Warranty refused : broken USB port

[kraion]

hello, my micro-usb port became "lose" after not even a week of use, i have to plug in the usb and hold it at an angle for it to make contact at all, lenovo is also refusing an RMA, every other company has a 7 day DOa policy!

[justguy]

---

Mark_Lenovo wrote:

tzhang4284,

While we are looking into this, several people reporting this out of tens of thousands of units in the field does not classify something as widespread.  Let's try to keep perspective on this one.

If you need help with support, please let us know.

Thanks

Mark

---

Hi Mark,

While I totally understand the numbers, likewise we are only seeing a miniscule proportion of the tablet's users on this forum no matter whether they have the same issues or not.  

With 30+ years in the IT industry, I know it is not uncommon for single components to have problems in the first production run.  Apple has problems, Dell likewise - it happens.

On this forum, we have a large number of first-adopters who took a product before it had even been publically field tested in any numbers.  To have people here reporting a 10% failure rate on their installed tablets should be sufficiently concerning for it to be taken seriously and some comment made.  

Dismissing it as just a few people out of 10's thousands is doing a dis-service to this community.  The product we are looking to invest in is not being billed or marketed as a consumer device and needs a commesurate level of backing from Lenovo. Perspective is only available when a full picture is part of the commentary.  Perhaps this is indeed limited to 10 or so devices globally and they are all represented here.  However, as mature adults, we both know this is a little unlikely

I will not buy any more of these until I see that the USB issue is indeed either part of an early production issue or I can be confident I do not need to escalate it to one of the most seniour EU execs in order to get it warranty repaired. I like the unit a great deal and it feels solid.  It is never acceptable for any component to fail within a few days usage.  It is automatically warrantly unless abuse (and not use) by the customer is shown.

I know these tablets will be subject to harder usage patterns than a consumer device and I have to plan the TCO accordingly.  The initial cost of the device is a small proportion of it's life time cost to a company - just one returned unit to technical support in a company is probably more costly than the unit was to buy.

All I am saying is that feedback on this issue (and others like GPS) is a requirement to make the product a business device.  If this feedback is that all broken USB ports are warranty items - that is a really good start.

[knochentrocken]

Hi,

I got my 18382BG five weeks ago. From the start the charger only worked when tilted slightly upwards. Now the black pice inside the micro usb broke off and came out with the charger. I am used to chargers like these from other tablets and cell phones and never had an issue and never misused any of them.

I called support (Germany) yesterday and they will pick up the tablet tomorrow at my door. They say it's probably warranty but can't be sure until they see it. I was told I will get it back within six days after the pick up. I am really hopeing that I wont have to go through as much trouble as you guys did.

Now that I read all this at least I am aware that this problem is fairly common and can therefor argue for warranty far better.

I will keep you updated on the progress.

Moderator edit by bananaman: Masked serial number to prevent misuse.

[Neokazaki]

I have also a problem with my TPT. Suddendly, the Tablet stopped charging over microUSB. This happend 2 Weeks after I got the tablet, but Lenovo told me that it is to late for DOA!

I hope they will fix it...

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

Justguy,

We are looking into the issue and collecting samples so I'm not dismissing the issue.  However, my intent was to ask that a few people dial down the rhetoric and assertion that this is a widespread problem, and epidemic if you will based on the experiences of a relatively small group of people (compared to the install base).  

I understand that only a small portion of people who may have an issue get on a forum and post, so my personal threshold is set fairly low ( we tend to look into things if just a few people confirm).  However, once some of these things get going, it is easy to attribute any and all possible reasons why a port broke to it being a "known problem" simply because people post about it.  I'm sure you appreciate that as well.

I generally  try not to be defensive -  we really do want to listen to what is going on, fix things we can, and look for ways to improve for the future, so I absolutely don't want to shut that down.  

I appreciate your reasoned feedback here!  

Thanks

Mark

[paperclip69]

HI All

I feel as though i should point out that although my micro usb port does still work and i don't have to hold it to charge, it doesn't sit right.

on day one i plugged in the cable that came with the tpt and it's not as tight fitting as i would expect from this device, i use the cable on my htc desire and it's a good tight fit with no movement, i then plug it in to the tpt and it moves all over the place and quite often sits at an angle.

I purchased 2 of these for our company and they both did it from day one.

so to end, although a small portion of ports have actually broken it's likely that a large amount don't sit right and are not designed properly or are faulty but still work.

it would be interesting to get the views of everyone as to how the cables sit while plugged in. is this a sympton of a potential failure?

i don't want to have to do without my tpt for 6 days if i have to send it off for repair that may or may not be covered under warranty.

we need some solid info here that that this is going to be covered and the fault fixed once and for all.

this should really have been picked up in QC

cheers

Tom

[tcarter0]

Mark, I don't want to be alarmed, but we've just received an order of 700 of these after a too short trial period. We are in education after all. About 30 teachers have used them for a week, and four report charging issues. I have only looked at one so far. The one has broken USB pins. I'll check the others shortly. These are adults. Can't wait for students to get them next week. The one I've had for a month isn't broken, but it's definitely not a quality connection. It's pretty loose feeling. I think all it would take is to pick it up forgetting that it's plugged in to break it. Take a brand new one, plug in the usb cable, and you can feel how weak it feels. Lenovo might want to hand out some complimentary cables to charge over the proprietary connector that the desk dock uses rather than micro usb. Seems too flimsy to me. Just my opinion for now. We'll see in a month or two. Tommy

[bladechang]

Same thing happened to me these days after 3 weeks using. I think it is a widespread issues. Mini USB port couldn't support such a big monster. My second mini USB port began to be loose. sometimes charging doesn't work. i can only charge it with a specific angle. The only solution right now, is to buy the dock, but i don't want to spend $70 on a charger!

[Trekky]

Hello, 

after 4 weeks my USB Port is also broken and the repair center tries to refuse the repair. I can only contact the Call Center and so the only "try" to repair the tablet on warranty.

How can I be sure, that the repair center accepts the request to repair it on warranty?

[justguy]

Thank you Mark