T42 hard drive failure - warranty repair info

[bartelon]

My first post in this forum, though I used to browse it regularly for tips, ideas, etc. As said in the subject - the hard drive in my T42 died on me recently. A typical IBM/Hitachi "click of death" that happened without any warning, loud, regular clicking, system hangup and on reboot - OS not found, etc. Tried to rescue some data (backups, ehem, where are they?) hooking the drive up to a desktop computer via a 2.5"/3.5" HDD adapter but no joy. Eventually the drive stopped spinning altogether, laptop shows no HDD LED activity on boot and I get the 0200 error - failure: fixed disk 1.
I bought my T42 on ebay while in the US, it's still on warranty till April next year. Now the real pain is when I called the IBM center in Poland (where I live) they said that to get it repaired on warranty I need to provide the actual warranty card and a copy of my purchase receipt. I don't have either and I never much cared since I understood that the warranty goes with the machine, not some piece of paper... As it seems the legendary IBM service is more of a myth than legend in my country
Would any of the forum members have any suggestions about what I can do? Call the US IBM support? (any particular number?)

Thanks in advance for any help

Andy

[richk]

Hi: 2 possibilities

Most of the warranties are not "international". If your machine was originally sold in U.S. or Canada, it will not be honored elsewhere.

If that isn't the case and your machine has an international warranty, you will get the same treatment if the machine was reported stolen.

[bartelon]

Hi, thanks for reply. All 2373 type Thinkpads seem to come under International Warranty Service, at least that's what shows up on IBM IWS eligibility website. See also the story of Johan's T42p in this post: IBM Certified used notebook questions - he managed to get it serviced in Denmark although he bought it from a user in the US, with an American warranty. So my problem is more likely a local Polish thing.

And re: your second point, the support guy I called here did not even ask for my machine's serial number, just stated the policy - they require the warranty card and a copy of purchase receipt to service the product.

Any other ideas of what I can do?

[CZOLG]

I would suggest you called again ad clearly made your point.
Your laptop is eligible for IWS and that is it. No documents are needed as like already mentioned warranty goes with the machine.
I am Polish myself and do know that unfortunately customer service in Poland is way behind the rest of Europe.
If talking to them does not work I suggest you contact Lenovo directly and present your problem.

[Johan]

<snip>
All 2373 type Thinkpads seem to come under International Warranty Service, at least that's what shows up on IBM IWS eligibility website. See also the story of Johan's T42p in this post: IBM Certified used notebook questions - he managed to get it serviced in Denmark although he bought it from a user in the US, with an American warranty. So my problem is more likely a local Polish thing.
<snip>

I am very sorry to dissapoint you, my Polish friend, but the impression that I managed to have my T42p serviced in Denmark is most unfortunately NOT true. I thought that I would be able to have it serviced in Denmark; true, and I had received a prior confirmation in writing (!!) from IBM Support, actually three such written confirmations, saying that I would be able to have my T42p serviced here under the International Warranty Service, true, and at no cost for me, true... but (weep!), I was so very wrong - as you will read from my post yesterday:

IBM/Denmark deny to honor warranty confirmed by IBM-Support.

I am sorry to post this very bad news, but you may perhaps be able to use it to get better treatment by IBM/Poland than what I received from IBM/Denmark.

If you (or anybody else reading this post and the thread referenced to above) have any good advice to share with me/us, please step forward. I really need some help in my case. And I am obviously neither going to get it from IBM Support/UK (who are in charge of providing support of IBM in Denmark), and I am obviously also not going to get it from IBM Denmark, that's for sure.

Thanks very much in advance for any good advices.

Kind regards,

Johan

[Chris001]

bartelon,

1st - verify your machine is still under warranty.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... -WARNTY#sw

2nd- check this - International Warranty Service Terms And Conditions (English)

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

Checking the IWS site - http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... OOK-IWS#sw

gives a contact in Poland of 48-22-878-69-99. Call and see what they can do. Refer them to the IBM warranty look up site if they ask for your warranty card.

3rd - if all else fails, find someone in the US who can call in for support - 1-800-426-7378. Have Lenovo send the HDD (and ask for recovery CDs) to the US address. Have the person in the US send the HDD to you.

Thanks,
Chris