In-Service Warranty Repair Denied -- Now 9 since I sent my T60 in for repair ...

[ZR601]

Wow... Amy, words are certainly your business.  It might be time to conduct an investigative report into the sordid world of the outsourced computer repair business!  From what I saw, Omph (the other person in similar straits) was eventually well taken care of.  So hang in there.

[brasscupcakes]

Thanks you for the kind words about my writing; that's quite a good idea for a magazine pitch at some point.

However -- It is now a week ago Thursday, not since I sent my computer to IBM, but since they denied in-warranty service and I filed my dispute. I have not heard one word.

This, in spite the fact that they said that they finish 'dispute investigations' within four-to-five working days (which is way too long to begin with), and in spite of the fact that I supposedly have in 'in' with the service department, via Mark from Lenovo, who is advocating for me (thanks, Mark, but really, guy, this is absurd).

I mean, what would they do for me without Mark's help -- come to my house and give me an a%&-whooping?

Never mind getting additional accident coverage next time -- given the rudeness and lack of  communication (so far, they've never called me -- I called them!), who's to say the more comprensive coverage remains comprehensive?

It's absurd to cut IBM-Lenovo slack because they're out-sourcer, Selectron, is now charged with Depot Repairs; that's a meaningless distinction to Thinkpad owners, whose contract isn't with Selectron. Clearly, it has become extremely unwise to take anything IBM-Lenovo states about its quality or service at face value.

If and when I ever get my Thinkpad back, I suppose it would only be prudent to have the exterior tested for unsafe levels of lead.


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Message Edited by brasscupcakes on 05-02-2008 05:51 PM

[Hellbore]

The strange thing is it is possible to get moisture in your computer through normal daily use, such as from condensation, especially if you live in a humid place.  I personally have had cellphones where the "water sensor" sticker turned red and I know for sure I never got the phone wet.  The stickers, however, rely on a chemical reaction with water that turns them red, so clearly moisture DID get in my phone, but I don't know how it happened.  It could have been from sweat, or some incident I didn't notice or remember involving a few drops of water.  Just a thought, maybe something similar happened with your computer.

To Monicker, The_Fire_Snake: (notice I spelled your aliases correctly)

Comparing the accident protection warranty to paying protection money to gangsters is ridiculous, it presupposes that the depot is lying about finding moisture in your laptop and trying to extort money from you.  What makes you think that the technician who decides there is moisture damage has anything to gain from lying about it? I think your attitude about this is really unfair.  Just try to look at it from a business point of view, moisture indeed can and often does ruin electronic devices and it's not unreasonable for them to hold the customer liable for any signs of moisture they might find, in fact this is common in the electronics industry, look at cellphones for example.

To brasscupcakes, I do hope you are able to get your machine repaired under warranty, whether there was in fact moisture in it or not.  The fact that Mark and customer arbitration are working on this is encouraging, Mark has been helpful to us in the past.  While I tend to be somewhat less suspicious of the depot than some, I CAN NOT deny the fact that they are rude and inattentive to the customer.  I have dealt with the depot before and it was never a positive experience.  I would suggest you limit your correspondence as much as possible to Mark, arbitration, and other Lenovo customer service people.  This is not to make excuses for Lenovo, I just think you'll get better results if you talk to them, they tend to be far more helpful than the depot people.  I agree though Lenovo shouldn't get a pass for the depot's poor handling of repairs, if Solectron doesn't do a good job it is still Lenovo's responsibility in the end and they will pay the price if customers become dissatisfied.

Message Edited by Hellbore on 05-02-2008 06:30 PM

[brasscupcakes]

this is fixed now. I would delete this message altogether but I only see an edit option.

Message Edited by brasscupcakes on 05-02-2008 10:14 PM

[Hellbore]

Sorry about that brasscupcakes, I went back and edited my post to direct my response to the right people.

Message Edited by Hellbore on 05-02-2008 06:18 PM

[Monicker]

Helllbore,

If moisture can occur through "normal daily use", then should it not be covered under a standard warranty?  I would say that accident coverage should be for something which goes beyond normal usage.  If thinkpads are not rugged enough to withstand "normal daily use" then there is a quality problem.

As for what a technician would gain by lying, I guess you would have to follow the money trail and see who benefits from that $750 they want to charge.   I don't find it at all inconceivable that someone might fabricate something when they could gain from doing so, even if the gain is indirect.  Would you say that no employee has ever been encouraged, explicitly or tacitly, to do something which is wrong?  Is that the case with some of the disputed spillage claims?  Only the people at the depot know for sure.  But it is certainly not ridiculous to think it could happen.

[Hellbore]

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Monicker wrote:
...Would you say that no employee has ever been encouraged, explicitly or tacitly, to do something which is wrong?  Is that the case with some of the disputed spillage claims?  Only the people at the depot know for sure.  But it is certainly not ridiculous to think it could happen.

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Just because it's remotely possible doesn't mean that's what happened, you guys are talking like it's a foregone conclusion that the depot IS in fact doing this.  You said "Selectron seems to have some issues with abuse of process" and The_Fire_Snake says "Someone at the depot is playing a nasty game so they can pocket some extra cash on this side".  These are not statements that there is a possibility that something could happen, these are assumptions that it IS happening.

Mind you, these assumptions aren't even based on your own experience, they are based on a few measly posts on the internet by strangers that you don't know from Adam.  You say it's possible that Solectron is abusing the system, but is it not at least as possible that the people posting these message are themselves either lying or mistaken? 

The motivation for the laptop owner to dispute the claim is far stronger than the depot technician's motivation for making a false claim!  The laptop owner stands to lose a lot more than the technician stands to gain.  The technician doesn't get a kickback from moisture damage repairs!  The laptop owner on the other hand loses a significant amount of money and is far more likely to try and dispute the claim even if they did spill water on the laptop!

So how about we just drop all the assumptions and stop making wild accusations at Solectron OR the laptop owner? 

[The_Fire_Snake]

Hellborne,
   Ofcourse we don't know exactly what happened in each case.  Is it possible that not every laptop owner is telling the truth about spilling something? sure.  But I find it strange that there are so many long time thinkpad owners that are having these problems.  Many are business professionsals going through a lot of frustration with the depot and for numerous weeks to have this issue resolved.  From what a lot have written, their laptop is essential to thier work/life, not just entertainment.  Many have requested photos from the depot about proof of the spill damage, and have not received anything(ex: omph).  Heck just read OMPHs thread and the amount of detail he/she put into it and it will make your head spin.

I guess at the end of the day you should take everything you read on these boards with a grain of salt.  You nor I know these people posting but I trust my instinct.  And my instinct tells me that a majority of people working for Lenovo and the depot are great employees, but there seem to be a few bad apples that are causing these problems.  As Monicker pointed, it is not unusual to see an employee(s) doing something unethical/illegal at a business for some kind of personal gain, happens everywhere.  How does this work to their gain?  Well they now sold a MOBO for $750 which they would have given away "free"(not really free since user paid for warranty).

All I know is that if this happened to me I would be extremely upset and would have lost a lot of money.  How could I defend myself?  It is the depot's word against the consumers.  All I could do would be to post a topic on this board, as others have done, and hope for some help.  I am not sure what you would do different if it happened to you(excluding buying the accident warranty).  And then we could all say we don't believe you.  Any of us could end up in the same place.

Obviously you have a right to your opinion and I to mine but I have seen a lot of posts recently on this board and others that follow the same pattern and something smells fishy to me.

[wjli2]

How is Solectron being paid as per service or per parts changed or per hour???

[Hellbore]

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The_Fire_Snake wrote:
Hellborne,
  (a bunch of idiotic stuff)

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Who are you talking to? There's nobody here named Hellborne.