Overall frustration with Lenovo

[skinley]

Hello...
I hope someone here can help me.  I am finding my experience with Lenovo to be extremely frustrating.

3 months ago I spent over $1700 on an x220.  I had just moved to Lenovo from DELL because of DELL's declining customer service after 7 years of customer loyalty.

Initially I was impressed with the Lenovo X220 (although somewhat dissapointed at the delivery time).  Within days the computer showed signs of being inferior in some ways to a 4 year old laptop that I was replacing.

- The hardrive  was showing worrying signs of failure (all tests and your own technicians eventually confirmed that the drive was faulty).
- The microphone  failed periodically without consistent cause.
-The speakers proved inadequate in business settings and I have had to purchase an external set of speakers which destroys part of the reason for buying a small and light computer.
-The keyboard is not consistent and often takes two or more presses of the space bar to register when I type.
- The mouse touch pad often double clicks on its own or sometimes has to be tapped twice to make the the right click work.

The computer is THREE months old.   I spent $1700 of my earned income on this.

SO- after calling your service department I was told that a new hard drive would be mailed to me.  I was a little annoyed that I was going to have to repair the machine myself even though I have spent over $300 for the extra warranty. I was further told by the first technician that the hard drive might fix the other problems which seemed a little absurd to me.  (It was confirmed by your next service specialist that the idea was wrong).  Because I will be travelling on business in about 1 week, I have no way of dealing with those other problems until the end of November.

With the hard drive problem, the technician couldn't figure out which hard drive to send me and couldn't get the record right about which configuration I had.  When that was finally dealt with I received a call a few days later that the part was on back order and I would have to wait.

The hard drive eventually arrived - And CD's arrived.  This computer has NO CD player.  I was asked to fix my own computer.  I was delayed because the right parts were not available for a 3 month old computer.  AND I was not given the appropriate resources to do the work that Lenovo's warranty initially promised me that it would do.

The latest technician thought that was unreasonable (including the information I was given that a hard drive replacement would sort out the other problems) but the best he could do was give me a case number and a depot phone number and address that I could deliver the unit to on my time but I would probably have to wait for it to be serviced.

Can you see how this creates frustration?
More than $1700.  3 months.

When I first dealt with DELL many years ago, there was a much smaller issue which occured but an issue none the less that was Dell's fault.  When I explained that my time is valuable to me - they offered me $150 as an apology.   Along with the speed and effectiveness of their service, that extraordinary gesture cemented my apreciation for their customer service.

Will Lenovo take any step forward to show that a customer's time and expense is valued?  How about forwarding a portable CD drive so I can fix the hard drive?  How about repairing all of the mentioned problems?

In no other industry is there such failure to meet the minimal requirements of it's customers.  I suppose that is true of most computer manufacturers with the exception of Apple.

Oh... if this note is arriving on the wrong desk, please chalk that up to the problem I have had with finding the right addresses, phone numbers and support information that will actually give support.

Shawn Kinley 

[skinley]

Oh... I have posted this here because the email address which I found on one Lenovo site failed and bouncedback my message...

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

@skinley, it seems that the technicians should asked the laptop to be sent into the depot and they would fix the issues with the right tools on hand.

But if you consider that your time is valuable then you should get the onsite service, i am sure that this option was available to you when you ordered the system? 

[Serge1410]

hey skinley,

would you be so kind to PM to me the following :


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

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

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

Screenshot of Error(if applicable) : (upload it to a hosting site and paste the link here)

Location of unit : Home / Repair Center (delete where appropriate)

Description of issue :


Troubleshooting Taken : (if any)

What you would like Lenovo to do :

[skinley]

I purchased the highest level of warranty and support... Regardless, a 3 month life span on a $1700+ product is unacceptable.

[skinley]

Hello Serge1410
Thank you for taking the time to respond to this matter.  I have also received an email from customer support.  It seems that it took emails being sent randomly to as many locations as possible to get some action moving on this issue.
My fear is that dealing with too many people might confuse the matter BUT... I will send you the information you have asked for and you can decide if I should continue with Lenovo customer service who sent me an email or if you will look further at this situation.
Name: *
Country: Canada
Mobile: -
Email: *
MTM [machine type model]: 4286

Serial Number (S/N): *
Date of Purchase:  May 9 / 11
Case/Order Number : (if any) Sorry, I don't have these but there were two opened for various issues

Screenshot of Error(the errors were multiple error and the major one was confirmed by an online technician connected to the laptop

Location of unit : Home 

Description of issue :The issues are many... (all mentioned above and paraphrased below)
 
3 months ago I spent over $1700 on an x220.  Within days the computer showed signs of problems.

- The hardrive  was showing worrying signs of failure (all tests and your own technicians eventually confirmed that the drive was faulty).
- The microphone  failed periodically without consistent cause.
-The speakers proved inadequate in business settings and I have had to purchase an external set of speakers which destroys part of the reason for buying a small and light computer. Sometimes sound is garbled and ALWAYS sound is inadequately weak)
-The keyboard is not consistent and often takes two or more presses of the space bar to register when I type.
- The mouse touch pad often double clicks on its own or sometimes has to be tapped twice to make the the right click work.

The computer is THREE months old.   I spent $1700 of my earned income on this.

SO- after calling your service department I was told that a new hard drive would be mailed to me. My records were not complete or correct at Lenovo and I had to inform them what hard drive to send me.
 
I was a little annoyed that I was going to have to repair the machine myself even though I have spent over $300 for the extra warranty. I was further told by the first technician that the hard drive might fix the other problems.  This seemed a little absurd to me.  (It was confirmed by your next service specialist that the idea was wrong).  Because I will be travelling on business in about 1 week, I have no way of dealing with those other problems until the end of November.

  I received a call a few days later that the part was on back order and I would have to wait.

The hard drive eventually arrived - And CD's arrived.  This computer has NO CD player.  
 
I was asked to fix my own computer.  I was delayed because the right parts were not available for a 3 month old computer.  AND I was not given the appropriate resources to do the work that Lenovo's warranty initially promised me that it would do.

The latest technician thought that was unreasonable (including the information I was given that a hard drive replacement would sort out the other problems) but the best he could do was give me a case number and a depot phone number and address that I could deliver the unit to on my time but I would probably have to wait for it to be serviced.

 
Troubleshooting Taken : (if any) --- I have run diagnostics.  I have dealt with a Lenovo Technician who ran tests and said "You should get the har drive replaced"

What you would like Lenovo to do :  Good question.  Send me a portable CD drive and I will do the work or re-imburse me for one and I will go pick one up.  Fix all the other problems.  Reimburse me for my time and frustration...  At this point I am under the gun. In one week,  I leave the country for a tour of South America that requires me to have a reliable computer.  At this point I still have a failing hard which makes me reluctant to put any valuable information into the system or even to travel with it.  If it remains as it is, I will have to take my 4 year old dell and consider that the Lenovo is a VERY EXPENSIVE paper weight left at home.
Again, I appreciate your assistance in trying to deal with this.  But time is now short on this ongoing problem.

Moderator edit: Masked personal and machine id info from spambots.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

Highest level of warranty coverage? what is the name of the coverage that you have?

[skinley]

"Highest level of warranty coverage?"

Not sure how this helps you to help me but the service that I added on to the normal coverage was the highest level offered. It was the "Think Pad Protection" and it was for 2 added years and a total of 1/5 the total cost of the laptop.

I hope this helps

Thank you for your time. I have two Lenovo employees helping me this issue at the moment.

s

[skinley]

Serge 1410

Well the issue just gets more frustrating.  By email, one Lenovo customer service person was on top of the case moving theings forward until he heard I was in Canada and has passed it on to someone else.  I got a call from a local Lenovo service technician who said a case had been open.  When he found out that the main problem was that Lenovo gave me disks to install without a hard drive he said he couldnt help me because they don't deal with software.

I am back at the beginning with a dieing computer that is now almost 4 months old, has never worked 100% and I leave the country in 4 days.

I am totally amazed at the inability to simply supply a working computer and honour a warranty...

s

When I get back... will Lenovo refund my purchase in full so that I can buy a computer that works?

[skinley]

DECEMBER 19, 2011 - still unsolved.

Update, Lenovo sent two people to my house.

They brought a hard drive.  They didn't bring a cd drive to install the software.  The technicians also said they hadn't been told about the other issues..

I am still with the computer with no cd drive, a hard drive that has nothing on it outside the computer, a failing hard drive in the computer and various other problems not dealt with.  I am in contact periodically with someone in Lenovo customer service... but that doesn't seem to help.

I have had a Lenovo Computer ALMOST 8 MONTHS.... I have had trouble free usage of it for about 6 days.  I paid 1700 and have had horible service.

It's Christmas rush time and I notice a LOT of Lenovo ads on the internet.  They are VERY GOOD at marketing but once they have your money, they are VERY BAD at service...