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In an attempt to clean the sticky keys, I wash the whole board thoroughly (did that before with no ill effects), but it either didn't seem to dry completely, or the sugar got inside the membrane, so I now have a short-circuit looking dark stripe under the Shift key. At first, the computer would boot with wild beeps and none of the keys were working, now they are mostly back, but Z and Shift are messed up and not working. So, new keyboard time, thinks I.The even more sorry part: In an attempt to buy a new kbd, I call the local IBM support, who say they wont care for Lenovo products anymore, but play nice and give me the Lenovo support number. Which I dial. The bureaucratic machine kicks in, I am asked for my serial number, email, telephone, name and address and then informed that I cannot order parts directly from them. "Are you satisfied with Lenovo support? Have I answered all your questions?". Hell yes. I am satisfied beyond belief.
Ok, their website has a list of service center numbers, all independent from either IBM or Lenovo, which I dial.
SC #1 says to me: you cannot order parts, bring your machine to us, pay and wait for the diagnostics (WTF? I know it's the keyboard, stupid), also they cannot give me a price quote - they have no idea.
SC #2 is more cooperative, says: we need to contact Lenovo on our behalf, pls send an email with the FRU number to our staff, which we shall pass down to Lenovo in a week, they will answer us in 6-7 days approx, then we can give you a price quote, then you pay, then you wait 6-8 WEEKS for the keyboard to arrive. Phuck that, methinks. I send an email just in case, and get nothing in response so far. Just great.
SC#3 is the best of all. The guy on the phone says to me plain and simple: "I understand your situation, but cannot help you. Please bear in mind that NO AMOUNT of money can get you a new keyboard from us or any other official certified service center. The supply warehouses, located in Moscow, Slovenia and the Netherlands are in a phase of IBM to Lenovo transition right now. I do not have a local warehouse and I don't have access to the either of the main bases. So all I can give you is my friend's number, he breaks old systems apart and he helps us do business somewhat"
What kind of a ridiculous system is that? @#^!&!!!
The best part: I call the guys's friend, he has the kbd in stock for about $100, I go to his home and buy the [censored] thing in his hallway, on the dark and somewhat smelly staircase. It is a new, mint keyboard from a T400\T500, an ALPS judging by the criss-cross thingys underneath the keys and (Oh! The Horror! The Horror!) has the infamous perforated backing plate. I can report it works wonderfully with no flex when typing and only negligible flex when pushing hard on it. It is slightly more loud then the NMB, but I like the more definite tactile feedback, and overall it's wonderful, easily better than the old worn-to-hell with mirror-shiny keys NMB. Total time, 2 hours instead of 6 weeks. Not bad. Worth the extra $50.
So, in Soviet Russia, Lenovo has you... but we retaliate with black market parts at a sigificant markup. What does a CIO of a large business do if he relies on Lenovo here, I do not know. Maybe shooting himself in the head is the best option.
Please tell me what you think of this situation. Maybe I wasn't pulling the right strings? As if now, I am simply outraged and the T60 is my last IBM laptop for the time being, however much I like it.
