Okay, so... I wanted to check back in and give a quick update on the status of my repair process, which is now complete.
I originally sent my ThinkPad in about a month ago... They did indeed replace the motherboard, but upon closer inspection I noticed some damage had been done to the wires that connect both the wireless card, and the mobile broadband card. Both of which I use extensively!
I was obviously upset, but was soon contacted by a Lenovo employee regarding what had happened. They set me up with a second repair to replace the wires, however, they brought the laptop to Lenovo Headquarters to perform the repair as opposed to it going to The Depot Repair Center. Upon the return of my laptop this time, and my subsequent inspection of it, let me just say... The quality of workmanship was light years beyond that of whoever did the original repair at The Depot. The wires were repaired, but unlike the previous tech that left fingerprints all over the screen, some kinda grimy substance on the LCD cover, and marred up the screw covers... This new tech did everything absolutely perfect.. There was an obvious difference in how much pride the two techs took in their work. Upon return this time around, everything looked like brand new, which is how I sent the unit in. Screen was cleaned, the casing, etc... And this time around new screw covers were supplied!
I think in my particular case the first time around, I just happened to draw a bad hand, and got a tech who didn't take too much pride in his work. This can happen with any company/business, I know... As a network engineer for Fiserv, I have spent the last 5 years cleaning up the messes of those before me, who obviously took little pride in their work.
To the woman who handled my call the first time around, who I could barely understand due to her thick accent, but was super pleasant... I thank you... I hate that companies always seem to farm out first level support calls to India, but you were a pleasure to deal with.
To the tech who did the original repair, I am sure the units you service are recorded, and hopefully the fact you did such a poor job will trickle down to your supervisor, and in turn you, and that in the future you will try a little harder, take a little more time, and do a better job.
Now the important part:
To the Lenovo employee who contacted me in regards to the aftermath of the first repair, and the tech you had do the second repair... You have absolutely restored my faith in the ThinkPad line, and more importantly the service IBM/Lenovo provides. Thank you!
For what it's worth, coming from just some random guy on the Internet, hold your head high, walk with confidence, be proud of what you do, because you do it well... And know that people like you are what make a difference, and people like you are what will keep me coming back to Lenovo when I need PC hardware.
Once again, thank you...
Greg