Thinkpads Forum

I read T60 purchasers returning their new laptops within the 30 day period. Some for reasons such as dead pixels.

What does Lenovo do with returns? Repackage them as new product and sell it to another person?

I am just wondering whether I am getting someone's return.

I should hope not.

When I read the fine print on their repairs and service terms, it said that the parts they use for replacements are either new or refurbished. Maybe the functioning parts (everything other than the dead-pixel screen) are up for grabs from these returned machines for use in broken ones elsewhere?

I don't know, and I am curious as to this too.

movado wrote:What does Lenovo do with returns? Repackage them as new product and sell it to another person?

I am just wondering whether I am getting someone's return.

They're sold as used/refurbished units, never as new.

Regards,

James

That would be the ones with the sticker "contains used parts" on the bottom then, JHEM?

southy wrote:That would be the ones with the sticker "contains used parts" on the bottom then, JHEM?

Correct.

Regards,

James

I believe it would be illegal under the consumer protection laws of most if not all US states for used/returned products to be sold as new.

pundit wrote:I should hope not.

pundit wrote:When I read the fine print on their repairs and service terms, it said that the parts they use for replacements are either new or refurbished.

I just noticed this before shipping my (2 month old) T43 in for repair. The thought of getting a new ThinkPad back from the repair center with refurbished parts is very disturbing.
When I bring my new car in for warranty repairs, they use NEW parts!

archer6 wrote:I just noticed this before shipping my (2 month old) T43 in for repair. The thought of getting a new ThinkPad back from the repair center with refurbished parts is very disturbing.
When I bring my new car in for warranty repairs, they use NEW parts!

Of course, I was even more disturbed because my screen was 3 DAYS old. I hate that I read and mull over the fine print.

FYI: EPP purchasers no longer get a 30-day return period. My rep said that Lenovo had to decide whethter to take away the 30-day return period or put in place an accross-the-board price increase (can't remember whether it was 4% or 8%) because the policy was being abused.

Retail/web purchasers should still have this protection.

-darren

Note from Moderator: EPP discussions are not allowed here. Read the Rules of the Road and adhere to them.

darrenf wrote:FYI: EPP purchasers no longer get a 30-day return period. My rep said that Lenovo had to decide whethter to take away the 30-day return period or put in place an accross-the-board price increase (can't remember whether it was 4% or 8%) because the policy was being abused.

Retail/web purchasers should still have this protection.

-darren

Does that include orders phoned into Lenovo? What is EPP?

Note from Moderator: EPP is the Employee Purchase Program, and discussion of it and similar programs for other special groups is not allowed here. See the Rules of the Road in the "READ ME FIRST FAQ then post" section of the forum for additional information.

darrenf wrote:FYI: EPP purchasers no longer get a 30-day return period. My rep said that Lenovo had to decide whethter to take away the 30-day return period or put in place an accross-the-board price increase (can't remember whether it was 4% or 8%) because the policy was being abused.

Reckon the primary abusers were thinkpads.com forum members!! LOL.

archer6 wrote:When I bring my new car in for warranty repairs, they use NEW parts!

Where did you ever get that idea?

Most repair parts used by auto dealers are refurbished, not "new".

That is when they're not black market clones!

Regards,

James

Note from Moderator: EPP is the Employee Purchase Program, and discussion of it and similar programs for other special groups is not allowed here. See the Rules of the Road in the "READ ME FIRST FAQ then post" section of the forum for additional information.

More specifically, discussion of pricing and access is prohibited, but I think that this change of terms is very significant to a good number of readers on this forum and I don't see a FAQ rule that prevents its discussion.

-darren

darrenf wrote:More specifically, discussion of pricing and access is prohibited, but I think that this change of terms is very significant to a good number of readers on this forum and I don't see a FAQ rule that prevents its discussion.

The "rule" that should concern you is that virtually everything is at the moderator's discretion, and you were asked not to pursue this.

JHEM wrote:

archer6 wrote:When I bring my new car in for warranty repairs, they use NEW parts!

Where did you ever get that idea?

Most repair parts used by auto dealers are refurbished, not "new".

That is when they're not black market clones!

Regards,

James

Good Point!
Here's what I know, as my brother owns the BMW dealership where I purchase my cars new.

Parts required for warranty repairs are indeed new. After the warranty repair is done (with new parts), the dealership must return the faulty part to BMW for credit. If the part is not faulty, they do not receive credit for the warranty repair. In addition the repair order must list the labor hours and the new parts (confirmed by new part numbers) used for the job. This also holds true for Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Acura, Lexus, Infinity, Toyota, Nissan etc. However this _does not_ hold true for the domestics where they have a choice at their option.

Regarding the "refurbished parts" you are absolutely correct, however that is something that is usually practiced by independent repair garages and domestic dealers such as Chevy, Ford, etc.

Then when it comes to both "refurbished" and black market clones, we have a _serious problem_ with the independent body shops & most of the body shops that are "approved" by the insurance companies. Their mode of operation is to write the estimate of crash damage & obtain the authorization of the insurance company to do the work. Then the fun begins, the body shop orders two sets of parts. One set from the dealer, and one from the aftermarket parts house, at a substantially lower price. The repair order reflects the new parts, paint materials and labor. Typically we are talking fenders, hoods, doors, various sheet metal. These are made of poor quality steel, stamped from a marginal templates, and must have the bolt holes enlarged to get them to even bolt onto the car. The body shop installs these and then struggles to get a decent fit. Once the job is done, they wait a few months and return the dealership parts for credit. Final result, consumer gets substandard parts and labor. Body shop profits by charging for factory parts , but uses aftermarket parts that are less expensive.
Finally you may be thinking... why would the dealers allow these unused parts to be returned? Simply because it's been done this way for so many years, that if one (Toyota dealer for example) will not take the parts back, the body shop will use another one that will. Here in Calif. it's that competitive.

And we thought there were issues with computers?!

nonny wrote:The "rule" that should concern you is that virtually everything is at the moderator's discretion, and you were asked not to pursue this.

Fine. Incidentally, had it been stated as a edict rather than a reference to the FAQ I would have left it alone, but the comment suggests that I ignored the FAQ and broke an existing rule which, to the best of my knowledge, I did not.

-darren

darrenf wrote:Fine. Incidentally, had it been stated as a edict rather than a reference to the FAQ I would have left it alone, but the comment suggests that I ignored the FAQ and broke an existing rule which, to the best of my knowledge, I did not.

I'm really tired of arguing about this.

From the Rules with the applicable parts in bold:

2. Do not post links, model availability, or pricing information from sites that restrict their purchasing to specific narrow groups (e.g. EPP [employee purchase] or specific Education sites). The members of these institutions can find their information through their employer or organization. Posting the links or information without prior permission from Lenovo/IBM is of questionable legality. Those that are entitled to these discounts have no problem finding the site directly from Lenovo/IBM, their employee friend, or their school bookstore.

3. Don't ask how to get an EPP (Employee Purchase) or Educational Discount. If you are a member of one of these groups, ask them: they will know better. Questions about the Thinkpad are welcome. Questions about the the specific purchasing program itself should be directed toward your qualifying organization.

It's pretty crystal clear to me, but we can change this to say there will be no discussion of EPP or education programs to make it more clear if that's what is required to get the point across.

Ah - OK - so the moderator's note was addressed to dxben to preempt a conversation about where to access EPP.

My bad. Carry on.

-darren

Let's all try to follow the rules of the road the best we can and give grace where needed.

I appreciate the opportunity to share insight, tech knowledge, comments in a forum like this. Let's keep it clean, to the point, and focused.

Thanks to everyone for your involvement. It has helped me tremendously.