Thinkpad warranty under IBM subcontracting nightmare

[zyphria]

Disclaimer: I don't typically gripe, but I hold Thinkpad hardware in very high regard and endorse it to just about everyone.

For a while there, I gave serious consideration to using my purchase of a used X31 with a valid warranty to springboard for an X60s, or perhaps an X60 tablet when they were released, but my recent harrowing experience with onsite support has made me reconsider. From what I've been told, the contract on who provides that end service, now Qualtech in my area, caused some serious communication issues, which is understandable, unfortunately I believe there are longer term issues at hand.

To start from the beginning....

When I received the unit, I had some issues with the system powering off when plugging the AC in, so I went ahead and called in, and two days later, I had someone onsite replacing the motherboard. I set aside some work space for the tech to work in, but apparently she was feeling a bit rushed and in the rush to get the job done she flipped the cardboard box holding the replacement mainboard in it, and it collided with the side of the X31's LCD. More on this later. About 30 minutes later she had it all installed. Except it didn't work, the onboard security chip was wigging out (tampering detected), and I was given two options, put the old motherboard back in that worked so long as I didn't unplug and plug it back in, or wait till Monday and get it fixed (this was a Friday), well I said, I don't need it over the weekend, so I opted to keep the bad motherboard in rather than making her go through the process of reinstalling it.

Monday morning, no call from tech, so I called IBM and asked them to have them call me. I called every 2 hours from 8am to 5pm PST, and they only said that they currently showed me as being tentatively Wednesday. The tech I had on Friday is apparently on vacation as well, so deadend there.

Wednesday rolls around and I call IBM who is now directly relaying me to Qualtech, rather than taking the calls themselves. I'm put on hold and wait a good 30 minutes before I reach someone who tells me that I'm booked for 5pm today...ooh kay. I miss a call around 4:00pm from the tech who asks me to call him back. I receive all of my desk calls as e-mail attachments, so I can easily listen to a message and pause and rewind the WAV file to get phone numbers just right. Yet the number he left was the wrong phone number, 100%. So when I first called him back, I was getting directed to someone elses voicemail. I place a call to Qualtech to get the correct number (which took me 30 minutes of waiting), call the tech with the right number, and he informs me that he is no longer in the area. Wonderful. 9am tomorrow is the soonest he tells me. I call IBM, tell them how deeply unhappy I am with the service, we call Qualtech together, I explain that I want to make sure that there is absolutely no reason that the tech won't be there tomorow at 9am, and that I am quite disappointed with their performance thus far, the issue with the phone number, etc.

9:25am, not 9:00am I might add, he shows up, and I do the best to put on a smile (it usually isn't a challenge). 30 minutes later he hands the laptop to me, and approximately 4 seconds later I hand it back to him, indicating the the plastic grill on the right side of the unit is *not* currently flush with the system. I'm not talking half a millimeter, I'm talking, a blind man couldn't miss it. 15 minutes later the unit is handed back.

Recalling the 'love tap' to the LCD, I set the background to solid white, and lo-and-behold I've got a nice little impression on my monitor. Phone call time, and I've got acid in my stomach already roiling (honestly, I *hate* angry phone calls, I don't live for this stuff). I inform IBM, who forwards the request, we get the parts ordered.

Next day, the last tech shows up with four boxes of equipment, switches out the LCD. Given that I was eager to see that the job was done once and for all I started to sit down next to him, where he pointedly informed me that he had an extremely busy schedule, and all but jammed it in my face that he didn't want me to watch over his shoulder or converse at any length beyond what was strictly necessary for him. I shrugged and once again put my faith in a tech who I assumed had plenty of experience. 45 minutes later the LCD was replaced.

So this morning, I'm doing some weekend server maintenance, and I notice a cable dangling below the right hinge area on the LCD. Lo and behold the tech had left it out when he had put it back together. I downloaded the service manual, glanced over the steps to take the front bezel off, powered the system down, pulled out the battery, and started to take the covers off of the front screws. Then I see yet another sign. On close inspection he had used some sharp object to remove the left plastic cover. Oh, and he also managed to almost completely strip the screw beneath it. Brilliant.

I managed to get it all tidied up after about 10 minutes, but I am incredibly bitter at this point. I'm almost tempted to call IBM up and shove this all in their face. Of course the dilemma is that while IBM still maintains the warranty contracts, they no longer have any kind of vested interest in maintaining the Thinkpad name. So they can subcontract out the work all day long to a company who lacks sufficient manpower to ensure that techs do *not* feel rushed, and end up failing to sufficiently QA their work. I'm almost wondering if I should try and follow up with Lenovo directly and see how they feel about that, but I feel somewhat confident that I lack sufficient clout at this point.

So, is this just terrible luck, or could my allegations hold any water?

[TheOnys]

I'm in a similar situation myself.

I love the Thinkpad hardware but the service I've received thus far is very disappointing.

I first called in about a year ago (2-3 months after getting my T42) about a lot of bad pixels on the screen. They told me to bring it in to the service centre A. I brought it down to the address provided the next day after work was told that they didn't take the machines here and I'd have to go to their service depot a few blocks away. I get to the service depot and they closed right at 5pm. Had to come back the next day and ws told they didn't do warranty work on IBMs.

I was a little miffed and since it was only a cosmetic problem I delayed getting around to bringing it in to another depot.

Fast forward to last february. I realized that my warranty was going to be up shortly so I took it in to another service depot 2-3 days before the warranty was going to be up. According to the service depot IBM/Lenovo sent them 2-3 LCDs, 1 was DOA and the other 2 weren't even the right LCDs for my model. After 3-4 weeks of getting bad parts they figured they'd send it in to IBM/Lenovo to fix themselves.

I hear nothing except "They're waiting on parts" for the next 8 weeks. Today I get a phone call form the service depot, my laptop is back (Yay!) but the screen hasn't been changed (what?!). Apparently they replaced the motherboard and some cables but neglected to change the only thing actually wrong with the system. I'm currently waiting for one of their "Upper-Levels" to call the service depot with whats going on.

So it's been 3 months without my beloved thinkpad and it's in exactly the same shape it was when I dropped it off.

[JHEM]

So it's been 3 months without my beloved thinkpad and it's in exactly the same shape it was when I dropped it off.

Where are you located?

Regards,

James

[davidspalding]

So, is this just terrible luck, or could my allegations hold any water?

Is this a NEW LAPTOP?

I tend to be a ruthless tiger when service and support entities don't treat me as I would treat them, and at this point I would be furious. My "one-way, my way" solution would be complete replacement of the laptop with a new one, next day shipping, or IBM takes back the laptop for full refund (shipping, everything).

Your post here would make a superb explanation as to why I was no longer allowing the contract support entity any choice in the matter. They've had ... what ... 2? 3? opportunities to get your laptop in factory shipped order, and *#$@ed up. "Gyp me once, shame on you; gyp me twice, shame on me."

If the returns dept argued that you're "not in your 30 day return window" or some such, I'd simply reply that this is BECAUSE the warranty repairs took so long, were delayed due to repair personnel incompetence, and if I'd known ahead what kind of warranty service would be forthcoming, I'd have returned the laptop at the first support call.

Cem Kaner had a similar, though legendary, experience with Alienware. If you Google for "Cem Kaner Alienware sucks" you'll find his epic, poetic blog. Some of his lessons, and the tips he imparts, might help you.

I sincerely hope you can talk to the right person, and provide the justification needed, to get you a whole new laptop ... and maybe even get to swap hard drives so your data and programs are there as you're using them now. Best of luck....

[TheOnys]

So it's been 3 months without my beloved thinkpad and it's in exactly the same shape it was when I dropped it off.

Where are you located?

Regards,

James

I'm in Winnipeg, MB (Forgot to add that into my profile)

[JHEM]

I'm in Winnipeg, MB (Forgot to add that into my profile)

I'm afraid that your tale is all too familiar to our friends in the Great White North who are forced to deal with IBM/Lenovo/CA.

Particularly so if you're outside of one of the major population centers, e.g. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, etc.

Regards,

James

[TheOnys]

Sigh.. I was afraid of that. If we don't hear from them tomorrow I'll call them and give them a piece of my mind or three

[K. Eng]

Wow... about as bad as my repair experience with subcontractors. It wasn't until I sent my computer to Lenovo headquarters in North Carolina that I finally got a decent repair.

My guess is that the subcontractors have too many different types of machines to handle, and some just don't care because they get paid whether the machine has to be repaired or not.

[wayrad]

Sounds like my experience with a brand new Z60m. My attempt to get a noisy palmrest adjusted at the local service center has, to date, made it necessary to replace the titanium cover, wireless card, and optical drive, and has involved shipment to the Tennessee service center and MANY phone calls.

Right now the machine seems OK, but I've kind of lost confidence.

JoAnn

[davidspalding]

You need to lean on the palm rest more. Hard.

[davidspalding]

Disclaimer: I don't typically gripe, but I hold Thinkpad hardware in very high regard and endorse it to just about everyone....

Any updates on this SNAFU? Did support ever rectify your string of bad repairs?

[hnq]

I've had a similar experience... I posted it here - but it was moved due to "tech bashing"... I had had a tech to my house 4 times in a 7 (business) day period....

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

Anyways, I had gotten a follow up call from an IBM surveyer asking about my satisfaction with my recent service. I complained to her - but she couldn't do anything except indicate my dissatisfaction. After the survey, I got a call from someone in Customer Satisfaction (All of my previous complaints to various managers were worthless). The lady in Customer satisfaction listened then mentioned that they wanted to make it up to me... She immediately said that a replacement was out of the question given how long i've had the machine (1.5 years) and that problems would've shown up within the first 6 months. She had no answer for my reply that I had had a tech to my house 6 times in the first 9 months... Anyways, the best that she could do was send me a wireless keyboard for my troubles... She said this about 2.5 weeks ago - still no keyboard....

By the way, I've figured out that when you call IBM, if you pick the phone options to open a new service call, you'll be routed to Atlanta. If you make the selections to inquire about an existing ticket, and that a tech is supposed to come out, you'll be routed to QualServe. The tech support in Atlanta don't have any kind of access to the phone logs at QualServe. My experience has been that QualServe's phone records aren't very good. I'd recommend that you keep a running log of who you've talked to, when you called, and how long it took you... I didn't do this, and I wish that I had.

[schen]

Lucky for me the experiences you guys have had with IBM are ones I've had with Dell's Subcontractors in Chicago and Texas. All I have to add is that I really think it's an all-too-common scenario with all-too-many subcontractors. Strangely enough, a few years ago my Dell service at a university in Texas improved greatly when they subcontracted tech support from IBM!

[davidspalding]

I've had a similar experience... I posted it here - but it was moved due to "tech bashing"... I had had a tech to my house 4 times in a 7 (business) day period....

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=23476

You mentioned in your other thread that the tech confided he'd been doing this < a year ... had no formal training ... and was scratching his head "trying to figure out how to" dismantle your TP....

Okay, right there is a reason to stop the train, pick up the phone, and demand proper service. There are hardware maintenance manuals (HMMs) that IBM publishes, that any tech can have and refer to. There is NO EXCUSE for some on-site tech guessing how to take down a TP.

If this is the kind of support IBM is back-sliding to, %&#@ it, it's time to just go for disposable systems. Or maybe I'm just a pessimist tonight.

[hnq]

unfortunately, the tech was already well into taking apart the LCD when i discovered the lack of training and put 2 and 2 together...

Since I don't want this thread to be moved due to "tech bashing", I'm going to stop here...

[MobileGuru]

If I was going to have a machine repaired in Canada (which of course I'd do myself but let's just say it) I'd honestly send my machine right into Solectron via the usual repair box process. I've personally never liked onsite service, because if the problem has been incorrectly diagnosed or something breaks during the teardown, replacement parts are typically a day or two away. Local partners in major city centers are useful as well, but as you have experienced, not always the best at repairing your unit.

MG.

[TheOnys]

If I was going to have a machine repaired in Canada (which of course I'd do myself but let's just say it)

Yeah, if it wasn't under warranty, I would have done the repair myself. I've disassembled every laptop I've ever owned but doing so has a tendancy to void the warranty

[davidspalding]

... I'm almost tempted to call IBM up and shove this all in their face. ....

Well, what's the story? Is this still ongoing, or ...?