USB Keyboards w/ Trackpoint in Canada + General Issues with Shop Lenovo in Canada

[pkiff]

This is basically a public complaint notice in the hopes that Lenovo will fix what I see as a broken online shopping experience from Lenovo Canada. (Apologies to the mods who I know must get tired of complaints here in the Lenovo forums, but I honestly hope that this complaint will serve a productive purpose in helping Lenovo Canada fix its problems.)

I was disappointed to learn that the original Lenovo USB Keyboard with Trackpoint has been discontinued. I thought this was a great keyboard, and I am sad to see it go. For those of you who don't know, the keyboard I am talking about is the version described in glowing terms on the Lenovo Design blog here:
http://blog.lenovo.com/design/the-keyboard-you-helped-design

But I understand times change and models get updated. I have accepted that this model is now gone, and since people are asking a ridiculous amount of money for one of these old models on eBay, I've decided to get one of the new "Compact" chiclet-key style replacements. I'm sure this will be a good keyboard, though I expect I will have to find a third-party or home-made palm-rest so I can use one comfortably because the new keyboards don't appear to have any palm rest at all.

Now if only I could get a hold of one of these new keyboards from Lenovo in Canada! They are not for sale on the Canadian Lenovo site with the US layout, they are only available in a French layout. The Bluetooth version is available in the US layout, but not the USB version. Why?

I can find this same keyboard at a half dozen online stores in Canada (for slightly more money than what Lenovo charges, since Lenovo offers free shipping):
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7911019&CatId=534
http://www.pc-canada.com/item/0B47190.html?utm_source=shopbot&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopbot
http://www.computervalley.ca/0b47190/lenovo-keyboard-0b47190-thinkpad-compact-usb-keyboard-w-trackpo...
http://www.amazon.ca/COMPACT-USB-KYBD-TRACKPOINT-THINKPAD/dp/B00F3U4TQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=13999...

And I can find it in the US:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?...

But at the Lenovo Canada web store only the French keyboard layout is available:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflow:item.detai...

Why?

There is a longer back story to all this, since I actually ordered the earlier version of the keyboard through the Lenovo Canada website about two months ago. And that story is not happy either. It took several phone calls and follow up emails, and 6 full weeks until I was finally informed that Lenovo was cancelling my order because the product had been discontinued. Six weeks to find out that something is out of stock? And so the original USB keyboard with Trackpoint is discontinued. And the new chiclet version (USB with US-layout) is not available from Lenovo Canada, even though it was released in 2013 and appears to be available practically everywhere else?

To add to my frustrations, I tried to phone the 1-800 store number in Canada for the past 3 hours today, but it was constantly busy (Busy? Seriously? Yes, the Lenovo 1-800 number for New Sales Inquiries in Canada: 1-855-2-LENOVO (1-855-253-6686) is either broken or apparently doesn't have adequate capacity to give callers an automated wait message). Ended up using web chat, where the Lenovo representative confirmed that the US keyboard layout of the Compact USB Keyboard with TrackPoint is not available from the Lenovo Canada site.

There are many, many things wrong with this picture, and I don't think I have to enumerate them here. Obviously there are production and/or distribution problems with these keyboards and with their predecessors. Another thread here in the Lenovo Forums suggests that there were availability issues with the US layout in other regions as well, but those problems were back in 2013 when the keyboard was released:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Options-Accessories/ThinkPad-Compact-Keyboard-Review/m-p/1156733

I have gone ahead an ordered one from TigerDirect here in Canada. Knowing my luck, they will be out of stock(!)

I'm a Thinkpad fan. I've had Thinkpads since my first laptop, a Thinkpad 350. I have 5 Thinkpads in various states sitting around my desk. But basic problems with ordering and with the web store must be driving some customers away. I just hope that someone from Lenovo reads this and realizes that they have a problem with their sales and distribution channels that needs to be fixed.

Sincerely,

Philip Kiff.