Thinkpads Forum

I am looking into getting my first IBM thinkpad. Ive always heard that IBM had good warrenty service, but ive been reading and now i kinda think differently. I ave a few questions and please write your experiences.

How good is IBM's warrenty all together?

When my thinkpad breaks do I send my thinkpad into IBM to get fixed?

Whats this sub Contracting thing I keep reading about?

Is IBM tech support outsorced to India?

Yo Vinny!

Can't very well answer your questions without knowing WHERE in the universe you're located.

Warranty repair service is different depending on where you live.

No, support is NOT outsourced and the phones are still answered by IBM. So unless you live in India, you won't speak to anyone there when you call.

Regards,

James

I live in Bronx, NY

thanks

Hi vinny77. Welcome to the forum!!

If it helps, I had a T30 that I had to send in to Solectron in December, which is since Lenovo took over. Everything went smoothly and I had it back within a week. I would have had it sooner, but I had a weekend in there.

I spoke with someone within the US, perfectly clear english. In fact, I emailed my service request, then went to the grocery store. When I returned, there was already a phone message from IBM/Lenovo. I called back and they answered immediately. I had a box the next day, and then sent it in.

P.S.
I think what JHEM was getting at is that you need to add your location to your profile. If you are worried about people knowing your exact location, just add the state. This is something that we are trying to push across the forum, as it is part of the signup process. It is very helping when trying to diagnose problems.

vinny77 wrote:I live in Bronx, NY

Thanks, please update your profile in "Location".

First, when reading about warranty coverage and resultant screwups here in the Forums, always remember that we tend to hear about the failures more than the successes. Folks rarely post about their good experience with warranty coverage, sad to say.

To directly answer your questions, IBM/Lenovo is widely considered to have the best warranty coverage in the laptop world.

Depending on your specific coverage, a phone call reporting a covered problem will result in either a) receiving a box to send your unit to Memphis for repair at their cost via overnight express, or b) a real live person showing up the next day at your location with the parts necessary to repair your Thinkpad.

The sub-contracting imbroglio doesn't really affect those in the US. It pertains to the fact that in some areas of the globe the personnel performing onsite warranty repairs are less than perfect at their job.

When you call IBM from the US for support, the phone is answered somewhere in North America. Sometimes Atlanta, GA, sometimes Raleigh-Durham, NC and sometimes you get some very nice and knowledgeable folks in Toronto, ON Canada.

But, as with everything in life, nothing is perfect and sometimes failures in support will occur, but there are ways to correct these failures through contacting IBM/Lenovo and the end result will almost always be positive.

Regards,

James

thanks guys, id just much rather send my laptop in than somebody coming to fix it.

for me, if i ever kept a thinkpad for more than 6 to 9 months, i would take the onsite warranty upgrade..
no question in my mind about that, at all..

from what i have heard, it is great..
and from what i know about the current thinking in memphis i would want to be in that ideal scenario of teacher/student..
one to one facing each other on a log in the middle of a lake..

nevermind the few glitches as these always occur in most any system..

just my 2 cents..