Underwhelmingly bad EasyServ repair [ Edited ]

[jashsu]

I ordered a T420s in late 2011, had a pleasant ownership experience until the CPU fan started to click. Huh. Fans are moving parts and will wear out eventually, but six months in seems quite premature. Okay, no problem. I call EasyServ to initiate depot repair. Get the box, pack the device up nicely, send it off. After a week, I get the device back.

First sign of trouble: it was dirty all over the case and display and keyboard. Okay whatever, i'll just clean it off. Upon closer inspection, I notice an unsettling amount of sloppy work. Scratches, scuffs, chipped corners, stripped screws. Power it on and as soon as I start typing I notice the keyboard has become looser. I also noticed that my bluetooth mouse was no longer connected. Opening up Windows Device Manager, I noticed that my bluetooth radio is no longer detected. **bleep**?

I'm really disappointed with the service of the depot repair. I imagine that even the most amateur of repair depot operations couldn't make the mistake of stripping a screw. When I called in to EasyServ to report these problems, the service representative told me the depot had noted the machine as having a split or scratches in the palmrest when it did and currently does not. Then of course I got placed on a 20 minute hold that ended up being disconnected.

I know depot repairs can be YMMV, but I really expected better from Lenovo. =( I highly suggest anyone who is going to send a machine to EasyServ for depot repair take high resolution pictures first.

Stripped screw, scratching:

Scuffs/scratches:

Chipped lid:

Loosened keyboard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L7YPtXOXhA

Admin edit: Reduced picture pixels - ease of navigation for tablet and phone users.

Edit image of Scuffs/scratches. Each image file size cannot be more than 50KB. Refer to Forum Rules

[Cleo_Lenovo Administrator]

Hi jashsu,

Welcome to Lenovo Community!

I'm sorry that the machine was returned in an unexpected condition. Did you ever try making a call again after the first attempt which was disconnected? Please give it a try.

If there is still no response from the call centre or service centre, please let me know. I'll see what I could do.

Thanks and sorry again for the bad experience.

Best regards,
Cleo

[DangerMouse]

You will be in good hands with Cleo. Top Lenovo employe in my humble opinion

[tripplec]

So why is this sort of damage happening. The service centers should have the proper tools to open these cases and handle it properly. I shudder at the other thread where two notebooks came back unusable due to the damage incurred and no warranty work was done.

I about to go into shock I think reading these instances. Surely they're not auto shops with massive tools doing the work. Its quite unnerving and almost unbelievable.

Is there no supervisor or quality control?

[JDay]

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tripplec wrote:
I shudder at the other thread where two notebooks came back unusable due to the damage incurred and no warranty work was done.

I about to go into shock I think reading these instances. Surely they're not auto shops with massive tools doing the work. Its quite unnerving and almost unbelievable.

Is there no supervisor or quality control?

---

When I see these threads showing systems returned with extensive damage I take it with a grain of salt. Many people break things and then try to get it replaced under warranty, there is no shortage of people who pull this stuff. Not that I am accusing anyone of anything, just saying it makes me skeptical.

[ThorsHammer]

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JDay wrote:

When I see these threads showing systems returned with extensive damage I take it with a grain of salt. Many people break things and then try to get it replaced under warranty, there is no shortage of people who pull this stuff. Not that I am accusing anyone of anything, just saying it makes me skeptical.

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This is why I take pictures of the item in extreme detail before shipping it.  It might be needed later especially if you need to go to court for resolution.  I assume Lenovo does something similar on the receiving end.  If they don't, then eventually this is going to bite them (not being able to prove what condition the item was received in).

I took 50+ high resolution pictures of a machine, packing, boxes and materials I used on a shipment today.  And when I say high resolution, I mean 10 megapixel shots from a high quality camera.  You can clearly see spec of dust so it's apparent if there is any damage beforehand or not.

[jashsu]

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JDay wrote:

---

tripplec wrote:
I shudder at the other thread where two notebooks came back unusable due to the damage incurred and no warranty work was done.

I about to go into shock I think reading these instances. Surely they're not auto shops with massive tools doing the work. Its quite unnerving and almost unbelievable.

Is there no supervisor or quality control?

---

When I see these threads showing systems returned with extensive damage I take it with a grain of salt. Many people break things and then try to get it replaced under warranty, there is no shortage of people who pull this stuff. Not that I am accusing anyone of anything, just saying it makes me skeptical.

---

That's exactly what I thought too until it happened to me. =(

I'll admit that when I see pictures of stripped screws in a thread complaining about bad repair depot service, I immediately thought "hmm... maybe that was just the user's own carelessness, cos seriously how could a professional repair depot possibly make such an amateur mistake?"

Then again, someone ordering a configure-to-order T420s is probably a more sophisticated than average consumer who is beyond silly mistakes like using the wrong sized screwdriver.

[jashsu]

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ThorsHammer wrote:

---

JDay wrote:

When I see these threads showing systems returned with extensive damage I take it with a grain of salt. Many people break things and then try to get it replaced under warranty, there is no shortage of people who pull this stuff. Not that I am accusing anyone of anything, just saying it makes me skeptical.

---

This is why I take pictures of the item in extreme detail before shipping it.  It might be needed later especially if you need to go to court for resolution.  I assume Lenovo does something similar on the receiving end.  If they don't, then eventually this is going to bite them (not being able to prove what condition the item was received in).

I took 50+ high resolution pictures of a machine, packing, boxes and materials I used on a shipment today.  And when I say high resolution, I mean 10 megapixel shots from a high quality camera.  You can clearly see spec of dust so it's apparent if there is any damage beforehand or not.

---

Live and learn I guess. I may have put a little too much trust in Lenovo's reputation. Although warning bells should have gone off when the cs rep on the phone told me the work is farmed out to an out-of-house repair company. (That doesn't have to be a bad thing as long as training and QC is up to par).