Lenovo Outlet Refurb Warranty's

[scosgt1]

Ref. this thread
Lenovo refurbs only have a 90 day warranty. Can anyone explain?
Thanks

[Johan]

Lenovo refurbs only have a 90 day warranty. Can anyone explain?
Thanks

Comment to this question: I believe that what may be the explanation why Smidgley's T61 is still covered by warranty for so long is that it (obviously!) still is very new, and probably initially came with a 3-year warranty, that has far from expired. This warranty is then probably just running along, unaffected, without knowing (or caring about!) that this T61 has been "refurbished". If Lenovo in other cases sells out-out-warranty Thinkpad's, it is my impression that they (Lenovo) will in such case "breathe live" into the already expired warranty, and then add a 90-day warranty that goes "beyond-the-already-expired-warranty". My view is based on several reports on this forum, e.g. these:

<snip>

As a refurb is supposedly comes with just a 3 mo warranty, however when I looked it up it says it's still covered through 6/2008! Will Lenovo still honor this warranty even though its been refurbished and would I be qualified to purchase a warranty extension in this case?

<snip>

... and likewise:

I got my T60p within one week. Box was not sealed because of the memory upgrade. Laptop is perfect, brand new ! Battery have no run cycle and any even little scratch on the boddy. I phone IBM in Belgium to know about warranty. Mine is covered by IBM on site for 3 years !

That sounds very much like an off-lease or refurb that (I think) end up at TPW or as "ibm cert used". They often look brand new and come with a new or "reconditioned" battery showing no cycles.

Typically IBM only gives 6-month IBM warranty (3-months for older models), but sometimes IBM has been known to 'forget' to remove the 3-year warranty. So some ppl get lucky. I know of a batch of refurbs in Canada that they recently released with 3-year onsite. In the old days, all the "cert used" refurbs retained the balance of the original 3-year warranty.

You did well!

Bottom line? What I believe is important is the warranty status for any ThinkPad as it is reflected from the IBM/Lenovo warranty status lookup page, regardless of the "history" of the given Thinkpad... sold as new, later refurbished or whatever. I could be wrong, though...

Johan

[smidgley]

Code: Select all

Warranty information
		
Type:		Model:		Serial number:
8889		RF3		    xxxxxxx
				
Status:		Expiration date:		Location:
In warranty		2011-06-13		UNITED STATES
				
Warranty service upgrades & maintenance services	Warranty service upgrades and maintenance services

Description:
This product has a three year limited warranty and is entitled to IBM EZServ service. Customers may call their local service center for more information. Dealers may provide carry-in repair for this product. Batteries have a one year warranty.

--------------------------------------------------------
I just called Lenovo and they weren't able to shed any light on this. All they could tell me is that refurbished systems carry a one-year warranty and didn't want to discuss why it shows three years on the warranty look-up page.

I would be happy to PM the serial number to anyone who wants to look it up themselves.

[scosgt1]

Here is the problem:

I sell many ThinkPads. I have ecountered several situations where the warranty site has been updated AFTER purhcase. Sometimes there is more, sometimes there is less.

Since this is an official refurb, IMHO the warranty info may be updated at some point to reflect the 90 day warranty. I have seen this before. That is why I asked. Nothing against the OP, but buying a refub with a supposedly longer warranty is dangerous - it may not be honored.

I bought some new sealed units, and the warranty originally was around 6 months longer than the ship dates, later it was updated to reflect the ship dates. So they ARE on top of this, it seems.

[schiesz]

I don't know why this is, based on the information already in this thread, but when I was looking at purchasing a refurb T61 about a month ago, they all carried at least a 1 year warranty rather than the 90 days. Some of them did indeed have a 3 year warranty.

[scosgt1]

They may well have upgraded the refurb warranty to one year, I had not heard. But that is a far cry from three years. And in the past they would not sell you an upgrade on it either.

[smidgley]

Just to muddy things further:

When I took delivery of the T61, the warranty status was "expired". A week or two later, it showed the three years and the model designation changed from 01U to RF3 (refurbished).

In any case, this ThinkPad has warranty remaining until at least 6/13/2009 and I have changed the original post to reflect this.

The warranty on refurbs is one year now (since when, I don't know), not 90-days.

[ajkula66]

Here's where the confusion is:

IBM refurbs have either a 90 or a 180 day limited warranty depending on a model, which can't be further extended.

Lenovo refurbs come with a 1-year warranty, I've never bothered checking whether that one can be extended or not.

[smidgley]

Based on the number of times I was asked if I wanted to upgrade my warranty when I called Lenovo earlier, I would say that it is possible to upgrade.

I still plan on getting an official verdict from Lenovo's warranty department on this and if it has one or three years warranty but haven't had any luck yet. I will post the results here as soon as I know, one way or the other.

[agarza]

I just ordered a similar spec machine on eBay but with the X3100 onboard.

I have seen many mixed reviews on NBR, some dude saying the build quality of the laptop is not great, bad LCD contrast, etc.

I'm wondering if I made the right choice.

[NathanA]

Based on the number of times I was asked if I wanted to upgrade my warranty when I called Lenovo earlier, I would say that it is possible to upgrade. I still plan on getting an official verdict from Lenovo's warranty department on this [...]

I don't mean to "threadcrap" on the OP's marketplace thread, and so I apologize if this is out of place, but a friend was shopping for a laptop and we were looking at the Lenovo Outlet ourselves and this question of warranty upgrades for refurbs came up. I searched the forum multiple times over for a discussion on this subject and this thread is the only place it has been raised. (Mods, if you feel it would be best to split this into a different discussion and moved to a different forum, you won't hear any complaints from me if you choose to do so.)

As someone else pointed out earlier, IBM Certified Used products generally come with 90 day warranties (some with 180), but all Lenovo Outlet products that I have looked at (New, Redistributed, Refurbished) come with 1 year depot. I know that in the past there has been some question as to whether IBM would allow you to extend the warranty on their Certified Used gear and I think most times the answer has come back in the negative, which I think is furthering the confusion on the same issue for refurbished machines sourced from Lenovo.

Certified Used is a little different than "refurbished." I think that refurbishment has gotten a bad name because of all the various different third-party "refurbishers" that sell little better than cleaned-up (sometimes not even that) used gear that has been lightly tested and comes with next-to-no warranty. In the context of the original manufacturer, refurbished (in my experience) usually means that the product was purchased new by 1 previous owner and then relatively quickly returned, and it may or may not have been returned for technical or cosmetic issues. Upon return, it is inspected, burned-in again, and any issues that the machine has (including cosmetic!) are dealt with/repaired. Since it has been sold once prior, the manufacturer technically can't turn around and re-sell it to someone else as "new" (not to mention they now have old stock sitting on their shelf gathering dust and plummeting in value by the minute, so the sooner they sell it, even at a discount, the better).

But since it basically is "new" for all intents and purposes, there is really no reason I can think of why the manufacturer would hesitate to sell further warranty services on the machine and not treat it as if it was new from a support perspective. To refuse to do so would be stupid since they *know* it is practically new and they would be denying themselves further revenue (and warranty upgrades are, I'm sure, a huge profit-maker and likely represent a good chunk of profit margins).

I called the Lenovo Outlet this weekend and they verified for me over the phone that upgraded warranty protection can indeed be purchased for ALL Lenovo Outlet products (INCLUDING gear labeled as refurbished; I *specifically* asked that), either during purchase (if ordered over the phone) or after receipt of the merchandise anytime during its original warranty period (just like any other warranty extension/upgrade purchased post-delivery), with, of course, the exception of ThinkPad Protection.

Don't know what to tell you about the OP's T61 in particular; hopefully he can manage to get confirmation from Lenovo one way or another that the 3 years currently reflected on the warranty lookup won't get stripped away at some point!

-- Nathan

[Tony Chan]

I've also purchased a "refurbished" R61E from the outlet store before they split their refurbish product into 3 categories. Since then I've received at least 4 or 5 emails in various forms with up to 5 years warranty as option. So I would say refurbish units warranty from the Outlet can be extended.

And btw, the unit I've purchased looks and smells as new. The only thing that can tell it's a refurbish unit is a sticker at the bottom as well as on the ac adapter. I received the unit at May, date stamp on the roll cage is March.

[NathanA]

Thanks for splitting this thread off of the Marketplace one, Harry.

Over here on this thread I discuss the refurbished T61p that we just ordered (same one that I mentioned in my post above). My friend intends to purchase a 3yr on-site warranty upgrade after it arrives, so I'll be sure to update this thread with information on how that goes after it is attempted!

-- Nathan

[crashnburn]

I've also purchased a "refurbished" R61E from the outlet store before they split their refurbish product into 3 categories. Since then I've received at least 4 or 5 emails in various forms with up to 5 years warranty as option. So I would say refurbish units warranty from the Outlet can be extended.

And btw, the unit I've purchased looks and smells as new. The only thing that can tell it's a refurbish unit is a sticker at the bottom as well as on the ac adapter. I received the unit at May, date stamp on the roll cage is March.

I called the Lenovo Outlet this weekend and they verified for me over the phone that upgraded warranty protection can indeed be purchased for ALL Lenovo Outlet products (INCLUDING gear labeled as refurbished; I *specifically* asked that), either during purchase (if ordered over the phone) or after receipt of the merchandise anytime during its original warranty period (just like any other warranty extension/upgrade purchased post-delivery), with, of course, the exception of ThinkPad Protection.

I am guessing its better to buy on phone? Or do the warranty upgrade / extension offers become better online.. or are they offers better / cheaper in the AFTER emails. ??

So any suggestions on when / where are the best price warranty offers OFFERED / NEGOTIATED with Lenovo? I am guessing these warranties are IWS friendly where available.

[ajkula66]

@crashburn:

You're a pinch late. All Outlet units have a one-year warranty which can't be extended any further nowadays. Period.

[crashnburn]

@crashburn:

You're a pinch late. All Outlet units have a one-year warranty which can't be extended any further nowadays. Period.

What about the ones that are marked
"Redistributed"
or
"New"

?

[ajkula66]

EVERY laptop from Outlet, regardless of how they are marked, only carries a one-year, non-extendable warranty. Period.