T410 docking station issue - VGA external monitor flashes.

[Kicker774]

Are you just cleaning or did you get stabilizer clips as well?

I don't think we've hot 100 yet but we could be close with maybe 1 or 2 units not taking fully.

An extra L bracket stabilzer clip and it's seemed to do the trick.

Just very odd at how touchy the docks/laptops are and how it happens out of nowhere.

[GNFtech]

Just letting you guys know that I was doing the run around again today on this issue and the part needed to resolve it with Lenovo.

The Service Desk keeps sending me to the Parts Department both of which tell me they can't get the part.

After getting some much appreciated help from Kicker774. I realized that one of the replacement stablizer clips is the stand that is in the back right corner of the dock and that Lenovo has fixed this issue in there new docking stations for the T420. They have the same clip that comes in the kit.

With That knowledge I tried to leverage the new docking station to try to get the FRU number and see if I get this specfic part from Lenovo. The service desk told me they can't pull up a FRU number for that part and again told me to try the parts department. The parts department is pretty much useless if you don't have a FRU.

I got the parts department to give me a number to a higher service or complaint department. That person pretty much layed the issue out to me as this. For docking station issues they replace the entire docking station and can't get the individual parts. The docking stations that have this issue are more than likely all out of warranty, only a 1 year warranty, so They won't replace it for you.

The Tech told me straight up Lenovo's official word is I need to buy a new docking station to resolve the issue.

So yah fun times.

The Price points for returning to Dell keep looking better and better.

[Kicker774]

Pretty bad service from my point of view.

Even if they didn't want to cover this under warranty Lenovo could sell these stabilizer clips alone. Too much hassle to sell them individually? Fine, sell them in packs of 10.

At minimum give the customer the option to repair their units. The customer may not like having to spend money on it but that's certainly better than the "Sorry your out of warranty. You'll need to order a new docking station."

Instances like this causes the customer to go order 100 Dells/HPs/Toshibas/Acers then tell 100 of his friends what kind of service he got from Lenovo.

[Kicker774]

GNF Did you give Lenovo the FRU for the kit? 75Y5797

[GNFtech]

Kicker

Yes I gave them that FRU number, that was one of the first times that they played ping pong with me between the service desk and the parts department.

Service desk said that the kit with that FRU was no longer free and I could buy it from the parts department. The Parts department told me that the FRU wasn't on hand and they don't have a price point to sell so they can't get it or sell it and to talk to the service desk.

[pezza]

Well, I have only been signed up to this forum since yesterday, and already I have read enough to put me off buying Lenovo

I have a T410 as a work laptop, so have no choice in that matter, but I am currently looking for a new laptop for home/personal use.

Irrelevant of the issues themselves, I think the customer service seems completely atrocious

Andrew

[Kicker774]

On a 'Don't overlook the obvious' note ....

I had a user come to me with this issue today and his docking station and laptop was on a tuperware like rolling file container underneath his desk.

Even after I installed the stabilizer clips and cleaned the connectors he was still having the issue.

I relocated his docking station to his desk for a more solid base and this seemed to clear up the issue.

If you can't get the fix from Lenovo you can always slide index cards underneath the laptop for a little stability.

Not a permantent solution I know, but something to keep your sanity while Lenovo figures out how to handle this issue for home/small business users.

[srunni]

Does anyone know what the FRU for the spacers is? I called up Lenovo support, but they said they couldn't provide the spacers unless I told them the FRU (they weren't able to figure it out even after I precisely described the issue, said which laptop/dock models I was using, and told them about this thread).

[Kicker774]

---

srunni wrote:

Does anyone know what the FRU for the spacers is? I called up Lenovo support, but they said they couldn't provide the spacers unless I told them the FRU (they weren't able to figure it out even after I precisely described the issue, said which laptop/dock models I was using, and told them about this thread).

---

This is the FRU for the entire kit. You can ask but I don't think they will send it out for just one person.

[Kicker774]

As an update to this thread, the cleaning kit is not a end all be all solution.

After 2-3 months I'm starting to see the issue pop back up for people who already have the clips installed and had their connectors cleaned.

Hopefully Lenovo can come up with a permanent solution aside from upgrade to a T420.