and shipped my
laptop back (UPS tracking: --).

Since shipping it back, I have emailed Ms. Rhooms twice; First on
Feb. 3rd and again Feb. 11th asking for an update on the RMA. In neither
case did she reply to my emails. Tired of waiting, I tried calling her
directly, but I got a general voice mail box and decided it was futile
to leave a message.

I called the general Lenovo phone number and reached a support CSR. I
told him the story and he indicated that he "had no idea" who I was
talking about, where I shipped my laptop to or where my laptop was. I
confirmed that a "Michelle" had signed for the laptop on UPS' website,
which I assume was Ms. Rhooms. I also confirmed that the address was
indeed a Lenovo address via your website's contact page. Regardless, the
CSR said he would look into the matter and call me back. He did not call
me back.

It's hard for me to describe how upset I am about this whole affair.
I trusted Lenovo by purchasing a fairly high-end laptop and extended
warranty. So far, both the quality of the hardware and the support has
been terribly lacking. I feel like I got a real lemon. More, I feel like
I am being ignored.

I am not asking for an upgrade. I am not asking for a credit. I am
only asking for two thing; To be contacted by someone from Lenovo who
can actually help me and to have my laptop replaced. I want to be able
to trust that my laptop is reliable, and at this point, only a full
replacement would do that. Surely given the trouble I have been through,
something this simple could be arranged?

In case it helps you trace my story, here is the information on my
laptop:

Sale Order: --
Item Number: --
Machine. Type: 2801-CTO
Serial Number: --
Contact phone number given when ordering: --
Contact email address given when ordering: --

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Madison Kelly
w --
c --
</source>

I miss my T400s. :(

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