Another IBM EasyServ Ordeal

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ipatent · #1 Post by **ipatent** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:22 pm

I purchased a ThinkPad T43p, type 2687D5U around May 2005. It came with a three year warranty. Several months ago, the display failed. I called IBM and they had me DHL it to the depot for service. It came back seemingly repaired. I do not know whether they replaced the motherboard at this time but I suspect that they did.

This past October, the T43p again failed (there was a system board failure and it would not recognize the hard drive). I immediately contacted IBM by telephone, which initially arranged to send me a replacement hard drive and a set of recovery CDs. When this didn't work, they had me DHL it back to the depot. Approximately two weeks later I received a voicemail message from EasyServ informing me that the case had been placed on “billable hold” and that IBM would not repair the computer unless I paid them over $900. The voicemail message further alleged that the computer had been damaged by a liquid.

This is my personal laptop and no one else has had access to it. It has been used almost exclusively in my climate-controlled home office and I know for a fact that nothing has ever been spilled on it. Either they are making this up, or the damage was on the system board that they put in during the computer's previous trip to the depot.

After failing to receive authorization to charge my credit card, EasyServ shipped the unrepaired computer back to me.

When I opened the box the weekend after Thankgiving to inspect the unrepaired computer, I noticed that it was in a partial state of disassembly and that components were missing. Specifically, several screws were missing, including the large screw that is used to secure the hard drive in place. In addition, a removable panel was missing from the bottom of the computer, and the RAM (1.5 GB) was missing. Also missing was the screw that is used to hold the RAM Access panel in place.

Denying me my rightful warranty coverage by fabricating a liquid damage problem is bad enough (I have seen enough similar stories to believe there is a pattern here), but EasyServ has gone beyond this and actually stolen a fungible valuable component (the RAM) of my computer.

I called IBM that weekend, but received what I beleived to be the runaround. They said I would have to call during business hours during the week. I can't deal with waiting on hold wasting my time to talk with people who have not dealt with me in good faith to begin with. I have stewed about this for the past month and have even drafted a complaint against IBM to file in my local PA Court of Common Pleas (I am an attorney). So far I have not filed it. Last night I read the other thread here about EasyServ and followed the link to send a message to Sam Golisano, so I did that. I will give it a few more days and see how they respond, if at all.

I have raved about my ThinkPads to friends and business contacts for years and would hate to use any other brand. For one thing, I detest touchpads and absolutely need to have a pointing stick. I guess the Dell Latitudes are viable alternatives. In the meantime, I have fallen back on my old TP 600X, which has given me about six years now of perfect service and still has the best keyboard of any laptop I have ever used.

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:44 am

Sorry to hear about your troubles...let us know what kind of response you get...

#3 Post by **Kyocera** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:47 pm

Yes, let us know, I deleted my initial post of swear words and mad and evil emoticons then some more swear words.

Please let us know how this goes, sounds like they are being overly aggressive with a microscope looking for some kind of human DNA or something that somehow gets into the machine and claiming this is liquid.

Musti · #4 Post by **Musti** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:26 pm

Wow, what an ordeal, especially this time of the year when you should really be in good spirits.

I have two bits of advice to you.

1. Why haven't you escalated the issue? Send an email documenting everything to CEO of Lenovo, cc'ing EasyServ managers. I know it will be hard to find the contacts, but it should be doable in this time and age.

I got my PowerBook G4 replaced because of a direct email to Steve Jobs, after weeks of frustration over local and Apple service when it dawned on me that a computer experience shouldn't be like that.

Most often we don't realize that a kind email and a simple request to powers-that-be go a long way. Customer is the asset.

2. Dell Lattitude? Please, no.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

ipatent · #5 Post by **ipatent** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:13 pm

Musti wrote:1. Why haven't you escalated the issue? Send an email documenting everything to CEO of Lenovo, cc'ing EasyServ managers. I know it will be hard to find the contacts, but it should be doable in this time and age.

I hear you, but it would require time and energy that I just haven't had the past few months. I don't have the name of the EasyServ manager, but I do have the name of the techician, which was on a slip within the box. I also have a case number, and I assume that IBM can track the relevant persons down with that info.

My wife has a Latitude. I know what you mean. I prefer my six year old TP 600x. If it had a bigger screen I never would have replaced it.

#6 Post by **Kyocera** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:46 pm

ipatent, somewhere there is an email link to the ceo of Lenovo, someone had posted it here somewhere, maybe you could search and find it, that may help.

#7 Post by **gator** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:19 pm

Just go to www.lenovoblogs.com - it is a official Lenovo blog, and maybe you can contact David Hill or Tim Supples or Matt Kahout. A polite email to them explaining your ordeal might help you.

#8 Post by **K. Eng** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:30 pm

Musti wrote:1. Why haven't you escalated the issue? Send an email documenting everything to CEO of Lenovo, cc'ing EasyServ managers. I know it will be hard to find the contacts, but it should be doable in this time and age.

I believe he said in his post: "Last night I read the other thread here about EasyServ and followed the link to send a message to Sam Golisano, so I did that. I will give it a few more days and see how they respond, if at all. "

It's always the same story: a T4x has a broken system board. EZServ screws up. Customer becomes justifiably angry. I fail to understand why Lenovo has not rectified this situation. It's not as if this is a new problem! This has been going on a long long long time.

At work we use Dell Latitudes. The older ones are junk, but the newer D620s are decent, if less elegant in design, than the ThinkPad.

ipatent · #9 Post by **ipatent** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:32 pm

It's always the same story: a T4x has a broken system board. EZServ screws up. Customer becomes justifiably angry. I fail to understand why Lenovo has not rectified this situation. It's not as if this is a new problem! This has been going on a long long long time.

I've been wondering if I would save myself further headaches in the future if I just sold what is left of the T43p on ebay (I'm sure I would get more for it if EasyServ would send me the parts that they stripped from it) and bought a new T60 or R60. Maybe if IBM contacts me based on my e-mail to Sam G. I could talk them into letting me send it in and upgrade for some reasonable price.

It sounds like the on-site warranty is the way to go in the future.

Is EasyServ the same as Solectron?

pianowizard · #10 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:46 pm

ipatent wrote:It sounds like the on-site warranty is the way to go in the future.

Another way to go might be to buy a cheap but good machine. It's now often easy to find on eBay a nice T40 for under $400 shipped. If something goes wrong, instead of going through the trouble of fixing the laptop, just sell it for parts and replace it with another cheap machine. Forget about warranties altogether.

#11 Post by **draco2527** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 12:19 am

ipatent wrote:
It's always the same story: a T4x has a broken system board. EZServ screws up. Customer becomes justifiably angry. I fail to understand why Lenovo has not rectified this situation. It's not as if this is a new problem! This has been going on a long long long time.
I've been wondering if I would save myself further headaches in the future if I just sold what is left of the T43p on ebay (I'm sure I would get more for it if EasyServ would send me the parts that they stripped from it) and bought a new T60 or R60. Maybe if IBM contacts me based on my e-mail to Sam G. I could talk them into letting me send it in and upgrade for some reasonable price.

It sounds like the on-site warranty is the way to go in the future.

Is EasyServ the same as Solectron?

Sad to say it...Yes it is!

DIGITALgimpus · #12 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:54 am

I will confirm email's to CEO work. I did so a year ago, and got a personal contact who worked to resolve the problem... no more bonehead support shuffling you around. Just remember to document, and keep your letter professional, accurate, and short (but detailed).

ipatent · #13 Post by **ipatent** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:43 pm

I just wanted to follow up and let you all know what is going on.

I never heard back from my e-mail to Sam G. but some one at Lenovo contacted me and opened a complaint for me.

I just received a call from a very helpful lady at Lenovo who is going to send me a DHL label to have the laptop sent to Raleigh for repair. I have my fingers crossed and I will let you all know what happens.

#14 Post by **K. Eng** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:34 pm

You're probably in good hands. My T40 got sent to Raleigh and came back very well repaired.

christopher_wolf · #15 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 11:01 pm

I can confirm this; I have had machines sent out, recently an X41 Tablet, to Raleigh with the DHL box and they have all been handled extremely well.

Ken Fox · #16 Post by **Ken Fox** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:02 am

christopher_wolf wrote:I can confirm this; I have had machines sent out, recently an X41 Tablet, to Raleigh with the DHL box and they have all been handled extremely well.

Would there be a way at the outset, to simply insist on having one's TP repaired at Raleigh, when a problem comes up, rather than ending up sending it somewhere that the sort of screw up documented here might or likely, will, happen?

I have had only one easyserv repair, I think it was with my long gone T40. There was an issue with the LCD screen that I called about, that later became clear was NORMAL (I'm forgetting exactly what it was). The person I spoke with at IBM told me it needed to be repaired. They sent me the box and I sent them the laptop in it. The laptop was returned and they claimed to have replaced something, but nothing changed.

Later, I found out that what I'd noticed was normal and not requiring service. I just can't recall exactly what it was

Fortunately, they didn't make the laptop any worse. I'm excluding from this times when I replaced a part myself, with which I've had no problems.

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