Thinkpad damaged from fall -- where to send for repair?

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dgraves · #1 Post by **dgraves** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:39 pm

Tripping over my ethernet cable, I sent my X41 2 feet to the floor, where it landed on a card sticking out of the pcmcia slot, jamming the card 1/2 inch into the unit.

Everything works, save for the pcmcia connector which is displaced, and cracked.

Does anybody have recommendations on a reliable and trustworthy repair center to have this kind of damage repaired?

TIA

-dave

#2 Post by **JaneL** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:40 pm

Is it under warranty, and what country are you located in?

dgraves · #3 Post by **dgraves** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:27 pm

Much to my chagrin, I find that this box which I purchased from a vendor on Ebay does NOT have a warranty.

I am in Philadelphia, USA.

Website · #4 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:35 pm

Have you tried checking with IBM directly, letting the IBM/Lenovo site check to see if there is a warranty?

It appears from the tabook.pdf that the oldest X41 is from about April 05. Most of these came with a 3 year warranty. Even if it was a 1 year warranty, you should still be within that window...UNLESS someone made internal changes to the X41

dgraves · #5 Post by **dgraves** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:18 pm

Yes. I went to the site, which reported that my particular box was sold without a warranty, and therefore would be rejected for warranty work.

Regardless, I'm not certain that damage from a fall would be covered anyway. the Hardware manual is somewhat ambiguous on the subject: it reports, for example, that an LCD screen would not be covered from 'excessive force' or 'dropping'. It goes on to report that broken hinges, connectors, etc, will not be covered from 'excessive force'. Since it doesn't say dropping does that mean I'm ok? I'm skeptical.

In any event, I continue to look for reasonably priced, reputable repair houses to which I could send this box.

Thanks.

-dave

#6 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:36 pm

Check this link

www.absoluteraleigh.com

dgraves · #7 Post by **dgraves** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:14 pm

I saw that site, along with www.sparepartswarehouse.com, but know nothing of either. I was wondering if someone had any personal experience with these.

Thanks,
Dave

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:18 pm

AbsoluteRaleigh is actually a member here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/profile.php? ... ile&u=3914

#9 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:25 pm

I live near their shop so I have had personal experiences with Len and it has been great. Would not recommend something I did not know of or use.

davidspalding · #10 Post by **davidspalding** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 1:53 pm

As a followup to asking IBM about your warranty, you might inquire if you can purchase a warranty for your box.

Yeesh, they sell Thinkpads without a warranty?! And vendors sell them without a warranty??

dgraves · #11 Post by **dgraves** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:16 pm

Yes -- It's a classic case of buyer beware. The vendor stated that there was a full warranty from IBM, which means that they either misunderstood or lied.

It's a tradeoff: the vendor was offering a very good price, had a good Ebay rating, and so I bit. Now I know part of the reason why the price was so good.

I'm going to be contacting the vendor to hear their side of the story although I'm still not sure that even if I *did* have a warranty, that a dropped computer would be covered.

Right now I just want the thing fixed.

#12 Post by **Kyocera** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:51 pm

Why would they cover it anyway if you dropped it? I've kicked mine off the table by the ethernet cable and honestly would not consider that something that would be covered under the warranty, unless you specifically include dropping on the floor in the contract.

#13 Post by **carbon_unit** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:11 pm

Len is a good guy.
I've been doing more business with him lately and plan on doing even more in the future. He will take care of you.
I don't know about the other guy.

dgraves · #14 Post by **dgraves** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 10:54 pm

I called him, and left a message. Hope he calls back.

The folks at the other place said they thought the system board probably needed replacing, and the cost from IBM is $1800 for that box (a type 2525). Ack!

Say it ain't so, Len!

MadeInJapan · #15 Post by **MadeInJapan** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 11:00 pm

I also highly recommend Len at AbsoluteRaleigh. He can repair it for you and won't rip you off. We've bought all of our Thinkpads from him for our school and any issue was promptly taken care of, in or out of warranty!

ZoneMan · #16 Post by **ZoneMan** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:23 pm

Call the support center and have them check the warranty for you.

It will be billable, even if you dont tell the support center you damaged it. The tech that works on it will see it and place it on billable hold, will extend your turn around time and you will still have to pay.

If PCMCIA slot is busted the system baord will need to be replaced, along with any plastics that are damaged or cracked.

The good news is, if there is no warranty it will be cheaper....$425 for the sys brd and the max is $595 if there is anything else wrong with it.

If it is under warranty ( I find it hard to understand an X41 without warranty) then your looking at $725 for the system board.

Never heard of any Thinkpad with no warranty, all TP leave factory with 1 or 3 year warr.

Could be a non Factory refurb of some sort I guess, Factory refurb will have 6A in the begining of the serial# and a XX in the model number, will carry a 1 year warr.

Zone.

dgraves · #17 Post by **dgraves** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 11:15 am

This is great news. I was fearing the cost of something like $1500 for a replacement.

I will call and verify about the warranty, but when I plugged my serial # into the warranty section at Lenovo's site, it replied with the words "this unit was sold without a warranty: all warranty claims will be rejected".

That's what I get for purchasing through Ebay. I too did not think you could purchase a box without a warranty.

Thanks again for the information. $725 isn't wonderful, but it beats $1500

Thinkpad damaged from fall -- where to send for repair?

Thinkpad damaged from fall -- where to send for repair?

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