Warranty refused : broken USB port [ Edited ]

[pghFL]

Mark - I would just like to mention that after only a week and a half the USB on my 183827U became so loose that I could no longer use the Lenovo USB cord because it wouldn't charge. I am now nearly a month in and I am very afraid for the future of my ThinkPad. I am uber careful with my electronics and this is very distressing.

[JameZ]

@pghFL,

Appreciate if you can drop me a private message with the following info.

Name:
Mobile:
Email:
Date of Purchase:
S/N:

//JameZ

[justguy]

Update 3 : 

After escalation to EU managers Lenovo have agreed now to do this under warranty.  This does show that they are prepared to stand behind their brand for business users.  It gives me faith that their units will be ones we can rely on not to have a consumer level TCO in the company.

Credit to the company for stepping up to it.

[pghFL]

Good show. There was never any doubt in my mind that this was a warranty issue and needed to be treated as such. Kudos to Lenovo for making things right.

[SBSSC]

I too have ran into this issue and believe it to be a problem with poor quality USB ports.  We recently rolled out 31 of these tablets to our service techs to use.  Within the first week I had a tech come to me and say his tablet wouldnt charge.  After looking at it the connectors in the USB port had just broken off and were hanging by the wires.  I called support and got someone in Atlanta and finally after explaining everything to them they agreed to let me send it in for depot repair.  The very next day another tech came to me with the same issue. Of course I am having to wait to call his in since I gave the first tech my spare tablet to get him by and now I dont have a spare to give the second tech and they said it would take 5-6 days to repair.  I really hope I do not end up having to send all 31 tablets in for repair as we spent way too much money to be running into an issue like this.  I wouldnt be as concerned if there was another way to power but this is it and our techs have to have their tablets up and running at all times because we use a custom Android app for dispatching.

[SBSSC]

Well I clicked the link in the service email to check the status of my repair and it says it's on hold for customer information. I called and they said it was on a billable hold. So I guess the word hasn't gotten around to their support folks that this is a BIG issue and needs to be fixed. I am tempted to return all of these tablets.

[pghFL]

Give James a chance to get involved unless you really just want to send them back.

[justguy]

Hmm ... a tad concerned after reading your comments SBSSC.  We need to give this tablet to journalists who are not known for their gentle touch with technology.  Our Thinkpads get frequent abuse and dousing in wine/beer/G&Ts - they don't fail.  

If there is a defect in the USB part's spec, I am worried about letting this device out into their hands.

[rickinoz]

It's good to see Lenovo are making good on the warranty. To give them credit they have honoured a DOA on my bricked device too.

However, to get this took a number of phone calls, some persistence and a refusal to take no for an answer. To start with they tried to give me the run around, but we put a stop to that very quickly. Fortunately in Aus, they are bound by some robust consumer protection legislation.

[JameZ]

@All,

Appreciate if someone can upload a picture (a macro shot maybe?) of the broken USB port.

Also am in contact with pghFL to get the tablet shipped in for engineering to take a look at it.

@SBSSC,

If service are still requesting you to pay for the broken USB port, please drop me a note with the following and I will request assistance from customer relations.

Name:
Mobile:
Email:
S/N:
Date of Purchase:
Case ID:

//JameZ