Does Lenovo really provide international warranty service for ThinkPad users?

[ThinkPadZ61t]

Hi Mark, thanks again for your reply and your support.

I also believe they are making sincere efforts and I appreciate that, but...
Yes, it's true I got a phone call on Monday morning from Lenovo IWS asking me if they can help me register my product in mainland China. Since they did not mention anything about other issue I addressed them in my email I said I do not want to register it now and that I'm expecting a reply from them first. That was it. And still no other reply followed.
 

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

ThinkPadZ61t,

I think I understand your point, but you are seeking to make some warranty claims and in order to process a claim, a machine must be entitled, so I believe the team is making a good faith attempt to help you get the system entitled, and then they can address your list of issues.

My suggestion is to call them back and have them entitle / register your system and then see if they can work with you to resolve your claims. 

Mark

[ThinkPadZ61t]

Thank you Mark for you concern and thanks for all of you from Lenovo who do care. It is a pity not everyone from the company you represent does and it is more pity the non-caring side is actualy country of origin. I did called them again a few weeks and tried to register my system, but nothing has changed and nothing has been done. Lenovo completely lost the credibility for me and there is nothing that can change my opinion, I just cannot afford to spend more time on that issue and I don't care anymore about the international warranty I've got from lenovo.

Some people will say it is just in China and that other major international companies also failed to offer it's customers warranty service they supposed to. And I will agree, I spent  enough time in China myself and  know  how it works,  I also heard  other stories from my friends disapointed  by  services provided. But  the  bottom line is  LENOVO DOES NOT PROVIDE INTERNATIONAL WARRANTY. This is the warning that  everyone should get, and  this is the image I've got. Even if they try to do so, they fail to provide it.

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

ThinkpadZ61t,

That's really disappointing to hear that your story seems to be winding up this way.  I hate to hear that we are losing you as customer, when it seems that a resolution should have been possible.  

Mark

[LinYu]

ThinkPadZ61t may or may not be around here any longer to read what I am about to write, I just don't know. But as a recent member of the forum, my attention was pulled into this thread for the following reason:

I bought all my ThinkPads in the US, the last one in November 2007. But travelling quite often to other countries, I wanted to learn about other people's experiences with an issue that presently and directly affects me.

My own experience with the International Warranty is quite different from that of ThinPadZ61t. As I posted in another thread, I was denied a warranty replacement of my failed battery while staying at the European country where I am right now. I covered that already and have nothing else to add, for the moment, to what I wrote in that other thread.

HOWEVER...

Two weeks after the aforementioned denial of service ( this last Monday, February 16, to be precise ) the HD on my T61p also failed. All it took was a phone call, that Monday afternoon, to the very same local Service Center, informing them of the tests I had already performed on it and... Voila!... They took my word for it, put an order that same hour for a new HD and in TWO DAYS I had my system back, running and shining like new! All they asked for was the ( free ) return of my old hard drive after installing the new one.

Granted, for my part, I had the necessary backups in order, which made things a lot easier, but the whole experience was a tremendously efficient and satisfying deal, in the best traditions of what IBM got us all used to!...

In all fairness, after writing something not very pleasant about the warranty coverage for batteries, I felt an obligation to share this positive, brand new experience I had with the way the IWS worked for me.

Kudos to Lenovo for this one!

Note: Edited on 2/23/09 to correct the part returned  --  the hard drive, not the battery. My appologies. 

Message Edited by LinYu on 02-22-2009 12:57 AM

Message Edited by LinYu on 02-23-2009 07:37 AM

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

LinYu,

Thanks for sharing your experiences here.    Your experience is generally what we would expect...that service is being provided to you in accordance with the terms and conditions of the warranty. 

Your system model type was covered in the country you sought service in, so the hard disk replacement was covered.  The battery failure was outside the first year coverage so, unfortunately service was not able to replace that for you.

Best regards,

Mark

[drskhan]

Wait..... Not too fast Lenovo expertise.....

My experience is sore too.

I purchased my Lenovo ThinkPad T400 & Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 "directly" from www.lenovo.com while I was in USA.

Unfortunately I had couple of issues in both the machines at different time.

Regarding Y530, I was precisely & clearly informed that there is no International Warranty. Inspite of repeated calling to Lenovo customer care in USA, I was denied any assistance.

Regarding ThinkPad T400, I was once again clearly & precisely informed not once but many times to forget about International Warranty. I took my ThinkPad to IBM/Lenovo business solution center in my country. They simply refused to touch & inspect my machine. Upon my repeated & humble requests, they decided to run 3-4 hrs lab test & practically identified that my T400 was having hardware problem.

They told me to wait for 24hrs for approval from supervisor.

After 24hrs, I was informed that there is no International warranty services for my laptop purchased from USA.

In my opinion, the reason is almost all business centers in various countries represent IBM. Since Lenovo is new, these IBM business solution providers are not "ready" to cater Lenovo.

VS

I purchased Acer Aspire from www.amazon.com before switching to Lenovo.

After 1 month usage, I inspected that there is some problem with factory image. Even restoring was not solving the problem. At that time i was in Pakistan due to my work requirement.

I requested Acer USA with my problem. They simply "transferred" my warranty to Dubai/Pakistan region without any additional charge.

Next I contacted Dubai. They sent me the whole solution without any charge.

This is what International Warranty is.

Hence I am planning to go for another brand switching in future.

Regards

Dr. Khan 

Message Edited by drskhan on 03-04-2009 09:24 AM

[ronan_zj]

        it depends on what machine type number you have coz some machine does have limited IWS, not all over the world. 

My T60 has IWS, but when I check the coverage, it only works in a few country, Korea, Japan, Malay. No CHINA, so its limited IWS. On the other hand, my X61t basicly has total IWS, i mean, its warranty is granted  in  all the countries. 

       For the Warranty in China, its a little bit complicate. The price on Lenovo mainland  website is almost double the price on Lenovo HongKong or USA, so this is why when you want your machine bought from other place to get the warranty in China, you need to provide sale recepit(DUDE, I never keep my receipt, who can save a piece of paper for 3 years? I cant). I think this is the only way Thinkpad China want to stop ppl buying thinkpad from HK, USA.

      So, if you get a Thinkpad from China, i believe there is no warranty issue in the USA. However, u may have a problem on warranty in China if you get a thinkpad which is not sold in China official store. 

[drskhan]

Yes.

I do agree its complicated & tricky.

Dr.Khan