Warning: incompetent, lousy shops for Thinkpad parts

[RealBlackStuff]

I have been on the lookout for a specific LCD-cable.
I have run into an outfit that tries to flog under all sorts of names!
The main company seems to be ADVANCED COMPUTER SERVICES.
They try to flog their stuff under:
http://www.acsoutlet.com
http://www.acsparts.com
http://www.thinkpad-parts.com
http://www.thinkpadpartsandmore.com
http://www.thinkpadmedic.com
and I'm sure there are a few more!
All of them have the same contact numbers.

To show you their incompetence, read this story.
The emails are copied in verbatim but with names removed.
From http://www.thinkpadpartsandmore.com I ordered P/N 93P4551, a WSXGA+ LCD cable with camera and Bluetooth connectors, for 15.4" R61/R500.
What I received a few days later was 93P4449, the same-looking cable for WXGA.
So I called them up, spoke to a salesman there, who promised to send the correct cable out via UPS Ground, and I could give the other cable back to the UPS driver.
He would be here already next day!
Great, I thought...

Half an hour later, I got an email:

My name is XXX and I am with Advanced Computer Services. I understand from my Boss that you had a question regarding a cable that we sent you.
I was wondering if you would be able to provide me the part number from the original cable that you need to replace.

Why would they want to know the original P/N? That's not what I am looking for!
My reply to this:

my Lenovo R500 laptop had a WXGA LCD screen with a 93P4449 LCD cable.
This cable is also known as 93P4547.
I replaced the screen with a WSXGA+ screen, which requires a different cable 93P4551, that I had ordered from your people.
You can check the P/N or FRU numbers in the R500 HMM manual, get it here: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... 631_03.pdf
Your company sent me the wrong 93P4449 for WXGA.

Their [cryptic] answer, again verbatim:

Ok-Let me try and make some order out of chaos.

On your original order-I have you ordering the 93P4551. On the order comments it states: "Make sure it's the correct cable for the WSXGA+, camera and bluetooth"
Having said that the 93P4551 only has one part number of 93P4449 and is WSXGA+ w/camera and bluetooth. Having said that-we sent you what you ordered.

FRU: 93P4547-has part number 93P4380. Is part number 93P4380 on the original cable?

The R61/R500 only have part numbers on the cables. No FRU (Field Replacement Unit) number-so it gets a bit a confusing.

Also-if you could provide me with your unit TYPE number-I will look it up as well.

Where does she get those numbers and info from?
My reply to this:

I have been in the laptop business for over 20 years.
Believe me when I tell you that I know my business.
Your info is completely wrong!
I have ordered 93P4551 for WSXGA+ plus webcam and Bluetooth.
That part number 93P4551 is also on your website!
What you sent me is the WRONG 93P4449, which is ONLY for WXGA plus webcam and Bluetooth.
In other words, you did NOT send me what I ordered!
93P4449 does NOT work on a WSXGA+ screen!
I also have another 93P4451 cable for this WSXGA+ screen, but it has only Bluetooth and no webcam connector.
This one does work with WSXGA+. For the webcam it would need another 4 wires, but that plug is so small, that I cannot solder these wires on.

On my original WXGA cable there is P/N 93P4449, another factory ASM number of 43Y4088 and in another Serial Number underneath there is also 42T0575.
On YOUR WXGA cable there is P/N 93P4449, another factory ASM number of 43Y4088 and in another Serial Number underneath there is also 42T0483.
All these numbers (93P4449, 43Y4088, 42T0575 and 42T0483) are for WXGA screens!
My laptop is a ThinkPad R500 (2718-3MU) which came originally with WXGA (1280x800), which I now want to replace with WSXGA+ (1680x1050).
That's why I ordered 93P4551 for WSXGA+ plus webcam and Bluetooth.
Which part do you not understand?
Please send me the correct cable that I ordered, and don't try to make such a drama out of this!

An hour and a half later I get this email:

hello,
understand that we sent you the wrong part
i checked with the inv dept and we do not have the correct part in stock
i checked with purchasing and they are not able to source it
please return it to
.... (address follows)
reference rma # WR-S0xxxx
ship via ups ground no insurance account ZZZZZZ
sorry for the headache

And attached is the invoice for some other stuff that I bought from them a few weeks ago!
Another incompetent eejit in the same company...
Now I'm REALLY getting a headache!
My reply:

Sorry to say, but are you out of your mind?
These were the right parts, and they have already been sold to one of my customers in Germany.
It seems that your company has a terrible way of dealing with its own customers.
You have a website Thinkpadpartsandmore.com
But any other contact afterwards, be it email, invoice, or shipment, comes in under the unknown name of ACS, or acsoutlet, or whatever else you fancy.
And there is not even any mention of Thinkpadpartsandmore.
Maybe you should get your business better organized, and hire competent staff, that know what they are doing!

After which I get the same email, but attached this time is the correct invoice.
And shortly thereafter I get an email with a UPS label to stick onto the return shipment.
Now I'm still waiting for my refund.

I would strongly advise anybody to be VERY careful if/when doing business with this outfit!

[Blzut3]

I've actually been to ACS in person. The place is located right down the street from my university campus. As I understand it the mainly deal with fortune 500 companies and the government, which is why you'll probably notice they have rediculously cheap prices on some parts and overly expensive prices on others. (Once the big companies stop demanding the parts they practically hand them out.)

I can definitely say they don't come off as the most competent people (I was told there was a minimum $10 order, but then later during next purchase told that only applied to online orders or something like that). Dealing with them in person isn't too bad otherwise since they basically allowed me to experiment with getting my broken 380XD running again and took back the unused parts. (It was determined to be a motherboard issue instead of the DC-DC card. On the plus side I did end up maxing out my working 380XD.)

[RealBlackStuff]

After scrounging through a whole load of posts in the R400/R500 forum, I found this post: R500 upgrades from May 15, 2011.
I contacted forum member warhamstr, who went through all his paperwork from years ago to find me the perfect answer:
he got cable 93P4380 from China, which apparently is the replacement for 93P4551, which is nowhere to be found any more!
93P4380: LCD cable for 15.4" widescreen R61/R61i/R61e/R500, WSXGA+ (1680x1050) with webcam and bluetooth

[Summilux]

Their casual way of communicating with their customers is appalling. Another side of their incompetence, I guess.