T42p EZServ?!?! Yeah, Right!

[esxmac]

On 11/2/2004, I got my precious: a T42p (2373-KTU). It came with the Samsung screen, the Thai keyboard, and the Sony battery. I was happy, life was good--until, on 11/30, my USB ports blew out. I then sent it to EZServ 2 times, and am about to send it a 3rd because while they have fixed the original problems, they ADDED new ones along the way. On 11/30, I sent it to EZServ with a letter containing the following:

"USB Ports: I plugged a USB device into a USB port and shortly thereafter, my Thinkpad shutdown on its own. I pressed the power button for several minutes and it would not start. I then unplugged the AC adapter and removed the battery. I waited 2-3 minutes, put the battery back in, and plugged in the AC adapter. It restarted and there was a burnt smell coming out of the fan vent on the left side. In addition, my USB mouse stopped working. I then tried a second USB mouse and a flash key drive and nothing worked in either USB port. I restarted and tried again--still the USB ports don't work. I tried several hardware tests, including PC Doctor. All tests said the USB ports are working, but they don't work. I request that the system board be replaced, since the burnt smell could be more than just the USB ports.

LCD Display: Since I got the laptop, there has always been a blue-ish tint to the display--it is particularly visible when Windows Explorer is open and you compare it to another monitor next to the laptop. In addition, the bottom of the screen washes out quite a bit. I don't know if there is a hardware setting that can be modified or if the screen needs to be replaced. If a new LCD panel is required, please check that there are no stuck or dead pixels. IF THERE IS A CHOICE BETWEEN KEEPING THE ORIGINAL LCD PANEL OR GETTING A NEW ONE WITH STUCK OR DEAD PIXELS, I WOULD PREFER TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL LCD PANEL."

I get it back (1 1/2 weeks later, so much for fast service) and it has the WRONG systemboard. How do I know? Because my 128 mg FireGL T2 came back as a 32 mg Radeon 9000! In addition, they didn't touch the LCD. So I send it in AGAIN with another letter containing the following:

"LCD Display: Since I got the laptop, there has always been a blue-ish tint to the display--it is particularly visible when Windows Explorer is open and you compare it to another monitor next to the laptop. In addition, the bottom of the screen washes out quite a bit. I don't know if there is a hardware setting that can be modified or if the screen needs to be replaced. If a new LCD panel is required, please check that there are no stuck or dead pixels. IF THERE IS A CHOICE BETWEEN KEEPING THE ORIGINAL LCD PANEL OR GETTING A NEW ONE WITH STUCK OR DEAD PIXELS, I WOULD PREFER TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL LCD PANEL.

System Board: I sent it in to EZServ previously because the USB ports stopped working. I was told I needed a new system board. The problem is that this is the wrong system board. This system board has a 32 Meg ATI Radeon 9000 in it. However, the 2373-KTU should have a 128 Meg ATI FireGL T2 in it. I request that a new system board built for the 2373-KTU be installed. PLEASE CHECK ALL PARTS THAT ARE ATTACHED TO THE MOTHERBOARD TO VERIFY THAT THEY ARE 2373-KTU PARTS."

I got it back yesterday (it took 2 weeks this time) and now, if I bump the table the laptop is sitting on or move the LCD, the LCD flickers and blanks out (it comes back up as soon as I stop moving it). The blue-ish tint is still present on the LCD, but it is considerably less noticable (the original LCD and the new one appear to be Samsung and are 14" SXGA+).

Granted, they did replace the systemboard (that works great) and the LCD, but their QA is off--WAY off--because they keep sending it back to me with more problems. I had an A22m that I sent in for service about 2 years ago--it came back fixed, the first time! By the way, I sent the T42p to EZServ in Memphis, TN both times--and I assume the 3rd.

I have spent 3 1/2 out of 7 weeks without my new laptop! It is just me, am I expecting too much out of a laptop I got on 11/2/2004 for ~$2700? Can someone tell me what happened to IBM?

Anyone out there have any suggestions/opinions/comments? If I get it back a 3rd time with additional problems, what are my chances of getting my money back? If not my money, how about a new laptop, since they gave me a lemon apparently?

Thanks,
esxmac

[egibbs]

Find a local IBM authorized service center and bring it there.

[Plinkerton]

Yeah, and right a letter to Sam Palmisano. I was taken care of quite well after that. His email is on the website somewhere.

[beeblebrox]

maybe you could find the Thread: IBM has a quality problem.

I once sent in a T20 with a flickering display (potentially connector loose) and got a dead machine back from repair. (dead means DEAD, fried motherboard, out of the box).
The report said: motherboard fixed and tested.

So much for tests...

[NathanA]

Yeah, this kind of sounds like my story when I sent my 770 9549-1AU in for service *5* times over its warranty period to have them replace the LCD inverter card again, and again, and again... (I went through 4 inverters in a little over 2 years...one lasted only 15 minutes before it too pooped out after I got my machine back from EasyServ), and during these service appointments, it was routinely vandalized by the EasyServ technicians; fresh, new scratches could be found on the ThinkPad every time I got it back, and once the incompetent who worked on the machine used the wrong size SCREW right above the hard drive cage which punctured through the plastic membrane and hung down far enough to prevent me from re-installing the hard drive in the unit after I got the machine back!! I kid you not! (There is a LOT more to this whole story than I will go into here, but if anyone is interested, I'll see if I saved my long story/rant about my experiences with EasyServ that I wrote a while ago; I know that at one time I had posted it to the OLD thinkpads.com forum, but it looks like that post has since expired and is no longer available.)

My case was eventually escalated up to the "IBM Customer Relationship Management Team" (after I posted a very nasty message to IBM's public ThinkPad support forum, which they promptly removed...I was really mad at the time), and everything was eventually (mostly) resolved to my satisfaction, but the whole experience left a really bad taste in my mouth that, for a while, made me question whether I *really* wanted to purchase a ThinkPad again. My personal impression is that EasyServ quality went down dramatically after IBM spun it off/sold it off as Solectron.

To this day, despite the mostly positive reports that I read regarding the majority of EasyServ experiences (and I'm sure that they ARE mostly postitive), I don't know if I can bring myself to let any current or future ThinkPads under warranty in my possession fall back into their hands. I've just been burned too many times. I might end up buying the on-site warranty upgrade for my new ThinkPad purchase...at least that way I could keep an eye on the person who is working on my computer.

Perhaps if I read through the A+ Certification book and take the test, IBM will allow me to work on my own computer without voiding the warranty? I know that I'd take better care of it than anyone else...after all, I'm the one who shelled out my hard-earned $$$ for it.

Good luck with getting your issues with EasyServ and IBM resolved.
I think I still have the e-mail address around of the "IBM Customer Relationship Management Team" member that I communicated with, if all other avenues fail. Whether he still works for IBM or not, I have no idea.

-- Nathan

[BillMorrow]

esxmac..

ask for a replacement..
and i would add onsite warranty to it..

if i were in charge of customer satisfaction at ibm i would see that you get a new thinkpad of the same model, or better..

trouble like this should not happen.. period..

[pi314]

I wrote on another thread here that it took 8 days this month for IBM to not fix my USB port problem.

It just arrived at their repair depot this morning for the 2nd try.

It's really a shame to spend a lot on IBM and then not get the top-tier service you expect.