Depot and Onsite Repair Services..What's the difference?

[tandyman]

I am in the process of purchasing an IBM Thinkpad and the choices for Service Agreements are Depot or Onsite Service.

I know what Onsite service is but what exactly is "Depot" service?? Both are available for "Next Business Day"- service but there is a huge difference in price.

I'm guessing that Depot service means I would either have to drop it off to an authorized service center or ship it back to IBM/Lenovo?

Thanks

[Brad]

When you call for service, the standard service or "depot", if they need to service your ThinkPad they will ship you an empty shipping box. When your ThinkPad is packed you can call the shipper back to have them pick your ThinkPad up. After a day or so you should receive your ThankPad back hopefully repaired.

On site service means they will come to where you are and make the repair. You pay extra for this convienence.

Brad

[tandyman]

Thank you Brad!

[Dodge DeBoulet]

"Depot" service will mean you'll be without your laptop for a few days, but it'll generally be fixed when you get it back.

"On-Site" will provide you with a visit from an incompetent 3rd party technician that may fix the laptop's original problem on the first visit, but will require 3-4 subsequent visits to fix what he screwed up during reassembly.

It took 4 visits total to replace the motherboard then undo the damage from the first and subsequent visits in my case.

To be fair, the tech was not an IBM employee. Qualex handles service for IBM/Lenovo in my area. I should also note that the laptop was still usable after each visit, but wasn't "put to right" until the final visit.

[Brad]

You are welcome!

Dodge: sorry to hear of your trouble. With your experience would you still consider onsite service in the future?

Brad

[carbon_unit]

As an on-site service tech for many brands of laptops I would like you to know that I never have to make a second trip to fix anything, just like most on-site techs. Just because you got an idiot for a tech does not mean that all of us are idiots. Please do not generalize based on one experience.
Unfortunately there are idiots in all walks of life including computer repair. You have the same chance of finding one whether you get Depot service or on-site service. What it really boils down to is:
Do you want to send it in or have the repair come to you? If you travel a lot on-site may be a better choice as they will go wherever you tell them to. For depot repair they will send it wherever you want but you have to be there when the laptop shows up to sign for it.

[Dodge DeBoulet]

You are welcome!

Dodge: sorry to hear of your trouble. With your experience would you still consider onsite service in the future?

Brad

Not if I purchase through Lenovo/IBM, no. While I love my T60, the loss in productivity and frustration associated with getting the unit fixed properly will certainly keep me from having to deal with the local on-site service (and I use that term loosely) again.

I had a Dell previously. On-site service was fast, efficient, and my laptop was working properly at the end of the first visit.

For those service techs offended by my post: In my location, I don't have a choice of on-site service options for my ThinkPad. Your abilities are irrelevant to my experience, and mine is the only experience I can truthfully relate.

[carbon_unit]

tandyman: I would probably determine which type of warranty to purchase based on my needs and what I can afford.

[hodad]

I paid extra for "On-site" repair and I feel it was well worth it. The tech has come out twice, once to replace a motherboard in my T60 and once to replace a cracked case on my Z61m. Both required completely tearing the machine down. Both times the techs were efficient and correctly repaired the machines in an hour.

There are horror stories about depot repair contained within old posts in this forum. That being said, it seems from recent postings that many are happy with the service they got with the depot repair.

Be advised that on-site accidental damage repair doesn't necessarily mean what it says. For most types of accidental damage the machine will still have to be "depoted".