Help in escalating: Lenovo NL support hung up [ Edited ]

[kvirtanen]

UPDATE: COMPLETE EMAIL TRANSCRIPT AT THE END.

I initially reported a loose hinge on my X201T and posted a video of it to YouTube. I compared my situation to another customer's video, a customer who got their hinge replaced. The situation is very similar.

They responded and said that there's nothing out of the ordinary. I then asked them to explain the difference between my situation and the other customer's.

In order to escalate the issue or examine it further they said they needed the case number of the other customer. I was able to track it down and gave the number to Lenovo NL.

This was June 15. After that I've asked them politely if the request is still valid, but there has been no answer. Last time was 2 days ago.

I know they said that they have nothing to do with the Lenovo Community (I asked them on the phone), but if a kind individual from Lenovo Staff would be able to help me get in touch with them I'd be most grateful. The hinge is getting more and more loose and the wobbling from the base of the machine makes me very nervous about the life span of the hinge.

I'd like to get it examined before it gets worse or gets qualified as "customer damage".

Kind regards,

Kimmo

[Serge1410]

hey kvirtanen,

could you pm to me the following detail :

Name:
Country:
Mobile:
Email:
MTM [machine type model]:

(Locate MTM - http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/FindProductNumber.page#find)

S/N:
Date of Purchase:
Case Number : (if any)


Description of issue :

[kvirtanen]

I sent you the information. Thanks ..!

[kvirtanen]

Hi there!

Any updates on this?

.k

[kvirtanen]

Anything at all? I made the service request in May, this must be a somekind of record by now...

[kvirtanen]

That's it. I'm through with doing business with Lenovo anymore. This is totally unacceptable. Here goes another customer.

I have waited for an answer for 5.5% of my whole warranty perioid. That is no customer service at all.

TO ALL: Lenovo Support personel seem to delete your support request from the IBM Electronic Support Call portal whenever they feel like doing so. This this forces you to do another support request so that they even react to your emails anymore, which even further delays all actions.

It's basically like hanging up on somebody on the phone.

[kvirtanen]

To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com

Hi,   I was able to find the service request number afterall. I was contacted yesterday by the Lenovo NL Warranty Service by phone and asked to provide them with photos of my problem to this address. Problems I quoted: - The button panel next to the ESC key exposes the internal components through a gap - the screen hinge is getting loose and makes the screen wobble - it seems this is a common fault with the X201 tablet and there are cases where the customer got the hinge replaced under warraty Documentation of the fault: - Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL9jpqZ5FkQ - Photo: http://www.students.oamk.fi/~m7viki00/misc/X201T_case_gap.jpg Other similar cases where the user got the computer repaired under warranty: Customer reported fault with hinge: http://www.youtube.com/user/knruff#p/a/u/1/7A237Cgfv-8 Same customer got hinge repaired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8q-e369csM Forum post: http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/lenovo-ibm/34119-new-x201t-hinge-question.html Quote from forum:   There should be NO lifting of the semi-circular plate where the screen is attached. It is normal to be able to force the LCD's corner's to touch the base, but you should be forcing it - it shouldn't be loose. There's supposed to be a bit of flex to keep the unit from being too stiff and breaking.  With kind regards,    Kimmo Virtanen    [http://wirtanen.tk/]

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GNKTechSupport Central <support_nl@uk.ibm.com>	Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 4:58 PM
Reply-To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com To: xxxxxx
Dear customer, We have checked the footage that you have sent us. And it seems that there is nothing out of the ordinary. Machine works as designed. The issues that were mentioned can also be found on other similar machines. Vriendelijke groeten/Kind regards/Sinceres salutations Daniel Lenovo Remote Technical Engineer BeNeLux Email: support_nl@uk.ibm.com NL Tel: 0031 020 513 39 39 BE Tel: 0032 023 39 36 11 -------- Original Message --------Subjectate:From:  xxxxxx Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:53:34 +0100 xxxxxx   [Quoted text hidden]

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xxxxx xxxxxxxx	Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 5:44 PM
To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com
Hello, and thank you very much for the quick response. May I inquire how my computer's situation different from the example case that I referred to?  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6F252E312735B66D "The Thinkpad was now at the IBM repair center for about 8 days, the damaged (dead on arrival) hinge was replaced after 4 days but another problem with the internal microphone was a little bit longer to solve. Many thanks to the very competent support at ESAG in Zurich" The quote above is from a customer that posted the videos: http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/lenovo-ibm/34119-new-x201t-hinge-question-5.html. In this case, the lifting and wobbling of the semi-circular base (not the screen, that's normal) indicated that the hinge was failing from its base connected to the computer. My concern is, because there are X201T models with perfectly stiff hinges with no play at all, that over time the hinge will fail because of this wobbling motion. Should this happen it is usually a considered "a customer damage" and not covered by Lenovo warranty. Kind regards, Kimmo Virtanen [Quoted text hidden] --  Ystävällisin terveisin,    Kimmo Virtanen    [http://wirtanen.tk/]

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GNKTechSupport Central <support_nl@uk.ibm.com>	Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 1:50 PM
Reply-To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com To: xxxxxxxx
Dear Customer, Unfortunatly we don't take know the case nr from the machine that was repaired in zurich to compare the situation. Please provide case nr of that specific machine so we escalate this issue. -------- Original Message --------Subjectate:From:  xxxxxx Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:51:30 +0100 xxxxxx   [Quoted text hidden]

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Kimmo Virtanen <x.virtanen@gmail.com>	Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 8:13 PM
To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com
Hi, I was able to contact the customer and get the case number: Hi, I owe you an answer about the Lenovo repair request. The request number was XXXXXX. The preliminary information exchange and approval was done by support_de@uk.ibm.com. After that I send the Thinkpad to IBM Repair Center, c/o ESAG, Moosacherstrasse 6, 8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland for the repair. I wonder if the above request number helps to determine if the symptom I described counts as something that should be addressed before the part breaks? The videos of the symptoms the customer posted on Youtube look awfully similar to what I'm experiencing with my X201T. With kind regards, Kimmo Virtanen [Quoted text hidden]

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Kimmo Virtanen <x.virtanen@gmail.com>	Sat, Jul 2, 2011 at 6:31 PM
To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com
Hi, Is the service request below still valid? With kind regards & waiting for your response, Kimmo Virtanen [Quoted text hidden]

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Kimmo Virtanen <x.virtanen@gmail.com>	Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 9:40 PM
To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com
Hi there, Patiently waiting for acknowledgement. Kind regards, Kimmo Virtanen [Quoted text hidden]

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Kimmo Virtanen <x.virtanen@gmail.com>	Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 8:32 PM
To: support_nl@uk.ibm.com
Hi, Still waiting. In the mean time I took this case directly to Lenovo and gave them a print of this email. Waiting for two months for an answer is unacceptable. That is 5.5% of my warranty perioid. Regards, Kimmo Virtanen [Quoted text hidden]

[kvirtanen]

I made a moment ago a new service request at IBM Electronic Support Call portal (ESC).

It's time to put the clock ticking. If I do not get decent support this time it's time for me to consult legal advice. A product under warranty should get warranty service, perioid.

Dear Lenovo, this is not the first time I have returned a product and got a full refund after over six months of use under the European Union consumer protection legistlation.

[kvirtanen]

My HDD recently started giving me S.M.A.R.T. errors (yesterday) so I reported it to IBM ESC. As I'm currently visiting Finland, I made the request to Lenovo Finland. 

They called the next morning. A new HDD is here tomorrow.

That's what I'm talking about. Talk about differences in customer service among countries! Unfortunately, even though I gave them the case number of the other customer who had their hinge repaired, they could not do anything about it because "the system only shows cases from nordic countries" (the other customer is situated in Germany I believe).

Meanwhile, Lenovo NL answered me - after one and a half months - saying "as mentioned earlier, the computer functions as designed". To be fair, yes, they did mention it earlier, but after that (see the transcript above) they asked for the other customer's case number for reference.

• "Please provide case nr of that specific machine so we escalate this issue."

So I did. And for that particular detail, a comparison of two different cases I waited for a reaction for 1½ months. Not for the fact that they thought the computer works as designed - which they said in their first response. And in the end there was no comparison, just waste of time.

I very much doubt they did anything with the case number, judging from their response.

**sigh**

[Serge1410]

hi kvirtanen,

apologies on this. the service team is currently looking into this